ERASURE -- March 21, 2003 - SF, CA

2003-03-22 - 11:14 a.m.

(originally posted to alt.music.erasure)

Well.

As most of you know, there are rent-a-mobs wreaking havoc on the downtown area of San Francisco. They were in full swing several blocks away from the venue, so, the approach was heralded by the sound of sirens, and the appearance of traffic blockade fencing.

My friend Brian and I were chauffeured to within three blocks of the event by my husband John, who is twelve years my senior and just wanted to go back home and watch a movie. Brian came with me because persistent but unsubstantiated rumors had it that the Andy Bell impersonator might show up, and John wanted somebody with me who would have a calming effect. Which John would not have had. :) So Brian was tapped.

We arrived at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium about fifteen minutes before the show began, (7:45 pm) and we were surprised at how easily we found our way to very nearly the front of the crowd. I purchased two program books, at twenty dollars apiece. They are large pages, on coated stock. Vivid, colorful, beautiful -- and for some reason, they remind me of a Denny's menu.

The stage was small, and yet not small. The stage backdrop had the appearance of a wallpapered room, with a picture frame in the middle of the center wall. From stage right to stage left, there were a door, a floor lamp with a tasseled shade, Vince's workstation and sound management system, two dainty wooden chairs, a guitar on a stand, a music stand, another chair, a sofa, several microphones in their stands, and the grammaphone on a small table.

The opening act was fun: The Cooler Kids. They featured a mix DJ, a pretty girl who sang while wearing nothing but underthings, and a dorky looking guy wearing sweats and a t shirt that said I'M THE DANCER. Their act was fun, and upbeat, and there were even samples of Erasure tunes in the mix. Their act went for about 45 minutes, and then the stage darkened, and the stage hands worked on the Erasure set, while through the speakers, an old radio episode of 'Suspense' played.

The crowd was fabulous. In all of my concertgoing experiences, I have never been around more nice-smelling men in my life. Everybody was pleasant. When anybody had to squeeze past, they excused themselves, and just generally I think the crowd was just glad to be someplace where they didn't have to look at images of sand.

The lights darkened dramatically, and Andy and Vince took the stage. Andy was wearing a full length black victorian riding habit, complete with bustle, and black top hat with a strap and a sparkly black veil across his face. Vince was wearing what looked to be a formal dinner outfit that seemed to be two sizes two large for him, and a top hat that nearly bent his ears down.

They both looked adorable.

The first song was 'Alien'. And the last song of the evening was 'Stop!'. In between, I don't have a clue what was sung or in what order.:) I mean I *recognized* everything, but it was seamless and brilliant and beautiful and before I knew it, it was over. I'm willing to guess it matched any or all of the other playlists that have been posted by the other US reviewers. (Hi, Bob! Wavewavewave)

A couple of things: The picture frame turned out to be a plasma video screen, and upon it we saw the renderings of Tonya Hurley, and what looked to be Vince's film school homework. (There's a very cute dog on that screen at one point.) There was also a 'video fishtank' sequence, which I think took place during 'Chorus'. And the wallpaper used on the set? It changed according to how it was lit. Under regular incandescent lights, it was just plain old flowers and stuff like that, but under the black light, it changed into Fishes and Birds.

Andy gradually doffed his duds, a layer at a time, eventually treating us to some very nice physical scenery. He stripped down to a maroon colored corset and lace up skivvies, along with just below the knee boots that I would give anything to have. He's got a tiny little bit of a belly, but it's wonderful, and oh BOY are his legs in great shape. At one point, he stopped and took a very long drink of bottled water and finished the bottle in one long draught. His voice is in wonderful shape, there are no signs of the bronchitis that befell him last month, and he hit every high note he ever has since his career began.

There was a brief break, and the lads returned to the stage wearing what looked to be these sort of motocross / anime / rap star brightly patterned suits, with dark tank tops. At one point, FINALLY, Andy wandered over to stage right, where I had been standing, next to that sound tower, and I took his picture. He briefly stopped, smiled at me, winked, blew a kiss, and curtseyed. I took another snap. I know the man is a consummate showman, so I'm certain everybody in the first ten rows thinks the same thing: 'Andy looked at me tonight' -- but I have the photographic proof. And Brian is pretty sure that's who Andy was looking at as well.

There was only one misfire that evening: Andy requested three cheers for peace -- something that was well intentioned, but for pete's sake, are we to have NO escape from being asked to express a political opinion wherever we go? Most of us had to cross barricades and deal with stinky, sign carrying, screaming, lice-infested vandals on our way into the event. Which is probably why there were mostly BOOs in response to his request. I think politics should have been left out of the evening, but that's just my humble opinion.

We didn't stick around after the show. And the impersonator was nowhere in sight, which is a good thing for a multitude of reasons.

My feet are killing me. It was a grand performance.

Fingers crossed that the pictures turn out. :)

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