Liverpool Philharmonic, October 7th 2018

Day 2… first I should probably apologize now as I won’t have as many specific quotes as last night but I think I was so intent on watching the orchestra and soaking it all in, I remember more the experience as a WHOLE in some ways vs. specific things said. But I WILL have some quotes mixed in, I promise 😉 Right, well…boy did we pack it all in LOL! 😀 Up at 8am and out at 9:50. We met Pammy shortly after and went down to stand amongst the massive crowd to try and see the morning part of the parade. It was coming straight down a main street that was literally 2 blocks from our apartment so I couldn’t have picked a better apartment for us if I tried! (especially since it also passed right by us the day before. THAT was a pleasant surprise! 😮 😀 ) Well, since it was quite crowded, I saw the Giant but I missed the dog (what I wanted to see the most 🙁 )and wouldn’t have even known it was THERE if Pammy hadn’t caught it and snapped a few pics to show me. But saw the Giant in action and also the baby as it closed and opened it’s eyes. What I found fascinating was to watch the crew! So these things are huge and they move but how….by human force! I saw some people pulling ropes. I saw waiting for a rope to swing back to them, grabbing it, then swinging by to the other end of the platform, letting go, letting the rope swing BACK, and another set of 2 workers grab it and swing across. THAT is how things moved ( well and there were others cranking something or pulling but not as easily seen). Way cool as I hadn’t noticed that up close the day before. 😀

Once it was over, the next place originally to stop was the Liverpool BaB (there’s a shocker eh? 😳 ) Pammy was supposed to be with me for Monday to go see The Editors in Bristol and then back to Liverpool we would meet on Wednesday to see Glasvegas (staying after OMD to do 7 of their shows. How perfect their tour got announced a few months back and it starts 2 days after the orchestra gigs! Saves me a flight over LOL! 😀 ) but she was having to fly home early so I just mentioned how I may do the underground Wednesday to go out to see the phone booth but not sure since now I’ll be on my own vs. having it be more fun going with fans. Pammy suggested we try to go today as we would still have time to do that and get back to the city for last part of parade so we decided to do that. (Tho we had to pretty much pass BaB anyways to head to Central station so we made a stop. Funny enough, tho there were a couple things I wanted, I decided to wait as I will be hitting an outlet in a few days but Claudia bought some stuff! 😀 ). It was packed in there too but most likely due to the parade being done there so…

In any case, we managed to not only get on the train and out to the phone booth, but also to find the guy who could unlock it. I wasn’t expecting it to LOCKED! 😮 When a bunch of us did a full OMD places of importance tour back in 2014, it wasn’t but since being cleaned up, painted and properly decorated, there is someone who has a key. We had run into the Railway Tavern to hit loos and see who was still there from the fan gathering and luckily the man with the key was still there. 🙂 Gotta say, it did NOT smell like it had 4 years ago LOL thank goodness! 😉 And it looked really nice. Apparently the artist who worked on TPoL album contributed, Mr. M. put hand written lyrics for RFWL in there, there was a real phone (not working) etc. Glad we got to see it as definitely different than the original LOL. And while chatting outside, I saw Tom (who I THOUGHT was him but he usually doesn’t come across the pond for shows so thought ‘no, not him…who is it?’ until he told me and I was like OMG! 🙂 Yet again more fun running into people I haven’t seen for ages! 😀 )

We got a cab to go back to the train station and ended up getting on the same train and sitting with Neal, Anja, Katcha, and a guy I didn’t know LOL. Once back in Liverpool tho, we went our separate ways and said we’d see each other at the show. Us girls headed back to try to make it up to the docks where the Giants were finishing but it was SO crowded, we had to just eventually nab a spot along the road and it was tough seeing. Pammy left to go get ready so she could meet people for a watch of the football match but Claudia and I ended up seeing the parade. THIS time, I was DETERMINED to see the dog and they had him up a little higher so I could see him better! (looked bigger than the pics of Pammy’s too which was nice). I saw more of the Giant and this time people were taking the rope and jumping off a platform. then they would let go of the rope as it went upwards and the next person on the platform would grab it and jump down, pulling the rope down with them, then letting it go back up to the people waiting on the platform….and so forth. Again, I found that so cool to watch! 😀 And they brought back an older giant that had been in Liverpool before…the girl…so got to see her moving along also and finally a big symbol that was being smashed together by workers. For sure something worth seeing! 😀

Took awhile to get thru the crowd and back to our hotel but once there, it felt good to actually have a bit of time to not be so rushed (thought parade ran til 5pm but it was 4pm) and get ready. Before I even knew there would be a ban on photos and videos or what my seat was like, I had suggested to Claudia that if she wanted, since I had read there was to be an intermission, she could have my front row seat for the first half as I sat in hers, and then I would take my seat back again for the second half and she said OK. I also didn’t want her having too much time to kill since her ticket was not VIP so I told her I just wanted to get there by 6:30 (vs 6 when we were allowed in) so I could go say hello to some people in The Music Room before heading to the venue itself. Just before I got in, I saw a friend of mine who ended up booking his coming over from Toronto last minute when he scored a ticket…Brydon. LOL, he was waiting outside the Music Room asking if I thought he should upgrade to VIP. 😀 Saw Pammy, Steve and Sally again and also a Covenant buddy Ian. 🙂 I had seen him very briefly the night before but this time he had VIP so was inside. No sign of the girls tho and since getting in even later, the time went really fast and it was time to head in! 😮 Claudia was Row K so not very far back (funny enough, once seeing that some of the orchestra was blocked in row A and having heard from a couple friends who had front balcony, I had hoped it was back a bit more LOL). I was very happy to see I was on the other half of the floor so a different perspective and my PLAN was to try to get some video…. 😉 Just before the show was starting, I saw yet MORE people I knew..Sue and her husband. 🙂

Like the night before, the orchestra was out earlier, then the conductor and then the guys. They looked a little bit more relaxed and ready for it to take off, as were many of us who had been there the night before. I was really surprised that the 4 seats in front of me were still empty and 2 seats in the row in front of THAT! I had originally not planned on trying to record Stanlow but figured hey, it’s a wide open view..I can keep my camera down more so as not to get caught. And it worked BUT, my regular setting wasn’t light enough to get the orchestra as they were not lit up enough and I was further back so my surroundings were in darkness. 🙁 I didn’t want to stop and start so I finished the song, hit stop, changed to a lighter mode, then started to record Statues…and got busted. UGH! 🙁 Well…I tried…. 🙁

I have to say, I was really enjoying being further back (and as it turned out, the seats RIGHT in front of me stayed open so a nice clear view! 😮 😀 ) because NOW I could see the trombones, watch the drummers moving around a bit more, see the bigger string players etc. I contemplated letting Claudia stay down there the whole night but then thought, well, but I would like to finish my viewing in the front row PLUS, I have a ton of friends up there to do our little moves so… Right off the bat, a few people stood up after Stanlow and/or Statues. They were further back so maybe there were random people standing up early the first night too, don’t know. But once they had done Ghost Star and the crowd was really cheering, Mr. M. threw his fist up into the air and yelled YES! One of my two favs, New Dark Age was next and tho I occasionally glanced at the video screen or the guys, I watched the WHOLE orchestra a lot in this seat and during all the songs. Mr. M. joked about them doing an “obscure B-side” but again, we’ll take it! 🙂

More watching of orchestra for Sealand tho no matter what seat I was in, I never DID find the pianist LOL. Or maybe that bit was piped in but I truly doubt it! Ah well LOL. By this time, I wasn’t seeing people standing up after each song but the crowd was definitely loving it and cheering up a storm. I could see our violinist guy’s smiles too LOL. As expected, we got The Avenue next but then we got a surprise for the new song. After Mr. M. introduced it as the song they wrote for a movie, he then said if we were very good, we may get the monster. He walked over to stand next to Mr. H. and do his keyboard part and shortly after, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, someone coming down the aisle slowly with a, er, contraption on his head that was leaves and fruit and stuff. I pointed him out to the guy next to me and thought “well, I guess that’s what Mr. M. was talking about LOL” 😀 😀 Gotta say, some of his moves reminded me of Mr. M.s! 😮 😀 He stayed down in the front aisle just in line really with front row so I wondered if my friends down there could see it and at one point, he looked like he was about to take his mask off…then stopped, then finally did and I had thought it would be someone like Ed or something, especially since their moves were a bit similar to Mr. M. LOL but nope, some guy that Mr. M. later introduced but I didn’t catch the name. He then joked and said “I bet you weren’t watching MY dancing eh?” 😀 One final beautiful moment with The View From Here and I soaked up the orchestra one more time before the guys and orchestra took a break and I went down to the front to find Claudia and swap seats. On the way, I stopped to say hello to Steph and Wendy and also her partner Tom who I’d not seen for awhile! Tried to find Brydon as he thought he was in boxes but didn’t see him and also didn’t see Claudia but DID see Dave this time as Mark and Steve from last night had left and in their seats were Dave and Darius. 🙂 And saw Nigel who I’d also not seen for a few years. Claudia eventually found me and we swapped seats, I gave her my laminate, and then we both headed to our new spots for the rest of the night. I told her she would like her seat too as she said she really enjoyed the view from the first half (and truly, they were both great seats! 🙂 )

Once back in the front, I watched as the conductor and the guys came back and sure enough, Mr. M. had his Junk Culture sweater on again. 🙂 He laughed and said it was because the second half wasn’t going to be so serious and “it’s aged better than my face.” Mr. H. laughed and said something about ironing it and Mr. M. said “Iron my face? I’ll do it if it works for you”. They both laughed and then Mr. M. turned to the conductor and asked him to get the next song started because things were getting weird LOL. The conductor laughed, turned, and then they launched into Messages. Sean leaned over and said “it sounds better tonight for some reason”. When Darius’ letter came on the screen behind the guys, Dave and Sean pointed to him all “yaaaayyyy!” And it seemed Mr. M. was a bit more dancey and coming out to the front edge of the stage tonight. Maybe knowing it was coming to an end and being more confident…not sure. When Merve brought out the bass for Souvenir, Mr. M. joked and said “I’ve got my bass turned on but can you keep me out of the PA?” and laughed. I don’t think they kept him out tho LOL but that was fine. 😉 I was able to watch the song a bit more tonight due to no headbanging LOL but we DID all clasp hands and sway back and forth…as did Steph and a few on the OTHER side of the front row. 😀

As mentioned before, many were seeing this show for the first time so we were standing up after each song it seemed on this half and when JoA started, people just got up and STAYED up for awhile. The clapping to JoA seemed louder tonight too and when both that and MoA were done, Mr. M. came to the edge of the stage with his arms wide out and open like he often does at a regular show. Strangely, it was feeling more like a regular show than an orchestra show at times LOL. But both he and Mr. H. seemed to really be enjoying the moment. Even the conductor seemed a bit taken back by our response to the end of MoA and he politely stood and smiled as he looked out at the crowd while waiting for a sign from Mr. M. to get the orchestra going again. Mr. M. laughed, thanking us and then we DID sit down for a bit for All That Glitters. WHWD was horrible again tho I told myself “Lori, try to at LEAST watch the orchestra a bit…focus on that” so I did for bits of it but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t happy for it to be over! 🙁

Le Femme Accident went down well and then Mr. M. again asked how many people had been to their first show 9 years ago. He THEN asked how many of us had been to the show the night before. He jokingly mentioned how he had messed up the lyrics both nights and that TONIGHT he DID have them with him “Maybe 3 will be the charm…” As the song started, he grabbed the piece of paper and jokingly started to sing with it in front of him. We all laughed and cheered and verse 1 went down well. When it was over and the music between verses was going on, he took the piece of paper and ripped it in half (since about half the song was over LOL). Second verse went well too and when he was near the very end, he counted down the last few words on his fingers as he sang them and then make a motion like YEAH!. He was near us so I laughed and when it was over, we all stood up and cheered. He laughed and then said “they sound good and THEY’RE looking at the music” pointing to the orchestra. 😀

By this time I knew we were getting near the end of the show in perspective really but also knew I still had 1 of my 2 fav songs coming so when they did Dream Of Me, I tried to really just sit back and listen to it all. When it was done, Mr. M. turned to Mr. H. and said “Paul, when were young, what do you think our heads were full of?” Mr. H. was like “umm…” and Mr. M. said “brilliant dreams???” Mr. H. gave an “OK sure” nod and said “yeah, yeah, brilliant dreams OK”. Mr. M. laughed and said “you can tell you didn’t sing this song.” It took me a second to realize what he meant by that as I thought ” um…he has NEVER sang this song” but then I realized it was more on the fact it was a song not written by Mr. M. AND Mr. H. Seemed to take Mr. H. a second too but then he cracked up.

Final favorite song of The Native Daughters of the Golden West and I then realized that the reason the orchestra sounded “better” per Sean was because they were louder. I had a bit harder time hearing Mr. M. sing the lowered toned bit on the song than the night before but his ending note was still on and held long. Well done! 🙂 I forgot to mention in last night’s blog that during SotSS, since Mr. C. was up in the balcony, when it came to his time for the keyboard solo, I had pointed up to him and did a tiny bit of fake piano playing, as did Sean and maybe Jean Pierre but I don’t think he saw us. Tonight, we all just did it to the ground in front of us LOL. And THEN…Enola Gay. Mr. M. was right away bouncing and did the motion to get others to so pretty much the whole front row was and I saw some people in rows behind me also joining in (funny enough, one of them looked like the male member of Vile Electrodes! 😮 😀 ) When it was over, the guys stood a bit longer and let the crowd’s cheers go on and on. The combination of more clapping to songs, up more and earlier, and more bouncing really did make this night seem the better of the 2 crowds but NEITHER night was anything but enthusiastic!

Honestly can’t remember if they thanked everyone before or after they came back for the encore so I’ll just pop it in here. I laughed because when they thanked the conductor, not only did each guy shake his hand, but then they both started to bow down to him and he laughed as he waved his hand at them like “oh stop…” 😀 Mr. M. then said that next Friday marks the 40th anniversary of their very first gig. “When the guy asked us what we were called and we said ‘Oh, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’ he said ‘You’ll never get anywhere with THAT name!’ ” Mr. H. laughed and said “yeah, he DID say that.” Well…what did HE know eh? 😉 Mr. M. then reminded us that “we never do a show without doing this one” and…well, guess. Since the crowd was so good, I just didn’t care about things (and my foot was feeling better, YAY!) and started bouncing to Electricity. I thought of my bouncing buddy Mark and laughed in my head thinking “doing you proud Mark, going for it cause it’s ELECTRICITY! 😀 😀 The Vile Electrodes looking guy was bouncing too LOL and we all stayed up for TRotT. I wish I had thought of trying to record since it was the last song…what would have happened eh? But I didn’t until it was about over. Ah well… 🙁 Final thank yous, another stand from the orchestra again and then the guys walked off with the conductor and very shortly this time, the rest of the people on stage. WOW!!! 😮 😀 😀 😀

THIS time, I made sure to find out what the plan was because even though a lot of us went our own ways initially (I found Brydon, Duncan found me, and I had to go get my recording as I bought the CD for the night), a lot of us ended up across the street at the Philharmonic bar. Managed to get a group photo with just a few people missing LOL, chatted a lot with Rebecca and also had some time to visit a bit with Brydon before Claudia and I said goodbye to him (oh, had said goodbye to Pammy earlier as she went with Claudia and Brydon to wait by stage door and didn’t think she’d come by the bar). Always sad to say goodbye to people when you don’t get to see them too often but hoping for a tour next year so…HOPEFULLY won’t be long to see them again. 😀

SO…I specifically didn’t do a highlight of the night in last night’s blog because tbh, there were a lot of special moments and same with tonight’s show/evening. Plus, the event ITSELF was special! I don’t think I need to pick out one point, I’ll just finish by saying I feel blessed to have gotten to see it all and a huge thank you to not only OMD, but the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the 2 guys (Gary Carpenter and Ian Stephens…I looked in the program this time LOL 😉 ) for making it happen in the first place!! 😀 😀 😀