I met Paul in December 2005 at a book signing he did in london for High In the Clouds.
This is the original post I made to the forum I was posting on at the time when I returned
Well I'm back and this is how it happened.
When i arrived at 11.30am we were told to join a queue of other blue writband holders. They had also handed out some yellow wristbands and we were told that the blues would definately meet Paul but the yellows would get a signed book but would only meet him if there was time.
Security was really tough. There were police outside the store. We we not allowed to take anything into the signing and had leave coats,cameras,mobiles etc on a seperate floor. After leaving this stuff we then had to turn out our pockets to check we didnt have anything that might harm paul in them. I was a bit disappointed about the camera thing. I understood that it would be very time consuming for everyone to have a picture posing with Paul but i didnt see the problem of taking photos of him. Never mind.
We were then ushered to another floor and held there after buying our books. they were limited to one per person. At around 12:45 fans were sent in to meet Paul in groups of 20.
After the first few Paul decided that he wanted to sign all the books first so he could talk to people without having his head in a book signing it. The watersones staff then collected everybodys books up and took them into Paul for signing. There was then another huge delay while he did this. At around 1.30 it was my turn to be sent into the room Paul was in. We were then told that this was a timed event and they wanted everyone to get to meet him so they said "its not In conversation with Paul McCartney so dont tell him you've been a Beatles fan since 1964,he knows youre all fans,just shake his hand say hi and move along"
As we approached his table another security person told us not to approach paul with our hands in our pockets (guns i guess).Anyone that goes to get anything out of their pocket will be removed from the store immediately.At this point I got my "Chaos" cd booklet that i was hoping he would sign out of my pocket and held it in my hand (so i didnt have to get it out of my pocket in front of him).This was then spotted my one of the security people and this was taken off me and i had to collect it afterwards.
I was now 3 from the front and I could see Paul closer than I had ever been before.Paul was sitting at a table with the books and he had a plate of toast and jam (jelly to you lot).The person in front of me (who was American) had a small child with him and Paul asked him if he wanted some "jammy toast" (the child not the bloke).He spoke to them with toast in his mouth which i though was quite funny.Finally I reached the front.After 30 years of being a fan, I was actually about to have a one to one with Paul McCartney.
PM: Hello (offers hand and we shake...OMFG)
ML: Hi Paul, it's really nice to meet you
PM: It's nice to meet you too
ML: How was the U.S ?
PM:Really great, we had a fantastic time.
ML: Are you bringing the tour here next year?
PM: We dunno yet. We've just got back so we're having a bit of a break but hopefully.
At this point a security bloke is starting to usher me away
ML: Thanks very much and have a great christmas
PM:You have a good one too and thanks for coming.
And with that I was gone.
Very brief but this afternoon I have achieved one of my lifes ambitions and I guess not many people get to do that on a Wednesday. The event was being filmed (probably for the news) so he had make up on and consequently looked great.Its a real shame that I couldnt get any photos and i am truely gutted about that but the 14th December 2005 will always be etched in my memory as the day I met Paul McCartney.
I would once again like to thank Beatlebangs1964 for alerting me to this event.Without that I wouldnt have got to do this.Mention in dispatches to LennonLover2005 and everyone else on here that kept their fingers crossed tighter than a virgins legs that i would get the wristband.
As I caught the tube back to work afterwards, I wondered if an opportunity like this would ever present itself again. Probably not?
