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Cesar Quintero:
Hello family!:
I feel my duty to write a review of our weekend in Germany, although I
still haven't processed in my mind everything that happened, so please
forgive me if I'm missing something, but... WOW!!!!. That was AMAZING!!!!!
I'll start at the beginning. First of all, I'd like to thank Astrid not
only for everything she's done, but also for everything SHE IS. I believe
all of you know what part did she took in us all having the great time we
had with CdeB. She's done so much work and has so much energy that she
irradiates it around. I couldn't believe the loooong weekend we had, I was
completely exausted (and I'm not carrying a baby inside me!), and she'd
still going on, being the perfect host to Kitty and I. So thank you once
more, Astrid!!!!..
Apart from that, she picked Kitty and I from the airport at Cologne and
took us home, to get some rest that night (met Thomas and cutest Robin) and
we went by car to Dortmund under a hellish rain. Good thing we had a good
breakfast, because we didn't get anything else to eat until past the
soundcheck... we had no time left for small things like eating! :). We got
to the hotel and we started meeting listmembers from everywhere...
At last we got to the Westfallenhallen where we all meet and... wow, we
were quite a big bunch!... I'd like to have spent more time with all of you,
but at least we got to meet, and, hey, you're all lovely! :).
The real motivation to travel to Germany wasn't really to watch Chris de
Burgh, that was just the excuse... The real reason was to meet all of you,
and boy, that was so GREAT. (not that CdeB wasn't, that deserves a very
special chapter later). But at last I met some good friends for the first
time, and I can't think of a better reason to travel a few thousand kms...
Everything went very fast... We entered the hall and Brian and I started
playing with our guitars (it was worth the whole trip with them), Morten
joined us and then everybody surrounded us in this pre-concert... We even
got some money thrown into our guitar cases!!!. But just when we were
getting our hands in some money, Astrid told us we should do some rehersals
of the Read our Names song.... Boo, now then thing was getting to the good
part (the money part... ;)
So everybody sat down in some rows of the hall and Brian started
playing, while I was trying to make everybody sing the same song.... (which
wasn't at all easy... ;). We even took some polls just then to decide how
would sound better... At the end, we decided we didn't have time enough to
sing with solo singers (sorry, Claudia, Julia, and the rest) and it would be
easier if we just sing all along. And I believe it did sound quite good at
the end!... By the sixth time we were going over and over the same verse,
Brian told us that the french word for rehersal was "repetition" (say it
loud with french accent)... I think we all know it by now... :)
So we got to the sound check. We were hoping that the person who would
sing with Chris on stage would be announced by then, so he or she could do
the soundcheck too, but we were told that Chris himself would pick the name
of the lucky winner out of a box during the concert, a few songs before
he/she had to sing... Oh, well... I wasn't actually nervous, I'm not sure if
it was because I thought I wasn't going to be the chosen one, or it was
because I knew everything was flowing so great, I'd also fullfill my
longtime dream...
I've already read some great reviews about the soundcheck and the
concert, so I won't say more about that, except that all the reviews are
right, it was the BEST concert I've ever been in, and it would also have
been so even without this next part I'm going to share now with you...
Then Chris picks up an ice bucket and says that he'll pick up one name
from the inside to invite him/her to sing with him on stage. I picked up my
videocamera and started recording... So he picks a pice of paper and he
READS MY NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I almost dropped the camera while I
started jumping and running to the backstage, where I waited for some 10
minutes before they told me to go on stage.
I'd like to share with you what went on in my mind at that time... I'm
not sure, but I think most of you know I once tried to make it big into the
show business. I was (am) a songwriter, singer, producer and sound engineer,
and I prepared myself for some time for that musical career I wanted to
follow... But destiny had some other things prepared for me, and at one
point on my life I realized that wasn't to be my way (at least the artistic
way, we'll see in the future about the producing...). But I still had a
dream... We all have dreams, but I had a very clear picture of it... Me on
stage, singing for thousands of people who are enjoying, dancing and singing
with me... That is-was-is my dream... The other one, of course, was to sing
with Chris de Burgh...
So, there I was, at the backstage, very excited and with my mouth
completely dry, waiting for this dream to happen in five minutes!... I
hadn't practiced the song before (of course I knew I would sing Patricia the
Stripper), but I had it recorded in last year's Tribute CD and it took me
quite some work, so I was pretty sure that I'd at least remember the
lyrics... ;). So I tried to relax, breathe, breathe again, breathe once
more..., and said to myself...: "This is the moment, my chance... My only
chance, so I'm going to enjoy this...". Another thought slipped my mind...
"what if I sing out of tune, or I forget the lyrics?". I quickly erased that
thought from my mind and convinced myself "this is the one, I'm going to
enjoy this opportunity"...
So they call me on stage, with Chris speaking about dreams, and this
dream I had (I don't know how he knew, I guess it wasn't that hard to figure
out)... and he introduces me, so I walked to the stage, shake his hand, and
he asks me what song do I want to sing... I say Patricia, and he smiles, and
says... ooook, in what key do you want to sing it?. In G?. I responded that
any key would be fine and he says..., no, I think in D will be better for
you... ok?.... So I started... "Dennis is a menace with his... anyone for
tennis?..."
No one did notice, but I sang "to a little place I found, here in
Madrid...". I guess I had my version of the song very deep in me... :)
And at one moment while I was singing, the lights went up and I saw all
the Westfallenhallen in their feet, dancing and clapping... And I thought...
"this is it..." :) .I was feeling very good wile singing, relaxed and
enjoying it to the fullest, so I did the best performance I could, and I'm
so glad you enjoyed it.
At the end, I hugged Chris and said... Thank you... and left the stage
feeling completely at peace with myself and my hopes and dreams...
What was overwhelming was when I got down the stage and during the rest
of the night... All kinds of people (from the list and other ones) came to
me and say "congratulations, you did a brilliant job"... I wasn't ready for
that... I want to thank all of you who did came to me, for I believe that
was the best part of it, knowing that I did it right and you liked it!!!
I'm feeling quite exausted right now, like after reliving all the
emotions I felt this weekend I had to rest a while... whew...
After the concert, at the parkhotel (very well arranged again, Astrid!),
and after replenishing our strenghts (Morten and I were asking for drinks in
bunches of three bottles a time) came the moment of the after-party...
Brian, Morten and I went on singing all we could remember (reminded me of
CdeB's perfect day... "we sang all the Beatles songs we knew..."), and we
recorded for the last time "read our names", which, by the way, got recorded
pretty well and will be on the Tribute CD. ). I had a great time and even
got another underwear thrown at me during the mandatory "Patricia"... :)
We left the party (after 15 minutes of hugs from everybody, I couldn't
take two steps without someone hugging me and telling me it's been great to
know each other at last)... People, I really love you!
Next morning, while at breakfast, Morten went on making Astrid, Kitty
and I laugh so hard that the girls were crying!!!!. We should make a DVD out
of him just speaking in front of the camera and sell it around... We could
make a fortune!!!...
It was so hard to say goodbye to our newfound long-time friends, but
schedules were tight and Astrid took us sightseeing a bit of Cologne, and we
even had lunch with some very typical meals from the place!... She was so
great as a hostess (taxi driver, management, tour guide... etc) we left
Germany with her in our hearts...
And that's about it!... I'm sure I've left out some things (and some
people) in the midst of this review, but I'll just say this:... "Friends,
it's been so great knowing all of you, thanks for all. We love you".
Love
Cesar
Annelies van den Berg:
Wow, what a day it's been, what a show, what a party! I feel very
privileged to have been part of all this. It makes me feel so rich and
blessed. I need some time to let things sink in before I will be able
to express my feelings about the past few days, because I am ever so
impressed by what happened, I am a bit overwhelmed right now. So
probably I'll write some kind of review in a later stage. All I can
say right now is that it was great to meet so many wonderful people,
and in partcular I must say a big Thank You to Jaap and Corry Kuiper
who had offered me a seat in their car and who have been 'my mom and
dad' during the weekend, they have taken care of me so very well!
Thank you so much friends, you really have no idea what this all means
to me! (((-: And you know what? The roof was completely being blown
off the Westfalenhalle last night, especially after Cesar's brilliant
performance of 'Patricia the Stripper', where he was kindly
accompanied on the guitar by some guy called Chris de Burgh .... For
those interested, here's the running order of the songs Chris played
last night:
- When Winter Comes
- The Road to Freedom
- The Getaway
- Sight & touch
- The Same Sun
- Last Night
- Moonlight & Wodka
- Once Upon a Time
- Five Past Dreams
- Here For You
- Natasha Dance
- Lebanese Night
- Rainy Night in Paris
- Songbird
- St. Peter's Gate
- Patricia the Stripper (vocals: Cesar Quintero;
guitar & final chorus: Chris de Burgh)
- 'Britney-dream' Medley:
- Living on the Island
- A Night on the River
- Save Me
- What You Mean to Me
- Crying & Laughing
- Tender Hands
- Missing You
- Discovery
- Snow is Falling
- Borderline
- Say Goodbye to it All
- Up Here in Heaven
- Carry Me (like a fire in your heart)
- A Spaceman Camen Travelling
- Sailing Away
- The Words 'I Love You'
- The Lady in Red
- The Revolution
- Where Peaceful Waters Flow
- The Journey
- Living in the World
- Read My Name
- Don't Pay the Ferryman
- High on Emotion
- The Snows of New York
- A Hard Day's Night
- Ob-la-di Ob-la-da
- American Pie
- Pretty Woman
- Hey Jude
Far over 3 hours, no breaks, just Chris with piano or guitar ... WOW!!!
How does he do it?
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