3 Lost Zone Gigs

For those of you that know me, you know how much I love Lost Zone, so I don't need to tell you how excited I was when I found out that they would be going on Tour with Halflives AND they would be coming to the UK.

The only issue was that when I looked at the dates, I was going to be going on holiday half way through the UK part of the tour, frustrated is not enough to cover how I felt. Especially because I was only going to get to see them in Bristol and Birmingham. But, after some careful planning and me having to do a bit of begging, I also got to see them in Paris.

But when happened at those gigs?? Here is my fan diary

Tuesday 15th April

It felt like the longest day at work, instead of doing my usual 9am-5pm, I had worked out cover for the last half an hour of the day so I could work 8:30am-4:30pm. I wanted to get to Bristol as quickly as possible with the least amount of chance of traffic so I thought leaving half an hour earlier would give me an advantage. And it did, because of that half an hour, I got to Bristol at 7:40pm instead of almost 9pm.

I parked in an NPC car park that was only a few minute walk from the Ibis Temple Mead Hotel that I had booked. I was getting checked in when I got a message from Lost Zone saying that had been delayed in customs and they were still an hour away from Bristol. My poor lads were going to be getting to the city very late, not the best first day in the UK for them.

I went up to my room and started unpacking, I got my camera bag out to double check I had everything charged for the gig, I had my lenses, the extra battery, leads, etc but....... no camera. I franticly looking everywhere, including my car and the route between the hotel and car, but couldn't find it anywhere. Sean found it on the sofa at home, it must have fallen out when I picked up the bag at home. Not going to lie, I cried like a baby, I had waited so long to get the chance to photograph the lads and I had managed to fuck it up. Disappointed was not the word, what an end to the day.

Wednesday 16th April - Bristol Gig Day

Woke up still feeling like a complete plonker, I got showered, dressed and just as I was about to leave to go for a walk, the drilling started. The hotel was having new cladding to the outside of the building and they were working on the side that I was staying in. It actually sounded like they were on the other side of the wall.

I went walking in the direction of the venue for the gig, I hadn't been there before so wanted to make sure I knew where I was going. I found it a lot quicker than I thought I would so I went off for a walk to explore Bristol. I didn't want to go far as my friend Roxxi was on her way from Cardiff and didn't fancy rushing back because I had gone wandering too far.

I was walking along a road that runs along the back on the venue when I got to a big car park and heard "Suzy" to my right, I looked up and it was Lost Zone. They were parked up at the back of the car park so I walked round to the entrance and up to their van to say hello. It was so surreal seeing them in person, the last time I had seen them was a year before so deep down I was fangirling, but I stayed cool lol.

They showed me the inside of their van, it had 6 bunks at the back for them to sleep in, they looked so small but the lads assured me that they are OK to sleep on. The seats looked quite comfortable as well, they needed some comfort for all the driving they would be doing. I also got to meet Alex who was the merchant guy and photographer, and Ben who was the sound tech for most of this tour.

As a surprise, I had face masks of Simon made for them as I didn't want them missing him while they were on tour lol. Simon is the drummer but he couldn’t be on the tour. So I got them to line up and close their eyes while I got the masks out of my bag. Alex filmed it for me and then they used the footage in one of their Tiktok videos. Needless to say, they loved the masks, they even put 2 of them on the head rests in the front of the van so it looked like Simon and his twin were sitting in the front seats.

I said goodbye to them as I didn't want to take up too much of their time and started walking back to the venue, I thought I would chill out there until I knew Roxxi was close and then I could go and meet her. 

A little while later, I got a message from Roxxi that she was 10 minutes away so I went to meet her and we went to the hotel to chill out. The drilling was still going on so we weren't there long, we got changed and then headed back out. 

We were chilling out on a bench next to the venue, chatting away, when a familiar van pulled up and 5 handsome men jumped out to start loading their gear into the venue. One of them had to stay in the van in case they had to move the van. Roxxi hadn't met the band before so when they had finished unloaded, I got to introduce them all to her. I had been telling her all about them for so long that it was such a special moment that she got to meet them

People started to arrive at about 5pm and then all of a sudden, it was time for us to go in. I managed to get to the front row even though there had been people with VIP tickets that went in before us. There was a really lovely girl who we had been speaking to outside and she had saved me the spot.

I looked at the set list and I was so happy to see that Burst Like Dynamite was on the set list. It’s one of my favourite songs and hadn’t heard them play it live yet.

I could see the boys standing to the side of the stage waiting to go on. I was nervous because I wanted the crowd to really like them and excited because I was finally at another gig. Then I saw Tobi get behind the drums, the lights went down and the intro started. My heart was racing, I thought my chest would explode, then Andre appeared on stage, followed by Sebi, Flo popped up on stage and the music kicked in, the gig was starting!!! OMG. It honestly felt like a dream looking up at them and watching them perform.

I was screaming the lyrics, and loved that a few times Flo would come to stand on the platform in front of me and we would scream the lyrics to each other. When Burst Like Dynamite came on, I threw my phone to Roxxi so that I didn’t drop it as I just wanted to feel every moment and note of that song.

Then Flo started to tell the audiance that they were going to perform Blacked Out and that it was their last song. My heart sank as the time had gone too quickly, it felt like they had only been on stage for 2 minutes and they were already going. I put a smile on my face but I felt like crying, I wasn’t ready for them to finish their set yet, I was having too much fun. it didn’t seem fair.

Once the song was over, Roxxi and I moved out of the way so that the people behind us could take our places at the front. We had spoken to them before the gig started so they knew we would move out the way for them.

We were walking out to merch when I looked round and saw Andre was walking behind us, so I grabbed him and gave him a big hug. I was so proud of them for putting on such an amazing performance. There was loads of people coming out to speak to the boys before Halflives started so Roxxi and I decided to go and sit near the boy, we didn’t want to be in the way and knew that we would have our chance to talk to them later on.

Towards the end of the night, Andre came up to us looking very serious. We asked him what was wrong and he said that the car park where they had parked the van in had a height restriction after a set time, so they were now technically locked in the car park until the morning. I seriously thought he was joking at first as I didn’t know the height restriction on car parks after a set time was a thing.

The car park wasn’t far away from the venue but it was far enough away that it was a pain in the arse to get all their gear back to the van, so I offered to go get my car and take their gear in loads to the van for them. We did it in 3 loads in the end so didn’t take us long, I dread to think how long it would have taken them if I hadn’t been there to help.

Thursday 17th April - Birmingham Gig Day

Woke up in a bit of a daze it took me a minute to realise what happened the night before. I rolled over to see Roxxi in the other bed and knew it hadn't been a dream. 

I was so happy to hear that she had had a great time at the gig and really liked the band. Looks like I will have a gig buddy next time they come to the UK.

Birmingham isn’t a long drive from Bristol, it’s only about an hour and a half so I took my time driving there. I’d found a car park in a church next to the Birmingham O2 Academy that was cheap so I parked up and chilled out. I felt tired so I tried to have a nap but people kept walking past so that idea didn’t last long.

I was just thinking of going and sitting by the main door of the O2 when I looked up the road and saw the Lost Zone van turn up. I went over to say hello and chatted to them before they were due to go load in their gear to the venue. 

I went round and sat by the door watching them loading in and remembered that I had got them light up guitar picks so I gave them to Flo so he could have 1 and then give 1 to Andre and 1 to Sebi.

I was at the front of the line again, so even with the VIP people going in before me, I still got to the front row but to the right hand side this time, which is Sebi’s side.

I saw Tobi come out first and go behind the drums, so I knew it was almost time. The intro music started and I felt just as excited as I had the night before. Out came Andre, Sebi, then Flo and another awesome set started again.

I saw singing (badly), screaming, cheering and dancing to every song again. Their energy just completely engulfed me and for half an hour, there was nothing else in this world except me and them. Total bliss.

The stage was a lot bigger than the night before so it was good to see them dancing around more on stage without bumping into each other. It

When the set was over, I came my place to the people behind me and went to find the merch stand. I was standing talking to Alex and I felt someone put their arm round my shoulders and found it was Andre. I gave him a massive hug and told him that they had done another awesome set. And it showed because it felt like everyone in the venue wanted to come and speak to them.

Because I was going on holiday the next day, I had to leave by 10pm so that I could drive home. I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to go onto the next 3 gigs with them but I did leave after giving them all more hugs and had a little cry in the car.

Wednesday 23rd April - Paris

I was so excited for this gig because I was taking my husband with me, he was finally going to meet the boys and see what I had been going on about. We got to Paris early in the morning and went straight to the Eiffle Tower. It was raining so fun fun fun, anyway, I’m standing there going through the pictures I have taken and I hear “Suzy!” I look up, and there is Andre and Alex. I waved to them and Sean said “Who is that?” I found it funny that in city as big as Paris, I end up in the same place as one of Lost Zone and it wasn’t anywhere near the gig venue.

After a day of sightseeing, we went to our hotel, got changed and headed out to the gig. I was in the line when I look round and see Andre, Alex and Sebi walking towards the venue.

There was quite a few people that went in for VIP so I was a little bit worried about getting front row but I had nothing to worry about. Petit Bain is a boat with the venu inside and downstairs with a bar on the top floor and ground level. It is so much bigger than it looks on the outside, the venue part is huge so when I ran in, I saw that the front row was already taken up except for 1 little empty space on the very far right. I got over there and claimed my spot so quick, you would of thought I was made of lightening lol.

There was an extra support band called Little Ghost that started off the night before Lost Zone’s set, so I got to see the lads setting up their gear which is something I hadn’t been able to see before.

I had been telling everyone stood around me how awesome Lost Zone was so it was good too look around during the first song and see so many people smiling and dancing along to them. The way I saw it was that if they get more fans, they will get the recognision they deserve for their music and I get more gigs to go to. It’s a win win situation.

I was so happy to see how much the crowd reacted to them. People jumping, cheering, really getting into the music.

I was feeling a little emotional for this gig as I knew if was the last gig that I wouldn't be seeing the boys for a while. I took in every second of the performance and loved that from my spot at the side of the stage, I could see each of them clearly.

I went to the merch stall after their set but it was just Andre that came out. They had a 7 hour drive that night to next gig so they were planning on leaving as soon as they were able to so the others were loading the trailer. So once everyone had turned round for Halflive's set, Andre went backstage so that he could help.

I noticed in the toilet that there was loads of bands tickers all over the wall so I grabbed some of the Lost Zone stickers and made sure there was one in each of the cubicles and by the mirror lol.

Sean and I went upstairs to the bar and were enjoying a few coktails while when Flo, Ben and Tobi walked in to order food. We got to have a nice chat with them and then realised that Halflives would be finishing their set soon so Sean and I went down the venue stairs while the lads got their food and went another way.

When Halflives were finished, I loved seeing everyone crowding around Lost Zone, so many people all wanting to buy merch, talk to the lads and get pictures with them. I waited until everyone else was gone and then stepped forward to have my picture and chat with them. I got them all to sign my Lost Zone t-shirt as well so I could put it in a box frame when I got home.

And then it was that time again, time to say goodbye to them all and wish that the next gig would come around quickly. I gave them all a massive hug and left with Sean.