UPDATED:
- 1st metting with LP at an organized event at Empik Store in Warsaw, Poland on the 29th January 2017. (story of that meeting below);
- 2nd meeting before LP’s concert at Life Festival Oświęcim in Poland backstage as a blogger on the 24th June 2017. (story here);
- 3rd meeting after LP’s concert at Under The Bridge in London, GB on 2nd July 2017, LP came to her fans after her gig (story here);
- 4th meeting after LP’s concert at Colours of Ostrava in Czech Republic on the 20th July 2017 – I received a private invitation as a blogger & a chance to do an interview with LP – forever grateful for this opportunity. (story here).
- 5th unexpected meeting after LP’s concert in Leeds on the 3rd December 2017. Post here.
- 6th equally unexpected meeting after LP’s concert in Glasgow on the 5th December 2017. Post here.
- 7th meeting, after LP’s concert at Forum Karlin in Prague on the 8th July 2018, for the interview for the blog, story here.
- 8th meeting at the airport in Prague on the day after the concert, 9th July 2018 at Forum Karlin, story here.
- 9th meeting at the DDTVN in Warsaw on the 25th November 2018, at an event organized for fans, and at Radio Eska later that same day, story here.
- 10th unexpected meeting after LP’s concert in Brussels, on the 4th May 2019. LP came over to fans waiting for her outside the venue, story here.
- 11th meeting at the VIP upgarde before LP’s concert in Amsterdam on the 6th May 2019, story here.
- 12th meeting at the VIP upgrade before LP’s second concert in Prague on the 12th May 2019, story here.
- 13th meeting as a blogger after LP’s second concert in Prague on 12th May 2019, story here.
- 14th unexpected meeting after LP’s acoustic concert at Bios in Athens on the 27th May 2019, story here.
- 15th & 16th unexpected meetings before and after LP’s show at AXA Arena in Bratislava on the 27th June 2019, story here.
- 17th meeting before LP’s show at the Open’er Festival in Gdynia, Poland on the 5th July 2019. We’ve met to do our 3rd interview. Story here.
- 18th meeting after LP’s concert at Arena Vien in Vienna on the 15th July 2022. It was my first concert post-pandemic, story here.
Few weeks ago I had a chance to meet LP in person. But first, let me start how did it all happen. It was December the 13th 2016, I was sitting at my hairdresser’s, it was quite late and I was the only customer. The radio was on, and a song, that famous song started playing. I have heard it before, but briefly, it was the first time when I had a chance to listen to it in its entirety. After the song was over, I started chatting with my hairdresser, she told me few bits about the artist, but she didn’t knew the name. However I was hooked. As soon as I got back home, quick google search and I have found LP’s name and her youtube channel. And then it really hit me hard. I saw her live sessions with songs: Muddy Waters, Strange and Lost on you. And it was like a breath of fresh air into my life and me as a person. I don’t think any other artist had such a huge impact on me as LP with those songs. I was literally in tears, I have felt emotions, I haven’t felt in a really long time. I was in love. From this day it only grew bigger and stronger. I have been listening to her for the past few months every day and every night. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat. It was like I was living in a different dimension. I have heard every song that has been released so far, or recorded by a fan. Some of her covers from Bardot, from 2010 just blew my mind. I was and am in awe.
photo by Zuzia, me and LP 🙂 |
New year came, with new year, new resolutions, then was my birthday, it was a really changing time for me. I’ve had all those feelings in me, but I couldn’t express those to the only person I wanted. I just wanted to hug her and say thank you. And, then came the last week of January. I have heard the news, LP will be back in Poland for an intimate session at Radio Trójka. Few lucky listeners could win tickets to that performance. And I did try, I think I have called about a thousand times, but was never put through. I was almost depressed. Then I heard another big news, Empik in Warsaw, our capital city will do a meet and greet with LP and her fans. At first I didn’t think of going. I was too let down because of those damn tickets. But when Saturday came, I just had this feeling in me, that if I don’t try to go and see her, I will be regretting it, possibly for the rest of my life. As I live about 3,5 – 4 hours by car from Warsaw, it took me a lot of planning to simply get there on time. But when I set my mind on something, nothing will stop me. When I have secured my transport I could start packing and preparing myself for the next day. I wrote a letter to LP, as I wanted to be prepared if I couldn’t speak or if I wouldn’t even get a chance to talk to her. Fast forward to Sunday, I was up at 6 am, and in Warsaw at about 10.30. On my way there, I have met a lovely girl Zuzia, and we stayed the whole time together. We were at Empik at about 11.30. It was already packed, but it wasn’t as packed as I was afraid it would be. However LP was about to came at 1 pm, so till then, Empik was in full force.
photo courtesy of some Empik guy and LP! |
The time flew quickly, when it was a bit after 1 pm. LP arrived. And the frenzy begun. First quick interview (you can watch it here and here). We even convinced LP to sing a song for her fans. She laughed that it wasn’t in plans, but she did took her ukelele out and played ‘Other People’. I was hugely impressed. Her voice in reality is even better!! And then was the time for her to meet her fans. The meeting was supposed to last an hour, then 1,5, then 2, BUT she stayed at Empik for the whole 3 hours until each and every fan received her autograph, took a pic and even got a hug. I was waiting for about an hour and half in line. When my time came, I was so very nervous that I was shaking. However she was very calm and smiley. She complemented my jacket (as I got a copy of her YSL one), but I couldn’t speak, I think my incredibly intelligent response was “I know”. However I did ask her if I could hug her, to which she obliged. When I was hugging her, all I could say was how much I love her. The rest is a blurr. I know I have given her my letter, I received and autograph, and I was about to leave the stage, but she pulled me back and pointed on camera. If not LP, I wouldn’t have the best pic of that day, so thank you LP!!
I think the level of my happiness is very evident in the pic above |
My day was made, I was so happy and sad at the same time. Those few moments have given me so much, I wasn’t expecting that the dream of meeting LP in person will happen so soon. I will be forever grateful to Empik for creating this opportunity. Right after the meeting with LP some lady came to me and asked if I could say few words about LP and her style. The man with camera was next to her. I said ok, and I got to speak for few minutes about LP as a person, her music and extra-ordinary style. Yesterday, Empik released a video from that day, and they have used few remarks from me in it. You can watch it here.
print screen of video of meeting LP at Empik in Warsaw, click on pic to be redirected. It was recorded right after I spoke to LP. |
I will finish by saying that LP and her music has brought back to life that part of me that has been forgotten for a very long time. She has made me love ukulele so much that I have bought my own and since last week I am learning to play it. And I really, I mean really! get why LP loves her uke so much. For now I got to learn Night like this, Tightrope and Forever for now. But I hope with time I will learn much, much more.