Glasgow-May 12th

So another gig that the girls and I were coming to more refreshed as we had a day off prior. Helen was nice enough to show me a few bits of Manchester (before it started raining), we had a nice breakfast and then killed time in the hotel lobby, all while Paula and Steph were having some photos taken. Then it was off to “Hotel Bly” as I called it (Helen’s house :wink:) for the night.

It rained quite a bit on the drive to Scotland but in a stroke of luck, it stopped in time for us when we had to walk to The Walkabout where we were meeting up with other fans (John and Sally…the newlyweds of the forum :D, John and his wife Carol, and Sue with her husband) and again when we went to the venue (where I met up with Duncan but he had a front row side seat…we’ll be together at Gateshead ).

This was the same venue where they’d played for the HoM tour so again, many memories but just like in London, I wasn’t in the same area so time for new memories LOL. I was going to be with the girls because one of Paula’s relatives had to pull out and they were third row vs. my 5th (though LOL I had gotten used to the idea of being solo and further…HoM recording 😆 but much more fun to see the gig with them! :D) Because of this, Steph and I enjoyed our JF dancing again. I had also planned on recording Catwalk since I’d be further away but since that’s kind of JF’s equivalent to HoM in that I can’t sit still for it (yes, I know I just compared it to an awesome OMD song…but it’s really grown on me….and it has ‘moves’ :wink:) we just did our thing instead…it, and his show in general, was great fun! (I’m picturing my friend Cathy back at home happily nodding with a “told ya so” look right now because she’s a huge fan. 😆 :wink:)

As it turned out, forumer Alan (Connor) along with his wife Linda and young son Ethan were behind us and it was going to be Ethans very first concert ever….aww! 😀 At 21:00, he said “It’s 9pm….” and Alan just got done telling him they’d be on shortly when the lights went down and it all started from there. Manchester had been the best and tbh, it probably still is but Glasgow gave it a good run for it’s money. (and it wins for best clapper and stomper gig…more on that later).

So it took part of Metroland to really get everyone up and going but by the time the song was over, the applause was amazing! You’d think it was after MoO or the end of the gig or something. SO glad I decided to nab Messages on video as I hit the record button thinking they’d start but the crowd was still going so I got some of it. 😀 When Messages was done, Mr. M. said “You like that huh? Well, here’s some more”. Part way through Tesla Girls, Mr. M. looked up at the balcony and laughed…there was a guy who was standing and bopping all over the place, arms flailing….awesome! 😀

HoM was as fun as ever bouncing around and when it was over, I glanced up at all the balconies to see a lot of people up….one of the best balconies I’d seen so far. Then it was time for Mr. H.’s moment. Mr. M. said “Paul, would you grace us with your presence?” and Mr. H. gracefully did LOL. (also got a ‘scottish’ themed undergarment tossed to him by Sue who was trying to help Paula as Sue was front row) When it was over, Mr. M. joked that the next song “made Jon Cryer rich…yeah, think about THAT one” and continued with “Two and a Half Men…well ya know, when Charlie Sheen left they offered Paul the job.” Mr. H. laughed and said “yeah but I preferred doing this.” Mr. M. laughed and said “they weren’t going to pay you enough.” As it turned out, IYL ended up being a special moment for Sue and Carol. Since they were both in the front row and the stage was low, they went up to it and posed to get a picture with the band behind them. Mr. M. saw and knelt down behind them. I think Carol knew and I THOUGHT Sue did too but after the pic was taken and she got the camera back and looked at it, her reaction of pure 😯 followed by an “OMG! 😀 ” made it seem she had had no idea….surprise! 😆 😀

Before Night Cafe, Mr. H. started to take his jacket off and Mr. M. teased him by saying if he was going to take his clothes off, why not throw them “to the ladies who toss the knickers up on stage?” and motioned to us. Carol turned around and gave me a look like “you do that too? :shock:” so I shook my head mouthing “no, not me….them” and pointed to Steph and Paula and we both laughed. When A&M Trio was over, there was not only the massive cheering of the crowd, but also pounding of feet (first I’d heard it happen on the UK tour). All the guys just stood there amazed again and Mr. M. joyfully laughed and thanked us as the rest of the guys looked on with huge smiles. Mr. C. had that “wow, really? WOW!” smiling look again.

Tonight had the best, er, fan moment during Our System because it was right behind Mr. H.#2! (maybe it was right behind him before too but from where I was for the last time, it didn’t look that close, more off to the sides so this was really cool! :D) But it was also just one of many moments little Ethan got from Mr. M. as he said “I can’t believe I actually remembered this but…this next song is for Ethan.” I turned around to see the entire Connor family with huge smiles on their faces and Alan patting Ethan on the back…awww! 😀 Part way through, Mr. M. laughed as he looked up at the balcony and said “I think it’s great you can dance to the sounds of a space probe moving through space.” 😆 It was another bra throwing moment from Paula during TLaC and for some reason, tonight was the first time I noticed the light changing in KtM….their platform boxed white stripes would turn yellow, then red, then yellow, then…not sure why I never noticed that before but it was neat to see!

Once the faster songs started again, so did all the dancing LOL. Mr. H.#2 was “Jesus” again and THIS time, Mr. M. said “eh….maybe” to letting him in…hmmm… 😆 The “goofing around song” (Locomotion) found Mr. M. coming over, moving the mic, then starting to walk away, before going for the mic again as Mr. H. grabbed it before he could get it and gave him a “no no no you don’t” finger shake. SotSS has really turned into a stand out track here in the UK with its frenzied sing-a-along and at one point, when Mr. M. had his ear piece out and he listened to us, he looked at each of the balconies, the floor, the back…it was as if he really was trying to soak up the moment for what it really was…precious! 😀 When it was time for EG, everyone was totally up for it and Ethan got a nod and “you doing OK?” type thumbs up from Mr. M. After, as the guys said their goodbyes, they were all elated. Mr. H.#2 flew up out of his seat when he got named and gave a huge thumbs up and another one as he got up to finally leave (he had sat back down during Mr. H. and Mr. M.s intros).

As we waited for them to return, the feet stomping returned and when the guys came out, the crowd cheered and Mr. M. said “we’ve been playing Glasgow for 34 years now and you had a lot to live up to but you never disappoint, thank you for being so fanTAStic tonight”. Well, WotMW and Electricity flew by, then it was a final goodbye, lots of waves and kisses, one blown to Ethan (he was all smiles each time I looked back….I’m guessing no one is going to out do this gig for him for quite awhile :D) and then it was done. Duncan came over so we could gleefully say how amazing the gig was and the fun we had, then as we were leaving, Steph heard someone call to her and ask if she’d lost an earing….don’t ask me how but one of her earrings ended up in the front row LOL. 😯

So highlight of the night…well, I would have to just say the night in general as I had not been so well the last couple of gigs but tonight I was back to myself and it was just a joy! 😀