Ronan Keating's great concert in Leeds Castle.羅南演唱會

Ronan's concert at Leeds Castle.

早在五月就計劃好七月一日的演唱會行程,這次羅南(Ronan Keating)的演唱會還是在英國最美麗的里茲城堡(Leeds Castle)舉辦的喔!看到這裡,你一定覺得很心動吧!又可以逛城堡又可以聽演唱會,說真的,我也是這麼想的.不過…我的第一場在英國的演唱會經驗讓我幾乎不想再參加任何不管是誰在英國開的演唱會.不過,這場演唱會真的是令我難忘!!一直很喜歡羅南的音樂,他也是位很認真的樂手,一直努力的培養實力,從早期的偶像路線到現在的實力派歌手,除此之外，他也非常關心慈善和整個世界的問題.這麼有大愛又認真的歌手也是少見!!

我已經去過里茲城堡，但是再去一次又何妨?從倫敦到里茲城堡不是件難事，而且,不管你要坐公車或火車遊里茲城堡都可以買套票(火車或公車票加門票).七月一日當天,我和瑋瑋拖到下午才出門還做了豆皮壽司當晚餐呢!到了火車站買票時,賣票的人說,他們今天和明天不能賣往里茲城堡的票給乘客,我說,可是我們等一下要在那裡聽演唱會呀!所以他就賣給我們到Bearsted的票(通常到里茲城堡玩的遊客必須在Bearsted換接駁公車).此時,我已經開始擔心等我們到達Bearsted時該怎麼到里茲城堡,不會要走路吧:( 我昨天已經查過最晚的火車從Bearsted回倫敦是1040pm,真不知道還有沒有公車可以到Bearsted??瑋瑋和我想得挺樂觀的,決定到了Bearsted再來想辦法吧!

等我們到達Bearsted時,看到貼出來的告示:里茲城堡今天只開放到430pm.我們的心就涼了半截,因為這表示我們不止不能逛城堡也沒有接駁車可以搭到城堡,天啊!不會真要走路去吧!當然沒有!!我們要搭計程車啦!不過,英國的計程車可不是隨招隨有的,你必須打電話預定的…我們對Bearsted根本不熟,又哪來的計程車電話呀! 問了在火車站的站務人員,好心的告訴我們火車站旁邊有家小小的辦公室,裡面有人可以幫我們訂.小地方的人果然都比較善良吧!辦公室裡的先生非常有耐心的回答我每一個問題,並不斷的幫我想辦法.告訴我們該如何做才能搭到最後一班火車回倫敦.他要我們早點離開演唱會現場,並想辦法走到離里茲城堡最近的Hollingbourne火車站,這樣我們就可以趕上火車回倫敦了.得知這個消息對我和瑋瑋來說真的是鬆了一口氣,至少我們不用擔心回不去的話怎麼辦…

當我們抵達里茲城堡的入口時,天空非常掃興的下起毛毛雨,我心想,最好等一下就停,不能演唱會就會被取消了啊!!走到演唱會入口時,我和瑋瑋先是被不怎麼長的隊伍給嚇到了(我們以為會有很多人的),再來是給英國人的全副武裝給嚇到了,帳篷,五百萬大雨傘,毛毯,椅子,桌子(還真有人帶!),食物等等全都帶齊了,反觀我和瑋瑋只帶了一把傘,我們倆的晚餐和水而已(真是一點也不專業).雨在此時也開始越下越急了,我也覺得越來越冷了…什麼爛天氣嘛!都七月了,怎麼還像是冬天啊?!

這場演唱會的票只有兩種:一種是有位置坐,離舞台較近的票,另一種是沒有預設位置也離舞台較遠的票.我們買的當然是便宜的沒座位票囉!(加加有的沒的費,也要42鎊說…)這場演唱會是在里茲城堡的大花園舉行的,所以更有是一種野餐的感覺,如果是豔陽高照的大晴天,坐在綠油油的草地上野餐應該是很棒的享受,但是,如果是又冷又濕的下雨天,可是讓人吃不消的.我們的經驗是屬於後者.英國天氣的多變和不可預測是出了名的,只是我真沒想到七月也可以這麼冷啊!這場雨似乎是不想錯過羅南的演唱會吧!硬是下了兩個多小時,我和瑋瑋先是共用一把小雨傘,喝著熱巧克力(一杯2.5鎊)取暖,但是,雨越來越大,我們只好去買輕便型雨衣(一件2鎊,我真後悔沒從台灣帶幾件來啊!!!),我最近這個虛弱體質更是凍得直打哆嗦,全身冰冷…說真的,我真想馬上衝回家,縮在暖暖的被窩裡,喝著熱熱的咖啡啊!只是想到我們的60鎊,還是再忍一下好了啦!

等了多久也冷了多久,終於熬到演唱會開唱的時間了…說也奇怪,老天爺也在此時停止掉眼淚了!真是謝天謝地啊!因為是羅南的演唱會,我們滿心期待他的出場,可是,先出場的卻是他或主辦單位請來的佳賓,當場有點被騙的感覺!!這女佳賓唱了半個小時左右吧!以為羅南會馬上出來的,結果並沒有…不知道他們這些有名的歌手是否都有自己專屬的樂隊,所以,不只換主唱,連樂隊也得換.這一換就又花了近半個小時,等到羅南出場時已經是8點40分了,我和瑋瑋的臉也綠了一半了(這和我們的台灣經驗差太多了).只是,我發現英國人倒是很怡然自得,一點也不覺得怎樣,即使下雨,他們也還是挺享受的!是習慣嗎?還是已經見怪不怪了?那我和瑋瑋一定是被台灣給養刁了.

熟悉的旋律,渾厚帶情感的聲音一唱,我們知道那令我們期盼已久的羅南出來了,於是把黏在草地上幾個鐘頭的屁股給搬離地面,隨著他的歌聲或搖或輕聲哼唱.我們發現他的那雙電眼會讓人暈眩,說真的,他也是個大帥哥啦!!我最喜歡他深情的慢歌,從他那溫柔而深情的歌聲中,我好像也掉進那濃情的漩渦中了.我們站的位置離舞台不近,不過,透過電視牆,我們還是可以輕楚看到羅南的一舉一動和他唱歌的表情.我還真喜歡這種現場演唱會的感覺啊!

我和瑋瑋其實一點都不想早點離開羅南演唱會,只是,為了能趕上最晚的火車回倫敦,我們只好忍痛囉!演唱會也在我們起身時接近尾聲,不過,在現場熱情觀眾連連不斷的安可聲中,羅南又再度現身唱了三.四首安可曲,可惜我們已經開始往出口方向走,只能聽到一些餘音.問了工作人員該如何走到我們要去的火車站,他們一臉茫然,告訴我們走到大門會有計程車,我們可以坐計程車去火車站.我們想,好吧!
只不過,我們悲慘的旅程才正要開始呢!

先是在里茲城堡裡迷路,再來是根本沒有計程車在大門口等乘客.打電話訂計程車時,他們不是說計程車全被訂光了就是說他們不到里茲城堡載人的,必須到附近的旅館. 天啊!!我們到底是來到哪一個落後小鎮啊!!而且英國的不成文規定太多了,你根本不知道該聽誰的…在這一來一往中,我們早就趕不上火車了.我們現在大概只有兩個辦法了:坐計程車回倫敦或是住在附近的旅館.不過,不管哪一個決定,我們倆個都一定荷包大失血(真想哭!)

終於找到傳說中的臨近旅館,我們倆個還不死心的問櫃台服務人員還有沒有任何的大眾運輸工具可以回倫敦,他們的答案當然是沒有.看了掛在牆上的價目表(雙人房要120鎊),我和瑋瑋就決定如果價錢可以接受的話,我們還是坐計程車回倫敦吧!好心的櫃台爺爺幫我們問到一家公司,回到倫敦只要60鎊,雖然我們還是覺得貴,但是比住在這裡還便宜了一半,於是我們就決定坐計程車回倫敦了.

千萬別以為我們的演唱會歷險記就到此為止了…還有得瞧的呢!!

一坐上車,司機就問我們要到倫敦的哪裡.我先問他,是否不管到倫敦的任何地方,價錢都是一樣的,他回答我是。我們倆個可高興了,因為他如果可以把我們帶回家,就省了我們找公車,等公車和轉公車的麻煩和時間(倫敦的地鐵不是24小時的,所以我們只能搭公車了)所以,瑋瑋把家裡的地址給了司機.他翻翻地圖,查查他的衛星導航,然後大聲的說,要花兩個小時才會到,對他來說是四個小時(他還得回去),四個小時只收60鎊太不划算了,所以,他要多收我們30鎊才帶我們回家.開什麼玩笑,我們當然不答應,更何況是他說不管到哪都一種價的啊!所以,瑋瑋又努力想了另一個地名給他,這個司機也好笑,把車子停在高速公路的半路上,又翻翻地圖,查查他的笨衛星導航,都查不到我們說的地方.那就不能怪我們啦!身為計程車司機卻大路認不了幾條?!這讓我們耗在半路至少有15分鐘.他終於放棄了並用無奈且不愉悅的語氣說,就到妳們家吧!嘿嘿…是他說的喔!我們可沒逼他!!

只不過我們的心腸都太好啦!當他後來跟我們哈拉的時候,我們就說出我們的善意,說他其實可以帶我們到倫敦市中心就可以,我們可以自己想辦法回家去.他聽了以後,馬上對我們非常的友善和客氣.我們跟他說,他可以載我們到Piccadilly Circus.我們知道該怎麼從那裡回家.只不過,這位司機大爺對倫敦的路和方向一點都不熟,全靠他那笨笨的衛星導航,但是那個笨笨的衛星導航沒辦法告訴他捷徑,所以我們花了近兩個小時才到倫敦市中心.

沒有地鐵,我們只能坐夜間公車回家了!瑋瑋和我都沒試過這樣晚回家的,而且我們也不知道該怎麼轉公車回家.在一連串的折騰之下,當我們回到家時已經是七月二日的凌晨了…回家的路還真遠啊!

我真想念在台灣聽演唱會的經驗,至少沒有交通的問題.台灣在開演唱會的場地附近一定有接駁車或有加班公車再不然隨手一揮也有計程車,不用像我們這次在英國聽演唱會這麼狼狽. 不過,扣除天氣和交通的問題,我還是很喜歡並享受羅南的這場演唱會.希望他也能快有新專輯或演唱會和歌迷交流!只不過,我相信除非演唱會辦在交通便利的場地,不然我是不會再參加任何英國的演唱會了…所以,我想,這次的羅南演唱會很有可能是我第一場也是最後一場在英國的演唱會吧!

The terrible experience of attending concert in UK.

Poor Rita and Jennifer...

Will you be excited if you have a chance to enjoy Ronan Keating's concert at one of the most beautiful castles in UK? It is certainly yes for me and Rita. We planned this trip long ago and were very excited in this first experience in UK. However, after the concert, we both agreed that it would be our first and last concert in UK and we won't recommend people to have any concerts in the castles, no matter whoever is performing that night.

The concert is located at Leeds castle in Kent, quite close to London. It won'tbe my first visit to Leeds castle, however, Rita and I still want to take a look at the castle before the concert begins. I thought about the difficulties we may encounter on the way back to London, however, I had no idea how to solve the problem after checking some much information online. We were thinking that we will still be all right anyway.

How to get to Leeds castle from London? Normally you could take train to bearsted and connect another shuttle bus to Leeds castle or you could take coach to there directly. And you could get the all-in-one ticket (train or bus + admission) at train or coach station. On 1st of July, we went to buy the tickets and the staff told me that they are not allowed to sell tickets to Leeds castle. What? I was puzzled and did not know how to reply him. In this case, we could only get the return train tickets to bearsted station and see how we could get to Leeds castle from that train station. I felt so bad already at the moment.

However, the castle opens till 6-7pm daily except the concert or other special events are progressing. Therefore, when we noticed that the concert will be ended around 11pm, we started to worry about how are we going to catch the last train ahead back to London. Unfortunately, we must choose to enjoy less Ronan's concert or stay over at bearsted. God knows where Bearsted is. It is like that you are in the middle of nowhere and the problem is how are we going to get to Bearsted from Leeds castle at nearly midnight time??? Rita and I decided to leave the concert earlier to catch the last train from Hollingbourne train station (according to the staffs at Bearsted station, hollingbone is the nearest train station to Leeds castle). Both of us felt quite relieved after getting all the information we needed and the brief picture about how to go back to London that night.

It seemed that every difficulty had been solved---believe me, you would not know what terrible things happened to us later on.

Oh…well…well…we shared the taxi to Leeds castle from Bearsted train station with one of staffs who is arranging Ronan's stage tonight. When we arrived at the main gate of Leeds castle and we looked at people queuing for the concert with lots of preparation, such as: tent, umbrellas, chairs, foods, drinks, blankets and so forth. Then,Rita and I looked at each other and laughed out loud for we brought food and drinks with us ONLY. I did not even bring umbrella with me. Remember: The weather in UK is always unpredictable and changeable, so it started to rain heavily since we were queuing for entering the garden/park.

The concert held at the big garden/park in the Leeds castle and there were 2 types of tickets: reserved and unreserved. The reserved ones are closer to the stage with seats and of course, more expensive than the unreserved ones. You need to find your own places to enjoy your concert anywhere in the garden/park. Anyway, it is more like a picnic style of concert. The weather was so damn cold that day and it rained so hard. Rita and I were freezed to death. The small umbrella could not prevent us from getting wet at all and that made both of us thinking of going home immediately. We had dame expensive hot chocolate (2.5 pounds) and easy raincoat (2 pounds) but still felt so chilly. Rita and I were thinking of getting home all the time…
BELIEVE ME: YOU WOULD NEVER WANT TO ENJOY YOUR CONCERT IN RAIN.

The rain did not stop at all till the concert begun; however, Ronan Keating was not the first one to perform. A female singer, Beulah sang for the first half hour. To be honest, we thought that was Ronan's concert and therefore, we did not expect some guests to show up or at least not at the beginning. You would think that Ronan will show up right after her singing, right? Well….NO la!! I think that each famous singer has his/her own band so they have to change the whole band team afterwards and it took about another 30 minutes. The concert started at 730pm that day, however, it was almost 840pm when Ronan finally showed up.

You could feel how popular Ronan is right after he spoke the first word from the crowds' loud shouting and screaming. Both Rita and I could not help ourselves singing along, standing up and shaking our bodies. Even we were quite far away from the stage, we could still see Ronan's performance quite clear through the big TV screens. He sang very well and of course, he is so good looking as well. We felt that our hearts were taken away by his gentle expression of eyes and tender voices. I REALLY ENJOY THE LIVE CONCERT SO MUCH!!

Ronan sang many of his hit songs and also sent out the message of helping African children away from poverty. I think that he is really trying to use his fame and ability to help children and people in need. What a nice superstar!!

Rita and I just did not want to leave the concert earlier but we must… We finally forced ourselves to get out of the concert around 955pm, just about the end of the concert. The crowds were shouting 'Encore! Encore! Encore!' but we could not stay for Ronan's another 3-4 encore songs for catching the last train back to London. We asked the staffs there to direct us how to reach the Hollingbourne train station but they had no idea at all. They even told us there would be some taxis around the main gate and we could just take taxi to the train station. Our miserable trip started from now on then. We got lost on the way to the main gate, could not find any taxis around the main gate and we even could not book taxi to pick us up—however, all the taxis were booked or they could not pick passengers up from Leeds castle—just too many weird instructions in UK. In addition, we had already missed the last train we planned to catch by that time. Rita and I were thinking of whether to stay there overnight or take a taxi back to London. No matter which solution we would take, it would cost us a lot of money indeed. To be honest, I really regretted to come to this concert.

We confirmed that there won't be any public transportation running to London from any stations after 1040pm. Can you believe that?? All I could say is that Leeds castle is really in the middle of nowhere. So…what could we do??? It would cost us 120 pounds to stay at that hotel and we had no idea whether they still had any available rooms. Therefore, we thought maybe we could try to go back to London by taxi. The old gentleman at reception was so nice and he booked us a taxi back to London with a quite reasonable price-60 pounds. We both agreed with the price and therefore, we decided to take taxi back to London.

Tell you the truth that it was not the end of our disaster yet…

We got on the taxi and the taxi driver was asking us the final destination in London. I asked him will that be the same price to go anywhere in London and he replied me YES. Oh..god…that would save Rita and I a lot of time in taking buses home. And so we told him the address and he checked it on his map and navigator then told us that would take him 2 hours to get there and another 2 hours to go back. That would be too cheap for 60 pounds therefore, he would like to charge us another 30 pounds more. Come on!! We of course were not going to accept this. Therefore, we gave him another place to drop us but he could not find the place at all on his map and his stupid navigator so he gave up and said that he would drop us at our place. We did not reply a single word even we knew that he was not willing to do so—but he decided to do so, not us. Anyway… he was not happy with that indeed and he murmured something like we got a too cheap offer and so and so. I think that we were just too nice and we told him that actually he could drop us anywhere he knew in central London when he said something else later on. You could tell that he was much happier with our offer immediately and he became more friendly and nicer as well. The taxi driver knew nothing about London and his stupid navigator could not find him the shortcut to get to Piccadilly Circus and therefore, it took us almost 2 hours to get to central London. (He even stopped in the middle of highway twice to check the address on the map and navigator. Unbelievable!!)

The tube is not 24 hours running in London and therefore, all we could do is taking night bus home. Both Rita and I did not have that experience before and that was a new try again. You could imagine how less frequent buses would come in midnight and we had to transfer at least twice to get to Rita's place. It was 230am on 2nd of July when we finally got home. What a long journey.

It was a very different experience from attending a concert in Taiwan. At least you do not have to worry about the transportation. Anyway, apart from the weather and transportation, I do enjoy Ronan's concert a lot and would like to attend his other concerts in the future but only if it would be held in the convenient locations.