Dublin May 30th

So two free days this time between gigs. This was great as I could fly back to London and meet up with Helen, Steph and Martin one final time for eats and then Depeche Mode. Both Steph and Helen were “DM Virgins” but it was a lot of fun and they did the song Steph and I were both waiting for…Just Can’t Get Enough! I nearly died as I haven’t seen them do that for a couple tours now, whoo hoo!! 😀 Since I’m not making any of the American DM gigs, I splurged on buying an “early entry” ticket for Wednesday so after a lovely lunch with a dear friend I hadn’t seen for 2 years, I headed back to the O2 and despite having to fight against yet more cutting/line jumping, managed a front row spot that was near the corner of the stage and the catwalk. 😯 Dave would walk by and it’d be like he was right in front of us (well, technically he was…HELLO! 😀 :D) As I was watching it all, I couldn’t help but think how awesome it was to be able to fit in gigs of fav band # 2 between so many OMD gigs, what luck! 😀

Well, unlike my flight from Germany to London, my Dublin flight the next day went as scheduled and I landed to find sun again, yay! Steve and Sally had decided last minute to come over and I already knew I was going to have Debbie and Anje again so it was looking to be a great gang. As I headed to the venue, I was told I’d pass a “sphere”. I thought “huh? Oh she must mean like a church steeple then…” Nope, she meant a huge sphere! If it was any bigger it’d have bit me in the nose but since it was sunny and I was watching for street signs, it wasn’t until I was closer that I suddenly realized what she was talking about. 😆

We all met early to queue but were surprised to not see as many people as in Germany…though no complaints LOL. Since none of us had our tickets in hand (I’m guessing they don’t mail outside of Ireland), we were a bit nervous about the box office opening as originally we were told 19:00 office, 19:30 doors but then another worker told us 19:00 both. 😯 but he quickly recanted and said the office should open before doors and if not he’d make sure we were all front as he could see who we were. Luckily it was the later and we got our tickets, then queued where we met Andrew…the only Dubliner we met who was there early (no one else we talked to in line was actually from the area).

When the door opened, we got in and nabbed a spot in the center. Since the stage was small and there was 7 of us now, we took up the center stage area LOL but last gig, we wanted to be able to see and bounce without worries so…. The venue was fairly small and had an, er, not so nice smell to it (Imagine moldy carpet with beer stains….the ‘floor’ consisted of thin carpeting and as Andrew told us, the venue’s also used for a lot of comedy shows so I’m guessing that’s a pretty good description of what we were smelling. Once we were in for about 20 minutes though, I didn’t notice anymore, I think my nose got accustomed to it. 😆 )

We had no idea who the opening act was until they came out but from their accents, we guessed they were local. Wonder Villians consisted of 2 girls and 2 guys, all looking well under the age of 21 but spunky and smiling. Their music was a bit more teen punk though one of the girls was playing keys and as they introduced each song and then launched in, I got the impression it was like a group of school friends who just thought “hey, let’s start a band”….”OK, let’s” because they were just really out there having fun and giving it their all, yet with a very youthful innocense. Both girls had the setlist marked on their arm too LOL. I probably should have taken some pics but being the last night, I wasn’t using my camera as much, sorry.

There was the usual toilet break after that and this was when I noticed it had started to fill up but wasn’t fully crammed yet though, as I told Anje, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. “You can have a smaller crowd but if everyone is really into it…..” (and when Anje came back a little after me, she said it was harder to get to our spot so even more must have arrived). The venue I’d say maybe fit around 1,200 with a floor and then seats that were kind of an in between of balcony and gym bleachers…not so high as a balcony but not totally off from the floor either.

A slightly late start to the gig by Debbies watch and with the stage being so small, Mr. C. and Mr. H.#2 had to actually come out front to then go around to their respective spots which caused a lot of cheering. By the time Metroland had come and gone, the cheering was really loud and I turned to Sally saying “ooo, this is a good crowd.” Messages was next and it too got a great response, Mr. M. looking out and saying “ahh…this is going to be a good night. But a hot one too, are you ready?” Cheers in reply and we were into TG where a lot of singing was taking place (actually it started from the get go, even Metroland :D). Dresden “is a new one that we’re just doing because it’s brilliant. If you don’t know it, just dance.” and that’s exactly what we did, 6 of us doing our little arm moves (Andrew joined in LOL) and everyone else enjoying it too. I found I wasn’t doing the ‘fake’ bounce tonight either, it was a real bounce and when HoM came on, I bounced even higher…it was like my feet were earnest to give it their all since this was the last UK/European tour gig. But funny thing, we have it timed as to when we bounce and when we stop (and since Steve and Sally were there, it was the alternate windmill motions tonight) but for some reason, we kept going near the end so through the final verse, we were still bouncing. About half way through I thought “wait, we should have stopped” and Sally was like “OMG!” because it was getting tiring but we kept it up til the end. Then Steve, Sally and I cracked up as I said “we weren’t supposed to keep going”, Sally was like “I’m knackered”, and Steve stuck his tongue out in tired agreement. Ah well, again, last gig so gotta go all out eh? 😆

Mr. H. came down next to do FLaD which not only got a great cheer before he began, but an even larger and longer one when he finished. Mr. M. kept pointing to him and after Mr.H. said his usual “thank you”, he stood there as it kept going, not quite sure what to make of it. Mr. M. gave him a stronger point and Mr.H. laughed as he bashfully thanked us again. Then, as he headed back to the keys, Mr. M. said “Paul, they love you. Would you like to do the next one then?” Mr. H. said “uh…no” but Mr. M. said “I like it here, it’s easy” and Mr. H. laughed and said “ah..try playing the next one” and Mr. M. laughed as he stepped back down to center stage. It sounded like IYL was dedicated to “anyone from Holywood Kilarny…that’s Hollywood here and this is a Hollywood song”. (had to look it up but apparently there’s a suburb in Belfast called Holywood…cool! :D)

Souvenir found Mr. H. getting another amazing cheer, Mr. H.#2 laughing and Mr. C. all smiles as Mr. M. and Mr. H. looked out and then at each other with a “listen to THAT” motion and nods. JoA found me emotionally losing it as it always does at tour ends, being the first song I ever heard of them and that carried on for MoO but I had to smile when it was done because the crowd just went crazy! One of, if not the best crowd of the tour, especially considering it was smaller than say Cologne or Manchester, two other stand out crowd gigs. All four guys were grinning, Mr. H. did the repeated bow to Mr. M. and Mr. M. stood there, first laughing and clapping back to us, then looking out to soak it all up as he shook his head in disbelief, then laughing and clapping back to us again. When he thanked us, he then said “If I read a review of tonights gig and a journalist calls that bad dancing, I’m going to kill you…and then dance beautifully and in time on your grave.” You tell em Mr. M.! 😆 😀

Our System was gorgeous, and TLaC had dreams of a sunny tomorrow…and summer in general LOL. When Mr. M. put out his wife/robot question, Steve and Sally were the “couple” to discuss…and they laughed, then kissed each other, awww! 😀 Anje got sung the second half of the verse and blown a kiss and she sang and mimicked the songs words/meaning right back at him, it was perfect like a pro! 😆 After that, Mr. M. announced the intellectual slow songs were over, it was all dancing from here and, though I love PB and thoroughly enjoyed hearing it in Germany, I hadn’t got SiL recorded at any of the gigs prior to the set change so I had my camera poised and ready….and when I heard the familiar high pitched key sound, I hit the record button all happy. 😀 There was a lot of singing along again once the pace picked up and as SMS was about to start, Mr. M. said “you’re all making a lot of noise, you’re loud. Loud means you’re having fun and having fun means you probably need to be saved. Follow me….” and we did, a nice strong congregation tonight. 😀 Mr. H.#2 was Jesus for the last time here and it seems he’s gotten used to it because he just nodded, chuckled, and bobbed his head back and forth like “yup…me…” 😆

During Locomotion, Mr. M. went to the side of the stage to my left and leaned over and across, singing to the security guard who looked at him first like “dude, what the?” but then gave in and laughed, shaking his head as Mr. M. moved back to full stage and laughed himself. Another great SotSS sing-a-long and when it was done, the guys again stopped to listen to the loud cheers. When Mr. M. announced they were doing their last song and thanked us for coming out to watch them, he even announced Wonder Villians (he always says the opening act but I wasn’t sure about tonight as it seemed a band they were just randomly picked/handed over to)….sweet. 😀 Everyone totally let loose, our gang included and after the hand/fist in the air part near the end, Mr. M. bent down and shout mouthed a massive “THANK YOU!” When it was over and everyone got introduced, not only did Mr. M. and Mr. H. pat each other on the back and give each other a hug, but, since they all had to come down front again to get off the stage, they were all close together. Mr. H. had moved across the stage a bit to wave, putting him near Mr. H.#2 so they put arms around shoulders and smiles to each other, it was great to see! 😀

I was hoping with the crowd being the way they were, they’d join in on the “OMD…OMD…OMD” chant we often do in the states but though our gang and some others near us yelled it, someone else got the “we want more” going and that took off….OK then. 😀 When the guys came out, Mr. M. thanked us and, turning to Mr. H., said “Now I know why we waited to play Dublin at the end of the tour…I wouldn’t want to try and follow THIS!” and Mr. H., all smiles, nodded in agreement. Mr. M. then said “since you’ve been so great, Malcolm has agreed to play THREE songs! Isn’t that right Malcolm?” My very immediate thought was he was joking as we all cheered and Mr. H.#2 waved and smiled but when he didn’t say “just kidding”, I realized he was serious and they were truly giving us an extra song! 😯 😀 So Mr. M. said “we’ll start off easy and slow then gradually get faster. This one you just need to clap and sing ‘hey hey’ OK?” No problem! 😀 A great audience participation and Andrew got pointed at and given the mic..yay! 😀 I then saw Merv bring out Old Faithful and Mr. M. said “we haven’t played this one in Ireland for errr….?” and looked at Mr. H. who laughed and said “probably 25 years”. I heard a number of people yell Secret as Mr. M. said he hoped we didn’t mind and we all cheered our approval as Mr. H. announced “It’s from the Crush album” and off they went. It felt so special to get the bonus song…kind of like a thank you and going away gift, wonderful….but kind of sad at the same time if that makes sense…

Well, when it was done, Mr. M. said “thank you for being fantasticly bloody amazing!” we gave more cheers and hoots and he then said “we’ll end where we started” and they did Electricity, all of us bouncing one final, crazy loving bounce. Once finished, the guys came forward and waved and waved, Mr. H.#2 throwing out a couple kisses, Mr. C. looking up at the balcony and all smiles, Mr. M. letting out one final enormous mouthed thank you and kisses and Mr. H. clapping back to us amazed. When they had walked off for good and the lights came back on, it was a bunch of sighs and smiles from all of us as we knew it was now over but it hadn’t ended before we all got to enjoy it together one more time!

So, highlight of the night….well, tbh, it’s a hard one for me because there was so many emotions racing through my mind and heart. On one hand, I was trying to not focus on the fact it was the final gig and just enjoy everything an OMD show does for me and the joy I feel but on the other hand, there was the obvious knowledge that it could be the last this or that (though thank goodness for July NA gigs but still…last overseas this and that). I’ve had “final tour gigs” before but there’s still no way to fully prepare and it doesn’t get any easier. It’s truly bittersweet so though this isn’t an actual event so much as a generalization, I think I’ll have to say my highlight was just being there. Having friends with me was an added bonus as originally I was going to be flying solo so I’m thankful for that too, especially since none of us really know if we’ll be able to do all this again in the future.

And now I’m on the plane home. I’d be lying if I said there isn’t a part of me that’s ready to head back. Though this tour was only 1 day longer than when I did the first NA tour, it was further away and at times in ‘foreign’ lands. They played Chicago for NA so at least I had one night at home and everything was English speaking LOL. I miss my bed, my cat, etc so it’ll be good to get out of living from a suitcase and into my own bed to snuggle with kitty and chat with home friends on the phone. But there’s also the sadness of gigs ending and saying goodbye to friends overseas. I’ve had such a wonderful time with each and every one of you. I’ll have thank yous in July but I have to give them here too. As always, first round goes to the band. Not only for all the gigs, as this was a huge tour, but for giving out 110% as they always do. Every gig I saw was special and amazing in it’s own way and it’s because of the band, their music, the love and soul they put into the gigs and the joy it brings to not just me but everyone I know! I’ve had many a person not understand why I’d want to see them over and over, they think I should get tired of it all but there’s a lot of you out there who know as well as I do why I/we do it. If you love someting, why wouldn’t you want to get as much of it as you can? Nothing has changed, OMD gigs are still the best place to be! 😀 A big thanks to Ed for running the packages so well (a great relief really) and the crew for being sweet as always (I wonder how many people’s nights Merv made by bringing out extra set lists to pass around :D). Thanks to all of you who have read my blogs and the kind comments you’ve either said or posted, I really appreciate it! And finally, to all my friends, most from the past but a few I luckily made this month. It’s always so fun to gather, bounce and laugh together, share the passion and just spend time together….you make the gigs even better which is amazing since they’re unbelievable already. 😆 I was lucky to be able to have traveling buddies this time around too and as Steph joked “we didn’t kill each other so that’s a true sign of friendship.” 😆 But seriously, I started out going to OMD gigs alone and I’d never not do it that way again but being able to share the moment with friends is like icing on the cake. I know there’s a lot of wonder if we’ll be able to do it again… obviously hopes we can but realities of knowing all good things come to an end and the band is human, they deserve a break and whatever makes them happy…but really, no one knows the future. What I DO know though, is that this month has given me a lot of laughs, a few tears (gotta expect that, I’m a girl and it’s OMD 😳 😉 :lol:) and another world of memories that will never fade! I will never stop being thankful and grateful for being able to not only do this, but to have the gigs to do in the first place. I love you all. 😀 xo