Detroit-May 4th 2022

Well, after a couple days off which were MUCH needed as I was tired and also needed to get home, unpacked, REPACKED LOL and my blogs done (along with some kitty snuggle time), it was time to get into the car again (mine vs. rental this time) and do the easy peasy 5 hour drive to my hotel in Detroit. BUT, as it turned out, dummy me forgot my wallet so I drove 2 hours, met a woman to do a FB Marketplace pick up, went to pay her and realized I had forgotten my wallet at home (LONG story how tho I know what happened 🙁  ) SO…no pick up (and she couldn’t meet me the next day as I headed home so bummer) and another 2 hours drive home to GET my wallet. I decided I would just do a quick change in my house into the gig outfit too because at this point, there was NO way I’d be able to go to the hotel first or even get in line before doors. UGH! Talk about stressful BUT, I kept trying to focus on the fact that this was better than the alternative which would have been getting all the way to my hotel and THEN realizing as I’d have NO money/credit cards/ID and REALLY be in trouble so… I was to have met my friends Ron and Mikel but since I knew I’d be late, I did a quick electronic ticket transfer  for them and they were able to get in thru the early entry under my name. And, bless Jennifer and Berts hearts, they saved me a spot up front so…deep sigh of relief when I finally made it in.

And let me talk about that for a second. OOMMGGGG, the line was 2 blocks long! Had my brain been a bit less frazzled and mooshy, I’d have tried to take a photo but suffice it to say Detroiters and suburbanites were VERY happy to see OMD!!! 😀  Biggest crowd of the 4 gigs I’d been to so far which is quite interesting since Brooklyn and Boston are bigger cities in general. Makes you wonder if the smaller cities draw more since they get less in general…just a thought… Also an old fashioned, lovely decorated theatre which was a nice switch from the general concert venues of  Brooklyn and Boston. 🙂

Right, well I was determined to get the RIGHT final song by ItVB recorded today…except they finished with the song I recorded in Boston. I mean really?! I can’t win for losing with them LOL. Ah well, Chicago then? I made a mental note of what other 2 songs I want so maybe I will just try for one of those Friday LOL. 😉 The stage was lower today which made it seem closer (and it might have been truly slightly closer too) and it was nice to not have to look up so much. 🙂  Due to the larger crowd, it was harder to do my in between band pit stop but made it back and when the lights went down, the crowd was great! Everyone seemed to really enjoy Stanlow and Mr. M. joked again about how it’s not typical to start a gig singing about an oil refinery.  He then said “but just wait, it gets faster” and then they launched into Isotype. I saw a lot of people bopping around without Mr. M. having to do much coaxing which was another sign  the show was going to be great. When Mr. M. got his bass he said “so…bass must mean an OLD song…” and Messages  got the crowd really going. So much so that when it was over, Mr. M. did his fist pumps, “YES” yelling and then said ” oh, you sound GOOD. I think it’s going to be a great gig…” 😀

When prompted, the crowd totally followed with the bouncing on HoM! Another happy reaction from the entire band once the song was over, then Mr. M. welcomed Mr. H. down to the front to sing for us. He happily obliged and when he announced FLaD, there were quite a few women screams LOL. 🙂  During the musical part, he’s been going over to Mr.  C.s keyboard to punch a key a couple times to the horns beat which is cute. 🙂 When over and he was done getting cheered at, thanking us, and back at his keyboard, the crowd kept going so Mr. M. said “I dance around like crazy down here, you come down and STAND and you get THAT?” pointing to the cheering crowd. Mr. H. laughed and said “yeah, well, sometimes it’s like that.” LOL 😀 It was then Mr. H. who said “now for 3 songs from Architecture and Morality.” All went really well and after MoO, we did the bowing to Mr. M. AND Stuart tonight going back and forth in direction of who we gave it to LOL.  The crowd really was loud and loving it! When they finally calmed down Mr. M. joked saying “thank you! Well, eventually I’ll get it right. Maybe in another 40 years for our 80th anniversary. I’ll be 102.” :O  😀

I recorded both of the “deep cuts” tonight and both seemed to excite the crowd. Tho it’s a cool thing to see them all come down front and play more stripped down and if you watch, you can see who is playing what in keys so it’s a treat that wasn’t wasted on the crowd. When over, Mr. M. joked and said “OK, well that’s the end of the show for the intellectual part of the crowd. Now it’s just mindless dancing.” Don’t Go got a girl behind me totally bopping which was cute and SiL continued along with lots of singing along. In fact, I’d say the singing to that and later with Dreaming were the best I’d heard of the 4 gigs so far. 😀 (Mr. M. even slapped a hand mid song of Dreaming and earlier he had done a finger touch with someone else on another song. First time I’d seen him make contact with the crowd…understandably so since times are so different now. I was actually surprised as hadn’t expected any but the fans were happy. 🙂 )

Not sure what was going on but Stuart was making funny faces to his left side and then kind of in general during SotSS which made me laugh and at the end, we all bowed for him too. The crowd was really going at it and all 4 guys had massive smiles on their faces because of it! At one point, I noticed there was  a cool chance to see Mr. M.s shadow so I grabbed a pic…of when he was cupping his ear to hear ALL the cheering. 😀 It quickly became time for Enola Gay and lots of bouncing around and singing and “thank you”s mouthed by Mr. M. and when all the guys came down to the front, they just seemed to be thrilled. Mr. H. thanked us for being so amazing and Mr. M. said we were “fucking brilliant”. You KNOW it’s good when he drops the F-bomb LOL. 😀 They seemed to stay out a bit longer too to wave and blow kisses and thank yous.

Once they were gone, the OMD chant started and it was by far the loudest and lasted all the way until the band came back out. Mr. M. thanked us again and then jokingly said “ya know, we’re getting older so we could forget our band name sometimes. It’s always good to get a reminder”. 😀 No surprise that everyone was happy to hear IYL with a lot of singing to that too! Then it was Secret with Mr. M. using his bass guitar to joke around and point/aim/fire at Mr. H. who laughed and pointed his finger back. When they were revving up to do Electricity and Mr. M. said “we have to end where it all began”, the crowd cheered so much he jokingly said “no, we’re not doing the whole show again!” Darn LOL. 😉 But we gave them a great 3 minutes and 42 second run of energy and when  the band was done and down at the front again. Mr. M. said “crowds can make a gig. You made this a fucking amazing gig THANK YOU!” Mr. H. said “aww, yeah, you did REALLY, you were amazing thank you!”. Lots of waves and huge smiles from Stuart and Mr. C., they stayed out a bit longer and then off they went and it was over.

Post pic with Jennifer and Bert, then I found Ron for a pic and a quick chat. We all talked about how we would describe ItVB and none of us could decide so Ron said “maybe they’re out by their merch and we can ask them” so we headed over. On the way I saw Andrew Little, OMD’s lighting guy. I had seen him in Boston and tried to say hello but he was busy getting instructions so I decided to stop by the sound and lighting booth to say hi. Funny enough, when I first said hi, he just said hi back and didn’t recognize me so I pulled my mask down and THEN he did and promptly instructed me to come over for a hug (he put his mask on too so don’t worry, no germs were spread 😉 ) He’s so sweet, it’s great to see a familiar face! 😀  ItVB were by their booth  but they too said they haven’t been able to find a “2 word description that fits us either so if anyone comes up with one, let us know”. I said we thought maybe “indie rock” and he was like ‘yeah, that could work”. Ron asked for a pic and then I figured OK, I’ll get one too LOL, then he and I walked out together for a few minuets more of chat (we lost Jennifer and Bert along the way) and then I headed to the hotel as I still needed to check in and was exhausted!

Right…so I have to think of a highlight tonight….I think I’ll say the crowd and the excitement and energy it brought. Biggest and loudest made for an interesting night and the band definitely fed off it too and seemed so happy. 🙂 It’s my own stomping ground next…and a day back to work LOL. You mean I have to put my adult worker hat on again? 😉 But really looking forward to seeing 2 friends I’ve not seen in PERSON since the pandemic at the Chicago show so it’s going to be great just for that! 😀