To round off what had been an immense two weeks of sport and celebration, I went to Hyde Park on Sunday for the BT London Live concert with Blur headlining.
Supporting them were Bombay Bicycle Club, New Order, and The Specials… The Specials were fab, and with the sun shining brightly over London, they got the party atmosphere well and truly warmed up! I just found that everyone in the park was buzzing and up for a fantastic time – I’ve been to other outside concerts, and of course every one is excited but Sunday had a different feel to it. I really think this was the culmination of Olympic fever that had seeped its way into all of us (even the negative moaners who couldn’t wait for the Olympics to fail..!) ; finally we had enjoyed two weeks of positivity , happiness, and best of all – remembering why Britain is so great! We were all proud to be British again and had taken ownership of the Union Jack in the way that other nations are keen to show off their flag.
Anyway, back to the concert…. the huge screen on stage was showing some of the last events of the Olympics – and we all got to cheer as we won another Gold in the Boxing. Again, fab to feel that energy and so different to me screaming at people to win on the TV in my own living room! Also, 80k people singing the National Anthem was pretty special.
Being a wheelchair user, I always have to sit on the disabled platform which sometimes annoys me as I can’t go with a group of friends to a concert and often feel a bit conspicuous as its a colder atmosphere and if you want to dance, you feel a bit of a prat! However, at this concert, we sat next to two guys from London who I immediately clicked with – they truly made the day more memorable as we had such a laugh! (and them getting me drunk helped 😉 ). They knew some others up on the platform, so for the first time it felt like I was part of a group up there. When Blur rocked Hyde Park with Parklife (couldn’t have been more apt eh?!), we all danced round together and I couldnt have cared less about anyone watching.
I will stay in touch with those guys and look forward to more nights out with them…. am also on the promise of them getting me tickets to the Emirates stadium… Apparently I will have to change my allegiance from Chelsea to Arsenal though….. we will see, but sure i can pretend for a day!!