TOURING THE ANGEL FANBASE
November 18th, 2005 - San Jose, CA. USA. (HP Pavillion)
time to make the Britannia meet up because we got stuck in rush hour going to and from Berkeley. :[ 880 is the devil, but we managed to get
to the venue in enough time to get good parking. I was there with my orange sparkly shirt! Depeche Mode in the PTA DM logo and on the front
and "Playing the Angel" in the respective font on the back. Though my purse strap ended up pulling off some of the rhinestones during the
show (I was rocking out pretty hard!) So I need to fix it before posting pics. I got a few fans commenting on my shirt, and that was fun. I was in
the 14th row floor Martin's side, and though I walked around a bit before the show started, hoping to catch some bongsters or some attention
from any staff. I don't think the ushers were going to let me get any closer than about 10th row without a ticket saying such, so I don't know
how many people noticed, ha ha. Didn't end up meeting with any bongsters, but had a nice convo with a girl who liked my shirt.
The show was just..
absolutely amazing. Sardine packed house. I think the guy next to me hated
me. He was just kinda standing there with
his hands in his pockets. I was screaming and hollaring as loud and high as
I could, and singing as loud as I could, dancing and the whole bit.
I kept getting dirty looks while he plugged his ear, but I didn't give a
shit cause you know.. you shouldn't go to a concert like DM and have a
quiet relaxing time. I was so freaking jealous of the people at the end of
the catwalk during behind the wheel, when Dave crouched down and
sang to them! What I would have given to be there! So close, yet so far!
Though they had a little outcropping on our side of the stage and it
was cool when they came there. I had some glow sticks tucked into my
bracelets so when I clapped and put my arms up, I think I stood out a
bit.. one was green and one was orange, if any of you bongsters saw me (not
a lot of people had glowies outside their phones.)
Could be the fangirl in me, but I know I saw Dave look right at us and
smiled. That whole human psych-reaction to eye contact fired off in my
brain. Wasn't looking in front of us or behind us. :]
I really loved the screens. I hope that when they record the show for
DVD, they record the real-time screens as an extra. That was really
awesome.
Martin~! Just absolutely wonderful! Sinner in Me was just damn. I've
never seen him play like that. Mad props to Mart. He was performing so
much more that usual! There was also a point where I could have sworn his
eyes were glossy like crocodile tears. There was actually a point
in Somebody where his voice cracked a bit and it looked/sounded like he was
getting choked up! The audience was amazing; singing along so
loudly with him.
Fletchy boy~ everytime I saw him (which wasn't a ton, since I was fixated
on Dave, Screens and Martin in that order, and there were tall
people all around me) was playing his heart out having a good old time. I
don't think I've ever seen him that active.
Lets see.. I think I missed a heart beat or two when Dave came out on
stage for the first time, but I didn't hit me hard that I was seeing them in
the flesh again (only my second show!) until Walking in My Shoes. I was
really moved and it hit home that they were there in front of me, and I
couldn't hold back a few tears as I sang along. I really lost it during
Goodnight Lovers though. that was just so beautiful, and Dave and Martin
seemed so happy. I cried a decent amount because I knew it was the end of
the show and it really felt like they were ending with a song
devoted to us. I loved the mood with the low lighting and everything. There
was also a part where Mart got emotional again and carried a note
longer and stronger than Dave's. Dave gave a "Woah, nice one!" look and
nodded proudly. The hug and kiss at the end just capped it all off.
As part of the audience, and going by how the band was behaving, I feel
proud like we really gave them as good a time as they gave us. They
looked like they were really just having the best time of their life, and
that made me really, really happy.
After the show, I knew traffic would suck, and I happened see the back of
the venue when we had came in, so we decided to stick around and
see if we could see the band leaving. There was a decent sized group waiting
for quite a bit, and heckling the security a bit too, even with our
gates. I managed to score being in front on one of the gates. We waited
hopefully for autographs or even just a glimpse, but the band ended
up leaving venue in a shuttle headed strait for the airport, apparently. I
think I saw Dave wave at us through the window. :} It was pretty hard to
see, but they all looked pretty crammed tight in there since Dave was close
enough to the window you could make out his hair cut and jacket.
They drove by fairly quickly so I didn't get a clear shot of his face.
Someone on the other side said they saw Fletch. Other than Dave and the
driver, it was at least 5 other silhouettes in the back from what I saw. ((I
found out later that there was an afterparty... my manager's cousin
just happened to go. And nobody told my someone so close had such a hook up,
and they knew how much I love DM. doh!))
Drove back to Berkeley with "OMFG that was so awesome" and post-concert
depression warring within me. I subsequently had DM concert
related dreams all night, after arriving at our crash space at 2am.
All I can say is that it was worth every penny we spent on everything it
cost to get there, and worth all the hellish traffic. My only complaints
were the sound system. We ended up right under one of those funky arched
speakers and it was barrelling down on us the whole show; made
for some distortions in Dave's voice, and I think was causing some noise
cancellation of the audience's singing.
Amanda
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