Washington DC-July 13th

Today got a late start due to our hotel room staying pretty dark with thick curtains.  We had gotten to bed late so though I kept waking up, I was waiting for it to get lighter.  After awhile though, I was thinking “it’s gotta be getting 8am or so…” but I just kept trying to fall back asleep until Kims cell went off. She reached over to get it and I asked her what time it was…9:30! :shock:.  I had tried to finish the Toronto blog before going to bed but was literally falling asleep while proofing it so I got up and worked on it while she checked mails and such and when we were both done, we headed to Reading Terminal Market.  Kim had described it as having a ton of food and she wasn’t kidding! It was much like the food market in Vancouver earlier this year (though minus the aggressive seagulls! :lol:)  I ended up getting a yummy donut and some BBQ pork with 2 sides and she got her usual philly steak sandwich…yum! 😀

It was then back to the hotel to get ready and then into the car to drive to DC as we both had Gold packages. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us, there was some kind of sorority reunion going on and the venue was near the University so as we got close, it was a major jam up! We’d sit for a couple of lights before advancing to the next block and we quickly surpassed the 4:30 time of sound check. 🙁  As we were sitting there, we saw another fan, Elizabeth walking as she had taken a bus to near the site so I yelled out the window and she hopped in (literally as the light had changed so we were actually starting to move so it was a case of “hurry, HURRY, get in!” 😆  Though, tbh, after another block, we were like “ya know, it may just be faster if you get out and walk at this rate.” 🙁 but she stayed with us.)  We finally got there (texts from Andrew and bouncing buddy Mark who had come in for this and Boston told us that they had gone in and things were starting) but we managed to still see most of it…AND, it included them doing Our System! 😯 The guys laughed at me because when Mr. M. said it, I literally cried out “OMG!” and grabbed Marks arm. 😆 😳  It’s  gorgeous live but seeing it in sound check….well, I had tears in my eyes at the end so…. OH, and not sure why but Mr. H.#2 was recording stuff. 😯  He’d give it to Merv sometimes too and at the end when Mr. M. was saying thanks for coming, that’s all, he added “there’s a piece of paper for you all to sign to give your consent on being in Malcolms movie”. 😆

When we headed outside after, we found out we had to move the car (got a spot right across the venue in a tiny little lot but I guess we should have known it was too good to be true. Ah well, it served it’s purpose. :lol:) and that’s when we decided to snag a picture of what I called “the lean, mean, green machine” (though we later found out Mr. H.#2 has dubbed it “Kermit the Bus”. :lol:)  Then, as  if we didn’t have enough food at the market earlier, Kim had seen some cupcake place advertised on one of the food shows and it was only 2.8 miles from the venue and since we had time to kill before the doors opened, we decided to go.:lol:  OMG, it was called The Sweet Lobby and it had a bunch to choose from. I bought 2, one for then (well, after having regular food for a quick dinner of course :wink:) and one for the drive back (we were going back to Phily after the gig. Ended up liking the first I ate…chocolate salted caramel…OMG! :D)  We tried bringing some in, one Kim got for Elizabeth and one I got for Andrew (he had VIP so wasn’t with us when we headed out) but LOL, the guards said we couldn’t so had to leave them at the guards desk and go get the two to then walk out and have them eat but they were worth it. 😆

Tonight ended up being the first gig they did the packages right as they let us all go in first. (we had been waiting inside but downstairs in a bar). We ended up front row by Mr. H. and, though I regret not asking their names, we got to chatting with a nice couple from Ohio. I asked if they’d been to gigs before as they looked familiar and they said yes, both Chicago gigs…hahahaha, that explains it then. 😉  Well, earlier in sound check, Mark suggested we wear our sunglasses during the DR’s performance as they all do (all 4 guys wear them but Johnny takes his off part way through). Kim didn’t have any so that left just three of us but the wife of the nice Ohio couple agreed to put hers on and as it turned out, we had a couple girls behind us pop theirs on too.  It was quite fun! 😆

We had heard prior to the gig that the show was sold out so super happy for the guys! Shortly before start time, a guy came on stage and was all “hey how’s everyone doing? Getting excited about OMD?” and as we all cheered, I thought “hmmm, who’s this guy? A local DJ?” but as it turned out, he was a guy who wanted to propose to his girlfriend! 😯 When he started talking about her and saying she’s his best friend, a woman in the balcony started going crazy so we assumed it was her but nope, a girl from below that woman came forward as the guy came to the corner of the stage right by us. Andrew whipped out his camera to get pics and I grabbed mine to record and luckily, she said yes. 😀 Hahahaha, …stage divers, stage invaders, and now marriage proposals…just a typical night on an American tour. 🙄 😆

When Merv came out to flash his light signalling the start, the crowd cheered and it was the loudest sing-a-long thus far for Metroland. Andrew said “great crowd!” and when Messages was over, Mr. M. echoed that. In Phily, Andrew had yelled the “yes, yes, YES” part to TG and I leaned in to tell him he was going to get on really well with Mark at the next gig…and they did as they had a strong belt out. They also both joined me for the Dresden moves which was great as I was starting to feel a bit lonely. 😆

When Mr. M. put Old Faithful down and HoM took off, there were a lot of people reaching out to get their hands slapped, many coming from behind. Then Mr. H.s turn, much to the screams and cheers of all of us. He came down and, like in Toronto, ended up slapping a hand or two himself on the other side which made Andrew crack up. When it was over, he got quite the response so Mr. M. kept pointing at him and Mr. H. laughed and thanked us as he bowed and then went back to his keyboard. IYL found more people reaching for Mr. M. but after slapping their hands, he stepped onto the rail to reach over to a man in a wheel chair who was just to the right of us. I watched as the man struggled to get his hand up but with a huge smile so Mr. M. patiently waited while the guys friend lifted his arm up so Mr. M. could shake it. OMG, it was so sweet and the look on the guys face was priceless! 😀

So when DR had ended their set, I told the guys I thought it’d be funny if we kept the sunglasses on for Metroland and they said they would but I then thought “ya know, that may look rude…” so then thought Night Cafe. The whole “I wear my sunglasses at night’ thing popped to mind LOL and Mr. M. is always saying “just sway” so I figured it’d be appropriate. The guys agreed so as IYL ended, I motioned Andrew who then grabbed his and Marks from his bag (I had mine on my head which Mark thought would fall off as we bounced…but they didn’t! 😯 He said I wasn’t bouncing hard enough then. :lol:) and we put them on. I’m guessing the guys were thinking “what’s up with the sunglasses???” 😳 but we didn’t care, we just swayed. 😆 OH, and almost forgot, Mr. M. had another link…well sort of, more like a true story as he said that the last time they played DC, they had taken a train from NYC to DC and that ride was a big inspiration of this song…awww.

Well, tonight was much like Toronto with the A&M trio, all three got wonderful responses and all very well deserved! 😀 Mark joined in with me on the guilds little Our System “move” (though he was like how I am sometimes, it’s hard to get the lips rolling right away LOL) and tonights lucky recipient of Mr. M.s kiss was Kim as he stepped down onto the rail to get to her, yay! 😀 Then at the end, we saw him step over again and lean in. I thought it might have been to another friend of mine but no, it was to a little girl who’s parent had held her up (I think she was in sound check prior)…awwww, precious! 😀 (as it turned out, I later ran into them in the bathroom and a woman was all “were you the little girl he kissed?” She and her mom both said yes and the woman was like “how precious was that?” The mom smiled and was like “very!” The woman then asked the little girl “did you enjoy the show” and she sheepishly said “yes” and smiled. Too cute! :D)

Well, back to mindless dancing and/or bouncing for SiL and then we had a very strong congregation tonight for SMS as Mark and I both spread the word and everyone followed suit. Mr. M. made himself Jesus, then changed his mind all “nah, it’s not me.” 😆 For the goofing of Locomotion, Mr. M. first dabbed Mr. H.s forehead with his towel and Mr. H. tried to shoo him away but then I wasn’t at a good angle to see exactly what Mr. M. was doing with his mic as he was right in front of me but I think he started moving it around and away from Mr. H. 😆 By the time it was Enola Gay, the crowd had proven to be great like anticipated and it wasn’t just Mark, Andrew and I doing the “der da da da der…” part, we had back up. When the guys were done and had said their thank yous and goodbyes, Mark tried to get the OMD chant going and the EG joining singers came in with us…to no avail…until after the EG music stopped and Mark said it again. We all joined in and THIS time, it took off! 😀

When they all came back out, Mr. M. again made the comment about friends bringing friends and in 5 years they’ll fill the arena so I had to laugh and think “OK!” 😀 Strangely enough, he also came out with Old Faithful again so I knew that meant no WotMW. No time constraint as far as I knew so not sure why it’s been dropped but ah well, Secret went down majorly with the crowd and there was a lot of bouncing for Electricity…and cheers when Mr. M. asked “are you tired yet?” When it was finally over, final thank yous and waves, then it was the usual made dash of fans trying to get set lists. Mark got his usual post gig picture and then we headed outside as Kim wanted to say goodbye to the guys since it was her last gig.

So, highlight of the night…well, gotta say it was the whole sunglasses thing, especially for DR since it was obvious what we were doing but the whole thing was funny! While we were waiting for the crowd at the merch table to go down because Andrew wanted to get a shirt, I said “we should get our picture with Johnny and our sunglasses!” so we waited til his crowd thinned (meanwhile seeing the new guy up in the balcony. I waved and put up my sunglasses and he laughed and nodded as he pointed to them). When we finally got up, both Johnny and Maria were all “yeah yeah, we saw you with the sunglasses!” laughing and I asked if we could get a pic. Maria was like “aww, too bad he doesn’t have his sunglasses” just as I asked and he said “I’ve got THESE glasses” and pulled out regular. I laughed and shrugged saying “eh, those will work” and we got in for a shot. Not sure if we’ll do it again but it was a lot of fun tonight! 😆 :D.