Finally, we come to my very last full day in London, 4 June
2012. I can’t say anything truly eventful happened throughout the course of the
day (though the evening was a different story—more on that momentarily). It was
still part of the four-day Diamond Jubilee Weekend, though not much was
happening—the big flotilla had been the day before, and the true celebration,
including the huge concert, would happen on the 5th. Mostly, people were quiet
and involved in setting-up or staking their seats for the next day’s events.
As for me, I just wandered around all my favorite haunts,
snapping photos of places that I had spent the last six months loving and
building memories in.
I began my meandering walk at the Piccadilly Circus stop,
and moved my way through China Town, which, neighboring the local gayborhood, I
had spent a fair amount of time in. One of the places I knew I’d have to get a
photo of was Little Wu’s, where I had shared more than one meal with friends.
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| Little Wu's |
Passing through China Town, I made my way into Soho, where I
captured images of places I had mentioned but not visually archived yet,
including Lupo’s, the salon where Youssef, the hot Palestinian guy used to cut my hair,
and the Moroccan restaurant I enjoyed with TS and BH. I also ordered one last
cup of coffee from LJ’s, and took my time pursuing thorough the typical coffee
shop stack of magazines (<-- foreshadowing).
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| Alas, I was too chicken to take a photo of Youssef. |
Following that, I made one more stop at the awesome comic
shop Forbidden Planet, where I finally worked up the nerve to take photos of
their awe-inspiring toy display before making my way to Covent Garden and the
museum area near Trafalgar Square. And, as I learned upon arriving at Trafalgar
Square, I wasn’t the only American in the neighborhood concerned with the
festivities…
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| The entryway... |
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| Robin Roberts and the blonde woman from Good Morning, America! |
Finally, I began the long walk the Mall toward Buckingham
Palace. As noted earlier, people were already staking out their seating claims
for the next day. They were ready with food, drink, chairs, and tents. Final
touches were being put on the concert stage, which now encircled the memorial
to Queen Victoria, and cameras were being set up along the top of the palace.
In all, there was a great feeling of excitement in the air.
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| Concert Stage |
Since it was so close, I also hopped over to St James’
Palace, so I could snag one last photo with the Queen Alexandra state I love so
much, before doubling back for more photos along the Mall.
And, of course, I took some photos of birds and the surrounding area from my favorite bridge in St James’ park, a fitting end to my last full touristy day in London…but I’m not done yet! As I mentioned, there was still the night ahead!
While at LJ’s earlier in the day, I had stumbled upon an advertisement for a
special Diamond Jubilee-themed party kicking off later that night at Heaven.
Now, as I’ve made abundantly clear throughout this blog, I love(d) Heaven!!!!
In fact, it was my favorite club in London! But, I knew there was no way I was
going to that—after all, my flight to come back to the U.S. was early the next
morning, and the last thing I wanted to do was fly with a hangover…
But then I saw the name of the performer playing there:
Lonnie Gordon.
Lonnie Gordon.
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| See the red wax bubble in the middle-right. |
I am a huge fan of Lonnie Gordon, and have been for years! I first got hooked on her music owing to the song “Bad Mood,” and I haven’t been able to get her out of my head since. Unfortunately, she’s never really been as big in the U.S. as she was/is in the U.K. and elsewhere abroad. She also had a pretty scary cancer scare a few years ago. So, the long and short of it is this: I had long-ago reconciled myself to the fact that I would never be able to see her perform live.
And now this.
I spent the afternoon vacillating, unsure if I should say
“to hell with it” and go to Heaven that night, or if I should do the
responsible thing and stay in. Ultimately, with the encouragement of Nic, KG
and MM, I decided to go. And I’m so incredibly grateful that I did!
I got there super-early, in the hope that she’d perform early and I could leave. Alas, that part of my plan did not come to fruition. It seemed to be no different from any other night at Heaven, with the sole exception of a drag queen coming out dressed as Queen Elizabeth and singing “God Save the Queen,” and other than the posters there was no indication of when or if Lonnie Gordon would actually go on tonight.
I got there super-early, in the hope that she’d perform early and I could leave. Alas, that part of my plan did not come to fruition. It seemed to be no different from any other night at Heaven, with the sole exception of a drag queen coming out dressed as Queen Elizabeth and singing “God Save the Queen,” and other than the posters there was no indication of when or if Lonnie Gordon would actually go on tonight.
But I kept waiting… And drinking. And drinking. And
drinking. And then, around 1:30 AM, just as I was about to call it quits, she
appeared:
She was wearing a tight fitting, long-sleeved, short,
sequined black dress, and she worked the stage, stomping around in fierce black
stilettos.
It was magical, even though she didn’t perform for long, and
I was enraptured.
She started with a powerful rendition of “Last Dance” in honor of the recently passed Donna Summer—a fitting choice (for me), because it was indeed my last bout of dancing in London, and also because it’s my favorite Donna Summer song. Next, she launched into a Gordonesque rendition of Earth Wind and Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland,” followed by a third song that I didn’t know. And that was all, but it was more than enough.
You can see most of it in the video below (though it sadly cuts off in the middle of the third song). You can also catch a glimpse of me in the video below if you look closely enough—I'm standing right next to the person at the right-hand foot of the stage shooting video on their mobile at around the 1:29 mark.
She started with a powerful rendition of “Last Dance” in honor of the recently passed Donna Summer—a fitting choice (for me), because it was indeed my last bout of dancing in London, and also because it’s my favorite Donna Summer song. Next, she launched into a Gordonesque rendition of Earth Wind and Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland,” followed by a third song that I didn’t know. And that was all, but it was more than enough.
You can see most of it in the video below (though it sadly cuts off in the middle of the third song). You can also catch a glimpse of me in the video below if you look closely enough—I'm standing right next to the person at the right-hand foot of the stage shooting video on their mobile at around the 1:29 mark.
But the best parts about her performance were the following:
First, during one of the moments when she leaned over the railing (around 8:30 in the video), looking at the audience, I seized the
opportunity to yell for her attention, to which she responded by looking
directly at me with her sparkling hazel eyes and mile-long lashes, and said
“Hey, baby.” Sure, you can't hear it in the video—but I'm telling you, that's exactly what happened.
Shortly after that, I blew her a kiss—I was all queer-drunken-fan-boy
by this point. I was sure
she saw it, though she didn’t respond (for obvious reasons, i.e., she was in
the middle of a song and also she doesn’t know me!)—but I knew I had done it and she had seen it, and that was enough for
me. But then, after walking off stage at the end of her set, she came running
back for her encore cheer, ran up to the edge of the stage, leaned over to
where I was standing at the front of the pack, and blew a kiss back at me! Sadly, this is not in the video either (it cuts off before the end of her third song), but, again, I know that it happened!
Can.
Dance.)
I could not have asked for a more perfect end to not only the night, but my experience in London as a whole.
Dance.)
I could not have asked for a more perfect end to not only the night, but my experience in London as a whole.
And so it is on this note that I bring this travel-blog to a
close. Though intended primarily as a tool to help me remember this experience,
I hope that, if anyone else has read it, they’ve enjoyed what they’ve found,
and perhaps been inspired to do some traveling themselves. I also wish to take a second—without blathering on or saying too much else—to just say “Thank You” to all of the people who made this trip possible, and made it so special. You all know who you are!
Cheers.
