Flew to Vancouver the day before the show and hung out with Jon and Lisa (nephew and niece) for a day and had a nice visit with them. They would also be going to the concert with me - their first ever experience with the Cockney gangsters at a live show. Google said they lived 15 minutes from the venue. Google doesn’t understand Vancouver traffic.

We arrived at the venue and lined up at the door right next to the Vans that Pete and Bas were travelling in. I met Terry, another fan whom I’d seen and corresponded a bit with on Facebook, also looking dapper for the show.

At the pre-show meet & greet, Jon and Lisa got their photos with the boys

I wasn’t sure whether or not Pete would wear a porkpie or a trilby hat, so I came to the show in my bowler. Pete told me that he doesn’t have a bowler, so we swapped hats for the photo shoot. My head is bigger than his (he’s a half-foot shorter than me, so no surprise) and the bowler went all the way down to his ears, but it was still a pretty good look on him. And I got to wear Pete’s hat. I GOT TO WEAR PETE’S HAT!!!

Before Pete and Bas went on, DJ Queenie warmed up the crowd, spinning some tunes behind the deck. I really like her, she’s a nice lady.

New York group Delivery Boys opened the show, the same group that opened for them last year. Before the show, I went over to their merch table to say hi and was surprised they remembered me. Goldwood (one of the group) said, “this is your third time seeing us, yeah?” It was. They did what they were supposed to do, which was get the crowd fired up for the main act. They played for 40 minutes or so.

After a short break, the South London Gangsters themselves came on stage and suddenly the crowd seemed to double. It was pretty claustrophobic up near the stage, not just from the press of people in the crowd, but the stage was very small as well, pushing Pete and Bas right up to the crowd. Pete normally hangs back from the edge of the stage a bit due to his bum knee, but he really didn’t have much of a choice last night. I didn’t use zoom on any of these shots, the boys were RIGHT THERE.

The venue itself was about the same size at the one in Newcastle where I first saw them. The stage was only about 20 inches tall and there wasn’t much room on it at all. One of the lights hung low enough that I had to tell Bas not to do any of his trademark pogo stick jumping on that part of the stage because he’d surely bonk his head on the light. And yes, I was close enough to just tell him that.

Terry sent me a photo after the show on WhatsApp. Ponying up for the VIP tickets is worth it when you get to do the meet and greet before the show, then have a spot so close to the stage that you have to lean back to keep from bonking heads with Bas.

I didn’t get pulled up on stage to sing this time, which was fine by me. It was insanely hot up there and I was in a black suit. I’d have probably passed out from the heat. I dunno how those two lads kept going - although the energy levels of both of them started waning a bit about halfway through the show. When they got close enough, I’d take off my hat and fan them with it.
I was surprised that they didn’t do any of the new crop of songs they’ve released this year, but I honestly didn’t even notice until after the show when I mentally went over the setlist. The crowd didn’t seem to mind, either.
As usual, they invited some ladies on stage to dance with them on a song and two of the ladies that came up this time got wildly inappropriate with Pete while they danced, pushing their asses into his crotch and such. When he made it clear that was not OK, they started making out with each other. Pete pretended to be shocked, but beneath the surface grin, you could tell he was quite annoyed with them. At one point later in the show, they managed to get back up on stage and he barked at them, “this is our stage. Get off.”

Both the boys consumed several pints of beer during the show, including the standard beer guzzling contest that happens around the midpoint of the set.

he heat kept rising throughout the show and by the end, Bas had gone from a full suit to a t-shirt and a pair of Union Jack shorts.

Even so, they went into the crowd after the show to sign autographs, take selfies, and sign boobs. That’s a standard thing, I’ve seen them sign more boobs than I can count now.

It was a fun night and I’m already looking forward to the Portland show tonight. Last year’s show in Portland was my favourite concert experience ever - we’ll see how this one compares.