so i do well for gigs... of course i am fortunate enough to get to buy tickets to go to quite a few over the year...
but i get my fair share of won tickets too...
the most resent Mr Hudson iTunes in London, was a great gig. 
Massive fan of Mr Hudson for a few years now and it is good to see him get more recognition for the amazing talent he clearly has.
but this gig showed me something i hadnt noticed... the obsession with touch...
im not talking about the far i was deep in a crowd, i mean the witness to a 'need' to touch the famous.
Mr Hudson's support was Kid British, a new band who i was quite impressed with. especially their own version of madness 'our house'. it seemed i was almost crushed as one of the band came down to the no mans land between stage and crowd. the rush of the people who all wanted to get just that little bit closer to the singer, hands grabbing at anything they could find...
after the heat calmed down from the mad surge, we started to get excited for Mr Hudson's soon to be performance... and sure enough he came on and clearly gave all he could. As he sang with Kanye West (his special guest) Mr Hudson jumps down into that no mans land and while the pushing wasnt as bad, there was a raising up of hands all clutching and grabbing at the air around this famous person...
his singing wasnt affected and so i didnt really know what was happening other than i couldnt see... i wasnt till i looked at the official pictures i saw the head hugging only 8ft away from me.
but i dont get it... whats with the NEED to touch, grab and feel the famous... i now think back to Maximo Park and the massive annoyance of a young guy who i can only describe as obsessively arm flailing and air punching each time Paul Smith came remotely near us... again trying to touch...
I am reminded of the story of Jesus in a crowd with the woman touched him, who was then healed... she had it in her mind 'if i just touch him i will be well'... is it this we try to grab hold of today? while i know no one would claim famous people have any special powers, what do we think we can gain by touching a stranger?
x
Listening to: TV- the bill, dad's choice not mine....
