{"id":1422,"date":"2013-03-18T23:48:40","date_gmt":"2013-03-18T23:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/omdculture.com\/?p=1422"},"modified":"2013-03-21T03:07:19","modified_gmt":"2013-03-21T03:07:19","slug":"miami-september-16th-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/?p=1422","title":{"rendered":"Miami September 16th, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tour Stop #1-Grand Central-Miami September 16th 2011<\/h1>\n
\n

Well folks, here we are again. OMD are back in America and I\u2019m blogging again. The main difference, I\u2019m not doing the entire tour, LOL, missing a few, so this won\u2019t be a daily occurrence. But how could I not do the first gig eh? ;o)
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nSo unlike in March where the tour started in rainy-snowy Toronto, I found myself in Miami\u2026or more specifically for me, Miami Beach. Palm trees, sun, and HEAT! I arrived a couple of days early and had two wonderful events before the gigs even started. First was the massive honor of interviewing Mr. M. (more to come on that once I get it all transposed ;o). The second\u2026.a trip to the other side of the state (literally) to see a special canine friend (yes I said canine) called Miya. I traveled along an expressway affectionately called \u201calligator alley\u201d but darn it, I never saw one single alligator\u2026.humph, what a rip off, LOL. But it was a wonderful day filled with great conversation (with her owners that is, Chris and Audie\u2026both from the UK so keeping up with the theme of the OMD tour), doggie kisses and probably the last decent dinner I\u201dll have until I get home late next week!<\/p>\n

The day of the gig, I headed off to the beach\u2026my hotel was only a block from it (LOL, that was the only good thing about that place!) and it was lovely to walk along the shore\u2026until we saw all the jellyfish around. One actually washed up right in front of me! Needless to say, I moved up a bit!
\n\"P1090586\"<\/a>
\nSoon it was time to get ready for the gig and I can\u2019t tell ya how excited I was. To be getting a second tour in the states in one year, OMG! I knew be there\u2026the start of deja vu!<\/p>\n

So OMD were scheduled to play a venue called Grand Central in downtown Miami. The venue was a bit, um, different. Firstly, it wasn\u2019t very clear where we were to even go. I had bought a Platinum package and arrived to find a couple girls talking to Mr. M. and Mr. H. and another, Selena, looking unsure where to go like me. Very shortly after, Irene came, reunion hugs and then it was time to figure things out. Well, we found ourselves in the back, er, garden area. It had a bar, a pool table (so tempting to give it a whirl but I didn\u2019t ;o)\u00a0and a couch. We had been told by Bright Antenna to show up at 4:45 but the venue workers said it was at 5pm so we just chatted until another familiar face came out. Ryan from Bright Antenna, who was now OMDs tour manager, came and assumed the role he had last tour regarding package organization. Like before, names called off and goodies given. The main difference\u2026..Platinum holders got a USB stick to download the gig. Per Ryan, no need to go pick anything up after the gig, it was programmed such that you could just take it home, plug it in and follow the instructions to download the gig right then. Whoo hoo!<\/p>\n

The gig hadn\u2019t sold out but the venue workers by the outside bar told me they were expecting it could as the \u201cpre-sale\u201d ticket sales were good and going by history, that led them to think there\u2019d be even more people showing up tonight. Not sure if it happened, I saw some space in the back so I\u2019m gonna guess maybe not but..well I\u2019m getting ahead of myself.<\/p>\n

\"P1090772\"<\/a>So total packagers was maybe 25 which made it for a very intimate experience! Walking into the venue I was really surprised to find couches! And not just one or two, but about half dozen all scattered around\u2026dark (blue or black) and white striped things that gave the venue more of a lounge feel\u2026except that the rest of the place was like a converted warehouse. Very strange indeed but hey, unique too. Happily, no barrier so that meant we could get right up front, though LOL, none of us did. As usual, the guys seemed in good spirits and joked around but the best part was getting to see the 20+ year \u201cdebut\u201d of\u00a0Secret\"\"!!! OMG, it was amazing! They seemed a bit unsure and worried about it but it came over fine and the harmonies between Mr. M. and Mr. H. were stellar! Selena hung with Irena and I and after sound check, since we both had Platinum, we got in line for the signing, except, oops, in my flurry of other things I forgot my shirt I had brought to get signed. Luckily, I will be seeing them again at some point after shows so I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll get it signed before tours end no worries tee hee ;o)<\/p>\n

As before, packagers got early entrance but to ensure we had a front row spot, Selena and I got in line early, along with Stefan now. I should say, it was just so surreal to be standing and doing all this just 6 months later. Not just deja vu but also very sweetly nostalgic. The best I can do to explain would be to compare it to when you put on your favorite sweater for the first time of the season. You know what it\u2019s going to feel like, it\u2019s been your favorite forever but yet it\u2019s also been packed away for awhile so putting it on again has that \u201cahhh\u201d comforting feeling like embracing an old friend. That\u2019s how it was for me.<\/p>\n

Once in, we headed straight to the front. The girls earlier talking to Mr. M. and Mr. H. were next to us, Barbara and Sandy, Pablo, another fan joined our group as did Lisa and John (not together, they came with others but I just met them). It was looking to be a fun crowd!
\n\"\"
\nSo there has been a fair amount of doubt on the forum of the support act Washington and how she\u2019d go over. I have to say I wasn\u2019t impressed with the songs I\u2019d heard on line so was coming in with very low expectations. When she emerged, along with a drummer, bassist and guitarist (who was fairly nice on the eyes and kind of reminded me of Matt Belamy of Muse) they jumped started the set with a song called 1997. I actually liked it and thought \u2018hmm, OK\u2026\u201d The next song was just so-so, and then, sadly, it went down hill from there (at least for Selena and I). One thing that didn\u2019t help was that her vocals were getting drowned out by the other instruments but even if I could hear her better, I just didn\u2019t like a number of the songs. She puts on a decent show with stage presence and got going again with Sunday Best but her final song also didn\u2019t grab me\u2026.hmmm, 2 songs to my favor and many gigs to go\u2026ah well, it could be worse with NO songs LOL ;o)<\/p>\n

Not too much time passed and the lights went down to the sounds of\u00a0Dazzle Ships\u00a0\"\". OH YEAH, now we\u2019re talking! Though funny enough (well not for the guys) it was coming to an end and Selena and I kept looking towards the side waiting for them to come out (we knew they were supposed to come out from the stage left but strangely, stage right was wide open\u2026go figure) So DS ends,\u00a0NBNT\"\"\u00a0is actually starting and Mr. H. #2 is JUST emerging on stage! Shoot. The song was stopped, the guys got in their positions, and then Mr. H. hit the keys and they were off and running. Mr. M. later made a comment of it not being a good sign when on the first gig of the tour, the opening track starts off before the band is even on stage but to be honest, I think it was lost on a lot of people\u2026I probably wouldn\u2019t have noticed had I not known already what was supposed to happen. I am jut wondering though\u2026I didn\u2019t realize until\u00a0Messages\"\"\u00a0was in it\u2019s certain part that Mr. M. wasn\u2019t wearing his usual tie and I couldn\u2019t help but wonder if it got forfeited in order to get on stage.\u00a0\":o\"\u00a0( If he\u2019s wearing one tonight I\u2019ll really wonder\u2026.)<\/p>\n

Well, the venue may have been relatively small, but the crowd was revved up and ready to go! Heck, John and his friend actually started bouncing before I did, now that\u2019s what I call a great crowd, LOL! ;o)\u00a0Tesla Girls\"\"\u00a0was met by a nice, strong \u201cno, no, no\u201d and even when Mr. M. announced that the next song was going to be from\u00a0Dazzle Ships\"\"\u00a0and people probably didn\u2019t know that album, lots of cheers.
\n\"\"
\nI forgot to mention one very pleasant surprise to the show\u2026.GRAPHICS! Behind the guys was, well for a lack of a better term, a wall of lights that held images that I recognized from last years UK\/European HoM tour. Messages had the postcards moving around,\u00a0Tesla Girls\"\"\u00a0had, well, the\u00a0Tesla Girls\"\"but one that I missed in soundcheck and barely got on film during the gig was for\u00a0IYL\"\"\u2026Molly Ringwald!!! Brilliant!<\/p>\n

Well, since I knew I had bouncers around me,\u00a0HoM part 1\"\"promised to be a blast, and it was! All of us (well OK, not Barbara and Sandy but the other 5 of us) were up and down and I saw other heads moving too. John actually reminded me of a mix of my two Dallas buddies cause the bounce was of Algis and our duet singing was very much Scott. Loved it!
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\nMr. H. was amazing during\u00a0FLaD\"\"! He came out and the crowd went crazy, singing along like mad and it was fun to see him bend down to slap fans hands as that\u2019s not something he normally does. So sweet!
\nSouvenir\"\"\u2026.yes, well this song is now the \u2018human towel\u2019 song. Mr. M. was up on the platform between Mr. C. and Mr. H.#2 and went over by Mr. H.#2 and got behind him. He bent down and at first I thought he was looking for something or checking out the levels or what have you, until I saw him rub his sweaty forehead onto Mr. H.#2\u2032s shoulder, ha, too funny.<\/p>\n

Well, we were treated to another \u2018new\u2019 song to the setlist\u2026.\u00a0Statues\"\"replaced\u00a0New Holy Ground\"\"\u00a0and it was great to hear. There was a part near the end where Mr. M., arms all tangled across his body, had the most content look on his face. They all seemed to really enjoy this gig, the crowd was giving 100% and I lost track how many times I saw Mr. H.#2\u2032s wide grin!<\/p>\n

Before long it was time to get up and moving again and Mr. M. took advantage of the large speakers (I think that\u2019s what they were) to jump up and out towards the crowd, fans hands flailing in the air just waiting to get slapped\u2026and of course that\u2019s what they got. ;o) Things didn\u2019t slow down and before long, it was\u00a0Enola Gay\"\"\u00a0time. The place was full of bouncing, singing fans and when it was over and the guys left, the OMD chant began. It was music to my ears and at one point, when the band came back on, Mr. M. asked \u201cwhy has this been only our second time playing Miami?\u201d Not sure but with the multitudes of \u201cthank you\u201d, \u201cwelcome back\u201d and the like from fans, it\u2019s safe to say Miami was missing their OMD!
\n\"\"
\nSo that brings me up to\u00a0Secret\"\"\u2026.yep, Mr. M. mentioned they got \u201cso much shit\u201d last time for not doing it but also put out a \u201cdisclaimer\u201d incase it went sour. But, just like in soundcheck, it went well, again, much to their pleasant surprise.Electricity\"\"\u00a0rounded up the three song encore (they started it with\u00a0WotMW\"\") and as always, it was the song to have one final burst of freak out. Awesome! The first night come and gone, and what a night it was spent with friends, old and new.<\/p>\n

So, highlight of the night, well\u2026.I think I have two. One being from the fans\u2026John kept cracking me up because he was letting out a \u201cwhoo hoooooo\u201d that reminded me of what you hear when you are going down the massive hill of a rollercoaster, tee hee. And Lisa\u2019s response\u2026.at one point it looked like she was trying not to cry, I think she was so in awe of finally seeing this! I know the feeling hun! But the other came from the band\u2026it\u2019s always wonderful to see their sincere reactions but with this gig it was something more. Maybe because it was the first and in a place they hadn\u2019t played for so long, maybe it was because it hadn\u2019t sold out in advance and who knew what was going to happen, maybe it was the uncertainty of\u00a0Secret\"\"\u00a0and it\u2019s, er, well it was kind of like when they were kids trying things out for the first time\u2026.raised eyebrows of \u2018OK\u2026here we go eh?\u201d followed by a thrilled \u201cwell, that wasn\u2019t so bad\u201d and Mr. H.#2\u2032s \u201cphew\u201d wipe across the forehead. It just gave them such a human aspect everyone could relate to. Not sure if I\u2019m making sense here, sorry.<\/p>\n

But there ya have it, one gig down and a bunch to go. What a way to start things off!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Previously posted at\u00a0omd-messages.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

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Tour Stop #1-Grand Central-Miami September 16th 2011 Well folks, here we are again. OMD are back in America and I\u2019m blogging again. The main difference, I\u2019m not doing the entire tour, LOL, missing a few, so this won\u2019t be a daily occurrence. But how could I not do the first gig eh? ;o) So unlike […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2011-omd-na-tour-part-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1422"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1591,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions\/1591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}