It always seems to happen, no matter what I say......

I think we can safely say that this has been the year in which I was destined not to see much of New Order. Denied the chance to catch the American dates by problems at work that needed to be sorted out, I was disappointed but not downcast, as I still had several opportunities ahead of me. Then I found that Barcelona and Lisbon clashed with a wedding that I was simply unable to miss. Two more out of the question. Then I found that the German dates coincided with my two weeks holiday in Greece. Two more bit the dust. Bit of a pattern emerging here. Managed to do Hyde Park (praise the Lord!) but was unable to get a ticket for Glastonbury or T in the Park. Off to Belgium then, for Rock Werchter. Sod’s law dictates that I get the idiot station assistant who can’t tell the difference between Leuven and Louvain-la-neuve, and I end up 50 miles from the venue at the time the Order are coming on stage. Worse still, Little Boy Lost had the tickets, so he was unable to proceed to the gig without me! We got there at the start of BLT, and proceeded to get to the admission gates by the start of LWTUA. We were still there by the end of the set, though we did get to see Blue Monday from 300 yards away, through a gap in the fence. Disaster. I’d already had to cancel my trip to Turin for the Traffic Festival, as it clashed with a Digital rehearsal ahead of our Kilburn gig. Not a lot I could do about that.

Fear not though, Oxegen ticket sat happily on desk, flight booked. Everything sorted. Then some bastards decided to blow up London, and the impact that had on my work meant that I had to give up my Monday’s holiday in which I had scheduled a nice leisurely flight back. Unable to change the flight, I was thinking in terms of just paying for a different flight back early on the Monday morning. Then my father was taken to hospital Friday night, and I was advised that I needed to be within easy reach of the hospital. No Oxegen for me.

Not even trying to do Sweden or Japan, but do have a ticket for the French show. Fingers crossed that I manage to get across the channel ok, manage to get to the venue and actually get to see some of the set!