London, November 13th 2017

Well, after the super fun night with friends at Guildford, it was another fun day with Claudia as we had no gig on Sunday. Slept in til 8am, had a leisurely breakfast and then headed out to explore the town a bit. There’s an old castle that the main ruin wasn’t open, nor the museum, but the grounds and gardens were so it was still nice to see. Some shopping, leisure time at the hotel and then a nice dinner in a cozy and warm pub rounded up the day/night. 🙂

The next gig was London so Claudia and I were able to take the same train part way together, then she changed to head back to airport and fly home while I continued into London where Paula picked me up and we went back to her house to visit and get ready. We actually made REALLY good time coming back in considering it was start of rush hour AND, found a good parking spot that only cost 1.50P as then it was free after 18:30. Whoo hoo. 😀 Mark and his sister Debbie had Gold again and my friend Ian had Platinum so they were going to go in early but we all met up to queue before hand and visited. Rebecca and Jean-Pierre came too so we all sat and chatted until they had us go upstairs and split us into packagers and non-packagers.

As in Guildford, there were a lot of packagers so the plan was to try and go towards Mr. C.s side and all stay together but we lost Ian and then a couple got between Rebecca and Jean-Pierre and Mark and Debbie so we weren’t quite the row we were supposed to be. OH, and saw Dave in line too but he ended up middle and second row. Paula was behind me on an angle too and Hannah showed up a bit later so next to Paula. Not the line of front rowers as in Guildford for our head banging, especially as Mark, Debbie and I were quite to the side but ah well. We were all together to visit which was what counted. 🙂

Time prior to Tiny Magnetic Pets went by really fast as I saw a sweet couple I know from Blancmange gigs and also Mark C. found me so before I knew it, it was time for start. Poor Paula lost an earring mid show but otherwise it went down fine though the crowd seemed a bit more reserved from where I was standing. We could see Merve getting things ready for OMD though as we were on the side of the stage that lead to the back area and Mark pointed out that we could also see a cool shadow of Paula (and later Mr. M.) on the far wall LOL. 🙂

Not too hard to get the quick pit stop and then while waiting for OMD, I started looking around the venue. Should have taken a picture as it’s actually quite a cool thing. It’s round (hence Roundhouse) but it’s more, er, wood looking with a lot of rafters and the big beams are kind of cross like (as Mark pointed out later during MoO LOL). The VERY first time I came to the UK to see OMD I got to see them in Birmingham at Symphony Hall (second balcony) and then the next night in London here at the Roundhouse (front row!) so…though I know many aren’t as keen on this venue due to the floor being flat so hard to see from the back, it has special meaning to me. 😀

Apologies in advance for not having too many specifics in this blog. I had a fun day off with Paula yesturday and literally just shut my brain down so to come back now and turn it on again, I find I’ve forgotten some things I’m sure. 🙁 Right..well, lights went off and Ghost Star started and as always, sounded great. When it was done, Mr. M. motioned for everyone to start dancing as Isotype began and a number of us bounced. Then, as Merve was bringing on Mr. M.s bass, Mr. M. said “there will be old…and there will be new..and there will be dancing.” Mr. H. joked about the old bit and said something like talking “about the band” and Mr. M. laughed. Not only did Mark and I yell the “Yes, yes, yes” but so did Rebecca and Jean-Pierre and I think their friends by them so it came over a lot louder this time LOL. And HoM of course went down well with a lot of heads bopping up and down. When it was done, Mr. M. laughed and said “so that was a song about the end of the world. Want to hear ANOTHER really sad and depressing song?” referring to OMT. Of course everyone cheered. Eh, why not? 😉

So the choices for the vote tonight were She’s Leaving, Radio Waves and NSA. Normally I would want NSA but since Ed had mentioned a few gigs ago that RW hadn’t won and it still hadn’t, we all voted for that one. Nope, SL won again. NOT that I don’t like that song as I do…it’s lovely. But since it had won the last gig, was hoping for a change but ah well. Mr. H. came out to do FLaD and I heard someone let out a huge scream so obviously this was the song they were hoping to see/hear. Of course he had fun comimg out to the front and when it was done, I turned to Mark and said “head banging. 😀 ” but he said “no, IYL” I was confused as they don’t do IYL but THEN, Mr. M. announced they were going to do another song…an “extra song tonight. Apparently Martin only playing saxaphone on one song isn’t enough so…” and they launced into IYL! 😮 Well, as it was, this gig was being video taped for a future DVD release (there was a camera guy near us but ahead of us and he would record from there for a bit, then go to the other side of the stage for awhile, then back again. I remember thinking “wouldn’t they want more than just those 2 angles and at such long recording gaps?” but what do I know LOL? Maybe some other cameras were just set up for non-stop running…or not…whatever. 😉 ) so Ed had mentioned to Mark they were going to do IYL as it would be sold in the states too and that’s their biggest hit there. Extra song? No complaints here! Plus, as Mr. M. said, we get another Mr. C. saxaphone song so…. 😀 😉

Despite us not all being in the front row together, we still had a good time during Souvenir because Rebecca, Jean-Pierre and their friends were doing it well and Hannah behind us joined in too so we still ‘represented’ LOL. 😉 Bows to Mr. H. from everyone and then it was the dynamic duo songs. I’ve gotta say, being on Mr. C.s side of course means he’s the closest to us so I tended to look over a lot at him. During the clapping bits of the songs, he bops back and forth with a big smile on his face and claps along like a jolly ol’ guy. Hard to explain but it’s so cute! 😀 Mr. H. gave both Mr. M. AND Stuart bows when it was over and big smiles on everyone’s faces.

I don’t think anyone who’s not seen the show yet ever expects to see OAtTWM performed so it’s an added suspense and excitement to see the single drum get put out and then each guy come out to do their part, Mr. H. and Mr. C. with their mini, hand held keys. The crowd actually started clapping before Mr. M. was done with his final, solo guitar clinging and it made me laugh as TMP have had that happen the past 2 nights with one of their songs that goes down low but still has a bit left. It’s actually happened before too, early in the tour, but just the past 2 nights Paula has laughed and said “it’s not over yet…” so when it happend with OMD too, I turned to Mark and repeated that. 😉

I didn’t hide behind Mark as I THOUGHT we were far enough to the side really for me to not worry for WHWD but miscalculated but whatever. I’ve become accustomed to how that song effects me and just look down to have my crying moment. Lots of dancing and bouncing for the next bit of course because it’s SiL and Locomotion. Stuart did some bowing to Mr. C. once he was done playing the sax which was cute to see. 🙂 And I had a perfect view to record Mr. H. doing his fast diddling on the keys except near the end when Mr. M. came dancing back to the mic and got into my camera view LOL. The crowd was a good one, though, tbh, I don’t think it was as good as some of the others I’ve seen but again, we were off to the side so…

SotSS got a lot of prompting to sing and once TPoL came on, Mark did well with the hey hey hey and only missed one. 🙂 That seems to have become quite a crowd pleaser which is good since it’s so new. And then…Enola Gay. I THINK this was the song that had the pink bra come flyin onto the stage. 😮 Mr. M. promised they’d be back and everyone was waving and clapping back to us, slapping each other on the backs or small hugs and then went off. No feet stomping or anything but the crowd kept cheering. Thru the dark, I saw someone who I realized was Merve go to Mr. H.s keyboards and put something pink on it. Initially I thought it was a towel but when the band came back, Mr. H. was greeted by the bra. 😀 😀 😀 He picked it up and said “it’s not my size but…” 😀 😀 😀 During WotMW, Mr. M. said “but on a Monday night in Roundhouse you can recreate your youth”. 🙂 During Secret, Mr. M. came over and made some funny motions to Mr. H. during his bass bit prior to us yelling the “Secret” bit again. Always fun to see them play around. 🙂 We got warned about Electricity being their fastest and oldest so one more chance to use our “dancing shoes” and then it was over. For being off to the side, there were still quite a bit of us bopping around so I would think the middle section looked good to the guys too. 🙂 A big post gig pic again and then some chatting with people before we all went our separate ways. Paula and I went with Mark and Debbie to grab some chips and then visit a bit in their hotel lobby before driving back home. A long day and night but worth it. 🙂

So…highlight of this gig…hmmm, gotta think about this one as there’s nothing that is shouting out to me but I think I would just say, like in Guildford, the crowd I was with. It’s been wonderful seeing a lot of friends and getting to bond over a band we all love. 😀 One more gig and then that’s it for me and OMD this year but Bexill, like Guildford, is a city I’ve never been to before so that alone makes it exciting…if not a bit sad too that it’s the final one.