My Review of the 1997 OMD Convention
Time moved on and many ideas on how to make this the best event yet were put forward. Kevin Pretlove and Ian Hater came over to my place to prepare the slides for a collectors slide show, and at the same time we knocked up a "Compiled" web site for them. Paul came up to Manchester on numerous occasions to help prepare for the Convention, and soon the schedule was ready. The run up to the Convention was a hive of activity and it got very mad at one stage , but with plenty of sweat and stress everything was now in place. A call was made to Andy, and he agreed to meet up with the fans as a suprise.
A couple of days before the 27th Pat flew over from the USA, and other fans from around the world started to arrive in the UK, things were starting to hot up. Even the night before the Convention Paul Browne was up late getting his slide show ready, and we also had a run down of a quiz that we had done. So the 27th duly arrived, and my flat was full with our nucleus of helpers, Ged had got a van that we loaded up with all the gear, and so we all set of in convoy. As for once it was not raining, I decided to have the roof down on my car, its was lovely and warm in the front, but poor Pat, who was sat in the back was freezing his bollocks of, but I am sure that the fresh air did hime some good.
Upon arriving at the hotel, the van was unpacked, and a check in desk was sorted out, one by one the fans arrived. We had booked most people to stay at the Adelphi Hotel in the heart of Liverpool, and had got a bus organised to ferry every to and from the hotel, but there was a major scream up, as the hotel rooms were not ready when they should have been, most fans took this in there stride, but some others gave me a serious ear bashing, even though this cock up had NOTHING to do with me !!!!!
Kevin and Ian did there slide show, which went down great with everyone, thanks to both of you. The Live video from the Liberator tour in South Africa was shown, and even though we only had a small TV everyone enjoyed watching what is perhaps one of the rarest OMD videos around. It was now time for the mystery event, and I drove over to The Pink, to get ready for everyone to arrive, Jane my girlfriend came with me, and she was a bit bemused by it all as she was not a fan, Andy was in good spirit, and waited in the studio out of site. I missed the walk to the Pink, but heard some funny stories, no one knew what was going to happen or where their were going, and to some extent some fans were pissed of and thought that they had gone for a walk, when the bar was open. Upon arriving out side, some fans reconised the Pink, and got excited..... I opened up the door, and got every one in to place, some up on the balcony and some downstairs, then a signal to Andy was given, and the man came out of the studio, to a very warm and loud welcome. Everyone could not believe there eyes, as he got himself comfortable, and said hello. Many questions got asked, and some interesting answers were given back, this lasted for over a hour, and then it was time for photos and autographs. Paul and my self were panicking at this stage as time was very tight for the day, and we had to get everyone back to the Solna, after some subtle hints, like please leave, we managed to get everyone out of the Pink, we had a brief chat with Andy, he had enjoyed the session and was cool about it all.
Back to the hotel, and time was running out for the Quiz and History slide show that we had prepared, we decided to drop these two events, which was a great shame because of the hours upon hours of hard work that Paul had put in to them.The merchandising stalls opened and at one stage it was 3 deep with fans trying to look at what was for sale. The buffet was served, and the bar was doing brisk business. Our own tribute band got them selves ready, and it was soon time to introduce them, I think that at this stage everyone thought that they were going to be shit, as not many made any attempt to watch, but as the lights went down, and the music cranked up, they were in for a big suprise, soon there was a mad scramble to see the band, and Chi and Chris did a incredible job, they soon had fan dancing, and I think that they even amazed them selves. Well done Chi, and well done Chris, all the time that you practiced mad it a very memorable night.
On to the sing like Andy session, and what can I say.... mnnnnn you had to see and hear it to believe it !!!!!! After this it was a raffle time, with loads of prizes including several Louise Brook prints that Andy had donated from his house. After the raffle it was dance time
Now was the time to dance to all the Old and new OMD songs, it was amazing to see the dance floor so full, and hear everyone singing along. Some fans wanted to see Stanlow at night and they set of in a minibus, I did not go, and sadly by what I heard the view from the route that was taken was not so good. Back on the dance floor and it was 1.30am and time for some slow songs, I was dancing to the last record of the night, and really enjoying myself, when I got a tap on my shoulder from the night manager from the hotel, "there was a problem up stairs" he told me, this really fucked me of, and I had to go see what was wrong, it turned out that a handful of fans wanted to go back to Liverpool, and did not know what to do..... me being the brains of the world, pointed to a telephone, and said, "hey why dont you phone a taxi" durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I then had a comment about how much would it cost, and I said around 50 pence each (which is fuck all) and blow me, one of the fans said, "are you going to pay mine" fucker.... I thought . Needless to say I did not pay !!
The bar was still open and more drinks got sunk, and it was time to reflect. the following morning there was a Liverpool trip to see the OMD landmarks,I missed this as there was a lot to finish of at the hotel, but again those that went had a brilliant time. Mid afternoon and it was home time.
So.... its now all over, but what a weekend, for me personally, to see everyone's faces when they met Andy, to hear everyone singing and dancing and enjoying them selves, made the whole event worth while, everyone who came was a star in there own right, well done to every single one of you.
Most important, thanks to Jane, for being there, Paul Browne, with out which non of this would have happened, thanks to Chi and Chris, for all there hard work, cheers to Ged, for all his help, to Kevin and Ian, for the slide show, to Jan and Mike for coming. Thank you to Pat Fetty, who will now always be gagging for it. And to anyone else who I have forgotten thank you so much.
A big question now is, will there be another, I had said that the 1997 Convention was going to be my last one, but I am waiting until Christmas and Paul and myself, will get together to discuss it, there has got to be demand by the fans for such a event, and if the demand is there who knows... One important thing is that, we never ever will say if band members will or will not show up, if fans only want to hero worship, and not come to have a good time, I am sorry but I do not want them there, we dont need pop stars to have a good time.
If you want to get in touch mail me at na.taylor@ukonline.co.uk
Have a look at Pats World of OMD for his photo pages and other reviews.