Chicago-May 6th 2022

Well, talk about a slap back to reality…I had to go to work today before the gig LOL. Up early as I was wanting to start at 6:30 vs 7 and also work my lunch hour so I could get out at 2:30 and hopefully down to the venue by 6pm. Then I found out that doors were 6:30 vs 7 so was not happy as there was no way to get out of work any earlier but…despite HORRENDOUS Chicago traffic, I managed to get to the venue just before 6 and found only Jennifer and Bert, Mali, and a guy with his 2 daughters in line for Early Access so…PHEW! 😀

I was supposed to have had 4 local friends with me but 1 had to back out last minute. However, I was super excited to see the other 3 as 2 of them…Cathy and Jim…I’d not seen since pre-pandemic (though Cathy and I had done a few Zoom things but still…). When they arrived, it was about time to actually go into the venue and once in, we headed towards Paul’s side as I had told them about the fun little TG thing going on LOL. Mali, Bert and Jennifer next to us so it was a line of regulars LOL.

To say I was excited to see the guys in my home town (I use that loosely as I technically live out in the far NW suburbs but…) is an understatement plus, like mentioned, I had my posse with me so it was a great night before OMD even started. 😀  ItVB got a good reception from the crowd and I managed to get one of the other songs I wanted recorded so I was happy LOL. Prior to OMD coming on, I was talking with Cathy and she said she knew it was going to be a greatest hits but was hoping for a few non hits. “But I’m being realistic. I mean it’s not like I’m going to hear Stanlow or something.” I nearly burst out laughing but contained myself and just said “um…weeeellll…I won’t say much but there’s 3 deep cuts in the show.” She got excited and I thought to myself “not long until she realizes she DOES get to hear Stanlow!” LOL 😀

When it was time for the guys to come out, the crowd went crazy and needless to say, Cathy LOVED the first song LOL. Isotype went down well too but it was after Messages that the crowd REALLY went mental to the point that Mr. M. looked out at us and said “wow, you’re sounding like back home at the Liverpool Empire…and you brought the weather from there too” (LOL, it was a cold, windy and rainy day). After cheers, Mr. M. made sure we knew “that’s a compliment!”. NICE! 😀  I had told my friends about the yes, Yes, YES part to TG so after Mr. M. joked with Mr. H. saying “Paul, are you ready?” and Mr. H. hit the “no” button, they took off and we did our thing having our final laughing, dualing singing with Mr. H. which made my friends laugh too. 😀  What happened next was a special moment for me as Mr. M. gave me a shout out before HoM. He said when they came to tour America in 2010, “A girl from Chicago did every one of our shows and her name is Lori here in the front”. Mr. H. laughed and said “yeah she did” and Stuart laughed and pointed at me. Mr. M. then continued to say that I also “managed to get the whole front dancing didn’t you?” and Mr. H. was like “yeah you did Lori”. I was laughing , clapping and freaking out LOL. SO sweet! <3  Plus wow, that seems like SO long ago but it was an amazing time that has me with some of the same friends this many years later. 😀  <3 Tons of bouncing from everyone around and when the song was over and the crowd went wild again, the whole band was floored. Massive smiles on their faces for sure! 😀

And the loud cheers continued for Mr. H. as he came down to do FLaD. Girl screams, lots of singing along and once done, Mr. H. couldn’t believe how the crowd just kept going. Mr. M. laughed too and did the bowing down to him. Stuart and Mr. C. were all smiley too, everyone was just soaking up the crowd and I won’t lie, I was so proud of my city since, in past tours, it’s not like we ever FAILED the band but we were never the BEST. THIS time tho…we were knocking the other cities out of the park. 😀 <3  When things finally settled down and Mr. H. announced 3 songs from A&M, my other local friend Saundra was excited as she was looking forward to their “older, less hits stuff” since last time she saw them she wasn’t as familiar with their full catalog but thanks to the many “World CupTournaments”, she knew some of the other older albums now. 🙂  All 3 songs were amazing but once MoO was done, OMG! The crowd…it was just mental. The balcony was up standing and going crazy which thrilled the band to see. They kept looking up, then out, then at each other in awe. When it FINALLY settled, Mr. M. thanked us and then said “with a cheer like that, it makes having 42 years of people taking the piss out of my dancing all worth it.” Aww 😀 <3

The “deep cuts” went down well and then Don’t Go found the crowd singing quite loudly back at Mr. M. and the band. We gave Mr. M. an obvious NO response when asked if we were getting tired and the volume of singing along to SiL and Dreaming were impressive.  Mr. C. got a massive cheer and the  balcony was still all up and going crazy (especially for a balcony as that’s usually the more mellow area but not tonight!) Mr. C. was really happily shocked. 😀 Before Locomotion, Mr. M. turned to Mr. H. and said “I like the new glasses”. Sweet. 🙂 Bowing entailed to Stuart after SotSS with lots of cheers and then it was time for Enola Gay…and a ton of people bouncing again. When it was over and the band came out front, they were all just looking around with their massive smiles. They stood and soaked it up a bit before doing intros and also waved and bounced around and such a bit longer than usual to soak up the amazing crowd.

No surprise that an OMD chant got going immediately after they walked off and continued loudly until they came back. Mr. M. had changed his shirt which was a first and then looked out at us, thanked us and said “wow, you know Paul, I think they’re BETTER than the Empire!” Mr. H. agreed and Mr. M. said “should we move here? I don’t think they’d want to come to Liverpool.” I thought “I would, I LIKE Liverpool LOL”. 😀  Well, no surprise that the final 3 songs went down really well and of course Electricity had a ton of bouncing all over and up in the balcony. More mental loudness from the crowd and lots of waves, kisses blown, thank yous etc from the band. Mr. M. told us we were “fucking brilliant” and Mr. H. echoed.  When they finally walked off stage, the cheering remained a bit longer, then it was done. My friend Jim looked at me and was like “OK, I know bands say crowds are amazing so were we really that good or was he just feeding us stuff?” I said “no, this was the best out of the 5 shows I’ve done but let me ask Jennifer as they’ve done all since FL”. I did and Jennifer confirmed we were the loudest to which Jim and Saundra were like “oh cool, well then Go CHICAGO!” 😀

Friends Nicky and Linsey along with Pat found me afterwards too so more hellos but security was shooing us out, plus I had about an hours drive to get home and was tired so I said a quick hello to Andrew at the sound booth, goodbyes to everyone else and then Cathy and I walked to my car so I could drop her off at her bus stop before heading home. What a night! 😀

And my highlight…it’s an easy one…seeing a CHICAGO show. Being in my home town, with my local friends, getting the sweet shout out, having the crowd be so friggin amazing…just what an awesome night! 😀

So…6 hour drive and into Minneapolis where another exciting night awaits me as my CA friend Laura is going to do the next 2 shows with me as we room and travel together but also my TX friend Kevin is coming which is awesome since I’m not doing any TX shows. Gonna be great! 😀