Hello Chrissy Boy!

Long time, no speak! How’s Brighton life? Are you glad you made the move?

Now your summer gigs are in full swing, I’ve started to get withdrawal symptoms. Really wanted to go to Epsom seeing as it’s near on the map; not so near by train though. Being quite skint lately I couldn’t afford an overnight stay so had to miss out. So, imagine my delight on Monday when I read that you’re coming to Reading! Even better, the venue is just a 10-minute walk from my flat! Better still, it’s only 18 days before my 40th birthday! (Yeah, I know I don’t look it.) EXCITEEEEEED!!!!! So I treated myself today. Coincidentally it cost me £40.

What a palaver trying to avoid the extortionate booking/postage/handling/gratuitous/arbitrary fees. £5.50 for postage?! When I discovered that Sandbag’s office is just over the bridge from my place (so close they could almost fashion the ticket into a little aeroplane and launch it when the wind’s right – for free!), I emailed them to suggest I collect the ticket in person. Genius! Or not. What a fun email exchange that was! (I’ll send that in a minute.) They stopped replying. So today I went to the ticket office at the Town Hall but was still charged £2.50 booking fee – and £2.50 promoters’ fee (that’s a new one!). Apparently that’s the cheapest I could get it, wherever I bought it from. What a racket!

Anyway, I do have a question after all this. Have you ever playing in Reading before? I said not to my dad but he reckons you must’ve because even The Beatles played here in the early days. Or rather John and Paul did, probably as The Quarrymen, in a little pub just around the corner. What about the Festival? Have you played there?

Thanks for coming to little old Reading! Really excited! ☺

Amanda xx

PS: I know a good pub near Rivermead. The landlord’s a fan so you might get a free pint. I’ll put a word in. ☺ Alternatively, you could buy me a birthday drink. 😉

Dear Amanda
Brighton is great we have a microclimate [apparently]. The tickets ah..I clicked on the link and there is a £3.50 booking charge..PER TICKET! I rang the powers that be and got a sort of “well they have a dedicated staff of 20 people, it all costs money”. I realise all that but you cannot escape the fact that if someone is ordering 4 tickets, they all go in the same envelope, the transaction cant’ be that difficult to process. Can it? I would advise you and anyone else who lives close enough to the venues to buy the tickets direct from the venue.Even though it seems you still get charged a booking fee of some sort.
please accept my apologies CB