San Diego-June 17th, 2025

Well it was an early morning goodbye to Pammy and a long drive from Sacramento to Anaheim to spend the night and next day with my friend Laura. I broke it up by stopping at a place Pammy had told me about for gas and cute little stores, then another stop for a special one off Build a Bear store specializing in Hello Kitty stuff before rolling into Laura’s at 6:45pm. Great to see her and we marveled at how young her daughters were when we became friends 14 years ago! 😯 A lovely walk the next morning in a small redwoods park and lake by her before I got in the car to meet a friend (made via California The Faint shows back in like 2018) for lunch and then head to SD.

Tonight was a seated venue and I was supposed to have been with 2 other friends but one pulled out when the tour changed and the other had to pull out a month ago so…flying solo…and in the corner! Literally the wall was like 1.5ft from me!😯 Plus it was so far to the side that I couldn’t see the full video screen. 😞 Well…what can ya do eh?🙄 Pretty venue tho! I’d never been to this one so add it to my list LOL.

When the guys came out, everyone started cheering and most people stood but I was lucky because with being 9 rows back, I’d normally have trouble seeing the stage well but there were a few people in 2 of the rows up further from me that stayed sitting a lot of the time PLUS, with the wall/aisle right there, I could move over a bit and watch between heads so my view wasn’t bad.😀 Like other nights, the reception was good and both Mr. H. and Mr. M. concluded it was going to be a great, fun night. Messages found more people up and dancing LOL and hands up clapping for TG. Even new Kleptocracy had people bopping around. When it was time for HoM, Mr. M. looked up at the balcony and said “I see you all up there. The balcony has been tested, it’s safe for bouncing”. Then looking back down on the floor he said “and you all too, BOUNCE”. We did LOL.😀

Mr. H.’s turn and he got welcomed down with massive cheers. Someone yelled PAUL! as he sang FLaD and the crowd gave him some love when he was done too. This was also one of a few songs I noticed how the lights and designs reflected off the ceiling and balcony, cool.🙂  I saw Pat and Mali were in the front row and Mali got her hand held during IYL.🙂👍 Being further back, I decided I’d take advantage and try to really soak up JoA/MoO and I have to say, it really is a sight when you’re watching it as a whole with all the lights, the stage being majestic, backdrop, dancing, drum banging etc. Not that you don’t get a great effect up front but it IS different and extra impressive when seeing it from further back.😀👍

I was up a bit since the floor went upwards so could see Mr. C. and Mr. H.s keyboard playing pretty good for Veruschka. Then when everyone was back in their place, I guess Stuart took a bit longer as Mr. M. was about to introduce Don’t Go and then saw Stuart getting up on his seat. “Oh, are you back Stuart? Did you go for  a sandwiche?” Then half to us and half under breath he joked “damn drummers”😂 Once done, he said “many of you will know this next one thanks to your neighbor border Mexico playing it on their radio…This is Pandora’s Box”.  More dancing around but THEN…what I’m guessing is a first for OMD shows occurred. A guy proposed to his girlfriend during SiL!😯 Mr. M. looked down and said “did she say Yes?” so I figured that was what he must have been referring to but when the song was over, he went in front of them and said “did I read that right? Am I getting it right? Did you propose to her?…” a pause and then “and did she say yes?” followed by him all happy shouting “YES!” and Mr. H. was all ‘awww fantastic” then both he and Mr. M. congratulated them, Mr. C. was smiles from ear to ear and Stuart put up the hand heart. Way cool!😀👍❤️

The happy couple ended up in the front row because I saw Pat wave them over so they were all happy bouncing to Dreaming and Mr. M. reached down and shook each of their hands and blew a kiss. Then when it came time for the “won’t you stay here tonight” etc, he looked at the couple, motioned to them both and said “you better make this feeling last” LOL.  Locomotion was the usual fun between Mr. M. and Mr. H. and then SotSS got a slight twist when a different girl got allowed into the front row next to Pat. Not sure if she had a sign, a shirt or where this came from but Mr. M. changed the lyrics of second line and said “not if you want…Woman 3” then joked and in between lines said “see how poetic I was there?” 😂 (I’d LOVE to hear Woman 3 too please LOL).

Since being further back, I decided I’d get one of the bouncing songs I usually can’t stand still for so when it was time for EG, I recorded it. Great crowd and lots of cheers and such when the guys came down to thank everyone. I swear EVERY show has been fantastic with crowds, no dud in the bunch!😀👍 Once they were gone, a really loud OMD chant got going and funny, like once before, there was an echo or something because it got off sync a bit but the message came across loud and clear.😀 Grabbed LaYN video too to see all the arms swaying and then it was time for Secret. “this was a hit that never got released. He wrote it..” (pointing at Mr. H.) but don’t worry, it’s still a good one”. To which Mr. H. said “hey hey now, watch it”.😂❤️  It went down well and then we had our final chance to bounce with Electricity. When it was all said and done, the guys came down one more time to wave and thank everyone saying how great of a night it’d been. When they were walking off and the lights came on, I actually heard a faint OMD chant start up again!😯😀👍

So, highlight of the night. Well, I have to say this was my least favorite show of the tour for ME, NOT from a band or crowd stand point. Just being further back and way to the side plus on my own vs with my original friends (plus wasn’t feeling fully well either). BUT, I will say I loved getting to see MoO from further to get the full effect so that is my highlight.😀👍 Don’t have tickets for tonight as originally I wasn’t going to go but as many of you know, OMD shows are addicting so I booked a hotel and am checking resale sites…we’ll see what happens.😀🤞🤞