Day 7 - Columbus-Milwaukee

So, Milwaukee after all, and we got to Miramar about 5 o'clock and met Gary, the promoter and all around great guy. Since we had driven through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, a really exhausting drive - I mean, doing long drives during the day is way worse than overnight drives - we had entered a new time zone. This was a bit confusing to several of us since we didn't set our watches back. Tom was getting ready and all set for stage 1 hr and 10 min. before he went on. And on top of that I think the schedule had changed a bit, so the VIPs arrived when the doors opened, but that worked out fine and we had a long and fun talk till SITD went on stage.

One of many stops

Again we enjoyed the show very much. This is the first time we have had a 12-year-old to one of our shows, and he looked like he really had a good time jumping around in his Grendel shirt. (It has now come to my knowledge that his name is Eli, and that he is 10 years old!) That is more than we can say about one of the girls in the front. She was standing perfectly still for over an hour, not singing, not clapping - just looking. I have never really understood people that go to concerts just to be standing there, or even worse just to be sitting somewhere odd. I understand even less those people who will get all the way up front just to stand there and look like they are waiting for the next band, which supposedly is a jazz band or something. No disrespect or anything, people can do whatever pleases them, and this girl was singing at last during one of the last songs and I really hope she liked the show and our music, but all I'm saying is I do not understand!

Arriving Miramar

Anyhow, Gary asked us early in the night if we wanted to go to the afterparty to which we said no since we had had such a long and tiring drive and just wanted to get a good night's sleep. He asked a second time a little later and we said yes. And then when the show was over, we said no again. Muuuaahhahaha! Poor Gary. But no, I went over there to grab one beer - ONE beer - and to check Gary's new place out. It was really a nice and cool looking place, with a good looking bar and a good looking bartender.

So, halfway down an IPA and a Jäger and Red Bull cocktail, just done talking about ink and the US-Korean cease fire and meeting a lot of kind and lovely people, I was ready to get to the hotel, but no, Chris and Ape just arrived more than ready to party, so there was no way back. (By this time they had unloaded the venue just to find out that they had forgotten one of out laptops inside, and now the venue was closed. They just took the van around back and parked it under an open window. Chris went up on the roof of the van and literally dived inside through the open window, was luckily not hurt and completed the mission successfully. No one saw him break in, fortunately. I mean, there was several houses facing the ally from where he got in, but considering they are closest neighbours to a music venue, they were probably just hoping that we were breaking in to steal the sound system)

Well, back at the club I got to see Ape dancing, something I never thought I'd see. He rocked that dancefloor, though :-D Later I guess Chris asked the DJ to put on some music. And then he was yelling "Christian, we can't go, they are gonna play our song!" I was like "Oh yeah? Electric Six?" Chris went "No, Never Let Me Down Again" FUCK ME!

I'm taking a ride
With my best friend
I hope he never lets me down again
He knows where he's taking me
Taking me where I want to be
I'm taking a ride
With my best friend

Now, this is where Chris would be on top of Ape would be on top of me... 

We're flying high
We're watching the world pass us by
Never want to come down
Never want to put my feet back down
On the ground 

And this is where an angry girl left the dancefloor whining about Never Let Me Down Again not being a mosh-song. Not only did she tell us that several times, but she also kept going about it with her friend. I guess we ruined her night. She had been dancing since SITD went on stage, and she was dancing the entire afterparty, and three minutes before the club closed some naughty boys threw a little fun onto the dancefloor, and her night just burst up in flames - wrecked, ruined, destroyed, assfucked, crushed, abused, broken, damaged and brutally mistreated. I mean, how can anyone be so stupid that they would jump around and sing to Depeche Mode? Not that I don't understand this girl's reaction or anything, but all I'm saying is I don't respect it :-p

We were given a ride home, and so Ape got in the trunk (for no good reason, really, I just think he likes the trunk) and chris in the back seat yeling at dudes and cars all the way back to the hotel. I think our driver was glad he made it to the hotel without being pulled over. Thanks for the ride!

Depeche Mode: More known for gay moves than moshing