Rare is the artist to get me to double dip on a tour. Acts I’ve seen more than once on the same tour can almost be counted on the fingers of one hand. Off the top of my head, there’s Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, Icehouse, Crowded House, Duran Duran, The B-52’s, Midge Ure, and OMD. And most of those happened in my first decade of concert going; 1983-1993. In 1993, I told Bryan Ferry that I’d waited 20 years to see him perform. A span that felt immeasurable at the time, and yet this year marked the first time I’d ever seen longtime favorite Lene Lovich following an agonizingly long 46 year Lovich-free period! And I’ve seen her twice in a single week.

And this was a pair of concerts that involved buying airline tickets, so this was serious. When Lene Lovich announced her 2025 US tour, built on a sturdy backbone of a dozen dates as the [ideal] opening act on the B-52’s/DEVO co-headlining “Cosmic De-Evolution Tour,” I was thrilled to see the big event hitting Charlotte, North Carolina. Merely two hours from where I live, s attending that was a must with my friends, with The RAHB! ultimately joining me there.

But I was even more thrilled to see that she was adding many more dates around those dozen to cover a lot more territory. Including dates in Central Florida. Where I’d flown to visit twice already this year; once for an art show and also for my good friend Mr. Ware’s big event birthday. The cost of flying into Central Florida is only a fraction larger than the cost of gasoline to drive the eight hours each way. So the date in Mount Dora and St. Petersburg were also calling out to me.

After hearing that her St. Pete date [Ferg’s] was actually in Florida’s biggest sports bar it’s on the grounds of Tampa Stadium], I demurred on the notion of attending that show as well. Besides, I’d need to rent a car to drive the 120 miles from Orlando to St. Pete. I couldn’t see making such an effort for such a setting. So I bought my ticket for the Mount Dora show and co-ordinated a visit with the ever-sturdy Mr. Ware and family. Mr. Ware, a virtual Lene Lovich newbie, would be getting a ticket as well.

When they first wen on sale, there was a VIP ticket on the venue ticket site and I felt that I had to get this, but by the time I looked a few weeks later to actually buy the tickets, this was no longer there. So I opted for dead center, row D, which was actually the third row for some unexplained reason. Not only would I be seeing the show with Mr. Ware, but my friend Sandra would also be attending.

I’d already just seen Pulp and Sparks with her in Atlanta the month prior, so I was flashing back to the 90s and seeing lots of shows with Sandra this fall for the first time in the nearly quarter century since we left Orlando. And better yet, Sandra told me that Lene Lovich herself eighty sixed the notion of VIP that the promoter had mooted. Preferring to meet her fans the old fashioned way…without payment. I understand the need for VIP to goose the bottom line of expensive tours, and have done it twice before, but this was way better. And by the time I was with Mr. Ware, he told me that Sandra, who was taking a train back from her 30th anniversary celebration in Ft. Lauderdale the day of the concert, would be riding with us to the show. It sounded like a good plan.

As it turned out, I was extremely happy that the show had not been cancelled since a freak flooding event had hit Mount Dora hard with over 19″ of rain the three nights before the show. Roads in the area were closed and sinkholes were plentiful. The city was under a boil water alert, so our plan of eating in Mount Dora before the show was spiked. In light of the dampening effect of the flooding on the late ticket sales in the face of the uncancelled show, the promoter had emailed me saying that I could have another ticket, so it was a foursome, including Ms. Ware, who hit the road the night of the 29th to see Lene Lovich Band in their inaugural Central Florida appearance.

When we arrived at the municipal concert hall downtown, parking was simpler than we could have imagined. As we walked to the entrance, Sandra pointed out that our rocking friends Suzy and Roger were there for the show and we were happy to see them for the first time in ages. Suzy had drummed in the 90s in many bands we always caught live in the clubs we frequented: Psycho From Texas, The Vodkats, Nutrajet. Roger played bass in November Charlie. They were a couple during our last few years in Orlando and they’re still together.

I was astounded to see Roger rocking a Midge Ure t-shirt! He had seen the show last year at the same venue in Mount Dora! I knew him to be a Punk Rock fan from his playing in November Charlie, and I had known The Stranglers were a huge band for him too, but this Ultravox fandom was a new wrinkle for me. Shows what I missed by leaving Orlando just at the time I had barely met the gent. So we chatted with Suzy and Roger; spilling the beans about my huge Ultravox fandom, and the weird experience of first seeing Midge in a tiny dive bar in Atlanta in 2016 playing four feet in front of me.

I was amazed to find that Roger was strictly a Midge Ure era Ultravox fan, but I sort of get it. “Vienna” was the first time I’d heard them as well, and the impression it made then was immense. Memo to self; I need to have some music talk Suzy and Roger sometime soon since we’re all carrying phones now. I then entered the venue to find that while I was talking with them, The Wares and Sandra had entered. I had the tickets on my phone but apparently, they had given my name to the usher who checked us off of a paper list and we were good to go, 1980’s style!

I made a bee-line for the merch table and found that my suspicion had been entirely correct! The T-shirts were only $35 at this gig instead of the $45 charged in Charlotte. I had been entirely correct to vote with my cash for DEVO the week prior and wait on the Lene Lovich shirts, which were actually my top priority! I mentioned my reticence to buy in Charlotte to the merch table lady [the drummer’s spouse, I later found out] and she confirmed that in Live Nation venues, they tell you how much you will sell the merch for! Since I was saving nearly 20% I ended up buying twice as much booty! I got the Lene Lovich 2025 black shirt with the tour dates on the back, and the white “I Think We’re Alone Now” cover photo with red lettering that was my top pick in Charlotte. For good measure I also bought each of the four pinback badge designs!

Then the next thing I knew was that Nadeem Khan and his whole family were there for the show as well! I’d not seen the four of them since Nadeem’s band The Delusionaires, had played a private club in Asheville at least a decade back! The Delusionaires were Orlando’s 200 Proof strip club band; oblivious to the reality that any stripper in the last 50 years had used canned music to fuel their routines. We busted our heads trying in vain to recall the name of the club they had played [note: it was The Lazy Diamond] before moving on to more productive topics. Eventually, we all drifted to our seats and prepared for the reason why we were here, but I appreciated seeing so many friends and acquaintances had also heard the siren call of Lene Lovich and had responded in the only way that made sense.

Next: …Lene Trills + Thrills