I always promised that this blog would be honest and open about my experiences throughout the events and experience I get to undertake on here. So here we go. This one started out in the Hotel room in Greenwich. I was really unsure about going or not. So much so that I kept myself late hoping that time would make the decision for me. – Next thing I find myself walking down for the DLR. I made my way to the venue, or close to the venue at least. Omeara, which is just a few minutes walk from London Bridge Tube Station. I do so much prep work for attending these events, I found myself naturally knowing where to go without stopping to check my route. I found the street the venue was on easily. And then I stood there, at the end of the road for 10-20 minutes going back and forth in my head as to if I was going to venture inside or not. Eventually I forced myself down the road towards the venue and the next thing I was showing my ticket and my wrist was stamped. I was inside.

I went to the bar first of all and asked for a drink.. they didn’t have it so I ended up with a Disaronno & Coke. Fine. Expensive.. and I mean Jesus.. but ok, drink bought. The venue of Omeara is.. intimate. Perfect for the evening’s entertainment, but tiny compared to the recent arena tour that King’s has been on in the past year. But for her first headline show in London.. perfect. I found a place (by the bar) to stand with something to lean on. The feet had already started to fade after the traveling and the walk to the venue. I got there about 19:20 and there were people there, but it was not at all full at that point. Steadily over time the venue started to fill up and I noticed that I was not the only person there who was alone. I was also not the only person there who was older in nature. So the two things I was worrying about where immediately struck off the list of queries.

The first of the two support artists came on. The first was a guy called “Clide”. I hadn’t heard of him or his music before tonight but he was a good singer. He played about 5 or 6 tracks to open up the night and he did so to a small but appreciative audience. Next up was the second support act, a singer called “Sophia Alexa” who again I haven’t heard any music from previously to tonight, but she seems to be a little more established than the first support act. Again she played about 5-6 songs before the stage was reset for Kings Elliot. I was on my second Disaronno & coke by this point as I thought.. why the hell not. It’s been a month full of bills and financial responsibilities, so why the hell not. It was at this point where my space holding up the bar became a little smaller and tighter as we approached the time for Kings Elliot to come out on to the stage. A very nice, friendly couple came and asked if they could squeeze in next to me and the water-cooler and I accommodated as long as I could retain the little part of the bar I was using to lean on. We got to talking and I was introduced to this friendly couple. We shared an interest and admiration of Kings and looked forward to the performance. I am going to leave out names and details etc out of respect for their privacy, but I will just say that the simple act of them coming over and striking up a conversation with me made the rest of the night run so much smoother than I was expecting. – And a lot more happened than I thought would happen too.

Kings Elliot burst onto the stage following a short instrumental introduction to one of her tracks and I have no other words than ‘Wow’. To say she can really sing is an understatement. She really, really can sing. Live she sounds just like she does on recordings. Sure the backing track is playing too and the keyboardist is accompanying that too. But there is a lot of talent and power on the stage. Kings is visibly nervous when she first gets on to the stage, but that doesn’t show through in the flawless performance of the first song. Next up is Butterfly Pen which.. is currently my absolute favorite track of hers. There are a lot of lyrics in that song that are easily relatable, but that goes for every single song she’s written too. There is something in there for everybody, that’s the beauty of Kings Elliot’s music. It comes from the heart, from a place of truth and feelings and sometimes that truth hurts. The music and lyrics exist in a space that feels safe and inclusive. It’s like being welcomed to a group therapy session where the people there actually care enough to provide support.

Kings proceeded to play most if not all of her released material, with classics from “Chaos in my Court” and later tracks from “Bored of the Circus”. Throughout Kings is direct in her interactions with the audience. Making eye contact with the whole audience, not just those lucky enough to be standing at the front of the stage. Kings seemed to be genuinely worried that nobody would turn up, which is a crazy thought because her growing army of sick puppies would have been there regardless. But a real mix of audience members were present from start to finish, filling out the small and intimate venue. Before we knew it the set was approaching the end but before the final song of the set, Kings did her now traditional recording of her audience shouting “Sick Puppies” back to her while she captured it for Instagram. She has done this as part of every show she has performed, from her arena tours as a supporting artist for Imagine Dragons, her European tour and this headlining show in London. The final song of her set was the latest song she has released, called “Lost Again” which was the official theme From “The Callisto Protocol”, a very scary horror game that was recently released. For this track she was joined on stage by a cellist (person who plays the Cello), and a violinist who added additional depth to the track. – It sounds like it could be a bond song, so powerful but it still retains the charm and things that make it a quantifiable Kings Elliot song.

As an encore, Kings then re-played “Call me a Dreamer” but this time with the accompaniment of the Violin and Cello. This time slower, with more feeling ending with a wonderful acapella solo.

In summary, I really am so pleased that I decided to go inside the venue. To see Kings perform was nothing short of amazing. Hearing those songs sung live with an audience singing along in that venue was actually quite therapeutic. A cathartic and almost trance-inducing experience for me, my newly made friends and I think the whole audience. Tonight was a reason.. Tonight was.. A reason to go out and step outside of your comfort zone, and go and do the things that you don’t think you can do, because you literally never know who you are going to meet or what situations will play out. Just.. don’t think about it and just do it. – Now for me to say that…

Edit: The experience was topped off by getting the chance to later on meet Kings in person and chat to her for a few minutes. We took some photos and if you know where to look you might be able to find them. This was the absolute, unexpected cherry on top. There is so much more I could write about this experience, but I think some of that I will keep to myself. All in all, an amazing night and I am so glad that I pushed myself to do it. – Big thanks to my newly friended friends I met at the venue for giving me the confidence to.. be more comfortable in the situation, and as always to those who’ve been supporting me throughout this x40 journey. You know who you are – I thank you muchly.