Freak Magnet Dave

Thanks to Kenneth, I was alerted to something that I can only describe as unbefuckinglievable. Those techno dance gods known as Yazoo (or Yaz to those on this side of the pond) are reuniting for a concert tour. Yes, that's right. I'm still blown away by the thought. That sensual yet kick-ass vocalist, Alison Moyet has teamed up again with techno-wizard Vince Clarke, formerly of Depeche Mode and currently of Erasure, after more than 25 years for a string of tour dates throughout the UK, Europe and the United States. A four disc box set retrospective called "In Your Room" is being released in May and it contains remastered versions of "Upstairs at Eric's" and "You and Me Both", plus a boatload of remixes, and videos. I'm dying. I want it now.


The U.S. tour takes them to Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. It doesn't look like Toronto or anywhere close is going to happen. When I told The Squeeze about the concert he said, "Let's go to Chicago".

Huh? What? He's normally the Voice of Reason. I come up with crazy ideas, and he talks me down off the ledge. I'm Lucy, he's Ricky. After checking the calendar for a full moon and the back yard for large pods, I realized that he was being serious. The Business Partner also thought it was a good idea.


"But it's an 8 hour drive," I said.

"So," they said.


I proceeded to do some investigating into getting tickets. It appeared that tickets don't go on sale until Friday at noon. Yet, somehow I found that a number of people on a couple of sites I found already had tickets. The American Express "Front of the Line" tickets didn't even get released yet. I discovered there was an advance presale for fans. What!? Aren't we all fans? After much searching and gnashing of teeth, and signing up for fan clubs, I found the Holy Grail. A password allowing me to buy tickets before they went on sale to the general public. I went to Ticketmaster, typed in the quantity of tickets I wanted, typed in the secret code, and there I was! Row D, smack dab in the middle.


I had about two minutes to confirm my purchase. I was asked to log in using my e-mail address and password. I entered the e-mail address and put in a password that The Squeeze and I often use and it came back stating that the password was incorrect. They then asked if I wanted a new password sent to the e-mail address. Tick, tick, tick, tick....

Yes, send me a new password! I received it quickly, and it asked that I change that temporary password to a new one. Tick, tick, tick, tick....aaaaannnnnd, we're out of time. The tickets have been released.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!"

So I logged in again, asked Ticketbastard to find the 4 best available seats and lo and behold, the exact same seats came up. I guess that can happen if they aren't up for grabs to the public yet. I entered the e-mail, the new password, and found myself at a new window asking for all my info to purchase the tickets. Only this time I was granted five minutes to enter all the info. Name, address, phone, yadda, yadda, yadda, how to ship, payment information. Visa. Card number. No problem, it's burned into my brain from use. Expiry date. Oh crap. Where's my wallet? Oh come on...where is it? Tick, tick, tick, tick....

I ran downstairs and checked the table where I normally place it when I come home. Not there. I checked the kitchen table, nope. Counter, nope. Coat pocket? Woohoo! Jackpot. I ran back upstairs and entered in the date in just enough time. It's official. I have my tickets. Or at least a confirmation of tickets purchased.

Now I need to do some research of where to stay and what to do in Chicago. It's gonna be a busy day or two.