We left Northampton at around 6pm, in the midst of rain, thunder and lightening. I hoped it would subside as we headed north, but that wasn't to be. The pesky storm followed us all the way to Sheffield. When we got there we found the venue without too much difficulty, the problem was finding somewhere to park. After driving round in circles for a while, partly due to the restictions for the trams, we stopped and checked the map to see how we could get to the back of the venue, and finally found somewhere to park. It was now 9pm.

I spotted Nigel soon after entering the premises, and got a hello hug from him. He proudly showed my the 8-track CD album that would be on sale, before rushing off to talk to some other people, and then getting ready for the gig. He was all over the place, bless him.

My friend, Sean, and I went through to the back room, where we had our hands stamped with 'Bob the Builder' after paying the entrance fee. (He's finally washed off now...) We waited for The Freeloaders to grace the stage at 9:45pm, and were suprised to find that Trueflo were on beforehand. Pippa Fulton's new girl group were pretty good, and Sean was quite impressed (he didn't watch Fame Academy), he especially liked Pippa's rendition of 'Don't Wanna Miss A Thing'. They also did a dance rendition of Madonna's classic hit 'Holiday', aswell as a few original tracks. The three girls did themselves proud, and were a good start to the evenings entertainment.

After a short break, so that the guys could hook up their guitars etc, The Freeloaders finally graced the stage with their presence. They began their set with 'Inside and Out', the first track on the album, they also sang 'Missing Me', a track that David Sneddon helped to write, and who was in the audience. They sang a few more tracks which were well recieved by the crowd. There was a good turnout and everyone seemed to enjoy the music, including Sean, who was impressed by Nigel's vocal range. I picked up a copy of the CD, for a mere £5, whilst they were on stage, as Nigel kept advising us in between songs that there were still some left!! Sean decided to buy a copy a little later.

After the gig we waited out near the main bar area, to see if Nigel would emerge. Whilst waiting I met a fellow internet fan of Nigel's, Sophie, who is one his younger fans, and was at the gig with her mum. Nigel eventually escaped the main hall and invited Sean and me to the 'after gig party' upstairs. We went upstairs to join the others assembled there. The party kind of fizzled out, perhaps due to the band being pre-occupied with packing up their gear and saying goodbye to those leaving. When Nigel finally made it upstairs he was collared for a couple of autographs, and then David Sneddon popped up to say goodbye. I didn't get much of a chance to chat to Nigel as an 'important person' was interested in talking to him, so he said his goodbyes and dashed off into the night.

We left to head home at about midnight, and fortunately the weather had cleared up a bit, so the drive home was dry. I finally got home at about 2:45am. A worthwhile trip.

Photo Gallery - I took a few photo's, but as usual they're not anything special....