It all started on May 22nd 1989 when the Tin Machine album was released. Totally different from anything Bowie had done before, it was heavy and energetic rock. Good stuff. After a couple of weeks, the newspapers and music magazines starterd to print information about Tin Machine gigs which would be performed in small clubs around the UK. I immediately became very excited. It was a year since Bowie had done anything of great significance and this news was definitely welcome. I found out the four UK dates which had been confirmed: 29th June - Kilburn, 1st July - Newport, 2nd July - Bradford, 3rd July - Livingston. The only draw back was that the tickets were available by personal application only and were limited to two tickets per person. All went on sale at 1000hrs on Sunday June 10th. How could I be in four places at once?

This was a new experience for me. I'd been a Bowie fan for about 4 years but had never queued overnight before so I chose to go and queue in London at the Dominion Theatre which was where the tickets for the Kilburn show would be sold (mainly because I knew exactly where it was). The tickets for the other shows were available from the respective venues. I got the 2000hrs train down to London Euston, arriving just before 2130hrs on Friday 8th June. I didn't really fancy spending the night outside the Dominion as I was unsure how many people would be there this early. I found a guesthouse close to Euston station and stayed there, deciding to set off bright and early for the Dominion on Saturday morning.

I got up at 0700hrs and quickly washed and got ready. I caught the tube to Tottenham Court Road and was outside the Dominion Theatre by 0730hrs. I was amazed to find only eight people in the queue, although I had wondered if people would start to queue on Saturday as opposed to Friday night. I sat down next to guy called Kevin and very shortly I was chatting away with him and his friends, Matt & Tim. Everyone was so friendly and I was quite sure this would be a very enjoyable weekend.

I had taken my personal stereo with me but I didn't need it as someone had taken a ghettoblaster and we played the new Tin Machine album, singing along and chatting. I never realised camping on the streets could be so much fun! After some time Kevin asked me if I wanted to go to the pub with him and his mates, so I did and we had a great laugh. We went back to the queue after a couple of hours and some others went off for a while. We all took it in turns to wander off and looked after each others places in the queue.

A few more people had joined the queue behind me, two people namely, Corinne and Pete who remain very close friends to this day (12 years later). I went to Heddon Street with Corinne, Pete and a guy named Ian who had arrived a short while afterwards. Ian took some photos there and some of the queue when we got back to the Dominion. By now, Saturday afternoon it had stretched quite a way down Tottenham Court Road, shoppers having to step around people to get into the stores. It was quite a good feeling knowing that we were near the front. We were an obvious source of amusement for passersby and when they couldn't conceal their curiousity and asked us why we were there we pointed at the posters of Wayne Sleep (an English ballet dancer who was due to perform at the Dominion) and told them we queuing for tickets to see him. And they believed us! That night we went to the pub again and lay down to try and sleep around midnight. Sleeping in the heart of the West End of London on a Saturday isn't easy as the place never stops. Some fans were still playing music. Kevin and I went for a walk at 0300hrs and got back to the queue about an hour later. There was no way I could sleep now, only 6 hours to go til we got the tickets!!!

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