Tough Job: All Aeccess blogger for GeorgeMichael.com

Here in the Netherlands we have this TV show called: Real Men. It's all about big, burly men doing tough jobs like logging in Oregon or driving trucks over frozen ice. Impressive stuff and you find yourself thinking: "Thank Goodness I don't have to do that for a living".

Tough jobs come in all shapes and sizes though. These last few weeks I read about, had email conversations with and eventually met in person (twice!) a lovely woman with a different kind of tough job.
Meet Lindsay: official All Aeccess blogger for GeorgeMichael.com. She couldn't look more different than those big, tough guys; she's just a slip of a girl.

Lindsay at the Köln show, busy as always
(pic courtesy of @GeorgeMichaelNL)

I've written some stuff about the concept of fandom on this blog, because the subject endlessly fascinates me. Something tells me that Lindsay, in spite of working for the organisation that handles George's website, hadn't had much experience with superfans 'in the wild' so to speak, before she took a plane to Prague for her first stint of touring.

I won't lie, the start wasn't easy for her. The fans, some (heh) of them just a tad jealous about her presumed close proximity to George Michael, watched her like a hawk to see if this lucky girl would slip up, make mistakes. And of course she did, like we all do when starting a new job.

When you work with real fans, you'll soon discover that they are often more knowledgeable about their idol than you are. Fans dedicated enough to come to multiple shows or buy an Aeccess Membership all know about the video of Roxanne - they probably know the exact date the footage was shot in Amsterdam as well!
And though I have to admit to giggling about her suggestion of skipping the last song before the break to enjoy the luxury of a private trip to the bathroom, I'll never know how she sneaked that past her editors/bosses. Especially since Brother, Can You Spare Me A Dime is such a cracker of a song!

Lindsay was a trooper though, and took all the criticism of  George's 'lovelies' on the chin. And then she got into her stride. Her blogging got very good and funny, giving us her take on the shows and interesting background information about life on the tour(bus) and soundchecks. She even gave us a few rounds of the sound check game.
And she was nice to us! She emailed me a few times and I heard from several other people that she took the time to email them personally in the few hours between travels she could get herself and her laptop to a wi-fi point. Very good of her, especially if you saw how incredibly busy she was. Always having to blog against a deadline isn't easy!

While she admits that life on the tour is tough for her, I'm sure that once she's home again and reunited with puppy Dexter and her husband her time with Symphonica will seem a lot more glamorous and fun (time and distance will take care of that!).
And she'll have enough stories to dine out on for years to come. Even though she wasn't exactly travelling in the inner GM circles, I'm sure she saw some funny stuff she can't tell us about. (Pity!)

I'm not sure if George Michael is aware how much great work Lindsay did for him and his 'lovelies', but we sure are. Thanks Lindsay!