Totally true story.

Two weeks ago, I started thinking about how I really wanted to get a story on Human League, but I couldn't find a press contact for the band. So I went to League Online and just sent a message through there, giving all the information for The Rockit and requesting an interview while the band was in town. I received a response almost immediately from someone with the initials "db." We starting writing back and forth, attempting to arrange things, and then a week passed with no set times.

This morning, at work, I received a message "David from Human League (?!) called" along with a cell phone number. Turns out that the band decided not to do interviews with this tour, but he wanted to know if I could make it to the show. How could I refuse? Carlos and I previously saw the band at House of Blues a few years back and were awestruck.

Outside the club, I was told that my name wasn't on the list, so I promptly called David, who said he would send someone to get us. This woman, whose job title is "backstage coordinator" whisked us into the Galaxy Theatre. The only time I was ever whisked anywhere was out of the club and that was because a certain roommate of mine was caught sneaking Jack shots when we were still 19. Backstage Coordinator lead us up and down flights of stairs and around corners at a dizzying speed. I narrowly avoided a confrontation with a wall. After the second or third flight of stairs, she opened the door. We walked in and everyone looked at us. By everyone, I mean a gang of at least six that included the ones most easily recognizable as Joanne Catherall and Susanne Sulley. Plus, oh shit, is that Phil Oakey?

David jumps up to greet us. Turns out he's the programmer for the band, the one you see onstage fiddling with a Mac, and also recorded Secrets. He took us down to another dressing room, told us to have a seat and we started chatting about stuff like ABC and Psychedelic Furs (who HL is set to play with at the Bowl tomorrow), Dead or Alive's recording studio, Secrets and other good stuff. After about ten minutes, the ladies came in to change into costume and we took our leave.

This doesn't normally happen at shows. Generally, even if you are press, you stand at the door until they find your name on the list (in my case, until I can convince them that I'm listed as Liz even though my license says Elizabeth), then you go into the club and you stand around and spend most of your time trying to find a spot with a hard surface and a pinch of light so that you can take your notes. Once in a while, you might meet the publicist or the tour manager. If you meet the band (and you aren't scheduled for an interview) it's most likely because you happened to pass the merch booth when they were rummaging through t-shirts. This was something special, something that neither Carlos or I is bound to forget, even though we totally kept our cool. (I discreetly sent B. Monsoon a text message after we left backstage and waited until we drove home to leave a long message on Melissa's cell phone.)

Here's the setlist for the show:

"Sound of the Crowd"
"Things That Dreams Are Made Of"
"Open Your Heart"
"Heart Like a Wheel"
"Mirror Man"
"All I Ever Wanted"
Song Liz Can't Remember
"Seconds"
"The Lebanon"
"One Man in my Heart"
"Human"
"Love Action"
Another Song Liz Can't Remember
"Fascination"
"Don't You Want Me"

Encore:
"Being Boiled"
(For the record, I called this one. I kept telling Carlos, "Watch, they will open the encore with 'Being Boiled'")
"Together in Electric Dreams"