FANFEST!!! MAN!!!!  WICKED!!!  If ever there was much to write about, it is NOW!!!!  At the time that I am writing this, it is June 9, 2000 and it has been exactly ONE MONTH since I stepped onto the airplane in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to go to Birmingham, England for Fanfest 2000.  Yet, even with that passage of time, I am STILL buzzing from the entire experience.  I'm on a high and I can't come down!--don't want to either!

Well, let me at least calm down enough to type these words to give you my personal look at the whirlwind of activities I engaged in at Fanfest 2000 and enjoyed to the max.

There goes the saying about saving the BEST for the LAST because I found the BEST of EVERYTHING in this FIRST fest of the century, FIRST fest for me period, FIRST visit for me to the U.K., and FIRST time for my meeting many internet friends in person. This fest had everything you could have wanted by way of enjoyment, friendship, music, and UB related interests, not the least of which was a tour of Dep Studios.  Just to show how much things were meant to be, we even had the unexpected and unplanned pleasure of meeting Brian, Astro and Norman of the UB's.  I commend the diligence and commitment of the Fanfest Committee consisting of Joolz, Cookie, Mia and Nigel, who I believe did what they did out of a genuine love bigger than big.  You made this a special fest, an extremely well organized fest, and a fest that just oozed big love amongst friends.  The fest marked a great start to the new century of friendship, great times, and great music all tied together in a nice UB knot.

This fest came about through friendships spawned via the internet.  One year ago, the internet was foreign to me as I had only used it as a tool to retrieve information and not as a form of interactive communication with people.  Well, my yearning for a UB concert in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada changed all that as through a series of events last year, a request I had made for a concert in Edmonton landed me on the Jams Board where I met many people and I have been chatting and e-mailing with them ever since.  I was wary of the internet when I first started as I listened to my own words as a parent when we tell our children not to talk to strangers, but it is the ultimate of ironies that in this instance what was feared was in fact trustworthy and led to good friendships amongst otherwise strangers.  One year ago, I never would have imagined that I would be interacting with people on the internet, forming friendships with them, travelling to Birmingham, attending a fanfest, meeting many friends, and meeting the band members of UB40--but it all happened real and true.

Talk of Fanfest 2000 had been happening off and on throughout the year prior.  All the time that people were talking about it, I hoped to be able to go to meet everyone I had grown to know but at first I did not give it serious thought as a trip to as far away as Birmingham was not feasible for me; however, never say never as things may be IMPROBABLE but very rarely are they ever IMPOSSIBLE.  Sometimes the probability can be increased and possibility is closer within reach.  Such was the case for me and I was able to make a way for my attendance at the fest.  Well, the timing for the Fanfest Committee to send out all the necessary info and set the exact dates for the fest couldn't have been better as I was able to catch a seat sale in January before the airline's deadline for ticket purchases.  I will never forget that feeling of having that ticket in my hand because for me, the fest was not just related to UB40, it was about meeting people and it was about giving myself a well-needed break and just GIVING IT LARGE!  After getting my ticket, I was busy over the next while making preparations for the kids and the house in my absence.  My older son was more than excited to find out that I was going to England--forget the sobbing goodbyes and what will we do without you mom and all that--no, he was thrilled to see me off as I would be able to bring him back some Harry Potter books not available in Canada!  Priorities, you know!  I made a quick post on one of the message boards a few days prior to leaving to get some information about bookstores that would have what he wanted and I received some helpful information.

Well, the time finally arrived.  It was Wednesday afternoon, May 10, 2000, and I was standing in the airport in Edmonton, checking in my luggage--a story in itself as several people along the way would later make comments that in essence asked me if I was carrying the luggage or if it was carrying me!...lol  Yes, it was heavy…..but I was also not just going to Birmingham for the fest weekend, I was going to be staying in London thereafter for a total of two weeks away, visiting relatives.  I couldn't believe I was actually stepping onto the airplane. I thought, I'm really doing this!  I'm really travelling to Birmingham, England to meet friends I have been interacting with on-line!  This was it now. I'm off!

FEST DAY 1 – THURSDAY, MAY 11th

Don't ask me what time I landed at London Heathrow because never mind the TIME, I had to stop and think what DAY it was!  In total, I had been travelling for 13 1/2 hours, had crossed over about 4 time zones and it was now Thursday, May 11, 2000 at 2:30 p.m. British time and I was finally stepping off the airplane.  So here I was at London Heathrow for the first time--this famous airport I hear so much about.

"Would you like a cart, Ma'am, it's a long walk."  I packed my hand luggage onto the cart and played "follow the leader" to the customs area.  (Isn't it interesting how you never get lost coming off the airplane at a foreign airport--we all seem to know where we're going even though we really don't, but we get where we're supposed to!)  "And what is the purpose of your visit?"……"To get totally high!"…..(Well, I didn't say that but that's what happened!  I got high on life!) After getting my passport stamped by the customs official, I gathered my luggage, made my way through the line of people holding up signs to beckon and welcome visitors and then eventually found the area outside the building for the coach to Birmingham. I got my first taste of "language barrier" despite the fact that I am from Canada, an English speaking country.  I asked the ticket agent where to go for the Birmingham coach and was told what I thought was "Stop 809"……I looked for 809, couldn't find it, then learned that whatever was said meant "between stop 8 and stop 9"!!!  O.K.  The important thing in the end is that I did get on the right coach!

It was pleasant weather on the drive from London Heathrow to Birmingham.  Wow!  Sheep, real live sheep!  I was having a thrill already!  (Doesn’t take much to get me excited, eh!)

I arrived at the Birmingham coach station and saw the taxi bay right away just outside the entrance.  I dragged my luggage over to one of the taxis, got in, and asked to be taken to the Chamberlain Hotel.  This was it.

When I arrived at the Chamberlain Hotel, the street was quiet and so was the reception area in the hotel.  It was now about 6:50 p.m. Thursday.  A nice gentleman who happened to be entering the hotel the same time that I was, helped me carry my luggage up the stairs to the registration area.  I started to check in and was speaking to the lady at the desk.  I glanced around while she was doing the necessary paperwork and I saw someone coming towards me. The person said, "Sandra?" and I said, "Joolz?" and then I was smiling from ear to ear and we hugged. "We were just talking about you!" she said.  I told her, "I just came in!"  Then I think I said something about the flight and at one point she said, "We were all expecting you from about noon!"  I replied, "At noon I was still above the clouds!"  Then as we were standing there, another person came along and it was Cookie!  More hugs were to be had.  Joolz then said she and Cookie were just on their way to finalize some of the arrangements with Dep and told me that the others were over in the hotel bar (where else?!?!) so I could go over and join them there.  We said see you later, they went off to their meeting, and then I finished up with my registration.  The lady at the desk told me something about how to turn on the power in the room which went straight over my head--don't you just turn on the light switch???? I guess not. Anyway, I trusted I would figure out what she was talking about once I got into the room.  I then proceeded to drag my luggage once again over to the elevators.  Just as I was standing by the elevators, I saw someone walking from around the corner and singing, "Jenny and her sister, from Manchester………"  Well, that had to be Peter and it was!  No quotas on hugs--here was another one!  Then right behind Peter came someone else giving me a Big Love sign and of course that was Reza!  "Sandra!" he said.  Last but not least came Nigel!  Nigel introduced himself to me.  It was great seeing everyone in person at last and this was just the beginning--there were many more to meet yet!  Reza and Peter helped me with my luggage onto the elevators and when we got to my room, they demonstrated what the lady had been trying to explain to me about turning on the power--o.k., got it.  They then said to meet them back at the bar.

I did a bit of sorting with my luggage and then went back down to the bar.  There I saw Reza, Peter and Nigel, and now with them were Fiona and Mia.  Well, here I go again with my "language barrier"!  After being given some hints by Reza on how to pronounce "Mia"--think of Woody Allen(!) and after sounding like a broken record asking Fiona, "What did you say? What did you say?" :-) , I finally got my ears acclimatized to all the accents and had a pleasant conversation with everyone.  (I was the only one there without an accent. :-)...lol…lol…well, we never really hear our own accents do we!)

We laughed and talked and by now it was around 9:00 p.m. I think.  We decided to go out to a Balti restaurant--one that was well known by the attendees from the first fest.  Just as we were waiting for a taxi outside the hotel, Joolz and Cookie arrived back from their meeting with Dep and so we all went to the restaurant together.  There, I had a Balti dish and enjoyed it--the hotter the better I say!

More great conversation was had.  Joolz informed us at the restaurant that at the last minute, they had finalized a photo shoot and news coverage of the fest with the Birmingham newspaper and that we are to meet at the Dep Studios at 1:00 p.m. the following day, Friday, for them to take a picture of us and to be interviewed shortly thereafter at the Eagle & Tun. I started to think, now where on earth would I start in telling the newspaper about why I was attending fanfest….gosh, I’d have to bring notes with me just to make sure I didn’t leave anything out!  (As it turned out, we weren’t interviewed so the city of Birmingham was spared any dissertation from me!)

After dinner, we went back to the hotel in two separate taxis and found the doors locked!  The "doorman" opened it up for us and asked us to show him our room keys.  I was a little out of it--was it the jet lag or that fiery Balti, I don't know!--but I didn't know what was going on and I think the others were puzzled when I wasn't showing him my key!  At this time, Mia had said her husband was coming behind in another taxi with their key and Joolz showed her key and said she and Cookie were sharing a room and then the man said to me, "And who are you with?"  Joolz had to clue me in and I finally realized, Oh, yes, here's my key! Duhhhhh!!!!

Well, I think we were going to make this an endless night because Fiona, Reza, Peter and I then went BACK to the bar in the hotel, talked some good politics (well, we had to get serious a little bit so we could know we were still sober!!!), and then finally called it a night—actually it was already Friday morning!  I went to bed at about 2:30 a.m.?  That meant it had been 37 hours since I had first gotten out of bed in Edmonton on the Wednesday morning before.  Needless to say, I slept like a baby.

FEST DAY 2 – FRIDAY, MAY 12th

On Friday morning, May 12th, I went down for breakfast at 9:30 a.m. and sat and talked with Fiona, Joolz, Cookie, Peter, and Reza for a while.  It was expected that the majority of the fanfesters would be arriving later this day.  We discussed a bit about the Dep photo shoot once again and then scattered our separate ways for the morning.  Fiona, Peter and I took a taxi into the downtown area of Birmingham to do some browsing and shopping.

The three of us scoured the town in vibrant downtown Birmingham!  We ate at MacDonald's and ran some errands.  I bought some UB posters at Reddington’s, and I bought my son the Harry Potter books he wanted at Waterstone’s.  I found Reddington’s to be a quaint little shop with a lot of charisma and a unique identity that separates it from the commercial look of most shops.  Through our walk about the town together, Fiona helped me find the places where I needed to go.  Peter’s job? Well, Peter’s job as it turned out was to run back to MacDonald's to look for my sunglasses which I swore had been left on the table there after our meal, only to discover that it was still inside the pocket of my jacket all along.  Then Peter’s second job was to run back to Reddington’s to now look for my jacket which I had left there—I was right about that one and he did retrieve it.  We finally made sure my head was tightly fastened to my shoulders so I wouldn’t forget that somewhere!

The people in Birmingham were very friendly. At one point, Fiona, Peter and I had to ask for directions and a very pleasant young girl was extremely helpful and had a really nice disposition.  At another time later in the weekend, I was in a taxi by myself and had a very interesting and enlightening conversation with the taxi driver.  We talked about UB40 (of course!) and about interracial relations in Birmingham and about reggae music in general—you know, I’ve heard it said that if you want to really know about a city, have a conversation with a taxi driver! It sure was true in this instance—a wealth of knowledge and insight was shared.  I liked Birmingham.  To me, it had a small town feel to it with a big city atmosphere.

The time was nearing for the photo shoot at Dep so Fiona, Peter and I took a taxi back to the hotel.  Just as we got out of the taxi, we saw Joris, Astrid and Susie arriving!  They had just got in from Holland!  I greeted them and it was wonderful to finally see Astrid, one of the first people I had encountered on the internet, her friend Susie, and of course DA MAN!  Joris!  After hugs and pecks on the cheeks, we hurriedly told them to go and check in fast because we are all going to a photo shoot at Dep right away.

As a bunch of us gathered together outside the hotel to get a taxi to take us to Dep, I met Wildcat!  We talked a bit about her book.  When we arrived at Dep, all the others were there already and for the first time I met Raveydave and Kirstin, Eddy and Dave of RITK, Ray and Joyce, Jill and John, Sarah K, Marcel, Arshad, and Aslam—Arshad’s brother.  Wonderful!  More faces to put to names!  The photographer arrived and said she would be using a maximum of three people in the photo and asked for people wearing UB40 shirts. While we are there sorting out who would be in the photo, a car drives up in front of the studios….I heard someone say, "There’s Astro".  The car drove into the studio garage….and some of us trailed behind it!  It was indeed Astro!  I liked his Jamaican flag on the back of his car, so I snapped a picture of his car—and just happened to get him in the picture too, of course!  Apparently, he had arrived at the studio to do some work.  I introduced myself to him.  After hearing him perform on my CD’s and the scant videos I have, I was now seeing him in person.  It was a pleasure.

The newspaper photo shoot then took place and since Astro happened to be there at the time, it was decided to do the shoot with him in it, along with Joyce and Marcel.  While this was going on, along comes another car……Brian?  Brian!  He stopped in the middle of the road—or had we barricaded the road with our bodies, I’m not sure!  I walked over to his car and said "Hi, I’m Sandra Bailey" and he smiled and took my hand and said, "You’re the one from Canada, are you?"  I replied yes and he smiled some more, gave a gentle and friendly laugh and at the same time put his hand over mine, and nodded his head in a gesture as though to say oh yes, I know of you!  (Maybe it was the 53 requests for a concert?—or was it 54? :-) )  Honestly, it felt like HE was glad to see ME!….when I was glad to see HIM!

After the official photo shoot, I took some pictures myself.  I had made prior arrangements to pick up my UB40 merchandise while at the Dep Studios so I then picked them up from Debbie.  After that, I walked with the others to the Eagle & Tun where I had my first HOOCH!  (Reza, Mr. Hooch, was proud, I’m sure!)  Loved it!  At the Eagle & Tun, much to our surprise, BRIAN walked in the door!   A while after that, ASTRO walked in the door!  A while after that, NORMAN walked in the door!  A while after that, NEEMO (excuse the spelling if incorrect) AND CRAIG walked in the door!  (Are you asking who are Neemo and Craig?…lol…JUST JOKING NEEMO!, JUST JOKING CRAIG!!! :-) :-) ) Somewhere there, PAUL HUNTER walked in the door! I chatted a bit with each of the UB’s.  Brian was very generous and treated us to drinks—I had my second Hooch on him!  Astro was very relaxed and natural, easy-going.  Norman was fun, fun, fun! I boldly asked for autographs from all three and received nice messages in them.  Of course, I asked Brian about a concert in Edmonton(!), I asked Astro about what he’ll be doing on the new album, and I asked Norman where it is he learned to dance like that!  (By the way, Norman says he’s not dancing, he’s dodging cans!)  Sitting next to Astro and seeing him drink his stout brought back so many memories to me as I commented to him that many Jamaicans drink stout.  I remember drinking it myself with sweetened condensed milk—delicious!  Can’t say I’d use that word to describe how it tastes by itself, though!  Yuk!  Blah!

I had great chats with the posse at the Eagle & Tun--Astrid, Susie, Marcel, Ray and Joyce, etc., etc., the whole lot!  I took pictures of everyone and midway through it all, just when all three of the UB’s were there together, lo and behold I had no more film!  I had several rolls still back at the hotel but I hadn’t brought enough extras with me to the Eagle & Tun!  I turned to Nigel and said, "I have to get a taxi back to the hotel because I just ran out of film and now all the band members are here and I can’t take any pictures of them."  Nigel said, "What do you need?"  I told him my film particulars and he simply handed me a roll of film that he had!  Big love thanks big time!

Well, it was a great afternoon at the pub, to say the least!  After everything was over, I walked back to the hotel with Astrid, Susie, Peter, Joris and Marcel and had a good chat along the walk. On the way, I took a picture of the famous Andover Street sign that had now been replaced and moved higher on the wall so as to save it from the "VANDALISM" :-) that had been bestowed upon the previous sign by the attendees of the very first fanfest as they had all signed their names on it!  Look now!  Alas!  No graffiti! :-(  Nevertheless, history remembers. :-)

Later in the evening, it was time for dinner and the RITK gig.  At the gig, I met even more people—DJ and Julie, and Old Boi and his pals!  I had great chats with many people at the gig.  The music was really fantastic! RITK played exceptionally well and I was glad to hear them live for the first time.  I couldn’t believe I was actually hearing them after seeing them post their U.K. gigs on the board and hearing their demo and at one point in the past thinking I’d have to wait forever for them to come to North America!  There I was in Birmingham right in front of them, listening live! Reza also sang with them and he has a great voice!  With all that good music going on, I couldn’t stand still!  I had to dance, and dance I did!   At one point, I accidentally knocked Marcel's drink out of his hands on the dance floor!...Oopps!...Sorry!.... :-)  I enjoyed the session to the max!  In fact, I was so into the music and grooving with it that it wasn’t until near the very end of the evening that I noticed Norman was at the back of the room!  He’s lucky I didn’t notice before or else I would have brought him up front and centre right on the official dance floor in front of the band doing his thing to the RITK grooves instead of at the back! I was so high on the music, you can bet I would have done that!  Faith and Debbie from Dep also attended the gig.

It was a fun night for all. I went to bed at about 2:30 a.m…..AGAIN!  That was not a good move considering I had drawn (un)lucky Group A as the group I would be in for the Dep Tour, which would be the first group to do the tour and with a start time of 8:45 a.m. the next morning!!!

FEST DAY 3 – SATURDAY, MAY 13th

I did manage to wake up in time for the Dep tour!  The Fanfest Committee did a great job with chauffeuring us to and from the Dep Studios for the Tour.  It was just another piece of evidence of how well the fest was organized.  I appreciated being able to see the actual studios where the music gets shaped and molded.  It was a great feeling being there.  Hmmmm….what’s this piece of paper I see?  Possible lyrics for a song on the next album???  Of course, I had to touch the keyboards—not a piano, but nevertheless an instrument special to me :-).  Speaking of pianos, I didn’t notice, though, the famous "piano in the wall" I had heard so much about! I guess that means I’ll have to go back again, then, to see it :-).  Jill and I were in the same tour group and I think between the two of us alone we photographed every inch of every space in that Dep building!!!  While at Dep, I again bought another piece of UB40 merchandise as Faith was showing us some additional brand new items that were going to be placed on the website.

After the Dep Tour, we had the rest of the day to ourselves.  Jill and John had to leave for home as they couldn’t stay for the remainder of the activities so I said goodbye to them. I then walked over to the Bull Ring with Ray, Joyce, Arshad, and Aslam.  Once there, we went our separate ways.  I browsed through the Bull Ring with amazement at the anything and everything you’d ever want atmosphere. A lady gave me directions to a souvenir shop outside of the Bull Ring and I bravely roamed the streets of Birmingham on my own trying to find it!  While I was walking along, I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was Peter!  He and Joris had been eating at Burger King and had spotted me walking along the sidewalk.  I joined them for lunch at Burger King and we then later spotted Arshad and Aslam also walking along the sidewalk and beckoned them to join us in a meal as well!  After that all 5 of us then hit the streets together to devour the record stores of any goodies we could find!  Joris, with his keen eye for all things reggae, saved me from buying the wrong album!  I had always wanted the Sly & Robbie & Friends CD as it was not available where I live and I saw it right there at one of the record stores that we went to and proclaimed, "I found it!" Well Joris quickly said, no that’s not the one you wanted—that’s Sly & Robbie PLUS Friends, and then he smartly pointed out the right one to me. Thanks! I came away with some other rare goodies—well rare in Canada!  Then we split up and I proceeded to the souvenir shop I was heading for and came away with goodies from there!  I walked the streets some more and then took a cab back to the hotel.  It was late afternoon.  By now, my body was in need of a nap which I took and then I woke up and got ready for the karaoke night.

I chatted with Reza and Joris for a bit and then I had an appetizing dinner with everyone at the hotel restaurant.  After that we all attended the karaoke.  It was very entertaining! Of course, it’s more relaxing to watch than to have to perform and do the entertaining so I didn’t do much singing—I preferred to relax!  I did go up and sing a bit though on a couple occasions.  Maybe it was that shot of Tequila that Nigel introduced me to that is the blame for my singing debut!  That stuff was potent enough to make anyone sing!  I had trustingly downed it straight in one gulp like he told me to and the next thing I knew, my throat and chest was on fire!  Nigel is very lucky that I have a selective memory and I select to remember the film he gave me rather than the Tequila he gave me! :-)  Once again, in between it all, there was dancing to be had and once again I had it!  It was a wonderful time.  I think the UB’s have some competition to watch out for like DJ and Julie, Joolz and Cookie, Reza as always, Peter, even Joris!…and many more!

I went to bed at 2:15 a.m.!!!!

FEST DAY 4 – SUNDAY, MAY 14th

Mother’s Day!  This mom was missing in action festing!  I had a nice conversation with my kids the night before.

On this day, we had the Quiz, the questions of which were well thought out by the Fanfest Committee and even I with my limited sources of information and the few videos that I had was able to answer a fair number of the questions.  Everyone was able to participate as the questions were not based on facts and figures found in a book but rather based on the songs and videos that everyone would have been familiar with.  I think that’s what appealed to me about the quiz.

lol….When Wildcat and Fiona were paired together on the same team, I commented that this was not fair because that made their team "top heavy" but Fiona assured me wholeheartedly that unfortunately they were NOT "top heavy"...lol :-)...lol…. Oh, believe me, I know the feeling!...lol... :-)

The winning team was the one led by Joris.  The team I was on came in 3rd place!  Well, that sounds great but actually there were only 3 teams!!! We came in last!….lol  We kept our dignity, though, as our fearless leader, Raveydave, smartly pointed out to the judges that we had been robbed one point….we lost not with a score of 69 but with a proud score of 70!….lol

The fest activities had now finished.  After the quiz was over, we all sat in the hotel bar and chatted and then one by one, each person said their goodbyes, and then there were….3—Joris, Peter and I—we would be leaving the following day.  Reza had not attended the quiz but he would also be one remaining after today.  We all went out together to a restaurant for dinner later that evening.

THE ENDING…..NOT!!! NEVER!!!

Well, it was now Monday, May 15th.  Peter was the first of the four of us to leave and now it was my time for me to take the taxi back to the Birmingham coach station where I would then return to London and tour the city and visit relatives there until May 25th. I said goodbye to Joris and Reza and left Birmingham.

My stay in London was marked by an event worth mentioning here as the camaraderie was to continue well beyond the fest. Arshad, Aslam, and Reza were staying over in London for a few days as well after the fest and on Tuesday, May 16th, upon my returning from a souvenir shopping spree (one of many!), I met up with Arshad and Reza chatting and immediately, Reza said to me, "You must call home right away. Cookie phoned and said to tell you that someone has posted on the board that the UB40 Toronto concert will be televised at 9:00 p.m. tonight in Canada."  That’s all I needed to hear.  I rushed up to my room, phoned my folks back in Edmonton, managed to explain to them what was happening amidst my excitement and asked them to videotape the show—gosh, a UB40 concert on TV in Canada!  Wow!  What a miracle--and it wasn't even a blue moon! :-)  I told my folks that I didn’t know whether or not the time given was Eastern time so it could be 7:00 p.m. our time instead of 9:00 p.m., nor did I know the exact channel of the broadcast; so I told them JUST PUT IN A VIDEOTAPE AT 7:00 P.M. JUST TO BE SAFE AND SCAN ALL THE CHANNELS FOR TWO HOURS ‘TILL YOU SEE A CONCERT!!!!!!  They did it. :-) Got the concert on tape. :-) It was actually the June 1999 Hard Rock Live concert in New York.  Big love thanks goes out to Cookie and the person who posted the information on the board, and so the fanfest train of friendship continued and isn’t it interesting once again, the positive influence of the internet?  During my stay in London, I saw the Birmingham newspaper article about the fest.  I felt the article was excellent and it was a good tribute to the friendship and coming together of the fans and indirectly, the band gains benefit and positive publicity from that—all sparked from an idea solely on the part of the fans to meet.

I left the place of fest, but fest didn’t leave me! This was just the beginning of the beginning, not the ending!  It was a great time of much kinship and positive vibes all around.  May the fest continue to continue in our hearts!

Big love always,

Desperate

Aka Sandra!