Seattle-April 6th, 2013

Well, we finally made it to Seattle…but though I had hoped at the end of last blog it would occur uneventfully….it didn’t. We ended up at Border Control for about 2 hours due to some missing papers for one of my friends (won’t say which one ;o) and to add insult to injury, there was literally only 1 officer working at the counter….for about 50+ people waiting to get processed. Initially it was frustrating but by the time we left, I could only laugh…never a dull moment but it’s things like this that make the whole adventure an adventure so after sending poor Missy a text to tell her we weren’t going to make it to the hotel in time to change and still get her to the venue early for sound check and could Kim drive her, we set off to make it to our destination…and we finally made it all in one piece so can’t complain. 😉

It had rained off and on heading to Seattle and even a bit on our way to the venue but luckily as we got to the exact location, it stopped. I really wish I had had my camera ready though because coming into downtown on our left was a lovely sunset. Strange as it wasn’t truly sunny but there were big, dark fluffy clouds all around the sun…it was lovely but you’ll have to take my word for it as by the time I parked the car, left Mark and Irene in line, and walked back to try and capture it, it was gone. I did, however, get this cool looking Ferris Wheel…reminds me of the one we have back home at Navy Pier.

So The Showbox was another sold out gig…yay! A smaller venue than last nights Commodore, it was still decent sized and had levels that offered stools to sit on or a reserved seated area.  Sadly, Mark wasn’t feeling well so he and I decided to go back a bit and that’s how I found the ‘reserved’ area. Apparently you need a special wrist band and you get seated personally. Wow. :shock:. Well, after searching for a decent viewing spot on the one side and not finding one (tall people sitting and/or standing by the stools) we decided to check the other and I came across a small space directly behind the sound booth. It was up a bit so I could tell even if the sound man was standing right in front, they wouldn’t fully block us so we nabbed it and as it turned out, it was perfect…clear view because both Diamond Rings man and Chicky (yay, he’s here too!) weren’t right in front so all clear to our eyes! 😀

Diamond Rings came out but this time to a bit less dramatic entrance as they all came out together. However, not just John was sporting shades…they all were. The songs went down well again.  I had talked to their manager Maria a bit at the merch table before the show and mentioned how I was glad they were the opener and she said “they picked US. Out of all the bands that asked to tour, they picked us.” Cool, at least we know OMD like them LOL. (oh, and speaking with John after the gig, we finally figured out where I had seen them before…Robyn in Milwaukee a couple years back, phew as that was driving me crazy 🙄 :lol:).

When it was time for OMD, Decimal began again and then PRS bleeding into Metroland. Not sure why but it actually sounded even better to me tonight than last night. Maybe because I knew it was coming LOL but the crowd immediately got moving and midway in, we started clapping to the beat before Mr. M. had to even ask.  When it was over, Mr. M. joked about starting with a new song and did we think it was just going to be a night of nostalgia….then basically gave us some with Messages.  Roars again and they continued through Radio Waves and even Dresden. I can’t say enough how these new songs are really fitting in! It’s just a smooth transition for them. 😀

Up next of course was HoM Part 1 and I was thrilled to see Mark was feeling better and could bounce with me! 😀 😀  Being back as we were and set off the floor, we were able to observe the crowd really well and I am happy to report that a number of other people, mid crowd and on both sides, were following Mr. M.s request for bad dancing.

When it was time for Mr. H.s FLaD, Mr. M. joked about how it was written 25 years ago and that Mr. H. was very young then “cause he’s only 27 now. Come on out here and show them your plastic surgery.” Mr. H. laughed and happily came out to the front and then, LOL, when he sang the “you never get any older” line he did a little wave to his face like “haha, see”. It was cute!  IYL found Mr. M. describing possible scenerios of Prom Night before saying “this may well have been your theme song”. Massive cheer though I couldn’t hear as much singing tonight. Could have been where we were though as being back like this was different.

Before Night Cafe, Mr. M. asked if anyone was a fan of Edward Hopper’s paintings and then proceded to tell us there were 7 references to them in the song “and you get a price if you can name them all”.  I had a funny image of people whipping out their Iphones  to google it and after the later half’s intrulude, when Mr. M. came back in to sing the last part, he held up his fingers to show 6…and a few seconds later….7. Well there ya go LOL.   MoA was really cool because the predominant color of lights for the night was red, so instead of a white strobe light flashing to the beat of Mr. H.#2s drums it was red strobes. I had a perfect spot to grab video as the distance allowed for a fuller stage view but sadly, I had hoped I could have gotten some better footage of Mr. H.#2s drumming…a little bit of visibility at times but it didn’t do him justice as he’s just amazing on that song!!!

Our System found Mr. M. mentioning the sounds of what was picked up on the Voyager Probe and I chuckled when a woman, who appeared to be a bit drunk and had squeezed herself up behind me next to Mark got all “HUH???” with a half annoyed/half perplexed WTH look on her face as I thought “she probably is getting too much educational information tonight…first the Hopper thing, than this. It’s OK hun”.

I have to make a correction to my last blog as I hadn’t realized that the bit of speaking I had heard before Kissing the Machine wasn’t a new addition to the song but in fact Atomic Ranch. I kind of remember now that I wondered as Mr. M. had mentioned about the lyrics of what the person wanted but then it bled in so quickly I must have forgotten and assumed it was an added intro to KtM…my bad, sorry. 😳 So AR came and being back I was able to realize Claudia’s speaking her part in German…that’s different! 😯

Before SiL, when Mr. M. looked at his set list to see all fast songs, he tried to put it off on Mr. H. by saying “oh wait, my setlist is upside down. FLaD is up again…no?”  The crowd was loving it and lots of clapping again. I’ve gotta say, though I didn’t hear quite as much cheering and singing which originally made me tell Mark I thought VC was better, this crowd had it well down pat for the clapping!  More bouncing to SMS and then Locomotion found Mr. M. going for some fun with Mr. H. early…first verse! He was coming from Mr. C.s side of the stage and just casually and coveniently grabbed Mr. H.s mic stand as he was walking over to the other side, Mr. H. laughing and quickly grabbing it back….sneaky Mr. M. 😆 I then leaned to Mark and said “hey, we’ll have to cheer when he says ‘everyone in the back’!” and we did…then when Mr. M. said his “and everybody down heeeeere” to the front Mark leaned to me and said “booo!” hahaha. 😆

Even being unable to see the guys faces directly, it was apparent they were loving this crowd too. Mr. H#2 put his arms  up wide a few times and both Mr. M. and Mr. H. kept thanking everyone and when Enola Gay came around, the claps and bouncing took over a lot of people.  No OMD chant but a strong wave of cheers when the guys left and I WILL say that this crowd sang the “hey hey!” awesomely! 😀  Secret started out fine…but then Mr. M. called to stop and he and Mr. H. were like “what the bloody hell is that?” and they said Mr. H.#2s drums was putting out a sound “that sounds like a dog”. Merv came out to fiddle with things and then Mr. joked that “you got 30 seconds before and now you get the song again”…and we did, LOL. And then it was Electricity…Mark had held up so we had our last bounce and then it was done.  Another great night for the guys and for us. Things seem to be going well and that’s so wonderful to see!

So my highlight tonight…well, it’s not a huge thing but with Mark and I being behind the sound board, we could see Chicky working his magic and all the pieces of equipment that goes into make the band sound great. He had a laptop,  computer, IPod and a very colorful IPad and the screen on the computer would swich from “Andyvox” to “Paulkeys” to “SNB” something or other to “FX” and it gave me a greater appreciation to the work. NOT that I didn’t think Chicky worked, I knew he did, it was just cool to see a bit of what he does.  I asked him if he thought it’d be OK to share a pic as I wasn’t sure if it’d be something they’d all want to keep secret but he said it was fine so here’s a bit of what I’m talking about.  😀