Post by juggins on May 1, 2007 12:28:12 GMT -5
Disclaimer - The following is a light-hearted true account and in no means a finger of blame!! ;D
I have followed James since around 1989 when I first heard their 'Gold Mother' album... been an avid fan ever since.
I was at Alton 'Showers' in 1992, went to several concerts between then and the later 90's when James started doing yearly UK tours. Then made sure I was at each Brixton & Wembley gig they played until December 2001 when I tearily watched them walk of stage for what seemed the last time... Their yearly gig was something I looked forward to each year, sort of the only definite thing you could count on!!
Little did I know what the future was to bring eh?
The 'fun' was about to begin...
As we all know, James split in December 2001....
- In January 2002 my fiancee collapsed with a suspected stroke at 33 years old, she had a BP of 270/190 and amongst other things temporarily lost her vision. Turned out it was a vary rare adrenal tumour (a Pheochromocytoma) that had been growing for about 4 years and turned her personality-wise into a completely different person... she was in hospital from January until May under 24 hour observation until they could remove the tumour on May 14th. Our children were very distraught because they knew mummy could pass away at any time and things were very very scary for all of us.
- I spent 9 months post-operative 24/7 caring for her. dealing with panic attacks, ambulances, paramedics, doctors, et all (no one knew the damage this tumour could do as its quite rare so we were on our own with the after-care!). She had made a relatively full recovery by February 2003.
- In March 2003 I had a nervous breakdown with the stress all this and typically ended up on the Fluoxetine anti-depressant.
- In April 2003 I was accused of assisting in the breakdown af a mentally imbalanced friends relationship with his partner (of which I was innocent). This caused me to enter a severe depression off of the back of the breakdown and spent the next 6 months staring at clouds in the middle of fields. It was a tough time. I got my very own stalker, was assaulted, received death threats and was constantly harrassed and hounded. I lost most of my circle of friends (including my best friend of 27 years) and was outcast by my social scene. Its amazing what a bit of mis-information and a couple of malicious spiteful rumours can do huh?
- In October 2003 with the stress of everything going on I split from my fiancee and children and moved out of the family home into a 'Fiat Punto GT' car. I bought a VW Camper on credit card after 3 weeks as I found sleeping in a Punto was not a good idea!! I spent the next 4 months sleeping on the side of roads and railway car parks... pulling over where I could to get some sleep.
- In February 2004 I managed to scrape enough money together to pay for a small pitch on a camp site and parked my van there each night.
- In April 2004 I managed to move up to a caravan on the same site.
- From May 2004 until June 2005 I underwent an MS diagnosis which thankfully turned out to be 'Carpel Tunnel' syndrome along with a weakening of the valve on my bladder!! But boy does that sort of thing scare you!!! My mums had MS for 19 years so I know the situation on that one!
- In April 2006 the engine on my VW Camper blew up and needed replacing!!
- In July 2006 my camper van was crashed into by some 'traveller' types, totally annihilating the offside of the vehicle!! They of course drove off leaving me with a massive repair bill!!
- Feeling totally alone and thoroughly miserable and depressed with life I stayed in the caravan until September 2006, when I was forced into moving back into the family home as financially I could no longer pay for the site fees.
- In November 2006 my step-grandfather passed away
- 2 weeks later, in early December, my grandfather also passed away
- 4 days before Christmas 2006 my escort van was stolen and the 16-year old thief subsequently crashed and died. Writing my vehicle and himself off... RIP lad... I received no compensation or insurance payment for the vehicle... how much is a J reg 1.8 diesel escort worth these days??? The van had xmas presents for my family in it along with a lady friends purse!!! The presents and purse (or what was left after the crash) were returned to me in January 2007 after a police forensics enquiry into the crash.
- I was informed by a Police 'Special' that the family of the boy that died were not happy and to watch my back... nice! Especially when HE nicked MY van!!
- April 2007 JAMES make a comeback!! I went to the Brixton gig on Thurs 26th... cost me a small fortune for tickets! James came onstage, the curtain dropped and they launched into their first song... it was the first time I felt that welling-up happiness from inside that only James live can provide! I smiled a truly happy smile from ear to ear and felt a weight was being lifted.
THANK YOU for coming back James. The past 5 or so years have been terrible and for the first time since you guys split I can now see some light panning out in front of me. I have just started a new job, the rest of life is still as pants as it was but you have lifted my spirits in a way that no other music does and for this I say;
"Tim, Jim, Saul, Mark, Dave, Larry... thank you from the bottom of my heart. It means alot to me to have seen you guys again, playing in the magical James way and I hope one day to say a personal thank you... you lift my spirits like no other music ever has and I hesitate to say, ever will...thanks guys"
Regards and best wishes for the future,
A.
I have followed James since around 1989 when I first heard their 'Gold Mother' album... been an avid fan ever since.
I was at Alton 'Showers' in 1992, went to several concerts between then and the later 90's when James started doing yearly UK tours. Then made sure I was at each Brixton & Wembley gig they played until December 2001 when I tearily watched them walk of stage for what seemed the last time... Their yearly gig was something I looked forward to each year, sort of the only definite thing you could count on!!
Little did I know what the future was to bring eh?
The 'fun' was about to begin...
As we all know, James split in December 2001....
- In January 2002 my fiancee collapsed with a suspected stroke at 33 years old, she had a BP of 270/190 and amongst other things temporarily lost her vision. Turned out it was a vary rare adrenal tumour (a Pheochromocytoma) that had been growing for about 4 years and turned her personality-wise into a completely different person... she was in hospital from January until May under 24 hour observation until they could remove the tumour on May 14th. Our children were very distraught because they knew mummy could pass away at any time and things were very very scary for all of us.
- I spent 9 months post-operative 24/7 caring for her. dealing with panic attacks, ambulances, paramedics, doctors, et all (no one knew the damage this tumour could do as its quite rare so we were on our own with the after-care!). She had made a relatively full recovery by February 2003.
- In March 2003 I had a nervous breakdown with the stress all this and typically ended up on the Fluoxetine anti-depressant.
- In April 2003 I was accused of assisting in the breakdown af a mentally imbalanced friends relationship with his partner (of which I was innocent). This caused me to enter a severe depression off of the back of the breakdown and spent the next 6 months staring at clouds in the middle of fields. It was a tough time. I got my very own stalker, was assaulted, received death threats and was constantly harrassed and hounded. I lost most of my circle of friends (including my best friend of 27 years) and was outcast by my social scene. Its amazing what a bit of mis-information and a couple of malicious spiteful rumours can do huh?
- In October 2003 with the stress of everything going on I split from my fiancee and children and moved out of the family home into a 'Fiat Punto GT' car. I bought a VW Camper on credit card after 3 weeks as I found sleeping in a Punto was not a good idea!! I spent the next 4 months sleeping on the side of roads and railway car parks... pulling over where I could to get some sleep.
- In February 2004 I managed to scrape enough money together to pay for a small pitch on a camp site and parked my van there each night.
- In April 2004 I managed to move up to a caravan on the same site.
- From May 2004 until June 2005 I underwent an MS diagnosis which thankfully turned out to be 'Carpel Tunnel' syndrome along with a weakening of the valve on my bladder!! But boy does that sort of thing scare you!!! My mums had MS for 19 years so I know the situation on that one!
- In April 2006 the engine on my VW Camper blew up and needed replacing!!
- In July 2006 my camper van was crashed into by some 'traveller' types, totally annihilating the offside of the vehicle!! They of course drove off leaving me with a massive repair bill!!
- Feeling totally alone and thoroughly miserable and depressed with life I stayed in the caravan until September 2006, when I was forced into moving back into the family home as financially I could no longer pay for the site fees.
- In November 2006 my step-grandfather passed away
- 2 weeks later, in early December, my grandfather also passed away
- 4 days before Christmas 2006 my escort van was stolen and the 16-year old thief subsequently crashed and died. Writing my vehicle and himself off... RIP lad... I received no compensation or insurance payment for the vehicle... how much is a J reg 1.8 diesel escort worth these days??? The van had xmas presents for my family in it along with a lady friends purse!!! The presents and purse (or what was left after the crash) were returned to me in January 2007 after a police forensics enquiry into the crash.
- I was informed by a Police 'Special' that the family of the boy that died were not happy and to watch my back... nice! Especially when HE nicked MY van!!
- April 2007 JAMES make a comeback!! I went to the Brixton gig on Thurs 26th... cost me a small fortune for tickets! James came onstage, the curtain dropped and they launched into their first song... it was the first time I felt that welling-up happiness from inside that only James live can provide! I smiled a truly happy smile from ear to ear and felt a weight was being lifted.
THANK YOU for coming back James. The past 5 or so years have been terrible and for the first time since you guys split I can now see some light panning out in front of me. I have just started a new job, the rest of life is still as pants as it was but you have lifted my spirits in a way that no other music does and for this I say;
"Tim, Jim, Saul, Mark, Dave, Larry... thank you from the bottom of my heart. It means alot to me to have seen you guys again, playing in the magical James way and I hope one day to say a personal thank you... you lift my spirits like no other music ever has and I hesitate to say, ever will...thanks guys"
Regards and best wishes for the future,
A.
