. I'm Deb from the UK (not just a clever username 
) and I was lucky enough to experience my first Jimmy concert last night. For those of you who don't know, the Shepherd's Bush Empire is a tiny venue - an old-fashioned theatre with a capacity of 2000 - so a pretty special place to see anyone, let alone a legend who normally plays to audiences in the tens of thousands.We arrived at around 2pm yesterday afternoon with the intention of being first in line. There were half a dozen hardcore Parrotheads already there (from Oklahoma City and Miami, from memory). They were in line for the ground floor standing area, but knowing the venue, we'd booked for the lower circle and were first in line for the separate entrance to the upper levels. All the ticketing for this venue is unreserved, albeit there are seats in the upper levels. To either side of the auditorium on the lower level are two small rows of seats. We wanted to be in the front row, closest to the stage (those seats are very close to the stage). The doors opened promptly at 7pm and we literally ran up those stairs. Imagine our shock when we found that both rows on either side, plus the front row at the rear all had "reserved" signs on them. To say we were devastated would be an understatement! The security staff told us they'd been reserved for VIP guests of the band. WHAT?! They apologised, saying it was extremely unusual at this venue. When the show started, hardly any of them had been taken, but people did start to trickle in and fill them during the first half hour. From a comment Jimmy made, it seems they were employees of the recording studio in London which he and Mac have used for many years (and where some elements of the new album are currently being recorded). The worst of it is, most of them didn't seem to "get it" at all. They could at least have had the decency to look as though they were having a good time!
Anyway, we weren't going to let that spoil our first ever Jimmy gig and we did have a fantastic view from our second row seats at the rear of the circle. Jimmy and the Coral Reefers came on stage on the stroke of 8:15 (I hate it when bands make you wait) and played the most amazing 2 1/2 hour set (actually, it was probably closer to 2 hours, 15, but that doesn't roll off the tongue so easily
). And guess what? I caught one of the signed flip-flops which Jimmy threw into the audience at the end of the show, so I guess we weren't meant to be in those side seats, after all. 
Can I upload photos and/or video here? Anyone have any questions?
Apparently she got a great smile and a hug, so that traffic did her a favour!
No need to smuggle cameras into this venue, but sadly we only had a little Sony thing. We did get a few photos and some rather poor video footage with it, but I wish we'd taken the DSLR. My brother's probably got some better photos, so I'll try to acquire them!