San Francisco-June 15th, 2025

So it was goodbye to Portland after another cold morning and a quick stop at a rose garden and hello California. More specifically Sacramento where my friend Pammy lives as she was kind enough to let me stay with her Saturday and Sunday night. We had gotten to hang and stayed together in Melbourne just a few months earlier but this time on US soil LOL. I also got to meet her Great Pyranese Bear which was great!😀🐾 A mellow night watching a movie and yummy breakfast out the next morning before we got ready and headed to San Francisco. Pammy lives about 2 hours away and we were also making a Build a Bear stop along the way plus wanted to que early so… 😉

We arrived about 3:30 to find Kim, Bert and Jennifer, 3 others who I’m forgetting names of  but were all really nice and fun company plus Elizabeth who I’d not seen since the last OMD tour in 2018 so it was great to hang and catch up. The 3 hours in line actually went pretty fast and then it was doors. There was a “Telegraph Room” where I guess people pay to get in an hour ahead to have little bites and drinks and then get let in when our doors open so we were all worried we’d not get front row but as it turned out, we all did tho some people were in between us. Elizabeth and I were more in front of Mr. C., Kim, Bert and Jennifer always go for the same spot kind of in front of Stuart and towards Mr. H. and the other 3 were on their other side. Front row wankers, yay! 😀 (Pammy had to leave and do something for work and her sister was coming later so she was going to watch from the back. I told her it was more important to see the show with her since this was sadly the only show we were both doing and I’d happily watch from the back but she said no, she was good on her own and then she’d find her sister so…OK…)

Well I suspected it’d be a good show when I saw a lady behind me clapping quite a bit to WD’s beat.  When the lights went down and Antropocene started, the cheers were massive to where Mr. M., smiling at the crowd after, said “Ahh…it’s going to be a fun one tonight”.  The crowd continued their excitement by singing loudly to Messages (I actually heard a few people doing the “do do doo da do da dooooo” bit to the instruments and it continued for TG, awesome! 😀👍

Instead of Stuart having drum issues, this time it was poor Mr. C. and his computer/keyboard that was giving technical issues. Mr. M. looked and asked “is it going to take a long time? Should we leave the stage or does it just need to reboot?” The crewman and Mr. C. said yes just a reboot so Mr. M. apologized to the crowd and then, walking to Mr. C.s side and past him he joked “I don’t know, maybe it’s not technical, this side of the stage smells of weed so…” (and he wasn’t joking. I had smelled it during Messages and was like YUCK! to Elizabeth. It didn’t take long tho and just when Mr. M. was running out of things to say “help me out here…” Mr. H. saw Mr. C. give a thumbs up and said “he’s OK now, we can go”. 😀

Cues to bounce for HoM and then when Mr. H. came down to do FLaD, the crowd just went bonkers! So many cheers and screams that when it was over and Mr. H. was saying thank you, he did his heart sign with his hands and actually stood a little longer than normal to soak it in. 😀❤️ I decided to record JoA/MoO since I’d not recorded it yet this tour and it was amazing as always. When it was done, the balcony was all up, massive cheers and Mr. M. joked about his knee saying his titanium knee “hasn’t helped the dancing at all but it still works.”  Because I had seen Stuart dancing around before Veruschka in Portland, I saw it again tonight since my eyes were educated LOL.

“That’s the end of the cultural segment” and then Don’t Go. The guy next to me was bopping around a lot despite being sweet and watching bent over due to being tall. Mr. M. then said “13 years ago when we first came back, we got booked at a tiny venue…and SOLD OUT. That’s when they booked us here and here we are again.” (I thought…wait, doesn’t he mean 14 years ago because it was 2011, I was AT that show LOL.😉) Tons of singing along to SiL and Dreaming, this was a really great crowd and all the guys were getting so excited and happy. 😀 It continued thru Locomotion and once over, Mr. M. and Mr. H. laughed, both thanked us and then Mr. M. said “this is great!” Mr. H. said “yeah, it’s such a beautiful veuue”. Mr. M. followed with “but the CROWD is even MORE beautiful” and Mr. H. laughed and said “well yes, that’s right they are.” 😀

SotSS found the crowd bopping around and singing, Mr. C. and Stuart getting shout outs and smiling/nodding back at the crowd as they were cheering so loud.  Once EG came, that was a big hit and when done, the guys came down to say their thank yous. Once again, they were floored by the crowd’s reaction and kept waving, thanking us, calling us “truly amazing” etc. When they walked off and we were waiting for their return, I heard the attempt of the OMD chant but it sadly didn’t get 100% going. But the guys still came back all happy happy and lots of arms in the air for LaYN and more screams for Mr. H. and Secret. Electricity came quick and it was our final  bouncing chance with much singing before the guys did a final goodbye and promised they’d be back. Quick post gig picture with Elizabeth before saying goodbye (see her in Cleveland) and then I found Pammy and her sister so we could walk to cars together and head home.

Highlight of the night…well, I have to say the surprise fun of chatting with Elizabeth and the 3 now forgotten named fans plus just hanging out with Elizabeth and being front row…it’s been ages. 😀 Free day to drive to Anaheim and get to see Laura.😀