A rock fan who wrote to his favourite band has finally had a reply – 20 years later.
Jonathan Bramhall was just 12 years-old when he went to see Therapy? for his first live gig.
The youngster was so impressed he penned a note to the group begging them to return and play another concert.
But his letter got lost in the post and he had no reply – until now.
Jonathan, now a 32-year-old chef and part-time musician, was stunned when a letter and some signed Therapy? postcards finally landed on his doormat this week.
The band explained that a huge bundle of post got lost in 1994 when they changed PO Boxes.
Royal Mail finally delivered the forgotten fanmail this year and the veteran three-piece outfit replied to Jonathan using the stamped addressed envelope he had sent two decades earlier.
It went to his childhood home in Looe, Cornwall, where his parents Bevereley and Mike sitll live and forwarded it on.
The group’s message said: “Hello Jonathan. You wrote to us about 18 years ago, but due to a Royal Mail error in transferring the mail we never got it.
“Anyway, they passed it onto us now so better late than never! Best wishes, T?”
Music-mad Jonathan, also of Looe, said: “I couldn’t believe it – I was blown away.
“It was surreal. I remember writing the letter to them, but it was so long ago”.
Jonathan says he became a lifelong metal fan after seeing the Therapy? gig at the Pavilions in Plymouth in October 1994.
The group – guitarist/vocalist Andy Cairns, drummer/vocalist Fyfe Ewing and bassist Michael McKeegan – was formed in 1989 and still perform today with more than two million album sales worldwide.
Jonathan added: “We were 12 and it was the first live gig I went to.
“I vividly remember the excitement when the lights went down and lead singer Andy Cairns was on stage with the spotlight shining on him.
“I thought ‘I want to do that’. It was magical.
“I enjoyed the gig so much I wrote to their record company, pleading with them to come back and play another. When I didn’t hear from them I forgot all about it.
“For Therapy? To get back in touch after all this time was surreal. What a brilliant gesture”.
Therapy? bass player Michael McKeegan explained the band were determined to thanks their loyal fans.
He said: “We recently received a pile of mail that hadn’t got to us from around 1994.
“This was due to a change of PO box and the fact that albums with the old address were still available.
“A few of those who wrote had included stamps, so we thought it was the decent thing to do to write back”.
Royal Mail spokesman Mike Norman said he was surprised to hear of the mix-up.
He said: “It is extremely unlikely that this letter was in our system for such a long time.
“We regularly check all our sorting offices and machines are cleared”.
