Guildford, November 11th 2017

I knew this show was going to have a lot of people I knew already but it ended up having a TON! 😮 😀 So first up was an early rise to catch a 6:30 bus into London and then change via tube to catch a train into Guildford. My German friend Claudia had arrived the night before so was waiting for me at the station for our NOT easy walk to the hotel. OMG, talk about getting a work out! It was almost all up hill and often uneven streets so my suitcase didn’t want to roll very good. About 2/3 of the way there (about a mile walk), Claudia said “I’ll for sure help you with your suitcase for the last hill as it’s the worst.” Mind you, this was after going up a steep one so I stopped and said “worse than THIS?” well, it was but not by much and I managed my suitcase but gave her my purse (she already had my back pack bag). Sheesh, I guess I don’t have to worry about having a few extra ‘cheat days’ of goodies food wise. I burned a good bit of it off right there LOL. 😀

This was going to be a bit unique for me as I had a Gold package so sound check. Claudia had VIP and a bunch of other friends had Gold so we all started arriving and meeting up at the venue by 3:30. Included was a specially designed ticket, a signed set list (which funny enough, had “song vote” in grey where the song would be inserted which makes sense since there was no way of knowing ahead of time and these were printed up way in advance 😀 ), a T-shirt that was to have been delivered (though Claudia’s and mine hadn’t shown up by the time I flew out 🙁 ) and then of course sound check. Different colored wrist band if doing VIP so Claudia was the only one of us that had the blue…we were all pink LOL. 😉 The gang….myself and Claudia, Stephanie (which was awesome as we’d not seen each other since the Liverpool Museum gig 3 years ago!), Mark and his sister Debbie (Mark being my bouncing buddy), Dave, Sean, Andrew, Andy, Kathryn and her friend (her husband ended up having to go to a conference so couldn’t make sound check but got in by time of doors so phew for that!), and…I think that was it.

I’ve only done 2 other Gold packages in the UK which was during the last tour so I was surprised how many there were this time…78 per Ed! 😮 Made it a bit hard to all get up front but that was OK. We got some good group photos and of course some pics of us with the band behind us. When we arrived, Mr. H., Mr. C. and Stuart were there and Mr. C. was strapping on his bass to practice Julia’s Song! 😮 OMG! 😀 Until Mr. H. announced “we aren’t doing it tonight. But we tried practicing it last night and I forgot the middle bit. It was horrible so we need to practice again.” OK, we’ll take it! 😀 Shortly after, Mr. M. came by and they started doing some of the more typical songs…Messages, MoO, but then Mr. M. asked what else everyone wanted to do and would you beleive Mr. H. was all “well Stuart needs to do What Have We Done.” Are you KIDDING me? 😮 Seriously?!?!?! I never in a million years thought they’d do that in sound check! Well, I decided heck with it and just moved back to the far end of the room so I’d not be in the front again with my tears but what bad luck. 😥 A temporary distraction though…Andy had his 6 year old twins (one girl and one boy) in the sound check since they both love OMD. They were in the back too and his son was dancing and swaying around so I tried to focus on that a bit. When it was done, Mr. M. said “Paul, did you see there was a fella with some great dance moves back there.” Andy told his son “he’s talking about YOU!” so his son got all smiles and waved. Awww… 😀

Once it was over (about maybe 35ish minutes), we all left except Claudia. Mark, Debbie and Kathryn ended up going back to the Mark and Debbie’s hotel room as it was literally right next to the venue. He took some of our spare stuff but Steph, Andrew and I waited for Claudia to come out. I did a quick food and drink run to Sainsburys and then by then it was about 6pm and Mark and gang were back along with some others. We figured we’d just sit around by the door and wait since there were SO many packagers today…wanted front row LOL. Maria and also Rebecca and Jean Pierre who traveled from Brussels arrived so our group was getting bigger and bigger LOL. Funny moment when I tried to get a big (16 in total though a few people I didn’t really know but they knew someone who I knew so got into the gang/group) group photo…so my camera has a timer and there was a counter near by so I suggested I put the camera on the counter and take it. Everyone got in pose, I hit the button for 10 seconds and then jumped in myself. Out of the corner of my eye (and everyone else’s) we saw a bunch of security guards coming our way and when it became obvious they were going to be walking past right when the camera was going to go off, you wouldn’t believe how many did a “eh eh eeeeehhhh” or “hold off!” or a combination of things. It was HILARIOUS but we all had the same idea and it was so loud the guards stopped like ‘what?!?!” and then realized and snap…off went the timer and we made it. 😀 😀 😀

Well, with that many people and most of us ending up in the front row, we knew it was going to be a special gig for us all! 😀 Tiny Magnetic Pets have gotten more and more comfortable in their shoes and hold the stage well. 🙂 Paula had made a comment that a special guest was there but I apologize as I forget who it was but someone from Visage and Gary Numan’s band so…there ya go. 🙂 And I tried to get Claudia, Steph and Mark to do Paula’s shoulder movements with me during Semaphore. 😀 I didn’t give them much notice though so it wasn’t too strong LOL. Mark and I will do it well in London and I’ll tell the rest of the gang ahead of time this time. 😉

VERY quick pit stop between bands (particularly due to some woman who came charging up and tried to cut into our space. They actually admitted ‘we’re trying to push our way to the front.” Um…yeah, GOOD LUCK as WE are NOT moving!!! So because of that, we each went 1 at a time vs. 2 so that there was NO chance they’d sneak in. Mark was like me at Cambridge in that he had no clue about the set list and didn’t spoilers so when Art Meets Art started he was all “Oh! 😮 ” but then changed and as we all know eventually settled into Ghost Star which was fine with him as he’s a big fan. I jokingly told him “OK, bounce time” when Isotype started and he joined in with me during the part I’ve deemed to be bouncing time LOL. 😀 The crowd was really good and Mr. M. said “it’s been a long time since we’ve played the city of Guildford. Sorry about that.” Messages had a lot of us singing the “der da der da der da deeeer” part because that happens more in Europe but Mark and I do that too when together and I even did the “yes yes yes” part for TG with him (and he recuited some others too LOL). But near the end, I heard different lyrics sang. I hadn’t really paid attention to who was singing what and assumed it was Mr. M. who messed up LOL. Well, when it was done, Mr. M. said to us “indulge me for just a minute while I go figure something out with Paul”. He then turned to Mr. H. and said “OK just let me know…I was right and you were wrong right?”. Mr. H. laughed and said “yes, you’re right. I messed up.” Mr. M. got all excited and said “YES!” while doing a matching arm up and quick pull down motion. He then turned to us and said “that doesn’t happen very often! Normally I’M the one who messes up but when we started and I heard I thought ‘hold up, I’M singing the right words..’ ” Mr. H. laughed and said “well then for a minute I thought am I singing the right words but no. You were right, I was wrong.” Aww… 😀 So Mr. M. laughed and said “OK, sorry about that everyone but I just had to check.” hahaha. 😀

It was then time for him to put his bass away and this was Mark’s and my first big time bouncing song. 😀 We had really gotten squashed so he was actually more behind me now and I had to kind of stand sideways but it worked and it felt like good ol’ times. 😀 When it was over Mr. M. laughed that “it’s been a life long ambition to have 2,000 people in Guildford bouncing up and down to a song about the end of the world. I’m happy!” Glad we made your day Mr. M. LOL. 😉

Democracy time found that Guildford bumped out Leicester as being the city “who voted the most.” And, like Leicester, it was a close vote with the loser being only 6 votes behind and the winner only winning by ONE vote. Our choices were She’s Leaving, Pandora’s Box and New Stone Age. Most of the group voted for NSA, a couple for PB but none of us voted for the winner LOL so I found that funny we were all the odd ones out. 😀

When the guys got ready to change spots for Mr. H. to sing FLaD, Mr. M. teased Mr. H. by saying “if you can remember the words, do you want to come out and sing your song?”. Mr. H. laughed and said “I hope I remember them, yes.” He did. 😀 As it was finishing, I turned to Mark and the part of the gang on my side and said “OK, head banging time.” And then turned to Claudia and Steph on my other side. The rest of the row knew as they had been at Cambridge or had been told and….off we went. I counted 8 of us in the front row and 5 more behind us going back and forth. Like in Cambridge, it just cracked me up as many of us girls had our hair flailing and we all kept going from banging with our heads down to looking from side to side at each other and cracking up. I don’t know what the band was doing as I only glanced up once or twice and my hair was in the way but I’m sure they think we’re a bunch of nutters. 😀 But..ya know, gotta let loose and have fun at an OMD gig right? 😉

Of course the crowd ate up the JoA/MoO and there were massive smiles all around. I looked up and the balcony even had most people standing. Mr. M. was all “Whooooo….” and lots of bows to Stuart from Mr. H. Well, Ed and I had told Mark that the song after the trio section was going to be a really good surprise. Mark leaned over to me and said “OK, you said this next song was going to be special and amazing…it’s make or break time for you.” LOL 😀 He had seen the RAH show so once they brought out the single drum, he figured it out and was quite happy. 🙂 And I was quite happy to have him to hide behind for WHWD which was a great help! 🙁

Once back in the front row, it was minor bouncing (mostly bopping) time for SiL and a really cute hand shake between Mr. M. and Mr. H. for Locomotion. 🙂 Before Mr. M. prompted us to continue our bopping he said “come on…it’s not like you all have to go to church in the morning” LOL and TPoL found a ton of us all “hey hey hey”ing. Before we knew it, it was time for Enola Gay with more bouncing which set things up nicely for the guys to come down to the front of the stage greeted only by more and more cheers. Lots of waves and as always, the promise they’d be back again and then off they went. Mark tried to get the “OMD, OMD” chant going but we just weren’t able to get it up and running. 🙁 Ah well, we tried LOL.

When they all came out and the crowd kept cheering, Mr. M. made joke about all the dancing and said “I’m 58 but my mind thinks I’m still 24”. Join the club! 😀 I noticed the one thing about this crowd is they didn’t just cheer, they would say “Yeah” a lot vs a cheer. Hard to explain but it was distinct every time Mr. M. would ask if we wanted more. 😀 WotMW went down fine, Mr. H. had no memory issues for Secret and then it was Electricity which “I KNOW we would have done all the other times we played Guildford” and then…more goodbyes before the lights came on.

So…highlight of the night is easy for this one…having the gang there! SO many friends! I love that I have made so many OMD buddies thru the years and tonight had such a good portion (and saw a few others AFTER the gig so another, slightly smaller group photo then LOL 😉 ) that it was wonderful! 😀