Infotainment- Scouting For Girls: Up tight and personal
After entering a rival with Wave 105 radio station to win a couple of Scouting For Girls "Up closely and personal" tickets, not in a billion years did I suppose I would actually, in fact, win them. However, against all odds, my call was proclaimed on the radio as being one of 5 winners, and I could not bear my excitement!
Having been a huge, slightly obsessive SFG fan a few days ago, I had already seen them perform twice before; once at Bournemouth BIC and most recently, amongst thousands at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2008.
Whether or not you have always seen Scouting For Girls play live, they are comparatively well known and feature had numerous songs appear in the UK charts, such as the famously sweet "She`s so lovely". Whilst the bulk of people enjoy listening to their bouncy feel-good tunes with light-hearted lyrics, there are too many who lead a strong dislike to their pop songs.
The locale for this particular gig was the Soul Celler in Southampton. Whilst the venue itself is small, it offers a brilliant atmosphere and has been host to many nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. This "up tight and personal" performance was really much exclusive, and guests were just capable to embark upon invitation, resulting in numbers being limited. All 200 of us crammed into the upstairs bar area, ready for the bands entrance at 8pm. Being in such a close fitting space and incredibly close to the point made me quite apprehensive, and the turmoil of waiting for Scouting For Girls to enter was causing my support to resemble something like to a washing machine. Thankfully, it wasn`t too long before they appeared and with a warm friendly greeting, launched into their set.
The set list was great, and included songs from their first album as good as some new, more recent material. The crew was buzzing and existence so closely was absolutely phenomenal! Who needed the zoom on their camera? I was near enough to reach them! The better character for me was when they took a part from the telling and did a head and answer session. This involved many laughs and yet an on-stage proposal from an audience member! The things people do to get on stage...
All in all, the whole gig was a wonderful experience. The set were large and even stayed behind to make a few drinks with some audience members, signing autographs and posing for photos. It was defiantly worth entering the contest and I look really privileged to have been there. Let`s hope there are many similar gigs to come! 
Hannah GrovesPhoto: Hannah Groves
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