From: Spyder Web
WOW!!!
PRESHOW:
I'm not even sure where to start, but I guess I'll start at the point that would be most interesting to you , the list members. Probably not, I think I have to work up to it, but I hope you enjoy the story, anyway. We arrived at the club at 3p. There was a matter of dropping off a card for the flowers to be delivered and pictures to be picked up for autographing, so we were running late (pretty usual). But no problem, because no one was there, yet.
However, almost immediately after settling into spots at the door we were joined by Michael from Scotland (not on the list). He was coming to Denver in two weeks to get married, but when his betrothed told him The Mission were playing here he came early. The last time he'd seen them was in Glasgow in '95 for the Neverland Tour. He was just about as excited as we (Alixx65 and I) were, i.e., "jumping out of our skin". There were already some House of Blues equipment truck there and one of the guys said The Mission would be arriving about 4p.
They arrived at 4:30, just enough time for us to bond with two other fans that showed up (also not on the list, but big time fans, all the same), Lisa and Jamie. As the van was coming down the block we could see that Wayne was in the front passenger seat. Michael said, "This looks promising." I replied that it was terrible, all of a sudden, after all the waiting, I was not ready.
Scott came out first, then Mark. Mark seemed a little shy (but not really unapproachable). Craig came next and he smiled and said "Hi," as he passed. He also made a joke about the long (not really) queue, it was cute. It seemed to take forever for Wayne to get out of the van, and when he did he immediately went to the back of the van where he seemed to be organizing the equipment removal. The other guys made several trips bringing stuff in, and finally Wayne came.
He walked up the 3 steps to the door and stopped and came over and said Hello to each of us. He shook our hands and asked everybody for their name. He spent several minutes with us as we reminisced about the last time each of us saw him. He thought Michael was a little crazy for coming all the way to Denver, when Manchester would be much closer, but then he heard about the wedding and understood. He knew we needed our photo passes, but he also asked us if we needed tickets (of course we didn't) or wanted to be guests (of course we did). Alixx and I had gifts for him. He seemed genuinely surprised and said, "For me?" He is SO fucking cute. *sigh* Alas, the moments passed and he went inside. We didn't think too much about the guest thing. And, in the meantime Michael left to go to dinner with his intended.
But, there was Wayne again, about 15-20 minutes later (true as only Wayne could be), come to tell us we could come in to the club in 15 minutes. Of course, the 15 minutes seemed to take 15 hours to pass. And then we had to have this big discussion about whether we should just go in, or should we wait for Wayne to come back and get us. Jamie and I agreed that Wayne said to come in, but said nothing about coming to get us. So it was decided, I would go in first and they would follow behind. Of course, we were immediately accosted by someone as we walked in the club. I told him Wayne said we could come in. He said he would have to go and get him, which he promptly did. Returning with Wayne, I heard him ask him if he had told some people that they could come in. Wayne said, "Yes." and promptly ushered us into "wonderland", mumbling something about us staying out of trouble. As if ... but then that would be a story for another day.
It was now a few minutes after 5p. and the show was scheduled to start at 9p. I think the doors opened about 8p. But between 5 and 8 heaven was granted and surpassed. It was the most awesome experience of my life (next to my son, of course). Imagine 3 hours of Wayne, Craig, Mark, and Scott. Got a nice picture (hopefully) of Wayne playing barman, actually he was behind the bar with his laptop going online, Mark just had and it was Wayne's turn. The Jezebels and Mike didn't show up till about 7p. There was time for autographs and pictures and chatting ... oh yeah, and the sound check -- Burning Bridges, TOS, Swoon, Can't Help (Elvis), Neverland (I think, it's all a bit hazy). Craig did a little singing -- it was just TOO cute. Sometime before the soundcheck, Michael came back with his girlfriend and we got them in, too. The other groups showed up at the end of The Mission sound check. I think we actually got more pictures of the guys just sitting around or doing the soundcheck, than of the show, but prolly not. As for picture taking, it was pretty much a free-for-all (read, anyone who had a camera could take pictures.) I know I'm getting a little out of order, so I'll try to get back on track. We watched some of the Jezebel soundcheck, but to be honest, I don't remember Mike Peters doing one -- I'm sure that's impossible, but during that time we were talking to Wayne, taking pics with him, getting stuff signed and the like. A "Craig silly", Alixx took the booklet from the Magnificent Pieces (Japanese Box) to get signed and when she gave it to Craig he said he'd never seen it. He then took it up to the bar to show Wayne, who promptly told him, of course he had it -- Craig just had never opened it, so he didn't know what it was like -- dear boy.
A little info about the venue: small, capacity 350 (heard they sold about 250), but to be honest I never really looked back after the show started; small stage about a foot above the floor level; no barriers, no barricades and best of all, no security -- not exactly true, two by the dressing room access. Wayne said the sound wasn't too good because of the bass bouncing back at them and making it hard for them to hear themselves, but I can tell you they sounded Damn Fine. When it came time for them to open the doors Lisa, Jamie, Alixx and I promptly positioned ourselves in front of the center mic, and plopped our personal effects on the stage in front of the mic. How close was I? Let's just say I could have easily grabbed Wayne's mic stand without reaching. Before showtime we were joined by friend and fellow MishList member, Deathboy 2000, and a couple of other friends.
SHOWTIME:
Mike Peters came on at 9p. and did a really wonderful show. I don't have the setlist, but their were quite a few people who came quite a distance to see him, including one guy who said he joined him on drums in D.C. He played about 45 minutes and their was 15 minutes between each group for setup.
The Jezebels came on at 10p. I do have a setlist and Jay's guitar pick from that part: Flame, 20KHZ, Liquor Man, Why Can't I, Kiss of Life, Uptown, Sweet Rain, then it was supposed to be Heartache but they didn't want to play that so it was Josephina, Who Wants To Go To Heaven (Vampire), Gorgeous, then Peter had to go to the bathroom so Jay and James entertained us with part of Any Anxious Colour till Peter returned, and lastly, Desire, which Jay let some guy from the audience finish singing, as he passed him the mic. They played about 1 hr. 20 min. They were very animated and energetic and Jay regaled us with stories and jokes from his last time in Denver, he also took some jabs at his brother (Michael), Bill Gates, Robert Plant and several others. He played the intro to Stairway To Heaven and during Uptown (the lyric about not having any money), someone in the crowd yelled "Why don't you get a job?", jokingly, I think, but Jay had to stop the song as this gave him good comedic material, starting with "What do you think I'm doing up here on stage?"
What you've all been waiting for:
THE MISSION!!!
Totally new setlist order compared to the other reviews I've read: Wasteland, Hands Across The Ocean, Butterfly On A Wheel, Raising Cain, Severina, Blood Brother, Beyond The Pale, Swoon, Tower of Strength and Deliverance. It was all so awesome (I know I've used that word alot, but I'm still sort of speechless). They were all so passionate and energetic. Although Wayne did teasingly mention something about Mark having a "shag" before the show and being a little subdued due to this -- I think Mark was fine (and he prolly did have a shag -- sorry Mark, don't mean to embarrass you). Craig was all smiles and bouncing around. But I couldn't see Scott that much due to the fact that Wayne was in my way (I am NOT complaining, no offense to Scott. I had the same problem with Jay during the Jezebel set), but what glimpses I caught he seemed really into it. Wayne did his hair and girth jokes. Silly man, doesn't he know he's perfect?? The encore. This deserves it's own paragraph. I had to write it down so I wouldn't forget (although, I did one song). Wayne and a guitar (you know the drill): Can't Help Falling In Love, which everyone sang along to and screamed so much after that Wayne wondered if we liked Elvis' songs more than we liked his, due to this he followed with Dancing Barefoot (after being rejoined by the rest of the guys), then a request, Serpent's Kiss, followed by quite a bit of Love Me To Death (another request), Like a Hurricane, some of Garden of Delight (request) until he forgot the lyrics, asked for assistance from the audience and "blah, blah-ed" his way through another verse (I wish I could remember what song Craig sang the first verse of, cos Wayne forgot), then some damn fool had to request 1969 (didn't they know that would be the end?) But we mustn't be greedy, and I do realise we got more than our fair share -- unless you guys have been holding out?? The audience was awesome and a little dangerous, but we held our ground. They sang along and danced/jumped and screamed for all they were worth -- perhaps not as large as some cities, but all of the performers seemed to really be into it and appreciative of the crowd -- I won't go into bragging about what they said, but for once it was nice to be from Denver. All in all they played from 11:35 to 1:05, but they could've played longer, the club curfew was 2a. But then there would be no aftershow.
AFTERSHOW:
More of the preshow type behaviour. All of the artists hung out in the bar talking with everyone who wanted to talk with them, signing autographs and taking pictures. I'm sure it must sound like an autograph glut, but I didn't get that much signed. I got Wayne's picture from the Neverland shoot signed earlier in the day, and my laminate. After the show I got Mark, Craig and Scott to sign my laminate. I could've had a million other things (well, not "millions", but you know I'm sure you have them all, too) from my collection signed, but I didn't take anything because all I wanted out of this night was a good experience. Well, that's not totally true, I was hoping for "a memory to last a lifetime" and that's what it was.
LOOSE ENDS:
I hung out for the rest of time with Jay at the bar, we were talking about his brother, Michael, with the president of Michael's Fan Club. I could go into it, but I'm sure you're not interested and I've already bored you enough. *giggles* When it was time to say, "Bye," at 2a. and they kicked us out of the bar (not TOO roughly) because it was closed, Jay gave me a hug and kiss. So, we were outside then, Wayne was talking with people in the alley, various people from all the groups were loading stuff up into the vans in the front and we met up with Jay, again, who we talked to until all the rest of the Jezzies were in the van and calling to Jay to get in. More hugs and kisses to our little group and away they went.
Wayne and the rest of The Mish, also, off into the twilight. Things that Wayne said that I'm going hold him to: the promising possibility of them writing and recording new stuff together and the promise that they won't take so long to come back next time. 9.5 years is way TOO LONG. Jules (Mike's wife) IS really awesome, Jay IS charming, Scott IS nice, Mark IS sweet, Craig IS adorable and Wayne IS GOD.
I'm sure Alixx and Deathboy will have their own reviews to share with you, perhaps not as much in "blabbermouth" mode as I. The three of us shared a meal at Jerusalem (a Palestinian restaurant that's open 24/7 on weekends) at about 4a. and began the "comedown" process together. I got home at five, and it's now a quarter to nine. The best thing I have to look forward to now is some wonderful new friendships. I think I'll retire now.
Love to you all,
spyder
From: Alpheratz9@aol.com
Hello all! Happy Halloween! What a great concert!!!!! I love both GLJ and the MIssion, but I'm only posting my Mission review here---if anyone wanted to GLJ review I can send that too.....
The concert was on Friday at the Soiled Dove in Denver. The crowd was the best audience I have been with just about ever....I just I'd call us geeths....goth-geeks, in other words. I'm one of them! What's great about geeths is that we are like the poseur crowd who is too cool to have fun. This was the most loving, adoring , fan-based audience I have ever seen. The Mission came out at about 11:30 at night afetr the GLJ and Mike Peter's sets. The stage was very very tiny--the audience was practically on stage too. But everyone was standing up and right anxious of the Mission to come out---hardly anyone in the place was sitting down. The band came out and was first a little frustrated with the equip I think. Wayne was strumming away and we couldn't hear a sound. But they all looked great and we were having a great time! The first part of the set list was as follows.....
Wasteland
Hands Across the Ocean
Butterfly on a Wheel
Raising Cain
Severina
Blood Brother
Beyond the Pale
Swoon
Tower of Strength
Deliverance
The crowd got more and more excited, and during Tower of Strength everyone on the crowd was singing at full volume. A guy from the audience came up front with a bongo and sat down to play with the band. Wayne stopped a couple of times with an astonished grin on his face as the words of his songs were sung back to him in unision. Mike Peters came over behind the stage to watch the audience too with a smile on his face. It was so great it made me want to cry! Deliverance was the same way--total audience participation!!! They left the stage for the encore screams, and this little audience screamed louder and chanted "Mission" in unision. Wayne came out himself with his geeetar and played "I Can't Help Falling in Love with you." The crowd was so generous and crazy that he added "Dancing Barefoot" too. The they played "Like a Hurricance", which everyone sang too....("getting blown away..."). Wayne thanked the audience and told us we were the best audience they had seen so far!!!! Yes, we rock. So then the crowd starts yelling requests to Wayne. We yell for Sacrilege, but Wayne starts to play "Love me to Death". He gets to the line which goes "...the pride of man..." he smiles and says, "That's enough of that song." What else do you want to hear? He's laughing and tells us we are asking for songs their drummer has never even heard before! The they play "Serpents Kiss" for us all, which we all love the line about "the witching hour". All hands and arms are in the air, swaying back and forth. They play a bit of "Garden of Delight", of which Wayne forgets the words and ad-libs in the middle by singing "la la la, da-da do de da...etc" We love it though! I have a feeling we are never gonna let these guys off the stage. They end with a rocking kick-ass version of "1969"
so, as encores go, the lucky Denver crowd got....
I Can't Help Falling in Love with you
Dancing Barefoot
Like a Hurricane
Love me to Death (partial)
Serpents Kiss
Garden of Delight
1969
Yeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaa! What a great band, a great crowd, a really special night.
Monica
