THIS RANT 15/07/2001
Sophie's in-store shenanigans
Last Saturday, Sophie Ellis Bextor made an in-store appearance at HMV's Sydney CBD store. I'm normally a bit averse to in-store signings, but I was going to be in town anyway, so I decided to pop in.I had vaguely thought that even if I showed up at 1:00pm (for a 1:30pm session), the queue might not be too bad and I could, if I wished, make a purchase and get it signed. I should have known better. Apparently, the first fans showed up at 8:00am. By the time I arrived, the queue snaked all the way through the store, making it virtually impossible to browse. As a result, I'd imagine that while sales of Sophie product were brisk (you had to buy something in-store to get it signed), other product might have been moving a bit slowly.
To Sophie's credit, she came on stage a mere 10 minutes late (waiting for 45 minutes is not at all uncommon in this sort of situation). After confessing, oddly, that this was the first in-store signing she'd ever done, she took a few questions from the audience.
Although someone inevitably asked about the 'feud' between her and Victoria Beckham (she replied that they would be wrestling in bikinis, "Isn't that what you want to hear?") most of the questions weren't too bad. Asked why she co-wrote her own songs, she said that she thought the importance of writing was often overstated, but that it gave a greater degree of self-sufficiency. She also made short work of the mildly annoying Hot 30 DJ.
Once the questions were handled, it was time for the serious (and painful) business of signing. While the crowds surged through the store, I made a quick exit and went on a futile search for pasta flour. But that's another story.
Click here to contact Gus
