#unitytour

Yesterday started off, and remained for the most part, depressing. I was so excited to see the Pet Shop Boys live, it felt almost surreal that the day had arrived. However, the venue, which I have never been to before, was a mostly covered amphitheater on the Boston Harbor. It was actually a nice venue and made it easier to go in some ways with the pandemic not quite gone from my memories. That being said, the weather report at the start of the morning basically said to expect thunderstorms coming through the area at the time of the concert…which for a partially exposed arena meant a good chance of cancellation.

Throughout the day, I was checking the weather forecast to see how to best manage my expectations/disappointment for the evening. The %s of thunderstorms fluctuated slightly across the day but not enough to make me fully hopeful or sullen…I was in a delightfully, complicated middle zone…like those highlighted so well in PSB music.

I guess I was feeling more optimistic as the evening commenced. I received no emails of cancellation and while certainly misty (or moisten for those who can tolerate that word), the opening set by Paul Oakenfold and New Order went on without any weather-related disruption. However, when Paul Oakenfold came on again, his set stopped a few times for what I expect was weather related reasons…see said red signage. At that point, it was truly a downpour.

When the overhead announcer notified everyone to stay under canopy and then…with what was likely an unintentional dramatic pause… that the show would continue on, it was a truly collective sigh of relief and excitement.

It was not truly over though…we were still 10 min to the start of the PSB set and low and behold now some lightning could be seen in the distance. Thankfully, those storm clouds appeared to be some distance away.

While the rain would continue to pour down for a bit, that did not seem to matter as Neil and Chris made their way into the stage. As (maybe) nature intended, they played their set to their and everyone else’s hearts content.