An evening with The Trousersnake ... and Fergie too

10/07/2007 posted by Jo Allen

You are probably wondering what on earth we are talking about!  Well, last night we were invited by Glitnir to a VIP box at the newly re-developed, £300m O2 Centre to see Justin Timberlake, often called The Trousersnake. Now, I do not know how much you know about Justin Timberlake (other than the fact that he has had two rather famous girlfriends with Britney Spears and Cameron Diaz) or the O2 Centre which used to be called the Millennium Dome but I have to admit that I was rather sceptical about the evening when considering the combination of the two.  But, boy was I to be proved wrong!

First things first: Glitnir’s team picked us and some other clients up using a bus.  Hmmm, now I do not “do” buses, but this was a bus and a half – flat screen TVs, luxurious leather seats, mini-champagne bottles on ice.  All in all, this was quite a fun way to travel.  If only my Oyster card would get me access to this bus network!

On arrival at the O2 Centre, we were escorted to a VIP box.  Centrally placed, with fabulous views of the stage this box came along with eighteen seats, a full dance area, barman and wonderful drink and food (including some very tasty chocolate-covered strawberries).  The O2 Centre is now amazing – it has a centre stage that is in the form of a Celtic Cross that rotates, glides and is incredibly versatile.  Unusually, there are no large screens for the people in the cheap seats to be able to see the event but there is a good reason for this – there aren’t really any cheap seats as because the stage is central everyone has a great view of the performers.  Justin Timberlake uses the stage to its maximum effect – he is an incredible dancer and backed up by a group of dancers and a ten piece band, there is always something to watch.  Fergie (from Black Eyed Peas) provided the warm-up and was also superb.  

This was an amazingly memorable evening and I would like to say a big thank you to Marjanne from Glitnir for inviting us and to Arit Andersen from Elan Productions who organised and ran the hospitality for Glitnir effortlessly.  I promise to keep practising my dancing – it is better than Sascha’s but I still have a long way to go before I can be favourably compared to JT!