" I went straight from work to the city and i met my friend Lucy on the bus on the way up... we got to the city about 5:45pm and just decided to head straight to the Olympia so that we could get a good spot...so we were there from about 6 ish.. and we stood till the doors opened early at 7.., got some of the merch, badges, a hoodie and Eimear asked me to pick her up something from the gig.. Anyways back to the gig.... we still managed to get prime spot at the very front and right by KT and Sam!!! Score!!! Ed came on about 8 and did roughly about 5 or 6 songs...the poor guy though, practically the whole audience talked through his set and he was trying everything to get them to stop...playing off key, trying to deafen them...lol but none of it worked...poor divil... but he was very good... my friend Lucy absolutely loves him so she was really glad that we got to see him... then came the time...

KT!!!! awww she was awesome... I can't really fault her on anything... everything was just amazing....but because she had come on a little late at Belfast i thought that the same might happen for this night... so that would mean that we wouldn't been in time for the last bus out of the city...so I texted my folks and asked would they collect us around 12, giving me time for the gig to be late and to maybe plead and beg for a setlist or a plektrum ...they said that they would be there by 11:45... ok I thought that's grand...the show was awesome and, in typical Irish fashion, the crowd were great and were really giving it loads but it's coming to the last song "through the dark" and I look at my watch and it's just after 10!!! We hung around for a while to see could i get anything, and eventually one of the roadies took all the set lists off the floor and I'm like "ooo ooo me me pllllleeeeaaaasssseeeeee" and he hands me one!!! YAY! to be honest I wasn't expecting anything else...I would have gone home happy with just that!

But we made our way out of the Olympia and so we had to wait because our lift wasn't going to be there for the best part of an hour... so we are standing down the side street just on the corner lying against the wall, watching all the drunk people go by and chatting and laughing, when this really nice lady comes up to us and says "are you girls waiting for KT?"...i said to her that we were waiting for our lift but that if KT did come it would be a complete bonus... so we chatted to her for a while and she was saying that her daughter (whose name was Ann i think) was waiting after an Alicia Keys concert a while ago, and that they had told her that they vary the doors that the artists come out of...

So at this stage it's about 3/4 of an hour later and we are still all waiting around but nothing...the stage truck has come and it has parked down the side street and the guys are putting all of the stage stuff on there...they have also put barriers down one side of the streets so that people can't walk up and down it but guess who is in the middle of them...yup me...

So I have been posted by the stage door down the side street and this guy from the Olympia comes out and he says “oh there’s a reason that the barriers are up there love..”… so I kinda look a bit sheepish a slowly move away. 'Ann' is standing at the corner, and poor old lucy is still standing in the same spot bless her...so as I’m walking back towards Lucy, for some reason I look over my shoulder and i see this dark curly haired chap...could it be...so i call him "Sam, sam..." and he turns around! IT IS HIM!!! "hi" he says in his english accent...queue much ummm'ing and ammm'ing from me... "Sam would you sign my set list for me?", "sure no problem" he goes and he signs it...

So I am looking at my watch again and i have gotten a text from my folks saying that they are there and that they are waiting...drat! No sign of anyone else...so i go to sam "sam could you please get KT to sign it for me?"... "oh well she will be coming out in a minute if you want to get her to sign it yourself" he says …"please sam my lift has come and i don't know if i am going to get the chance ...i might have to go"... lucy has come up behind me at this stage and Ann has copped to who I am talking to...so sam obliges, asks me what my name is, disappears for a few seconds and comes back out with my ticket and set list signed (thank you Sam! )... result!!! So Lucy sees it and she asks can she have her ticket so that she can get it signed...and Ann’s all ""ooo ooo let meee see" *eeek* ... so she starts shouting at sam..."sam is kt coming? will she be out soon" ...Sam says yes and then disappears...

So we are now standing on the other side of the alley way at this stage and there are rubbish bags all around us...when who pops out only KT herself ...."KT!KKKKKKTTTTTT!!!!" Ann's screaming in my ear again ... so KT shouts over from the other side of the truck (no pun intended) "come 'round the front"...so we proceed to run (don’t ask me why) to the top of the truck but I nearly kill myself over one of the rubbish bags that have been left out on the street, but I'm ok...we run to the barrier to get round it when the t-shirt that I am carrying for Eimear gets caught on the edge of the barrier and i am pulled backwards but because Ann is running right behind me she slams into me which sends me flying forward straight into Luke!!!!! *dying of embarrassment* so Luke smiles and asks if I'm ok and Ann is busy trying to unhook the t-shirt for me...finally we get round to the front where we all were originally standing at the start... and KT is looking at the three of us as if to say "right girls who's first"...so I'm thinking that since I have gotten my stuff signed already that i would let one of the other girls go... and Lucy is standing right in front of her but she hasn't said anything to KT so KT holds out her hand to get something to sign and she asks Lucy what her name is and so she tells her and KT looks at her and goes "oh I saw you, you were standing in the front weren't ya" so Lucy is grinning like a Cheshire cat at this...then she does the same for Ann and Ann hands her this letter that she has written for her and KT says "thank you very much" and holds on to it...so I pluck up the courage to ask her to sign one of the tickets for friend, which I wanted to send to him.. then Lucy pipes up and asks can she get a picture and before I know it lucy has given me the camera (and with this next bit I really must have looked stupid) but the screen is black and so I go to Lucy "oh Luce your cameras not working what do I do?" and Lucy looks at me and goes "it should be, it's just the screensaver just press something"...ooohhh right *ahem* so I take the pic for her and the flash goes off and the two of them look beautiful in it...so then I scramble for mine and do the same as Lucy did and Lucy takes the pic but I have the flash turned off...so KT says "did that work... I didn't see the flash go off... do you want to take it again...are you sure that it's alright?" (yeah it's perfect except I'm in it *cough*)...so then I make an eejet of myself yet again and start going "thank you KT that's so nice of you, and thanks for taking the time to do this, and, and ...and....*die* why didn't I stop at one thank you... so KT is just going "it's alright, no problem, your welcome" lol!

So then she takes a pic with Ann...and we are all delighted and are on our merry way and KT and Luke and two other people all pile into a taxi (!) and as they are leaving i turn around and Ann is waving at them like a mad one! lol! so Lucy and I finally meet up with the folks and lucy is dead chuffed that KT actually recognised her and signed her ticket personally and at this stage I am wrecked tired from the last couple of days, I haven’t really eaten properly for the last few days and I have a pounding migrane...but I am sooooo happy that this was one if not the best gigs ever that i don't really mind...."

thank you (again) to KT and the boys for your talent, generosity and kindness that made this such a great evening…

Amy/Cherry Tree xo