San Francisco-March 27th 2018

So…tour leg #3 for me and the shortest of the 4 LOL. It almost didn’t even happen as I had been going back and forth about it. San D. and Anaheim were sold out by the time I looked into buying tickets (some life issues occured so where I would have normally jumped on buying tickets as soon as they came out, that wasn’t the case this time and thus, by the time I DID go to buy, many I wanting to do were sold out. 🙁 ) With half of CA out, it was a lot of money to spend coming to the opposite side of the country for just San Fran and LA. 🙁 But I couldn’t stop thinking about it and finally decided heck with it, just do it. Went online to buy tics and…LA “sold out”. UGH! 😮 🙁 BUT, thanks to one of my best friends buying me a ticket from a “verified TM reseller” for a late Xmas/early Bday gift, I got in and so bought San Fran and thus “leg #3”. 😀

Nothing too exciting getting into San Fran. Flight was uneventful though it required an early rise from bed and with gaining 2 hours, made for a long day and night LOL. My hotel was actually just under a mile walk from the venue so super convenient! 😀 Had I paid attention to my ticket, I’d have known the doors were at 7:30 this time vs. 7 but…I didn’t so I got in line just before 6pm thinking I had an hour. NOPE! Luckily I had my phone fully charged as it came in handy killing the time. 😉 The guys were playing The Regency Ballroom which was the same place they played last year in July so it was a bit of deja vu when I arrived and got in the queue. I had hoped to get on the other side of the stage from where Mark and I had been last year but once I saw how many packagers there were, I was hoping for front ANYWHERE. Must have been at least 45 and then I had about a dozen people in front of me. I asked one of the guards if I was allowed up in the balcony because, like Detroit, I was sure I’d not get up and figured I’d rather be further back but with a clear view and perhaps something to hold onto for bouncing. Guard said balcony was reserved so…OK, floor it is. As it turned out, I saw a small space between a guy who seemed to be alone and 2 other men on the other side (dad and son). ALMOST enough room to fit me in and the front row wasn’t super tight yet so figured I could fit OK but I still asked the guy who was alone if he was saving the spot and when he said no, if he would mind me getting into it and he said no so…yay! And funny enough, almost exactly where I was with Mark last year. 😆

So I’ve grown to not mind GGOOLLDD. I still only have 2 songs I really like but the others I’ve grown to not mind and as always, fun to watch. We got a new joke too that made me laugh though darn if I can remember it now. 🙁 OH…”where does a honey dew and a watermelon go on vacation?” A couple people yelled “Honeymoon” and the bassist looked over and said “ooo, good one..but no.” Answer (do I want to be cruel and not tell you til the end of the blog to make you read it? 😉 ) “John Cougar’s Meloncamp”. 😀 😀

Well, I knew it was going to be yet another great night when, not only did the crowd cheer a lot when Mr. M. turned around to walk towards the mic for GS but also off and on in between lines….depending on how much time there was between lines and the dramatic essence it created. When it was over and the crowd died down, Mr. M. laughed and said “We’re BACK! And so SOON.” The crowd cheered again and then he laughed and said “Last time we were here we could barely play our new songs. We’ve rehearsed them, no lyric sheets needed anymore.” Mr. H. started laughing and nodding with a look like “oh yeah, I remember last time.” 😀 No bouncing for me tonight as I recorded that song but I saw a few heads bopping around me on the right. I also saw a little boy come up over the crowd to reach out towards Mr. M. who put his hand out and a little slap occurred. 🙂 When Messages started, the crowd really got excited and during Tesla Girls, I even heard them do a “Tesla Girls” echo at that part where the music dies a bit 2/3 of the way thru. 🙂

Once Mr. M. gave Merve his bass, he looked out at the crowd and said “This is our 5th time here in the past few years.” Lots of cheers as he continued “so you should all know this by now. This is a song about the end of the universe. All you have to do is bounce!” I was happy to see the father/son to my left bouncing as was a woman who was here with her young daughter. I couldn’t see Mr. C. very well from my angle due to his computer being in front of most of his face 🙁 but he was still bopping back and forth in his seat and Mr. H. and Stuart seemed happy as the crowd was really getting into the whole thing. OMT got introduced as “not ALL our songs are about the end of the universe or oil refineries. OCCASIONALLY we slip a love song in there about having your heart broken. And not by a machine!”

Well, once it was time for Mr. H. to come down, I heard a lot of woman screaming LOL and many around me started singing along especially to the chorus. 😀 Of course everyone went crazy for IYL (and I was happy to be able to see Mr. C. better for a pic as he got up to play his sax LOL) so when it was done and the crowd went crazy, Mr. M. smiled, looked back at Mr. H. and said “I think they knew that one.” Mr. H. laughed and nodded. 😀

The A&M trio went down great with Mr. M. and Stuart swaying together in time during Souvenir and I think it was at the end of JoA that Mr. M. handed his bass pic to the little boy who had been lifted up earlier (and was lifted up again for the pick). When MoO was done and everyone was cheering (of course), Mr. H. kept pointing to Stuart to congrat him on his drum playing and Mr. M. just stood there laughing and breathing heavy. After a minute he said “I’ll take all the applause you want to give. I need a break!” so MORE cheers LOL. Well, the little boy was making out good because when OAtTWM was done, Stuart went over and gave him his drumstick. I gotta say though, I was feeling bad for the little girl by me. She was quietly taking video and her mom was bopping all over the place but I don’t think the band saw her because no one lifted her up and she was more to the side like me. I thought “awww, poor thing! I wish she would get a pick or hand slap or SOMETHING.” 🙁 Luckily it wasn’t long and Mr. M. noticed her during I THINK SiL, maybe it was Locomotion, can’t remember. But he looked right at her and sang to her so that was good. 🙂 (actually happened again later and the little girl reached out to try and touch his hand or something but wasn’t successful . The dad next to me had already tried…too big a gap really to get from the floor up to him unless lifted. But at least she got Mr. M.s attention and singing a couple times. Yay! 😀 )

And speaking of Locomotion, I may end up sounding like a complete IDIOT if this is a regular thing but I honestly don’t remember it happening except maybe a different tour. Then again, in my defense, I’m usually looking at either Mr. M. or the crowd he’s pointing to and NOT Mr. H. but the angle I was in this show gave me a perfect advantage point of his playing and for some reason I was watching him when Mr. M. was doing that “everybody over here….and here…in the back…and down HEEEERE” bit. It was hilarious as Mr. H. would look at the area where Mr. M. was pointing and wave, then the next he mouthed “hellooooo” and waved again and did that for all 4…but would be playing the keys in between while Mr. M. was calling out each section. It was much funnier in real life than what I’m describing I’m sure but I just laughed and thought “awww… 🙂 ♥

I also had a great view for the Mr. M. and Mr. C. hand shake after Mr. C.s keyboard solo of SotSS. 🙂 When it was done and the crowd kept cheering, Mr. M. looked up around the balcony and then at the main crowd and just smiled a massive smile. All the band was smiling as this was just a continuation of the great reaction to their shows. 😀 Enola Gay meant time to bounce again and between myself, father/son team and the little girls mom, we had it covered on my side LOL (and I’m sure people behind me were bouncing too, I just didn’t look). Lots of hugs and waves from the band to each other and us before walking off stage. Lots of cheers though I didn’t hear the OMD chant this time. But that must have not mattered to the guys because they still came out all happy happy and Mr. H. and Mr. M. both thanked everyone for being wonderful. “Are you ready for more? How’s 3 hours?” Of course we all liked that idea. 😀 😉

During Secret Mr. M. and Mr. H. did their little bass and gun thing (Mr. M. kind of points his bass tip to Mr. H. to the beat/sound of the dunt dunt dunt and Mr. H. does his little pow pow thing back at Mr. M. …similar to what he does in the middle of FLaD…the da daat bit. Hope that just made sense. 🙂 ) Electricity came quickly and Mr. M. prompted everyone to have one last bounce session. A girl had come up really close to me to the point she was leaning right into me to recrod or take pics…not sure. I thought “well sorry lady but I’m about to bounce so you may want to move back.” Needless to say she let up ever so slightly once I started moving LOL. 😉 Final waves and thank yous and then…show over. Though funny bit to mention when I was leaving…2 girls and a guy in front of me were all talking as we made our way towards the doors outside. The one girl said “MUCH better than Depeche Mode. A thousand times better!” the guy laughed and said “it sucked, I want my money back.” But he was joking as they all laughed. So…there ya go…2 girls were more impressed by Mr. M. and Co than Dave and Co. LOL. 😀 ( and I would have to agree with them of course.)

So…highlight of the night…well, I am going to say Mr. H. during Locomotion because it still makes me smile when I remember it. It was just so cute and funny. 😀 😀 Plus it was fun to have a perfect viewing of him playing his crazy keyboard part in that song too and the face he makes when he’s done like “phew, OK there ya go, I did it.” hahahah, love it! 😀 Next up…LA bouncing sandwich with Mark and Laura! Whoop whoop! 😀