On Saturday, myself and CF went to a very exciting gig- the one and
only Heather Peace!! Anyone who's been following this blog for a while
might remember some of the posts from when I first discovered Heather;
if not, links can be found here and here!
For those totally
confused- which is a lot of people!- Heather Peace is probably best
known as Nikki Boston, the English teacher from Waterloo Road. She was
also Sam Murray on Lip Service. However, in addition to acting, she is a
singer/songwriter/musician, and has also become a bit of an LGBT
figurehead. Heather Peace, aside from being at the very top of my
'celebrities I'm in love with list', is also one of my biggest role
models. When I was struggling in April/May 2013, I listened to her first
album on repeat, and it helped me far more than I can say. In addition,
though I was largely 'out' by the time I encountered her, Heather Peace
definitely helped me to be far more open about my sexuality, and it's
largely as a result of having her as a role model that I can now be so
proud of who I am! Lastly, if she hadn't been in Waterloo Road then I
wouldn't have started watching Lip Service. Fav TV show right there!
Anyway,
I was obviously really pleased to find out that she was touring and
doing a gig in Bristol, and I was beyond thrilled when I got two tickets
for my birthday! I've been super excited about the gig for a while, so
my only concern was that it might not live up to my expectations in some
way.
I really needn't have worried! From the moment Heather
came onstage I was pretty entranced. Having spent so long watching Lip
Service and Waterloo Road, alongside her music videos on YouTube etc.,
it was very weird to see her in 'real life'- but definitely good weird!
She had the crowd on her side right from the start and it was easy to
tell how popular she has become!
In terms of highlights of the
night, it's really hard to choose. However, Fairytales- the title track
from her first album- was particularly amazing; it's one of my
favourite songs, and I've listened to it countless times, so seeing it
live was obviously pretty fantastic! The Thin Line, the title track from
her second album, was also fantastic, as was Love Affair With Misery,
which had a melody that I really like for some reason. She also did
three covers- Let Me Love You (originally by Ne-Yo), Go Your Own Way
(Fleetwood Mac) and The Edge of Heaven (Wham!). Each of these was very
good- I particularly liked the way she interpreted Let Me Love You, and
the energy in The Edge of Heaven. In fact, the energy overall was fab!!
If
I had to choose a favourite song from the night, I'd be torn between
two. Firstly, We Can Change, which Heather refers to as a gay anthem,
but says applies to any minority. This was her last song, and the whole
audience (which was almost all women, many of whom were LGBT+) joined
it- it was such a fantastic experience! For different reasons, In My
Arms (from HP's second album) was another top favourite. I'm not going
to go into the reasons as to why this was a fav; it's enough that it
*was*.
After the gig, CF and I decided (um, okay, I decided,
CF went along with it) to find the stage door. We- and a large number of
others!- had to wait around an hour. However, we were eventually
rewarded by the hero of the night herself!
We
queued up and it wasn't long before we got a chance to meet her! We
both got her autograph, then had a picture together, which is now
officially my favourite picture ever ever ever full stop. After that, I
asked HP if I could have a hug, then thanked her for everything she's
done. And cried a bit. Basically I totally embarrassed myself in front
of her, but y'know. Ah well and all that. It was really incredible
getting to meet her, because I genuinely don't think I'd be in the
position I'm in now had it not been for her, both in terms of my mental
health and my sexuality.
So that was that! Easily the
best night of my life, for a million and one reasons, and definitely a
memory to hold onto!! The whole thing just went far far beyond words
really! (Resisting the temptation to let this post go into full on
fangirl...)
BEST PICTURE EVER
