I
have little to no interest in comics. I’ve read a few mangas (Battle Royale and
Death Note, really, and even then I haven’t read all of them) but I’ve never
been particularly into superheroes, I’m much more of a Disney princesses girl. However,
when FVK announced they were releasing a comic and would be at London Comicon
Louise, Annabel and I immediately knew we were going. It was only just over a
week after the end of K! tour but we all missed the lads so much already that
we weren’t willing to pass up the opportunity to see them. Plus it had the
added bonus of falling the day after Beveridge’s birthday which meant I had the
perfect opportunity to give him a card I’d bought him at a comic convention I’d
bought about a week before. (The Dead Lay Waiting launched THEIR comic at
Midlands Super Comicon in Telford like a day or so after the end of K! tour so
we’d gone to that too cos it was so close to both of our homes.) I’ve only
brought this card up because I umm-ed and ahh-ed all the way to London about
whether to give it to Beveridge or not, and in fact I’d umm-ed and ahh-ed over
whether to even buy it in the first place because the outcome was either going
to be really good or really bad. I should probably stop rambling and just
explain that the card said “I LOVE YOU YOU CUNT” on the front, which I’d seen
and found hilarious obviously thanks to my love for Beveridge saying cunt. I
eventually wrote in it in the car just before we went into the convention,
because it had taken me until then to decide that I was actually just going to
brave it and give it to him. I had to hide it as I wrote in it though, because
as this was a convention and not a gig Louise had brought the twins, Bill and
Ted, with her to meet FVK. I think they were probably about 7 so you know, the
card wasn’t exactly the most appropriate thing for them to see, so I kept it
away from little eyes as well as I could. I’d also made Beveridge a scarf identical
to (well…slightly better than) the one I’d made him the first time I met him,
because at some point I’d asked him what had happened to it and he said he
didn’t know where it had gone, so I knitted him a new one.
I
don’t think we’d booked to go in for two days but for some reason when we got
there we ended up with a two day pass which was really cool cos it was on a
proper lanyard and made me feel super important because I am an actual child.
We spent quite a while wandering around cos the lads weren’t actually all sat
down at the table when we got there. I know Drew and Shane came and talked to us for a
bit because I remember them being there and talking to the twins (and I remember
making them into t-rexes), but my main memory of before I bought my poster is
seeing Beveridge and going up to him to give him his scarf. I had it around my
neck at the time, so I took it off me and told him to bend down so I could put
it on him, so he did. The only issue was, I’m such a clumsy twat that as I
reached up to put it around his neck I caught his face with my fingernail and
started apologising profusely and stroking his face. I continued this for a
couple of seconds before I realised that I was literally stood there STROKING
HIS FUCKING FACE and then we made really awkward eye contact and I apologised
repeatedly again and he just stood there and went “Do…um…do you have any gum?”
…….It’s really made me uncomfortable recounting that I’m not even gonna lie
hahaha holy shit. God bless Beveridge and his amazing ability to make me feel
like I haven’t just made myself look like the biggest tit in the whole world.
I
remember at one point talking to Pill and telling him I couldn’t be his friend
any more because he was wearing a pair of bright white clearly fairly new
converse pumps. However, when I looked more closely I realised they had red
spots on them, and slightly warily I asked what the substance was. He informed
me it was cranberry juice. I strongly suspect it was mixed with vodka, and that
was how it came to be on his shoes.
When
we went to actually see the lads sat at their table Steve was there with them,
and he arranged us all into a queue to walk up and talk to them and get the
posters they were selling signed. The posters were limited to a run of 100 and
were all numbered, and I ended up with number two cos Steve made sure we were
at the front of the queue, bless him. As I walked up to the table I noticed a
coffee stirrer with a squiggle on it that I recognised as Kemp’s autograph. I
asked why the fuck he’d signed a stirrer and he informed me he’d been
‘practicing’ on it and told me I could have it if I wanted it. I still don’t
really understand why I took it, but I did and it’s still in my box of weird FVK
shit.
After
we’d queued to meet the lads and got shit signed we just sort of stood to the
side because there was hardly anyone else there and we figured we’d be able to
spend some extra time with the lads before they’d have to leave. I don’t really
remember how any of what happened next happened but I ended up on my own (I
think Louise and Annabel went to the toilet but neither of them were
contactable and I wandered away from where we were supposed to meet up) and
buggered off to go and see if I could find Beveridge to apologise again for
stabbing and then caressing his face. He’d gone to see a guy whose name I think
is David Lloyd, who did the art for the V for Vendetta comic because he wanted
a photo with him and his autograph. I eventually found him with Kemp, who was
stood with one of Jen’s cameras waiting to take a photo for Beveridge. I sort
of hung back wanting to talk to them but not wanting to interrupt when Kemp
suddenly took a photo of me. I don’t know why he did it, and I don’t think he
did either, but I hope it got deleted because it will have been the most
unflattering thing ever because I was literally just stood looking gormless
trying to form sentences in my head. Oh well. I think I wandered off again to
try and find Louise at this point, but instead I found Shane surrounded by a
group of fans and looking very lost and confused. A soon as he saw me he waved
me over and said “Meg, can you take me to the rest of my band please?” which
was probably one of the cutest things I’ve ever heard in my life. I told him of
course I would and led him away. The people he’d been talking to followed us
for a bit but the bonus of knowing the lads quite well is that a lot of the
time people seem to think you work for/with them and so no-one questions you
when you interrupt or lead them away, and so they didn’t stay with us for long.
I took Shane to where I’d last seen Kemp and Beveridge and luckily they were
still there so I left him there and went to look at a stall that had caught my
eye a few tables down. It was this stall I decided to buy Beveridge a second
birthday card from, because the Cunt one (while hilarious to Pill) hadn’t
really gone down that well with him, and I didn’t like the thought of him being
unimpressed with me. The card I bought for him from the stall was really cute
and had a panda on it and the message “I didn’t know what to get you for your
birthday so here’s a chubby panda holding an ice lolly”. I didn’t think until
after I’d bought it that it might come across that I was calling Beveridge a
chubby panda but I just went with it cos to be fair it couldn’t possibly have
gone down as badly as my other one so you know. I actually strolled over seconds
after I’d bought it and gave it to him still in the cellophane because it
seemed like an amusing idea at the time. However, he then said something about
that meaning he could re-use it and give it to someone else and I said “You can’t do that, I bought it
for you!” and he pulled me into a hug and said “Don’t worry, if I do give it to
someone I’ll make sure it’s my BEST friend.” and gave me a squish. At that
point I took it back off him and wrote in it so he couldn’t re-use it.
The
last thing I remember is asking Kemp to take a photo of Beveridge and I because
mum had said Beveridge and I looked similar, especially when we had our glasses
on, and because we both had them on I wanted a photo of us both together.
Because I still hadn’t actually found Louise the only person I could think of
to ask was Kemp. I regretted that almost as soon as I’d handed my camera over
because instead of taking a photo he turned the damn thing off. He then started
shouting “Take, you bastard!” at it and I ended up with the most unflattering
photo ever because I’m half laughing half giving Kemp the most suspicious look
ever and it’s just… not good.
Shortly
after that the lads left, having told me they had to go and make a video for
Kerrang! (This turned out to be Noise Town, and in it Shane is wearing the
scarf I’d given Beveridge because he’d said he was cold and Beveridge let him
borrow it.) As they walked out Kemp walked past me and hit me on the head with
a tin full of fairy cakes he’d been given. This probably sounds like a really
stupid thing to add in, but the reason I’ve included it is because that was the
moment I realised Kemp and I were friends. I’d been playfully teasing him for a
while (not as much as I do now, you understand, I didn’t go in going “Kemp
you’re a prick”, I’ve worked my way up to that) but that was the first time
he’d done it to me, and it made me so happy to think that he felt comfortable
enough with me that I almost felt tearful. But not too tearful. I mean it was
still Kemp after all.
Until
next time,
Meg
Mercury xoxo
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