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John Collins: Hi all, Firstly I hope you all had a great time in my home City last night :-) I am finding hard to choose the words to describe the concert, the words incredible and amazing don't even begin to describe the performance and pure spectacle of it all. Many times throughout the years I have thought this is the peak of Chris's career then you have last night! I always think that you can tell the strength of a new album, by the number of songs Chris sings from it. Well, if memory serves me right, all tracks were covered last night, except The sweetest kiss. Not only were they covered, they were all given a fantastic reception, and The Storm given a standing ovation by many. The Storyman for me, is Chris's best album in years! Despite Chris forgetting the words (that was so funny) to Mirror of the Soul, for me this was the highlight of them all. I don't want to go into too much detail, but that it was truly a spectacular rendition and effects to go with it. The lightning and special effects were out of this world. There was an enormous screen at the back of the stage with various films etc during the songs. All the old favourites were in there Lady in Red, (done in the new style) Spanish Train, A Spaceman, Borderline, Patricia, Don't Pay the Ferryman, High on Emotion, Sailing Away, Say Goodbye to it all, and The Same Sun. There were a few surprises, I was thrilled to hear In a Country Churchyard again, and Lonely Sky. What gems those 2 songs are. It's strange but if Chris would have asked me, what songs I personally wanted to start and finnish with last night, I would have said Where we will be going (a song which helped me through a very traumatic time in my life) and my all time favourite Snows of New York (the name of my web site) . Guess what happened? :-) Thank you Chris. Some other Gems in there were Love of the Heart Divine, which I have always thought was a lovely song, but I was surprised to hear it, and the evergreen Where Peaceful Waters Flow, which I could listen to all night!! Then some truly gobsmacking tracks were Moonlight and Vodka, yes Moonlight and Vodka, a song I thought I would never hear Chris sing live again, and the Traveller! I nearly forgot Bal Masque, which Chris seems to like. Earlier on in the night we had already been treated to a trilogy with Mirror of the Soul, but there was a second one, a truly breathtaking performance of The Leader/The Vision/What about me. This was sung with Chris sitting at the side of the stage while a film was played on the massive screen on stage. You could have heard a pin drop in the arena after the film had finished, which then went into a thunderous applause. The audience were just fantastic, well it was a Saturday night in the second city, so no one had any excuses, as we could all have a lie in, in the morning (well most of us!) Chris seemed to have a good time, and looked quite taken back by the reception he was getting on many occasions following his songs. Last night there were songs which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, there are songs which fill my eyes with tears, and there are those I just love to sing along to. I don't know any other music artist alive today, that has that effect on me. I hope all of you there last night (now there is a song I would have liked to have heard) had a great as time as me, and had a safe journey home. Thanks Chris for coming to Birmingham again, and for the enjoyment your music has given me over the past 30 years. Best Wishes John Collins |
File last modified on January 3rdth, 2008