Since I have absolutely no voice left after last night, it makes it a lot easier to type this than to tell you about it
Let me start by saying this...
For those of you sitting at home, if you have not gone out and bought your tickets for any of the future shows GO DO IT NOW!!!!!! The show was absolutely phenomenal, and any fool calling this an "OMD tribute" is sadly mistaken!
It all started for us (the fans) at about 5:45 when we were paid a surprise visit at the hotel bar where we are all staying, by none other than Mr. Humphreys himself! He was extremely gracious and kind, and spoke with, shook hands, and autographed items for everyone who asked. The good news is that Rose didn't faint either . There were about 10 or so of us at the hotel, so it made for a nice, intimate chat with Paul.
After a bit, Paul said his goodbyes and was off. Shortly after that, we piled into a shuttle and were off to the gig.
The theater is a beautiful venue that seats about 1200 when both balconies are open. There were roughly 500 people at the gig, and with the second balcony being closed, it made the room look very full.
We arrived early enough to have dinner, but the problem was that many of us were at different tables. This was OK by me as I got the chance to talk to all sorts of OMD fans, which by scanning the room, varied in age from 18-60. In fact, there were people who brought thier young children to the show as well!
Promptly at 8:00pm, Anything Box started playing. I only knew a couple of their tunes, so once I heard them, I was off to explore backstage (courtesy of the pass from Martin (thanks again Martin..)
About a 45 minute set, Anything Box wrapped up gave way for Paul and the gang. This meant a quick restroom trip, a refill at the bar (which is a trip I think I made a few too many times :-), and back to my seat for the show.
I had a great seat, but I will confess that a sit down venue was not the place for this show (I'll touch more on that later...)
Promptly at 9:15, the lights went down, I stood up (right alongside Damiano and a few others), and my heart started racing. In all my years of being an OMD fan, collector, webmaster and whatever else, this was my first OMD show, and I couldn't believe it was actually happening.
The crowd greeted Paul with a very warm reception, and they promptly broke out into their first song (I won't tell you what it is in case you are going to another show and don't want to know the setlist, but for those who know me, it is my all-time favorite song!!) Now I couldn't believe it, my favorite song being played precisely (the riffs used throughout the entire concert were VERY true to the originals, and how Paul did this is beyond me!!)
Now, here's where I have a problem...
The Sun Theatre is a dinner theatre type of place (the food kinda sucked anyway...) which means you sit down and watch the show. I was on my feet the entire time for the first few songs, then was finally asked by the ushers and people behind me to sit down. This REALLY pissed me off. So, I moved to another area and stood dancing, singing and enjoying the show.
After the first slow session, I was determined to get down in front. There was really very little room for anyone to stand in front since they packed chairs in all the way up to the front of the stage. My friend Ty, after a certain number of vodka cranberries, was more determined than I was to get down in front as well. So, by the time "Forever Live and Die" came around, it was too much to take sitting down. Ty had found his was to the front of the stage (also courtesy of the backstage pass from Martin), and was starting to get people off their feet.
First it was 2, then 4, then 8, then 10, and by the time I had forced my way down there, we had about 20 people on their feet in the front row. I was so close, I could have untied Paul's shoelaces, and the show was now really starting to get cooking!!
The setlist went in a classic 'up and down' fashion, with everything being brilliantly played. The set does feature some new material writtten by Paul and Claudia, along with an old Propganda song. The rest is all OMD.
This being the first proper show, not everything was perfect. There were some cock ups on stage, which Paul playfully acknowledged. However, you had to be a die hard fan to recognize them. Claudia's mic seemed very quiet, as did the sax, and the guitar was WAY too loud (most likely due to a last minute amp replacement), but other than that, it was flawless.
I was really amazed to see how relaxed and confident Paul is in the role of front man. Claudia takes leads on several songs to 'relieve' Paul, but overall, you would never guess this is a guy who just took 10 years off from performing live. There was a terrific interaction with the crowd (especially with those of us in front who were yelling things to him in between songs..) and Paul vollied back every time.
He even told the crowd the story about his 9 year old daughter asking him "what do you do daddy"?. Since she wasn't born when Paul performed last, he finally had the chance to show her what 'daddy does'. He then dedicated the next song to her, and broke out into "If You Leave" to a screaming crowd!
From where I was standing I saw that Paul was relaxed, he was confident, he was enjoying himself, and most importantly, he was playing the music that he and Andy created together. No offfense to Andy, but it is very apparent that Paul can keep the OMD flame burning for as long as he wishes to perform.
This ain't no "tribute" folks, this is 100% OMD no matter who owns the name
No, on to the post concert party....
Having been stressing over this for weeks now, it was time to deliver the goods. Everyone who didn't have a ticket, or stage pass, were swept from the venue, leaving only the party people behind. The folks at the Sun Theatre were extremely gracious in helping us with this event, and what was really cool was that they took the video I made for the party and played it on the 2 huge screens in the main room! So, as soon as the show ended, the "Talking Loud and Clear" video appeared on the 2 giant screens on either side of the stage. This was also pushed into the bar area where we were hosting the party.
There was a bit of 'getting to know one another' feel in the first 30 minutes or so, and I tried to make my way around to meet everyone. I was surprised to finally meet Phil Marsh face to face as we had played phone tag at the hotel. About 15 minutes after the show ended, the band began to trickle in, and after a bit, Paul showed up with his daughter in his arms. I had a great time talking to the guys in teh band, and even got to meet Maureen (Paul's ex) and chatted with her about all sorts of things. She was very kind, as was everyone else I spoke with.
After a few more rounds of drinks, and once Paul and the guys got all their business things settled, we started the trivia game. This went over better than i had expected with everyone participating. Paul wandered over after a bit, but didn't answer any of the questions (he admitted to my friend Ty that he didn't know the answers . The game came down to a battle Between Hugo Gallegos and Phil Marsh, with Phil's team eventually winning by a sizable margin.
After the game, the party was still in full swing, and I persuaded the venue to let us stay for another half hour (this was at 1:00am mind you..) and they kindly obliged. We drank, talked, watched some great OMD performances on video (my favorite is "Motion and Heart" from the Drury Lane video...) and talked about the performance we all witnessed just a few hours before.
But, just like all good things, this party had to come to an end. We shook hands with mny of the people there, and some of us piled into cabs to head back to the hotel. It was about 2:00am at this point, and I will still ready to party. Unfortunately, I didn't see anyone else around, so I made the wise decision and headed off to bed.
Overall, I am not exaggerating when I tell you that this was one of the highlights of my life. My marriage, the birth of my son, and the OMD show/party in Anheim are in that order. There's nothing like great people and great music to make for a memorable evening, and to all of you who helped make this happen and who were at the party, I say thank you.
As I mentioned above, if you don't have tickets, get tehm now, you will not be dissapointed!
Next stop, Seattle!!!!!!!
Pat