A personal "thank you"

Where do I start?

That was an amazing adventure for me, which I will never forget. I truly look forward to seeing The Enid again sometime in the future, and to seeing each of you again (or for the first time, for those of you I didn't get a chance to meet this past weekend).

I've had a chance to get over (most) of my jet lag, so I'm ready to make a lengthy post about my experience... sorry!

To those of you I had a chance to meet, thank you for your kindness, and for putting up with me (by the end of the After Show party, I'd had more than my fair share of adult beverages! ). To the rest of you, I hope our paths cross eventually.

Bravo! to Jane, Hailey, and anyone else involved in organizing before-show gatherings, setting up the merchandise table, preparing the after-show party room, and generally being the "glue" that held a lot of this together for me (without you, I would have come into this blind).

Prior to the show, I was warmly welcomed at the pre-show gathering by many people, several of whom bought me shots of Southern Comfort, and thereby started me on my path to blubbering (just kidding, I'd started that process on my own before arriving! ). I met so many nice people at the pre-show party, I honestly would have enjoyed the entire weekend if that event had been the only thing I did all weekend!

The venue... holy crap! what can I say? The Birmingham Symphony Hall is beautiful, and ranks amongst the most impressive music/theater venues I've ever been to (and I've been been to a few). The pictures simply can't do it justice - people need to understand that size and acoustics of a venue can make (or break) a performance, and I've been to few venues that could have supported this band, the orchestra, choir, and audience.

Ok, the show... Having only known of The Enid for a bit over a year (since NEARFest 2010), I don't know all the song titles, what they sound like, their history, what album they came from, blah, blah.... So, I can't offer a title-by-title review, but I can say that all of the music moved me dramatically. The NEARFest performance had a dramatic affect on me (duh, I came to England for a weekend for this show!), but adding an orchestra, a choir, AND (seriously?!?) a rock-inspired solo on a pipe organ!!! This show was over-the-top awesome, and I wish there was a way to express my thanks to everyone involved.

The after-show party was fantastic, and I was humbled by the number of people who wanted to meet or speak with me - I'm not "that guy" that everyone wants to meet, so I was truly humbled when so many people approached me just to say "hi"...

Meeting the band was more than I had ever hoped for! I knew the band would be there for the after-show party, but I also expected their time would be consumed by the crowd, but I was pleasantly surprised at how approachable the band members were. I had a chance to have very nice conversations with Mr. Godfrey and Max, and brief conversations with Dave, Jason, and Nic. They were all so nice to even take the time to say "hey", especially after what must have been a very complex and stressful week (and night), I offer a big THANK YOU to the band for just taking the time to meet with us!

Ok, now I just have to say something about "Max and the Technicolor Dreamcoat"... That jacket was awesome! It's interesting that a garment can be a focus of conversation for a musical event, but that's exactly the case with Max's jacket, based on previous posts. My girlfriend (Angela) and I occasionally host "murder mystery" parties, and we're always looking for things like Max's jacket, because they can say so much about the underlying character (so, Max, being quite a character yourself, does this jacket say something about you? ) Seriously though, I felt the jacket added a lot to the overall "artistic flair" that's so important to a show like this: I don't think the show would have had the same impact (on me) if everyone in the band had worn a homogenous "suit" (such as the one I wore... )....

Regarding the musicianship: I loved everything (except some brief trumpet noise), and that includes the core band, the orchestra, the pipe organ player, the choir, and the conductor. Very professional - finely executed. I wish I'd had more time to speak with Dave Storey (though that's my own fault), because I would've told him that his percussion work was extraordinary... I did get a chance to speak with Nic and Jason briefly, though not as much as I would like.

Anyway, I've consumed more of your time than I should have.

Dan

dan i wish i could have joined you on the flight across the pond,unfortunatly i work at walmart and
there are no minimum wage airfares from oregon to the uk,still im delighted to read that you enjoyed the experience
and hope there will be other chances to enjoy the bands music over here. If not mabye we can encorage some americains to emulate the enid sound,or get some airplay for the masters.
peace out from the west coast.

Hi dankurfis,

I saw you at the aftershow party but didn't say hello. Everytime I saw you you were holding court with about 10 or 15 people around you so figured you were being taken care of! Many thanks for going to the expense of traveling from the States to Birmingham to see the band! Puts my 1 1/2 drive down the M6 into context.

As to thanking people, well you have just done that by posting your kind comments on the forums. The Enid are an extraordinary band, moving people into making extraordinary journeys to see and meet them. From memory there were people from USA, Germany, France, Saudi, The Orkneys (not a country but a looooooong journey) and Japan present at the concert. The Enid are now planning a trip to Japan (Jason is going to love that!).

Max's shirt could have performed a solo on it's own. Someone asked on the forums if there was a 5.1 version available which made me chuckle.

Well, no real point to my post just saying hello as I failed to on the night.

Lloyd.

Hello Dan !

It was very nice to meet you!!
I don't forget what you asked me ,i'll send you a mail his week end:i' think you'll have a lot of music to discover and a lot of cds to buy !!
My wife Yannick join me to say you hello
Hope to see you again !
Hervé

Dan

I am so glad you had such a great experience. The Enidi are some of the most genuinely lovely people I know and that goes for the band too! Glad you got your bag of goodies back!

I wish I could have spent more time chatting to you - but you saw how it was, and you were never sat on your own! It was indeed a very magnificent affair and I loved every minute of it.

Here's one of the photos I took of you with young Mr Willes



Hope to see you again - I suppose the Enidi Convention in November is just that little bit too soon after this trip.....

Oh, and Max's shirt was indeed one of the stars of the show and much discussion has been made of it here and on Facebook! I've a feeling this isn't the last we'll see of it!

Dear DanBuster,

(in case you're not familiar with it one of the finale pieces at the end is called The Dambuster March, after those
great Lancaster bombers of WWII - a pilot of which lives 2 minutes from me here in France, no joke)

Anyway, in spite of the fact that you stole the likes of my and Frosty's thunder by coming all that bloody way when we thought we were heroes with our hour and 40 minutes of flying time ..... it was a real pleasure to meet you. You're the proof that all the running around that the guys are doing IS having results. I think it's great that you just did it - booked up and came along and I understand your sense of adventure and gratification. My friends wonder what the hell I'm doing sometimes with my trips, mostly with the mrs and nipper in tow. Little do they know, although I'm trying to get them to wake up. I'm really pleased that you had such a great time.

Next time you're over we should line up a Genesis tribute band too. Although I never saw one that plays Heathaze

Take it easy, and all the best. Keep in touch on the forum.

P.S. Did the boys actually say 'hey'? or was it 'hi'? (just kidding man)

Dan,
It was great to meet you and chat with you. I'm impressed that you managed to stay up later than us - after all you came from the US and we only came from Kent! Have to say though, it's the latest I've stayed up in years, but well worth it. I think I should have had a few more drinks so I could chat easier with the band!! If I was 16 again I'd have been there chatting with them til the cows come home. Do hope to see you again one day, it was a pleasure.

dan i wish i could have joined you on the flight across the pond,unfortunatly i work at walmart and
there are no minimum wage airfares from oregon to the uk,still im delighted to read that you enjoyed the experience
and hope there will be other chances to enjoy the bands music over here. If not mabye we can encorage some americains to emulate the enid sound,or get some airplay for the masters.
peace out from the west coast.

Thank you, and I wish I'd heard from you before the show! (if I did, but don't remember, please accept my humblest apologies...) I'm always looking for opportunities to meet new people and see shows here closer to home - please let me know what shows you plan to attend - I never know where I might be in any given month, but I do occasionally get to the west coast (I was just in Santa Barbara last week)...

Dan.

Hi dankurfis,

I saw you at the aftershow party but didn't say hello. Everytime I saw you you were holding court with about 10 or 15 people around you so figured you were being taken care of! Many thanks for going to the expense of traveling from the States to Birmingham to see the band! Puts my 1 1/2 drive down the M6 into context.

As to thanking people, well you have just done that by posting your kind comments on the forums. The Enid are an extraordinary band, moving people into making extraordinary journeys to see and meet them. From memory there were people from USA, Germany, France, Saudi, The Orkneys (not a country but a looooooong journey) and Japan present at the concert. The Enid are now planning a trip to Japan (Jason is going to love that!).

Max's shirt could have performed a solo on it's own. Someone asked on the forums if there was a 5.1 version available which made me chuckle.

Well, no real point to my post just saying hello as I failed to on the night.

Lloyd.

Lloyd, I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet! I truly hope we get another chance in the future...

Thanks,
Dan