{"id":4314,"date":"2019-11-05T14:45:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T14:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/omdculture.com\/?p=4314"},"modified":"2019-11-05T14:45:40","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T14:45:40","slug":"sheffield-november-3rd-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/?p=4314","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield-November 3rd 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Well, I have got to say, this has been the trip of travel\nnightmares! I usually don\u2019t have too many issues when traveling but aside from\ngetting to York and Hull, I\u2019ve had issues for ALL other gigs! Delays, early\nterminations, cancellations including the LAST TRAIN OUT after my Glasvegas gig\n(what I did on the free night between OMD\u2026traveled back up north to Edinburgh\nas there was an acoustic show in Dunfermline). So I got excited when my train\nleft Edinburgh on time\u2026and then\u2026.signal issues that had us sit on the track for\n25mins, then we were being told to reroute and also go slower. Needless to say,\nmissed my connecting train but luckily, in the end, I was only about an hour\nlate because LUCKILY, the train connection I missed runs very regularly.\nOtherwise I would have been in big trouble! \u2639<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Sheffield is my last gig and I was also going to be\nsharing room with Maria again (who also had bad luck with trains as her\noriginal one was cancelled. \u2639 ) But I was also meeting a friend I\u2019d made thru one\nof the Build a Bear FB groups as I had picked up a Union Jack bear for her\ndaughter (kind of funny I, as an American wanting all the exclusives, was\ngetting an extra one for her daughter when they live in the UK LOL. But they\nweren\u2019t near a store that carried them so\u2026) \nWe sat and visited in the hotel bar area while sipping hot drinks and\nhad a lovely chat before we said goodbye so I could head back up to room to get\nready and her girls could get home and ready for school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maria came up shortly after as the sound check had taken a bit longer tonight, then it was quick hellos, get ready, and meet everyone at Wetherspoons. BUT\u2026crazy enough, there are TWO of them literally around corner from each other! So here we were looking for the gang and Marilyn telling us where they were but us not seeing them. Finally met out on the street to find what was the issue. Who would have thought there\u2019s TWO! \ud83d\ude2e\u00a0\u00a0 It was nice to see such a big crowd for my final gig. Pat and Marilyn were there along with Andy, Chris, Gary, and Robert (and his friend who I forgot name of now, sorry! \u2639 ) I wasn\u2019t able to visit quite as long as I had to go pick up my tickets at the box office and sell the 2 spares I had but it was still great to see everyone, especially since some I was seeing for the first and only time. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally when I bought tickets for this gig, I was to have attended and also stayed with a couple Glasvegas friends. Sadly tho, they got the dates mixed up and booked other travel out of the UK so I had their 2 tickets to sell. As it turned out, Marilyn ended up with extras too so had already done some swapping with people to get everyone closer and she ended up giving ME a closer seat too. Row C vs. Row K and much more center. \ud83d\ude00 When I headed off to box office to meet the couple who were buying my 2 spares, I asked if they needed a third but they didn’t so I had HOPED to sell my spare (plus Marilyn had 2 more left over) to fans vs. a ticket tout. I went back to Wetherspoons to see if anyone knew anyone who wanted them, no one did but Maria suggested going to the box office again to see. I got told there that no one had come by recently so\u2026ended up just going to the guy who was saying he’d buy and sell. I wanted 10GBP per ticket (paid over 40 plus fees!) but he wouldn\u2019t budge past 20 for all 3! \ud83d\ude2e \u2639 Well\u2026what else to do so there ya go, 20GBP back to Marilyn is better than nothing really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I had a pleasant surprise when I got to my seat as there was Dan! \ud83d\ude2e He had row H but got the other Row C tic from Marilyn (as he said, it was musical tickets with a bunch of us LOL) so yay! \ud83d\ude00 MiG15 did well and the crowd seemed to enjoy them. I kept thinking \u201cwow, this is truly my last night on this tour! \ud83d\ude2e \u201c\u00a0 More people piled in near the end of MiG15 and close to OMD time and funny enough, Gary and Andy were just a few seats over to my right, Chris almost right behind me but 2 rows back. Marilyn and Pat a couple seats over to my left and 2 rows ahead, Maria about in line with them but another 2 rows ahead and I heard my name yelled to see Tim and Jenny waving to me as they were next to Maria. Aww! \ud83d\ude00 I suddenly remembered the fun we had in 2017 with dinner, the gig, and then….tee hee, BaB outlet the next day which Jenny and I had fun laughing as Tim patiently just shook his head at us and all I bought. \ud83d\ude0a \u00a0So close in spot, tho far away in other ways but glad to see everyone if even for quick hellos!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the lights went down, the crowd right away got going with the cheers and after the lovely Stanlow, I jumped up as soon as Isotype started and many others did too. \ud83d\ude0a When it was done, Mr. M. smiled and said \u201cI don\u2019t have to ask if you put your dancing shoes on as it\u2019s apparent you already have!\u201d as he strapped on his bass and Messages took off.\u00a0 Lots of bopping around and I heard a faint version of the \u2018der da do do do da dooooo\u201d tonight. When it was over, Mr. M. looked out at us and said \u201cWhat has happened to the cultured, refined Sheffield? Have you decided to grow old disgracefully? We can help.\u201d Again, just mouthed \u201cyes, Yes, YES\u201d to TG tho Marilyn turned around to me once and mouthed it with me LOL. \ud83d\ude0a And there were for SURE a bunch of people bouncing up and down for HoM all around me which was great to see!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When it came time for Mr. H. to come forward, Mr. M. said \u201cso I\u2019ve been getting chewed out for how I\u2019ve been introducing the next gentleman. He USED to be sexy\u2026.but TODAY, he\u2019s been fixing keyboards and computers all day. It\u2019s like back at his auntie\u2019s house. So\u2026the VERY talented Mr. Humphreys!\u201d Mr. H. laughed and waved to everyone as he started to come down. Mr. M. said \u201cwas that better?\u201d and Mr. H. laughed saying \u201cyes yes, couldn\u2019t be better\u201d to which Mr. M. responded \u201ccheck\u2019s in the mail then eh?\u201d \ud83d\ude00 \u00a0FLaD went down well with many singing and swaying along so when finished and Mr. H. looked out at everyone, thanking us and saying we were wonderful, Mr. M. came down, gave him a big hand shake, then went to the front of stage and said \u201cSo you like his singing better than mine eh? OH\u2026no, it\u2019s OK\u2026fine, just sing ANOTHER song then\u201d. TONIGHT, Mr. H. laughed and said \u201cI WILL!\u201d \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Needless to say, the A&M trio was great as always and funny enough, when Mr. M. started his windmilling, the guy in front of me gave his wife a look like \u201cOMG, he\u2019s still doing it!\u201d and the 3 men behind me were like \u201cbloody hell!\u201d LOL, YUP! \ud83d\ude00 Tons of cheers and I had looked up in the balcony to see a good portion of people standing, some getting up at that moment just to applaud what they just say. Mr. M. whipped his face vigorously and smiled massively. Many were wondering what was going on when the crew started bringing things forward for Almost and I heard someone go \u201coooo\u201d when it started. Once finished, Mr. M. said \u201cwe\u2019re going to do something weird.\u201d The crowd cheered and he continued \u201cNo not THAT weird. It\u2018s LEGAL\u201d He then told us \u201cwe\u2019re going to play a B side. It\u2019s the B-side to our first single. AND, a certain man named Vince, once he learned how to play this, decided he was good enough to form a band called Depeche Mode.\u201d Lots of cheers. LOL, cool. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Things picked up again with SiL and more bouncing prompted, to which I heard the guys behind me go \u201cboink boink boink\u201d as they started to bounce too. \ud83d\ude00 Before Dreaming, Mr. M. said \u201cOK, health and wellness check\u2026.because ya know, many of you are as old as we are. You doing OK? Are you tired yet?\u201d Lots of \u201cnooo\u201ds yelled out and he said \u201cgood!\u201d and Dreaming went down well too. It seemed tonight Stuart was \u00a0really singing along to Locomotion (not that he doesn\u2019t other nights but I noticed it distinctly tonight so it seemed more enthusiastic LOL). Mr. C. got his usual hand shake after his grooving part of SotSS and before we knew it, it was time for EG. Funny enough, somehow Mr. H. came in early on the mid song keyboard part. \ud83d\ude2e He quickly fixed it and Dan and I looked at each other and laughed. When it was time for it to TRULY come, Mr. M. was like \u201cNow Paul NOW\u201d as the whole band laughed. \ud83d\ude00\u00a0 Once over, the guys came forward for their goodbyes and waves. I have to say, not as good a crowd as the last 2 nights but still really good. There\u2019s not been a BAD crowd really, at least not to my ears. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lights went down for a bit as many kept cheering, then it was encore time. Mr. M. came out in just a black shirt and said \u201cnot as many costume changes as Cher but\u2026it\u2019s damn hot in here so I hope you don\u2019t mind I\u2019m going CASUAL now.\u201d We got IYL (Dan and I jokingly poking each other once…then twice to match the lyrics. \ud83d\ude00 ) and Pandora\u2019s box with Mr. M. giving lots of hand shakes and such to the front row, then it was the final FINAL chance to bounce. \u201cThis is the A side, our first single. It\u2019s the oldest and the fastest song we\u2019ve got.\u201d\u00a0 When it was over, all the guys came down to wave, some hand slaps and shakes and both Mr. M. and Mr. H. promised they\u2019d be back \u201csoon\u201d. We\u2019ll see eh? \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Afterwards, I tried to catch Tim and Jenny but missed them. Saw Irene and Stephan for a little bit plus Jennifer and Bert who had come down from balcony. The original plan was for everyone to go back to Wetherspoons but Dan, Marilyn and Mali (who had been way to my right and up a few rows but met up with us after the show too) had a 2 hour drive back so goodbyes and hugs before they went off. As we were leaving, I noticed the lovely ceiling of the venue! \ud83d\ude2e I still like standing venues but there’s something to be said about having a seat in a more, er, fancy venue for a lack of better word LOL. Maria, Jennifer, Bert and I went back to the Wetherspoons but no one was there so we also said our goodbyes and then Maria and I headed to the hotel where we got quick juice\/sodas to quinch our thirsts and then up to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\u2026highlight of the night. This is a tough one as it was\njust a fun night in general. I can\u2019t think of anything in particular that\nstands out so I\u2019ll make it general LOL. It was great having a surprise\n\u2018upgrade\u2019 in seat and then having Dan be there and there seemed to be a good,\nhappy, joking air to the band tonight so that\u2019s probably the bits I\u2019ll remember\nthe most. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Homeward bound for me now (typing this up in Heathrow Airport actually LOL\u2026tho won\u2019t upload until tomorrow as home late evening). It\u2019s always bitter sweet with a tour ending. The sad bit of saying goodbye to everyone and no more shows for awhile, the happy part of no more lugging big, heavy ass suitcases\/bags and living out of packed luggage. PLUS, I have 2 fur baby cats back home waiting for me to jump into my OWN bed and snuggle. It\u2019s been a great 11 days with tons of laughs and fun shows! Thank you to everyone involved as I\u2019m so lucky to be part of an amazing OMD family! \ud83d\ude00\u00a0 (tho can\u2019t forget my Glasvegas gang as Saturday was an amazingly special night too! )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, I have got to say, this has been the trip of travel nightmares! I usually don\u2019t have too many issues when traveling but aside from getting to York and Hull, I\u2019ve had issues for ALL other gigs! Delays, early terminations, cancellations including the LAST TRAIN OUT after my Glasvegas gig (what I did on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4314","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\/4314","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=4314"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4331,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4314\/revisions\/4331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omdculture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}