The Wall

Hello Duran fans. I think I have hit my “wall” today. To begin with, I’m exhausted. I feel like I’ve been on a 3 day bender (ok, maybe a 5 day), walked 400 miles, and have been beaten until I fall down, picked back up, then beaten again. It’s all a bit much.

As an attempt to make this blog sound more positive than I am really feeling at the moment – I’ll tell you about our day. We checked into our London hotel this morning, and then went to Greenwich to see the Prime Meridian. Yeah, that probably sounds boring. The thing is – I had to go out of curiosity! It was an absolutely gorgeous day here in London, it was warm, there was very little wind (since we’ve been here it’s been so windy that I am actually nursing a windburn on my face!) and the sky was blue. The Royal Observatory and Prime Meridian spot are up on a hill across the Thames from Central London, and it’s a great place for not only checking your watch *grins*, but to also sit down on the grass and watch the afternoon go by. London actually looks peaceful from there, and if you’ve ever been to London, you realize just how impossible that seems. So, after we’d dutifully checked out the observatory and took pictures of our feet on either side of the Prime Meridian, we began to walk back to the tube station. As we were wandering back down the hill (and my legs are paying for that long walk up and down the hill!), there was a kid pestering some birds nearby. I noticed, but kept on walking. The next thing I know, Amanda says “Oh…OH…!!!” and I look up to see these same birds headed right for us, as in “we’d better duck or else we’re about to be smacked in the face by birds!” Luckily, the birds were able to get over our heads just in time, and then we started laughing so hard I thought I was going to fall over. I don’t think we stopped laughing about that for hours, and even now as I’m typing, I’m giggling. Yes, jet lag does funny things to my sense of humor I guess.

So once we recovered, we headed to the O2 in order to see the British Music Experience exhibit. I was also curious about this because I couldn’t quite understand how one venue could house not only a very large arena, but also many restaurants, a nightclub or two, AND a museum. The O2 looks like a giant birthday cake, complete with candles on top from afar (no decorations on the cake though) – I guess it’s a big tent?? Anyway, it really does have all of that on the inside and it’s pretty amazing! Tonight Rush was having a concert, which explains why there were literally thousands of men stampeding from the North Greenwich tube station to the doors of the O2. No really, it’s true – Amanda and I had to run and grab a seat on a bench before we were trampled! We made it to the BME, and once inside we made a beeline for the New Romantic period. After all, isn’t that the period that really matters??? 😀 Each era has it’s own smallish room with several exhibit windows and a giant screen that plays news bytes on various happenings in music. Naturally, we all know who was included in the New Romantic period, but I wasn’t prepared for what would await me in the exhibit window. There in the window stood not only a pristine copy of the bands first album, but also the blue Anthony Price suit that Roger wore in the Rio video. It’s not normal that I react with more than a passing interest in such things – but this was Roger’s suit. I stood in front of that window for the longest time, and yet I really am not sure what else was IN the case besides that suit. I couldn’t get over how much different the suit looks in person than it did on film. I mean yeah, I knew it was a silk suit (mainly because the band had always said so in interviews regarding the video), but standing up close to it you could really SEE that it was silk. It was perfectly pressed, still a brilliant blue color…and yes, I even got a little misty-eyed when I looked at it. Stupid reaction, but I think it just made me remember how both Amanda and I came over here for shows…and there is an extremely good likelyhood that we’ll leave without having seen even one of them. The rest of the exhibit was very good, a little on the cheesy side for my taste, but I liked all of the memorabilia. (oh and yes, we did go back and view ALL of the different eras. We just started with the best!!)

We came back to our room tonight feeling both excited about the possibility of seeing the O2 show as well as knowing that it might feel a little bittersweet since it’ll be our own and only show. Then we logged on to find that once again, fans hopes are being dashed. This time in Berlin, as tomorrow nights show there is being postponed. It’s getting to be a bit much, even for me. No, it’s no ones fault – I realize that, but it is only fair to expect to read and hear disappointment, and even anger at this point. Let’s face it, there are a good many people who are traveling for these gigs because they LOVE this band. Some have traveled much farther than I have, I am sure – and for them, I feel horrible. We’d talked about going to Berlin, but the simple truth is that I didn’t want to risk it. It’s a trek from London, and so far – the band’s track record for this tour has been, well….not good. Like it or not, it makes people think more than twice about traveling. I’ve had it pointed out to me that my tickets are still good for the reschedule, so I shouldn’t be mad. Um, I’m sorry – but for many of us here in the “real” world, we can’t afford to fly all over the world at the drop of a hat. I’m not mad though, just very disappointed. It’s not easy to maintain a positive outlook when show after show is being canceled, no matter the reason. I have had fun this week, no doubt about that, and I’m not going to stop being a fan or condemn the band forever – I just want to be able to see the shows that I paid to see. It’s a reasonable hope.

So, with that I must add that August is a good time for rescheduling shows (yes, that’s a HINT to the band!), and I hope we hear the specific dates soon. I really don’t know what my chances are of being able to return, and it’s likely that tomorrow I will wake up with more resolve to come back than I have right now. I just know that the more time I have in order to plan the better my chances will be, so I’m hoping for the best, and yes – right now it’s all about me, people. (Not even close and I know that!) I also hope that Simon gets better, and stays well. No one wants him to be so sick that he is unable to perform or worse yet that the entire tour has to be canceled – so I just hope he gets well and stays healthy, along with the rest of the band.

Tomorrow brings a new day of adventures…possibly Camden Market, perhaps a trip out to see some fascinating things in a nearby town…and hopefully some better news from the band! -R