The Sound Check.......

For 20 very lucky Don McLean fans the London Apollo show started three hours early at 4.30pm as they were allowed in to the empty auditorium to take front row seats for Don's pre-concert sound check. This remarkable honour had been made possible by Don McLean allowing this website to run a competition to find a group of lucky fans to attend the sound check and to meet Don after the show. Here, you can share the experience.

Dave Cook writes: "The words, "That was probably the best day of my life" are said by everyone now and again. I can honestly say that, along with the births of my two kids, that was THE best day.

The warm sunshine which greeted us by the Thames was the curtain raiser. Meeting people in the flesh for the first time after knowing them through this forum was something I found really superb. By the end of the day it was as if we'd known each other for life.

The Blue Anchor early starters quickly became one, and souvenirs were passed around and handled with awe and reverence.
Bill Hamilton's Sainsburys bag was brimful with Don's Concert Programmes since the year dot. I quickly realised why he'd brought them in a Sainsbury's bag ; no-one would snatch a bag like that from him (LOL).... My rucksack was full of stuff as well - Would Don sign some of it? Little did I know at that stage that not only would he sign all of it, but would pose for photos with us and chat as if he'd known us all his life.

Early arrivals enjoy a drink at a Thames-side pub. Click here to see same photo with names attached.

Dave 'djf' Fulton and I quickly became best mates while our wives looked skywards and at that stage seemed to find our ramblings mildly amusing. In a few hours both would become totally committed Don McLean fans.

Loekie had come all the way by bus from Amsterdam and Eva and her friend had yomped down from the Isle of Skye. Bill H arrived the Pandora's Box opened. When Alan and his wife arrived, it seemed everything was set.

Meeting up with the others outside the Apollo was like the second wave sweeping over us... A couple from New Zealand, Dave and Joan Moore from Liverpool, Gill, Alan Woodward, Gary Chance (What a Guy!),Leana from Greece emerging from a Black Cab like a modern-day Aphrodite (sorry Leana, but you were!)and then Ronnie Buck arriving with his wife who had not been told anything about the event. The look on her face when she found out that not only was she going to see Don but meet him as well was worth a million dollars.

Within minutes everyone knew everyone else and it was like a reunion - even though a few hours before we were only cyber-relations!

Alan's 'Access to all Areas' badge was worth it's weight in gold, and before long we were within feet of the man we had all been waiting so long to see.

Don greeted us immediately, thanking Alan for getting this together and supporting him through the Web-site. The Sound-Check began and lasted from about 4.35pm until 6pm! Don told us to feel free to take photos, do as we liked really, but everyone was spellbound as we were treated to what I felt was our own personal, intimate concert.

Fans watch the sound check.

Spontaneous applause greeted the numbers the band did - Don and the guitarist, Kerry Maxi (is that the correct spelling?) were working out bits and pieces together, whilst Tony Migliore, the piano man and musical maestro, had his finger on the pulse throughout.

Love Letters, Little Sister, River of Love were all practiced to perfection, Don casually dressed in a polo shirt and jeans, wearing his customary glasses, then a superb jam of Johnny Cash's Big River. Suddenly we were in Folsom Prison!

Don did a few numbers sitting down - he complained about the air on stage - it was obviously getting to him as the throat sweets came out - then we had a couple of Blues numbers before a classic rendition of 'On the Amazon' which brought gasps from our group as Don hit the last note - djf and I were now beginning to think this was more than just a dream.

The Very Thought of You was next, and Don crooned as if he was doing the real show. The Fashion Victim song followed, then came what for me was the highlight of the afternoon thus far - Jerusalem. Spontaneous applause greeted it's conclusion. Don said,"You will not hear that done better tonight". I thought at that time he was probably correct. We were both later proved wrong.

'Isn't it Strange' and, finally, 'You Gave Me a Mountain' from the new Marty Robbins album,and that was it. The Sound Check had lasted just short of 1 1/2 hours and we were starry eyed. I looked round from my seat in the front row and looked at the others. It was incredible.

Don then had a quick chat with us all, shook our hands and asked us who we all were, then he was off for a rest and the majority of us adjourned back to the River for a snack and a chat as to whether what we had just witnessed had really happened.

After the sound check, Don takes time t have a quick chat with the 'lucky' fans

We took another route back to the pub ; away from the main road, through a local council estate. I chatted with Gary Chance who described the route as a short cut, the 'Orphans of Wealth' route as opposed to the 'Black Highway Snake'. Nice one, Gary.

The day was only half way through, and the best was yet to come!

Well folks, that was the Sound Check! Sorry if I missed anyone out, I was desperately trying to remember everything, and the pints of Fosters were doing their best to stop me!

As for the concert, well, that review will follow later. djf and I were hastily writing notes like two eager journalists. I think the folk in front of us thought we were at a Spice Girls concert, we were like a couple of teenagers. But who cares, eh Dave?

The best was yet to come, including a little something that made my whole day, a surprise I was not expecting at all, and something I will treasure for ever."

Post Sound Check Refreshments

Ron Buck writes "Firstly, apologies for not responding sooner guys, but the adrenaline rush wouldn't die down for some 48 hours and the injuries Kim (my other half) later inflicted on me as a consequence of the little "surprise" I set up for her only allowed me to be fully discharged from hospital today.

Just to put the latter into better perspective for those who were not fully aware of the circumstances, Kim has loved Don most of her life, got the record, tee-shirt, video, "been-there, done that", but had never seen our man "in the flesh" as it were. When she awoke on the morning of the twenty-seventh she had no idea that she was going anywhere, let alone to meet DON MCLEAN in person! Women like surprises of course and life usually provides those of the nasty kind, but the opportunity of making this day into one of the "nice variety" was just too much for me resist!

Having delegated the "school runs" weeks in advance and teed up a nice lunch venue on the Thames (en route) in anticipation, we set off to Hammersmith to meet the rest of the "Alan Howard Project". All over lunch I had been torturing myself whether to let the "cat out of the bag" (or at least expose a paw or two), but then decided to see how far this surprise thing could run if allowed to "freewheel" a bit.

We eventually arrived outside the Apollo where all the other "Kindred Spirits" were assembled and quickly mentioned (wherever I could) that Kim was completely innocent of the whole proceedings. I have to thank all concerned for "going along" with me at this point (I think because everyone there put themselves in Kim's shoes and thought "Wow, I'd love this to happen to me sometime!"),

I was really beginning to think it would "keep" right up to the point where Don was behind Kim and I could utter my, by then, much mentally practiced line - "You wanted to see Don Mclean? Well turn-around he's behind you!", when Kim spotted his name on the billboard outside the Theatre. Just as well actually because as she did so she "filled up", legs gave way, blood pressure dropped etc, resulting (as all present will attest) in me having to escort her into the Theatre to "powder her nose".

Under the "extenuating circumstances" a helpful young Theatre Assistant let us both in through a "tradesman's entrance" into the theatre. En route we both caught a glimpse through widely open doors of the empty auditorium, already frantically busy stage crews, and the fully powered-up lighting rigs all directed at the "centre-staged" lone vocal mic-stand and side-positioned stage monitor speakers that are the haul-mark signature of any modern day "unplugged" (more on this later) performing Guitar laden singer/songwriter.

At this moment I had rapidly begun displaying all the symptoms I am hoping I was about to assist Kim in overcoming, and I am ashamed to say, was about as much use to her from this point on as as "A One-Legged Dwarf In A A**e-Kicking Competition".

Having ogled the stage from a distance for as long as we could without the helpful Theatre Assistant getting "the twitches" we found ourselves propping each other up back "on the street" when, after what only seemed like a few seconds we were beckoned back into the Apollo (this time in a more official manner) by the same young Theatre Assistant. We were going inside to be with Mr. DON MCLEAN, breathe the same air (not very clean as it later turned out), see the same surroundings and smell the same smells!
Suddenly Kim and I perk right up!

The hug I got from Kim and this stage reminded me of the very first one she'd ever given me....it was the kind of hug that you thought would go on forever - in many, many ways I know this is actually the truth. Call me an "Old Romantic" (well, middle-aged would be better!), but you can't buy a moment in time like that one, whatever your bank statement is reading. I didn't feel guilty though - let's be honest, who could love Don's music and not call
themselves "Romantic"? Wasn't this a group-call for all us true Romantics after all?

I was reminded then and there of Don's short introductory passage in the first of his songbooks, which I paraphrase from memory (The inside cover it was written on having long gone to leave only its dog-eared contents) -

"People are never satisfied unless they analyse and destroy whatever magic they find in things in the first place - and I believe in magic".

At this point so did everyone in the Alan Howard Project, about to enter the Hammersmith Apollo, and, more importantly all of us knew the exact identity of the Magician who was about to cast his spell over us. It was time to start seriously thinking about chevys, flaming flowers that brightly blaze, mummies and wonderful babies...."

David Fulton writes: "Having only arrived in England on Monday from Germany and realising that a short trip to London is an endless marathon of hop-on/hop-off between tube and taxi, my wife and I finally made it (late!) to the arranged meeting venue - the Blue Anchor.

This rendezvous was an amazing experience, Dave, Pam, Alan, Diane, Bill, Loeki, Eva…….created such an atmosphere sat outside that cosy little pub, that we all felt that we'd known each other for years and had been sitting there for hours. (Although, if we had been sitting there for hours - with that continuous flow of ale - I don't think I would have remembered all those names).

Anyway, there wasn't much time for drinking, as Alan soon got us all on our feet and on our way to the Apollo for an occasion, that we all knew was going to be something that we would all treasure for ever. My "ticker" was pounding like a Trinidad steel drum, I was in conversation during the short 10 minute walk, but not really registering what I was saying or hearing. I was much too preoccupied with what was about to happen. For the last 28 years I had been, as vigorously as possible, following close behind a man and his music, who in a physical sense seemed to be light years away from me - and now this - I was on the eve of a confrontation with the nucleus of those years of admiration, perhaps the feeling could be described as being the exact opposite of a déja-vu, a feeling that I had never had before and probably never would again.

Well, we all got to the Apollo where we met the others, including Gary Chance, Dave Moore and his wife, plus two people who had come over for the week all the way from New Zealand. Just after we arrived, Leana climbed out of a taxi to join us.
But perhaps the nicest thing that happened at this point was when Ronnie's wife cried tears of pure joy when she found out that she was, not only here for a concert, but an invitation to the sound check and the - more or less - inevitable meeting with Don McLean.

We hung around outside for sometime, Alan having found out, that Don hadn't arrived yet (this was about 4.00 pm).
After a little while two cars caught our eyes as they gracefully pulled out of the humdrum of the Hammersmith traffic and made their way past the side, to the rear of the theatre. We knew it couldn't be anyone else, as the tell-tale wave from an open window of one of the cars suggested (was it Don or perhaps Ralph who waved-I'm not really sure?).

Slowly, cautiously, led by Alan we made our way through the main entrance of the Apollo and into the stalls area. What we all saw was a bit difficult to fathom - the man who wrote and sang some of the most memorable verses this side of WW2 standing with his band on the stage amid a jungle of wires, musical instruments and microphone stands - and the place was EMPTY! Dave (Cookie) - (what a fellah!)- summed it up nicely by saying he badly needed pinching, this was how I think we all felt at that moment.

Enjoying the private the concert

We were invited by Don to take a front seat, take photos if we wanted to, and enjoy - and enjoy we did - a good hour to an hour and a half of pure and natural sound-checking: The very Thought of You, Love Letters, On the Amazon, River of Love, Jerusalem, to mention but a few. None of us were actually sure after each song, whether we were supposed to applaud or not during a sound check. But Don, having noticed our dilemma, assured us it was fine by him.
Don made us feel so relaxed, welcome and comfortable, it really was as if we were all sat huddled together in his living room. It was intimate and heart-warming, he performed so naturally and with such concentration, as if it didn't make any difference whether we were there or not. It was bliss on a lollipop stick, that unfortunately had to end.
Don then came over to the edge of the stage to meet, and have a brief chat with us,
He is such a pleasant chap, so polite, his mellow charm warmed me right to my toes. He was everything I'd always imagined him to be.
I was also thrilled at the opportunity to meet another fine gentleman - Ralph Childs.

To Don and his band it was just another sound check, to me it was a precious, priceless ornament that I will guard and treasure for the rest of my days.

Thank you Don, thank you Alan, for this infinitely valuable and magic experience."

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