The 2008 Replicas Tour in 10 Riveting Chapters:
One man's mission to see the last 10 shows of the UK Replicas Tour
Chapter 7
Brighton
The next morning was sunny and windy, no doubt remnants from the superstorm that had battered England in the past week. I woke up just in time for the offered breakfast. The dining room was small but was outfitted with all kinds of cereal, a large screen TV and a friendly staff that asked me what I wanted to eat. What a way to start the day!
I'd never been to Brighton before. Many Numanoids had advised me to be ready to party. With its massive seaside piers and all manner of entertainment, I was looking forward to seeing the place! But first things first. Today was laundry day. Since the trip was an easy and short train trip from Cambridge, I asked the staff where the closest laundry was.
Stepping outside I walked the four blocks I was pointed to go but didn't find anything. Even more glad I'd brought wheeled luggage for a change (instead of my traditional method of carrying it on my shoulders), I walked to the train station for the next train to London St. Pancras/Kings Cross.
When my train arrived, all riders were instructed to walk the outside platform to ride the three cars in front. Easier said than done as people walked against the wind like rookie mimes busking for change.
The ride to the London St. Pancras station was only 90 minutes and I got in some Howard Stern from the headphones on the way. I hadn't been to St. Pancras since my ex-fiancee Jennifer wanted to go to see the spot where they filmed that Harry Potter scene. A station staff who must get asked about it several times a day pointed us in the right direction.
But today and alone, I pulled out my luggage from the rack and walked across the street to London Kings Cross station to catch the train to Brighton. I barely recognized the area from before. Everything was new and glass. The narrow underground walkway was replaced with a massive above-ground entranceway. The station was now so large, the place still seemed empty despite the usual throngs of business people and tourists. Something else changed since I was last here. Like other important train stations in England, one could no longer gain entry to the platforms without a ticket.
The train to Brighton took us through London. The sun shining on the city landmarks beckoned me, but more important plans were afoot this evening, not the least was to find a laundry!
I pulled into Brighton with great anticipation. I stepped off the train and made my way to the info desk for information about a nearby place to get some clothes laundered. My guide book mentioned the Preston Street Laundrette by the beaches but it was a mile of walking. The friendly info desk could tell of no closer place, but they did give me a helpful map to navigate through town.
At the station exits, there hung one of the most monstrous signs I'd ever seen. It warned people to look both ways before crossing the street from the station. It must have been a real problem, I thought. Obviously, one would look both ways before crossing a roadway, right? I wondered if Brighton's taxpayers had to pay for this silly sign?!
With luggage in tow, I walked outside and scanned the city map for the best route to the laundry. Across one street I saw a record store and made my way toward it. I mindlessly stepped off the curb when a car whipped around a blind corner at high speed and nearly took me out! Wow, the monster sign was right!! Thank you, Brighton taxpayers! Luckily I didn't have to futher burden you with a side trip via ambulance to experience the excellent NHS I kept hearing about from Michael Moore.
My planned route to the laundry took me past some amazing looking little record shops and through a vibrant downtown with all manner and types of shops and things to do. Unlike other English cities I didn't see any other tourists with luggage in tow and I felt very different, even more than usual!
For being the city's only laundry, it wasn't very busy. The Asian couple that ran the place was very friendly and wanted to know where I was from. On of their posters advertised the many events going on in town, including tonight's Gary Numan show at the Dome! I pointed it out to them and told them of my adventures thus far.
As the machine worked on my clothes, I walked down to the nearby beach to see what all the fuss was about. Tall condos and party clubs lined the shore for as far as the eye could see in both directions. But among all the clubs and piers, the most impressive sight were the large, thunderous waves constantly crashing onshore. The beach I was on was unpopulated except for the occasional shutterbug gawking at nature's fury on this sunny spring day.
my video of violent waves crashing upon the Brighton sand
I got some video of the waves to show friends back home and took pictures of the water and of beached starfish that call it home. I stole away for the laundry to sit by the dryer and play Monopoly on my phone. I began to notice that it was 3:30 pm. The NAGNFC preshow party at the Black Horse started at 4:00! The clothes were still a little damp, but dry enough. I folded them neatly into my luggage and briskly made my way uphill to the main street where I could catch a taxi to the preshow party.
Once on the (literally) high street, I caught a cab with no problem. The Turkish driver didn't know where the Black Horse was, or even the location of Church Street. Steve "Smiley" who picked out the place for all of us to meet before the show had told me it was across the street from the Brighton Dome, so it was there I asked the driver to head for.
En route, he picked up on my accent and wanted to know all about New York. It was his dream to visit one day. He became so engaged in our conversation we flew by Church Street. By the time I could stop him on our narrow one-way street we were well past my destination. I told him it was okay and I could walk back, but helpfully and apologetically, he backed up through traffic to let me off. I thanked him and when I pulled my luggage off I gave the drivers behind us a sheepish wave in apology avoiding eye contact in case any of them were gesturing my way.
I looked for the box office to pick up my Numan ticket, but it eluded me. Instead I found the Black Horse so I stepped inside with a mere 5 minutes to spare. Relieved that I had made it on time to my own party, I ordered a Smirnoff Ice and sat down. As I looked around I didn't see any Numanoids. A couple of guys who looked like factory workers eyed me on the way in seemingly entranced by my appearance. I had told the barkeep about the Numan preshow party that was about to take place there. I barely heard the guys at the table mutter to themselves about Gary Numan in matter-of-fact tones.
I sat alone sipping and watching outside for about two minutes when Martin Purvis, Jo and company came inside and said hello. They took the last few concerts off and I brought them up to date on the shows they missed. They were soon followed by Steve "Smiley", his girl Helene and their daughter Alice. It was great to see Steve again after so long. I thanked him profusely for scoping out this great place so close to the show. Steve picked it out for its policy of allowing kids inside to party with us.
Soon, Rik and Julie stopped in. I'd first met them at the Manchester afterparty when Julie introduced me to Rik who was a fan of my site. Turns out, I was a big fan of his former band Spacemonkey (who has an excellent MySpace site here!).
Still encumbered with luggage, Steve and I walked to his nearby van to drop it off before returning to the preshow party.
Other Numanoids came in to join us: Mark Friday, Georgia, Bob, Fiona, Sophie and many others. So many folks were stopping in for the preshow gathering that we were quickly filling up the main front room of the Black Horse. The owner walked up and asked if we would take our party to the larger back room. If we did that, any other Numanoids that walked in would never see us from the front window where we now sat. We asked kindly if we could hold our ground here in the front as the owner relented and left us to our own devices.
The rest of the afternoon was spent laughing it up like we were all old friends. I wanted to be sober for the show, so the group kept me topped off with soda pop as others took pictures of our Numanoid gathering. There was a great vibe to it all and I became even more wishful that I'd made it to the other NAGNFC parties on time. I vowed to make them a priority in the future. Rik said the preshow was just as much fun as the concerts!
When it seemed like Numanoids had just about stopped streaming in to party with us, I asked everyone to write their names on a sheet of paper for the raffle. I put all the names in a beer glass to shake and shuffle. Surely a child would be a trustworthy and neutral candidate to pick a winning name from the glass. I chose Steve's daughter to pull the name. Everyone seemed to hold their breath as Alice closed her eyes and extended her arm to pick a name. After all, the winner would be given access to a secret portal of the NAGNFC website to choose their choice of three Numan-related prizes from a large list.
With eyes shut tight, Alice reached high above her to pick the name of the envied winner. The Black Horse was flatline quiet as she unfolded it and read it aloud. The girl's voice sounded into the stillness, "The winner is Alice!" She'd pulled her own name to groans and applause, and I wished I had more to give away.
Someone had pointed the way to the box office around the corner, so I excused myself from the party to investigate. The office was closed but I knocked on the door which opened. I told them I'd come a long way and would like to pick up my ticket. He told me that after 5 pm, tickets can be picked up when the doors open.
The queue didn't seem to be long yet so I stopped back into the Black Horse to mingle and take more pictures. I told everyone I really wanted to come back soon to check out all the cool looking funky shops in town, maybe even before I fly back home.
Darkness began to fall and a queue was beginning to form in front of the Dome so some of us left the party to get in the queue. I garnered a great spot about 10th back with Martin and Jo from Australia, Sophie and others. Jo asked if I knew where she could get another ticket for her son. By then the show was sold out but I promised I'd ask around for an extra ticket. It wouldn't be the first time I would come through for a fellow Numanoid!
Jo came back later appealing to the crowd in front if anyone had an extra ticket. I helped her out and shouted to everyone that she had come further than me to be here tonight! Luckily she was able to get her son inside to enjoy the concert with us. Many from the preshow party came to join us and even more pictures were taken of the reverie.
The queue was becoming impressively long by now. It went down the street as far as I could see before snaking around a corner. I wondered how long it actually was! That is when some of began to notice that on the other side of the building's scaffolding, there was another almost equally long queue at another door! This was going to be some show, I thought!
Finally the doors opened in front of us and a man came out to announce that those who still had to pick up their tickets had to go stand in the other queue! Geesh! There was no sign saying as such and I had such a great spot in front. Many others also resigned themselves to this weird unannounced policy to go stand in the other queue at the back. Luckily things progressed quickly and miraculously I found a superb spot inside front and center in the second row. But after picking up my ticket at the desk, I became lost through weird corridors that opened up into small barrooms. Finally I found the entranceway to the stage itself. The Brighton Dome is as enormous as it is grand. I don't believe I'd ever seen Gary Numan in a more upscale place than this.
The Brighton Dome is part of an Art Deco complex once the stables and exercise yard of King George IV. This large complex houses three theatre venues within the Royal Pavilion estate. Rik, Julie and Sophie joined me to stand by the stage and we wondered why those way up in the layers balconies chose to sit way up there away from all the action, especially as those seats were more expensive.
Rik and I were becoming more excited as we waited for the show and he showed those near us the picture of his phone of Gary Numan at a Toys 'R' Us in Brighton. This was the closest venue to Gary's own house and he is often spotted shopping in the local stores!
Before long, a local band named South Central came out to entertain the crowd. To my chagrin, this was the only time on the tour they would open for Gary. Sad to say, but the vast majority of the audience I spoke to said they didn't enjoy them. I thought they were absolutely incredible. They ran voice effects through electronic filters atop melody and a digital beat. I can best describe them as Devo on acid. South Central is getting better reviews these days from Numanoids thanks to their recent collaboration with Numan on the single Crawl.
As soon as Gary took the stage, he appeared noticeably impressed with the venue. He kept looking up and smiling at the enormity of the place and the enthusiasm for the performance tonight. During the performance, some of us noticed Gemma, and all three of their daughters to the side of the stage. By the time Are 'Friends' Electric? was played, they were all at the front next to the stage. Gary's daughter Raven was doing the arm motions with the rest of us on the choruses which made many of us smile. By the middle of the song, Gary and his family seemed as if they were in their own world. He leaned down to the girls as the song went on and did the arm motions with his family.
Emotions ran high for the next song A Prayer For The Unborn. Gary sang the song, a tribute to his unborn child. As he watched his own children below, it all became too much for him and he began to tear up. This made some in the crowd wipe their own tears and at the end, Gary grabbed his children and held them close to himself to close the show.
Me! I Disconnect From You (Brighton 3/12/08)
A Prayer For The Unborn (Brighton 3/12/08)
The bright house lights came on and everyone looked at each other stunned and elated at the weight of what just happened. Some said it was the most powerful performance at any concert they'd ever seen. Gary later apologized on NuWorld calling his near breakdown unprofessional, but those who thought Gary just mailed in his shows just for a paycheck weren't there at the Brighton Dome that evening. Gary performs with a rare devotion and heart foreign to today's corporate pattern of sameness.
Before I could leave the Dome, a girl latched onto me insisting that I join her around the side so she could show me the grounds of this historic estate. She said it would be a shame to see a show here without seeing the beauty of the entire complex. I never met her before but thought she must have recognized me from the NAGNFC.
We walked outside and she showed me around. I took some shots and thanked her for the impromptu tour. Back in the crowd, a friendly chap came up to say how much he enjoyed the website. He asked me how married life was. After telling him that it really didn't work out after all, he apologized saying "I'll remove my foot from my mouth now!" But I said it was no problem. Many folks on the tour had asked me how the marriage was going. For the record, Jen and I never got married, ending the courtship in February 2007.
He wanted to let me know about a very cool site of his called NuReference. He asked me to let the NAGNFC readers in on all there is to see there. It is indeed very impressive, to say the least!
I caught up with Steve "Smiley", Helene and Alice who very kindly invited me to stay with them in nearby Hastings. Indeed it was mentioned at the preshow party that people on both sides of the Atlantic should arrange a Numanoid exchange, sort of a network of fans willing to put up other fans who've come overseas to see Our Friend Electric!
The aftershow party at the Black Horse was truly jammed with Numanoids still coming off the high of seeing tonight's great show. I spent some time there before joining Steve and his family around the back of the Dome to wait with the rest of the Numanoids for a shot at speaking with Gary.
When I first started going to concerts, everyone talked about how much they hoped their pictures would come out. But tonight, fans showed off their snapshots on high-tech widescreen cameras, sharing the best ones with each other using Bluetooth.
I saw The Mysterious Ashley X again as well as Gordon, the man who gave away thousands of flyers in the queue of every Replicas show so far. He took some truly amazing pictures. The evening was getting later and Steve's crew were eager to start the journey home to Hastings along the southern coast of England.
I was looking forward to seeing Hastings myself. It is the place where Scritti Politti filmed the outdoor scenes of the video The Word Girl. It was also great seeing Helene again. I hadn't seen her since the Shepherd's Bush show in 2004. And this was the first time I met Alice.
We walked toward the van past Gary's tour bus (whose driver was sleeping) and Steve quickly changed into more comfortable foot attire than the high platform spacey boots many Numanoids wear. As Steve navigated us out of Brighton, I told them I definitely had to come back here again soon to check out the nightlife and the many shops I only could walk past earlier in the day.
I introduced myself to Alice. The only common interest I knew of with the children of the UK was Spongebob Squarepants, which came in handy. I didn't know so much about Hannah Montana though. An interesting fact I found was that UK cable subscribers get the exact same Disney Channel we get in the US. We get different news channels, and different comedy networks, but Disney is universal.
The road to Hastings was dark but uncluttered by traffic. Two lane roads spilled into freeways and back again into masses of roundabouts. I couldn't tell much from the darkness, but the first impressions of Hastings was that it was a pretty little town, if not much known for its famous 1066 battle. Steve promised to show me around the next morning before I stole away for the Oxford show.
Steve and family lives on a pretty and narrow lane of houses. So narrow, folks have to drive onto the sidewalk to park. Once on their street we spotted a small fox run into the quiet street ahead of us. We walked inside and I was shown to my bed.
Helene offered food and refreshment but I didn't want to be a bother so declined the hospitality. The girls went to bed early but Steve and I stayed up and we sat by his computer. He is always up on the latest Numan covers and torrent apps and I was well taken care of. He burned about 5 gigs worth of goodies to listen to on my train trips.
I walk around thinking I know all there is to know about the latest Numan covers, but Steve had hundreds of projects on his computer I'd never heard of. At least I could show him the new 10" vinyl of the new Are Friends Electric cover that had just been released that month. Steve said he'd heard of it but had not yet listened to it.
He warned me to begin cringing when he started to play an album of rap songs intertwined with Numan's vocals and music. He was surprised when I said I thought it was brilliant. The way it incorporated Numan's ideas and energy into this entirely different genre was incredible, and it was very cool driving music too!
To protect the guilty, I won't name names (his initials are D.O.), but the subject got around to one individual that had joined Steve's Yahoo group Sacrifice and caused some trouble for people before they had no choice but to ban him. Turns out I met him in person at a US Jagged show. Steve and I had a good laugh that I knew who he was talking about before he'd even told me who it was. It could only be this guy!
Steve showed me the pleasures of using Soulseek to grab Numan covers when karma struck. D.O. was online in the US and grabbing downloads from Steve! Steve and I spoke lightheartedly with him for awhile but it was becoming late, and we had sightseeing to do the next day.
I once again thanked Steve profusely for his hospitality and fell asleep half a world away and among friends. The next day would see me in Oxford, another place I'd always wanted to visit. It will be the night we formed the Subway Army and I would sleep for the first time in this weird concept called a hostel.