Orchestral Manoeuvres
I must have been just 11 years old, maybe 10… I had been gifted money from my Grandma for Christmas, and there I was clutching a fiver, perusing the tapes and LPs in Debenhams department store in Chelmsford… I had a proper ghetto blaster at the time and access to Dad’s record player so I went for the tape option, a copy of Orchestral Manoueuvres in the Dark’s new album “Architecture & Morality“. It was the first album I ever bought, ever owned…
And that very same Compact Cassette may be here somewhere, I don’t know where, but I bought the CD version from a used record shop a few years back and now relive my childhood in the car, at my workstations… the opening strains of clicks and whirs and the mesmerising riff of “New Stone Age”, the heart-plucking tones of “She’s Leaving” and the unforgettable 1980s hits “Joan of Arc”, “Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)” and “Souvenir”…
…so nigh on 27 years later when my friend said “OMD are playing in Southampton” I leapt at the opportunity to see my childhood heroes.
We got a parking spot outside Southampton Guildhall, which was both fluky and trés cool, queued for a bit and got right near the front of the stage. Lovers Electric came on first, a cute boy/girl combo who played acoustic guitar and Casiotone (Yes, it had bossanova 
) and I thought Becky would have loved this.
The lights dimmed, the huge back display lit up, and the opening chimes of “Architecture & Morality” punctuated the deep choral samples… atmospheric images in black & white floated across the back of the stage… 4 minutes of audio/visual bliss… then into the epic “Sealand”, the screen awash with more artful video…
OMD then performed every track from the whole “Architecture & Morality” LP and followed on with all of their following 12 chart singles, including “Tessla Girls”, “Enola Gay”, “Electricity”, “Talking Loud & Clear” and my friend’s absolute favourite “Locomotion”
Now I was never a big fan past the first four albums (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Organisation, Architecture & Morality, Dazzle Ships) with the exception of Crush, but it was truly awesome to see & hear my childhood synth heroes and a bonus to meet them afterwards. Andy McClusky and Paul Humphries took the time to stop & chat and write signatures afterwards, they were absolute gentlemen 
Now if they’d only played “Stanlow” and my own old favourite “Telegraph” then it would have been near perfect, just needed my girlfriend with us that night
If your inability to control your sphincter muscles in the same office as me results in my sharing of your noxious odours, and air fresheners, the use of fans (even on cold days), plus various comments about needing fresh air etc. result in no preventative action on your half, then I will exercise my right to eat highly aromatic (aka stinky) curries in the same small workspace.