{"id":4242,"date":"2019-10-31T15:05:23","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T15:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/omdculture.com\/?p=4242"},"modified":"2019-10-31T15:05:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T15:05:23","slug":"newcastle-gateshead-october-30th-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/?p=4242","title":{"rendered":"Newcastle\/Gateshead-October 30th, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Today was going to be my first of 2 with my friend\nMaria.  We had such a fun time back in\nAugust\/September that she was kind enough to change her hotel room to 2 twins\nso we could share again. \ud83d\ude0a A bit of an interesting train ride tho as I\nhad to transfer but then that train terminated early, after being about 20\nminutes delayed even coming in. No explanation WHY it was being terminated but\nthey informed us that the next train to Newcastle was in about 16 minutes. I\nlooked at the departures board once off, saw Platform D but a train had JUST\npulled into that platform. I know sometimes they sit for a bit so I wondered if\nit was that one. Some other girl asked one of the workers but she then told me\nhe just looked at her and walked away. I thought \u201cthat\u2019s not very nice! \u2639\n\u201c So I kept walking on down until I reached another worker and he was lovely\nall \u201cyeah yeah, Newcastle. Go on then\u201d and grabbed my big suitcase, swinging it\nonto the train. YAY! \ud83d\ude00   No seats really\nas it was hard to find place for my luggage and was told Newcastle was the next\nstop so I just stood in the doorway area for 15ish minutes but all good\u2026UNTIL I\ngot off the train. Darn Google maps gave me the \u201cwork out and burn 500\ncalories\u201d route by not only having me go down 50-60 steps (which OK, going down\nis better but still hard when you have a big ass suitcase that is about 35-40\npounds and a duffle bag of 18ish pounds to lug down) and THEN, up a MASSIVE\nhill to get to the hotel. I was able to kind of laugh off the steps but nearly\nhad a heart attack when I saw the hill I had to go up. Good lord! \ud83d\ude2e  Surprising I had energy to bounce at the gig\nLOL. But hey ho, I made it alive and happy to see Maria. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tonight was my other and final VIP of the tour and Maria had\nit too so we visited briefly, then got ready and headed to the venue. Funny\nenough, we went on a different street as the hotel guy told us to go down the\nhill and around corner so we did\u2026but it entailed us being down too low and yet\nMORE stairs (about 30) to get to entrance. I swear, Newcastlians (is that a\nword) must be fit for sure! \ud83d\ude00 But I was of myself so no luggage\u2026piece of cake\nreally. \ud83d\ude09  We\nwent up to box office asking where to go for VIP and strangely, the woman said\nwe had to collect our tickets from her. \ud83d\ude2e Strange as up to now, we got our\ntickets from Ed but OK. Found Ed after and\u2026um, we got ANOTHER ticket LOL.  I saw Sue and hubby too and tonight was their\nlast gig and special experience with Mr. H. so exiting! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from getting MoO instrutmental recorded, I was\ndetermined to not do anything in Soundcheck and just enjoy it. It was a bit\nstrange to be coming into a seated venue for it LOL but ah well. Maria and I\ndecided to go back just a bit to get more of the full stage experience and let\nothers get the front rows.  Always fun\nand there was some discussion about the lighting as I guess it was set up a bit\nhigher due to where the PA was, then it was done and off we went for our free\ntime before the show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Since having an assigned seat, it meant we had time to get a\nPROPER meal\u2026.OR, we could go get a little bite at a cat caf\u00e9! \ud83d\ude00 I really\nwanted that and Maria is a cat lover too so she humored me and off we went to a\nplace Canadian friend Jennifer had told me about (and who pointed out where it\nwas from the venue windows before we headed off).  OMG, SO cute! There were 8 cats and all\nroaming freely tho half of them were sleeping LOL. 5GBP to come and socialize\nfor an hour but their food was fairly priced too so you didn\u2019t mind paying.\nPlus who doesn\u2019t want to pet a super soft cat? There was Hugo the \u201cexotic\nshorthaired\u201d cat that tbh, looked like a Persian with his smashed face. But he\nwas awake, sitting on the appointment book mind you. Each table spot had some\nkitty treats and he, along with Alfi, the Ragdoll cat, were happy to eat them\nup LOL!  2 Scottish Folds, a tabby, a\nBerman etc etc. They are all owned by the caf\u00e9 owner but live in the caf\u00e9 with\nthe exception of one who was from a local shelter the caf\u00e9 works with to try\nand find homes for cats. This guy was the youngest at only 2 years and the most\nplayful. At one point, I took my VIP badge and he liked it so much, he grabbed\nit and pulled it away until after a few attempts, I just let go and he walked\nright off with it LOL. Since I\u2019m away from my 2 fur babies for 11 days, it was\nnice to get a bit of cat time in, even if it wasn\u2019t with MY cats. \ud83d\ude00 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After our hour, we went back to hotel as Maria is seeing OMD\nso many times, she wanted to go to hotel to change shoes and just show up a bit\nlater. Gotta say, we had lovely views looking not only across the river but\nthen from the bridge to cross back to our hotel. I decided to go with and after\na bit of hanging out in the room, funny enough, she used her phone to find a\nBETTER, higher ground route to the venue. I swear this town is confusing LOL.\n\ud83d\ude00 I managed to catch the final 2 songs of MiG15 and noticed the lead singer\nhad changed his outfit, plus, like in Hull, took his sunglasses off near the\nend so we could see his face. Accoustics good too which is always a plus for a\nvenue! My seat was smack in the middle, row C (last of the guaranteed good\nseats as I\u2019m further for Glasgow and Sheffield and not sure where I\u2019ll end up\nin Manchester tho hoping to be front) and funny enough, with the first 2 shows\nhaving SUCH a big gap between barrier and stage, it truly felt the same\ndistance in 3rd<\/sup> row here as it did front row others LOL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Only a 20 minute space between bands this time so maybe a\ncurfew was in order so the time went quick! Lots of cheers as we heard the\nsweet intro and then more when the band came out and did Stanlow. I wasn\u2019t\nsurprised that the crowd stayed seated\u2026.it\u2019s a slow song and I plan on taking\nadvantage of that tonight in Glasgow and recording it so I can get the full\neffect of the lighting effects as I\u2019m further back. But when it was over and\nMr. M. told us about having old\/new\/weird and dancing, plus Isotype started, I\nstood up as I thought others would too. No one did initially, Maria (who was 1\nrow and 4 seats over to my right) looked at me so I motioned to stand and next\nthing ya know, she started to get up as did the girls next to me and then\nWHOOSH, everyone was standing. There ya go then. \ud83d\ude00 I had already warned the\nguy behind me that I bounce a lot and he had laughed saying \u201cwell it\u2018s\ncompulsory isn\u2019t it?\u201d \ud83d\ude00 so I didn\u2019t worry when Isotype got to the bouncing\nbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We got asked if we were \u201cReady? I mean are you REALLY\nready?\u201d and as if that wasn\u2019t enough, tonight we got asked a THIRD time \u201cREALLY\nREADY?????\u201d as everyone kept cheering. Messages got some people in the front\nrow bouncing a bit and because there was no barrier, Mr. M. was nice and close\nso lots of people getting good pics. When it was over, he said \u201cIt\u2019s great\nplaying for Tyneside\u201d. Mr. H. agreed saying \u201cyeah, I LOVE playing here!\u201d I\ndecided to just do the yes, Yes, YES  bit\nto myself for TG as I knew I was flying solo tonight but I still had to mouth\nit LOL. And when HoM came on, lots of bouncing! There was a girl in front and 1\nseat over from me who was kind of my bouncing buddy which was nice but in\ngeneral there was a lot of people bouncing around which was great. LOTS of\nsmiles from the guys and Mr. M. said \u201cpeople ask \u2018why are you playing in\nTyneside?\u2019 THIS is why\u201d as people applauded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So Mr. H. got introduced by Mr. M. as what SOUNDED like \u201cthe\nAnime 1979 Crumpet of the year\u201d. (please correct me if I am wrong \ud83d\ude0a\n) then he came down to do FLaD, much to the excitement of a lot of people who\nswayed and sang along. When done, the applause was great and Mr. M. clapped\nalso for him saying \u201cPaul, you\u2019ve still got it.\u201d Mr. H. laughed saying \u201cI don\u2019t\nknow what IT is but thanks\u201d. \ud83d\ude00 When Souvenir started, a guy near me let out a\nmassive cheer and everyone had their arms up for the clapping part. They did\nthe same for beginning of JoA and when MoO started, even before any singing,\nthe crowd let out a massive cheer as they knew what was coming. I made it a\npoint to get Stuart at the end tho as his drumming is hard too and he tends to\nbe in a \u201cphew, DONE!\u201d position when it\u2019s over LOL. People in the balcony where\nup and cheering too as Mr. M. laughed and Mr. H. clapped him on. Mr. C. was\nbeaming too! Once the crowd died down, Mr. M. laughed and said \u201cThis is what\nit\u2019s like to be 60.\u201d LOTS of cheers and he continued saying \u201cAll you have to do\nis dance like nobody\u2019s watching.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I must say, I am not having much luck getting Statues\nrecorded because as crew got the front of the stage ready, some dude a couple\nseats to my left started talking a lot and he was quite loud so even when it\nwas starting, he was still going so I figured meh, I\u2019ll get it another night. I\nhave 3 more shows so\u2026. But having the set up as it was, the stage wasn\u2019t very\nhigh and the floor had a slight incline so tonight I could see Mr. C. and Mr.\nH. playing really well. I literally watched them for majority of the 2 songs\nbut ESPECIALLY Almost as I love getting to see who plays what! \ud83d\ude00 Funny enough,\nbefore Almost, Mr. M. warned us they were about to \u201cdo something weird. Not\nPAUL weird\u2026\u201d to which Mr. H. turned and looked at him laughing and he said \u201coh,\ndid I say that out loud? I was thinking it\u201d and Mr. H. laughed and said \u201cyeah\nyeah but that\u2019s OK\u201d. \ud83d\ude00 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many had sat down for the 2 slower songs so once done, Mr.\nM. looked at us who were still standing and said \u201cwell done those of you who\nstayed standing for all that! You\u2019ll have your reward\u201d and Don\u2019t Go took off. I\ntruly love that song live now, tho it can be quite the ear worm! (if that\u2019s not\na term used over in UK, it\u2019s basically when a song gets stuck in your head. A couple\nof my co-workers have used that term and I think it\u2019s appropriate LOL).  Mr. M. then laughed and said \u201cuh oh\u2026.it\u2019s all\ndancing from here on out. Ready?\u201d But of course we all were! This was a good\ncrowd! Not sure if it was due to the lay out in that many are above me and back\nor what but it sounded like a louder, better cheering crowd than the previous 2\nshows and those were good too so you can imagine how well this show was going. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SiL got a lot of cheers when Mr. C. pulled out his saxophone\nand lots of cheers after which prompted Mr. M. to introduce him as the \u201csax\nGod\u201d. Dreaming and TPoL went down well too tho not as many people fist throwing\nto the hey, Hey, HEY bit around me but ah well. \nDuring Locomotion, I chuckled as I turned to look at Mr. H. while Mr. M.\nwas pointing out the crowd sections. He missed waving to the first one, but managed\nto wave to the next 2, albeit looking like he had to quickly squeeze it in\nbetween heavy concentrating of keyboard playing and when it came time for the\n\u201cand everyone DOWN Heeeeeerrrre\u201d bit, he leaned back and quickly waved with\nboth hands before intently going BACK to his heavily concentrating playing. I\nthink that\u2019s what makes it so funny and sweet to watch\u2026his facial expressions.\nHard to explain, must watch it yourself I think. \ud83d\ude00 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Got the cute hand shake between Mr. M. and Mr. C. after his awesome big in SotSS tonight. \ud83d\ude42 Then before EG, Mr. M. thanked everyone for \u201ccoming to our 40th<\/sup> Birthday party\u2026.here\u2019s a big piece of cake for you.\u201d \ud83d\ude00 Tons of cheers and bouncing around and I DID watch Mr. C. to see if we would get some bouncing out of him as the guys came down to wave and thank us during introductions\u2026nope. It was Mr. M. that was bouncing with his bass to the EG beat before they all walked off. Massive cheers and some people chanting \u201cwe want more, we want more\u2026\u201d and of course we GOT more. I\u2019m not exactly sure what happened with Mr. M. and a woman Maria said was near her who hadn\u2019t moved much but seemed to be maybe in back pain but Mr. M. and her had some kind of thing back and forth, Mr. M. laughed, and then got a bit thrown off in words so laughed and said \u201cah, just play something\u201d as it went into the \u201clooong, long way\u201d bit. \ud83d\ude00 When it was time to finish, we were reminded that \u201cit wouldn\u2019t be an OMD show if we didn\u2019t play Electricity.\u201d I have to admit, when he says that, I always think about the horrible SXSW show at the rooftop place (Maggie Mays I think it was called) where OMD was being told to cut their set short or they\u2019d turn the power off. Mr. M. cut one song but then they didn\u2019t want to cut Electricity so started it and the venue cut the power! \ud83d\ude2e NO ONE was happy, fans and band members alike! \u2639 And mind you, ALL the bands were running late because the venue set it up with ridiculous timing that wasn\u2019t sensible taking into account stage swapping, they just decided to wait until it was OMD\u2019s turn to finally have bands cut sets short. But ANYHOO, we got to see the song tonight and it was one final bouncing session for a LOT of us! \ud83d\ude00  TONS of cheers, lots of thank yous, praise for us \u201cbeing SO wonderful to play to\u201d and promises from both Mr. M. and Mr. H. they\u2019d be back and soon. Okey dokey. \ud83d\ude00  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maria and I hooked back up just outside the venue in the\nwaiting area and saw Jennifer and hubby for a quick chat. I had told her about\nhow we managed to get into the cat caf\u00e9 and she laughed at how she had wanted\nto smuggle Hugo into her purse to take home. \ud83d\ude00 Saw Duncan briefly too and Ed,\nthen off we went back to our hotel. But not before seeing a bunch of elephants.\nThere had been one in our hotel lobby, 4 more in the venue, and then I saw a\ncouple this morning. I\u2019m assuming it means something, will have to google it or\nif anyone reading this knows, please comment. \nThey\u2019re quite cute! \ud83d\ude00  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\u2026highlight of the night. Well, I think I\u2019ll say watching\nMr. C. and Mr. H. during the 2 \u201cweird\u201d songs as I can\u2019t always see them well\nbut tonight I was up enough but still close enough to see things. \ud83d\ude0a\nHalf down, half to go now. It\u2019s going fast! \u2639<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today was going to be my first of 2 with my friend Maria.  We had such a fun time back in August\/September that she was kind enough to change her hotel room to 2 twins so we could share again. \ud83d\ude0a A bit of an interesting train ride tho as I had to transfer but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4242","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=4242"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4252,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4242\/revisions\/4252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}