In the later part of 2021, I got a message on Instagram from a band I had never heard of saying that if I like Blind Channel, I might like them too. I get a lot of these so I was like "yeah, ok, I'll check you out". Not thinking that it would come to much, I went onto Spotify to check them out and 2 and a half years of loving their music later, I finally saw that band put on an amazing and outstanding performance that was a million times better than I ever thought it was going to be. That band, is Lost Zone.
These 3 lads have written songs that could have come straight out of my soul, I had to see them live as soon as possible, but there was a slight issue...... They are from a town in Northern Italy and as much as I love driving, I don't think my little car would get to South Tyrol and back for a gig hahaha. I have looked by the way, it's 13 hours to drive there one way. Plus, getting to South Tyrol by plane or train isn't as easy as you might think either. So I have been patiently waiting for them to come a bit closer to the UK or have a gig in a city I could easily get to, and it finally happened.
On the first of February, Lost Zone put up a post on Instagram saying that they were going to be going on a tour in Germany supporting From Fall To Spring. I had a look at the dates for any that were on a Saturday or in a city I could easily get to and there is was... Cologne.
I looked up flights, they were cheap. Looked up hotels, they were not cheap but I found an Airbnb that wasn't too badly priced. I couldn't find anyone to go with me so after a lot of conversations with myself (this took a while), I decided I would just have to go on my own. I felt like this was my first proper chance to see them and I wasn't going to let it pass me by.
Unfortunately, I was in a state of limbo at work at this time and got made redundant just after the announcement but as soon as I got another job, I got everything booked. I messaged them to let them know of my plans and was so happy to see that they were just as excited about my trip as me.
I was going to have a very busy couple of weeks leading up to this gig as I was going to be following Blind Channel around the country for a week and I had my husband's birthday. So, I did my best to stay as organised as possible, there were a lot of lists as I find this really helps me from panicking about forgetting to book something.
My mental health monsters were chatting away in the back of my head the whole time that something would go wrong, that I would forget to organise something and the whole trip would get called off, that I would forget to pack something important, that I would get lost and not find my way back to where I was meant to be, there would be delays, that no one would be able to speak English, I wouldn't get phone signal to stay in touch with people, I would lose my phone or bank cards, the boys wouldn't recognise me and ignore me. This was an ongoing battle for weeks of silly things that the monsters would say in my head, and there was a few times that the monsters nearly won but I kept fighting back. They were not going to beat me this time.
I had decided that I wasn't going to let my monsters get the best of me so while planning this trip, I worked everything out and had it all planned. I like being in control, going by someone else's timeframe to get me somewhere doesn't go down well with me a lot of the time. So I booked airport parking so my car was close the airport. I paid to have a fast track pass to go through security so that I wasn't standing in a queue for hours. I booked a taxi from Cologne airport to my airbnb so that I would get dropped off at the door. The airbnb was a 2 minute walk from the venue so there was no chance of getting lost. Not knowing any German was a big trigger but after speaking to the band and some people I know who have gone to gigs in Germany, they assured me that most Germans can speak really good English so I calmed down about that. And I made sure I downloaded the German dictionary to my Google Translate app, just to be on the safe side.
On Saturday the 13th of April, I started my journey from my house driving to Stansted airport, feeling a little shaky but I kept telling myself that Lost Zone were waiting for me so I had to keep going. To help with my triggers, I made a list of everything I needed to do so that I could tick them off as I went through the day.
Drive to Maple Parking to drop off the car.
Get the transfer bus to Stansted.
Go through security.
Find the Wetherspoons to sit, chill in, charge my power bank and phone, have a drink and have something to eat.
Go to the gate when it's announced.
Board plane.
Get off plane in Cologne.
Go through customs.
Find taxi driver.
Check into Airbnb.
Find venue.
Have an awesome gig.
That was my list, it might seem silly to some people but having this list helped me feel a bit more in control of my situation.
There was hardly any traffic on the way to the airport so I got to Maple Parking in good time, dropped my car off with the very nice staff, the transfer bus turned up about 5 minutes later so got on it to go to the terminal. There were LOADS of people checking into flights at the desks so I headed straight to security where it felt like most of London was waiting to go through security but thanks to my Fast Track Pass, I got through in 20 minutes and found the Wetherspoons pub quite quickly to chill out in.
When my gate was called, I walked round to the gate, which felt like it took forever but at least I didn't need to get the train to the gate like some people had to. I waited to start boarding with everyone else and my first trigger raised its head. The plane hadn't even arrived yet so we were all sitting there wondering what was going on. The plane actually arrived about half an hour before our flight was meant to leave. The passengers got off and the staff at the gate started the boarding process so that when we were allowed to, we could get straight on the plane. The monsters were telling me that this was going to make me late, the taxi wouldn't wait for me so I'd have to pay out for another taxi and I would be late for the gig, but I kept telling myself that everything would be fine. The taxi has a waiting time of an hour so he WILL be there waiting for me, the gig doesn't start until 8pm so I WILL be there in time, I WILL NOT miss the gig.
I got on the plane, took my seat and spent an hour listening to Lost Zone so that I could keep them as my main focus. The plane was only 15 minutes late leaving so that wasn't too bad.
The plane somehow landed on time, I got off to boiling weather, got through customs in record time because I only had my ruck sack. I found my taxi driver who was a very nice man who didn't speak a lot of English but we managed to communicate perfectly. He drove me to my airbnb and made sure I knew exactly where I needed to go. I checked in with the host who was another lovely man called Till. He didn't speak much English either but I still understood him fine. I put on my make-up, got changed and sorted my bag before heading out to the venue, which I found easily. There were only 2 people there so I quite happily sat on the floor next to them.
A guy came out with a camera and I got the impression he wanted to interview people in the queue for a social media video about From Fall To Spring so I jumped up and stood round in front of one of the vans as I didn't want to be filmed. I felt like it was going to be an awkward situation where I would need to explain that I was only there for Lost Zone and not being able to speak German was not going to help. I was standing there when Andre from Lost Zone came round the side of the van and spotted me. He was getting ready to soundcheck so I got a quick chat and a hug from him before he had to dash off back into the venue.
It wasn't too long after this that the doors opened and I got into the venue. I saw Lost Zone standing by the merch stand so I quickly ran over to say hi to them and get more hugs before explaining that I needed to run to the barrier to take my place in the front row. Where else would I be for their set??
My stomach felt like I was on a rollercoaster standing there waiting for them to come out. I had barely spoken to anyone so I turned round and saw a man standing behind me, he looked like a very nice person so I asked if he spoke any English. I picked the right guy because he spoke fantastic English! I explained that I was only there to see Lost Zone so when their set was finished, did he want to take my place at the front. He replied yes and we had a little chat. I like doing this when I am at the front and I am only there for the support band, it's just a nice gesture to the person behind.
You know when you are waiting for something for so long that you build it up in your head and when it finally happens, it's crap? Well, that didn't happen this time. They were AMAZING!!!! I was honestly blown away with their performance that I spent most of the set just looking up at them in wonder. I really couldn't believe that I was finally seeing them, Lost Zone were on stage in front of me! I have done a separate article as a gig review so make sure you check it out.
During the last song, Florian jumped down onto the barrier and walked along to me. I took this opportunity to give him a hug haha and then all of a sudden, he grabbed someone's hand and he was standing on the barrier in front of me. I didn't know what to do so I just held onto his leg to help him stay steady until he jumped down. Honestly, he gave me a heart attack lol.
At the end of their set, I got a set list and the lady next to me had caught Andre's pick and she gave it to me! How lovely is that!? I think she as the girlfriend or wife of the man who was taking my place at the barrier so it was like a little thank you present.
I headed over to merch thinking they wouldn't be out for a while as they would probably be sorting their gear out but then Andre appeared just as I got to the table. He saw me and we went to hug but he stopped saying that he still had black make-up on his neck and didn't want to get it on me. I told him I didn't care and we had a lovely big hug. I had had such an awesome time that I didn't care if I got a bit of black make-up on me haha. I wanted to show my appreciation for such an awesome experience.
They had one of their t-shirts on the merch table and was asking people to sign it when they were buying merch. I think this is an awesome idea, it's going to be a beautiful thing for them to have as a memento of the tour. Well, as I looked down to check it out, the merch guy saw me and started happily chatting away to me (was a bit weird he knew who I was haha). He was saying to me, "sign where ever you want to, as big as you want and do what ever you want to". So I did haha I signed by name, then drew a heart around it and then drew little hearts in different colours haha. Thank goodness I carry so many sharpies around with me that aren't all black haha.
Soon Florian and Simon came out as well so lots more hugging and chatting. I hung out at merch with them for the rest of the night chatting to them between them speaking to people who were coming up to buy merch or speak to the lads. I didn't want to get in the way, especially as these were new fans, so I was happy to wait until they had time for me. I helped out a couple of times by taking some pictures of them with people.
I waited until they were less busy and then asked for the merch that I wanted to buy, which was basically one of everything haha. I got 3 t-shirts, a tote bag, the new album on CD, a set of Simon's drum sticks, a signed drum skin, some signed pictures and some beer mats (which will never get used haha). I was not thinking at this point about how I was going to get it all home, I was just pointing and Florian was finding everything for me.
Florian also remembered to get me one of their Kiku Apples which I had for breakfast the next morning, it was delicious. As you probably aren't aware, the boys are sponsored by Kiku Apples, hence why they had the apples hahaha.
As it started to get later, From Full to Spring finished their set and the house lights came on. I was starting to get a bit emotional because the night was soon going to end and I didn't want to get upset in front of them so I asked the boys to sign my white t-shirt and the CD as they were going to be going into the display frame I ordered. We had some pictures taken, which I will love forever, and then I said my goodbyes.
Please make sure that you these guys out, there are links throughout this article for you find them and see what I mean by how awesome they are.
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