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Jakob:
Hi, folx,
I was at the concert along with my brother, who lives i Aarhus. We´ve been fans of
Chris´ since 1986 (I´m 38, and he´s 40), when I buyed a 5-lp box set, and we wore it
out in just about two years. My brother went to a concert - also in Aarhus - in 1989,
and I was devastated not to be able to join him. But this time we went together,
finally! And we were very excited both of us. We had foretold, that it would not be a
full house, and it wasn´t. We were also quite sure that the audience would be people our
age and older, and indeed most people seemed to be aged from 40 and up. My brother had
not heard The Storyman more than once or twice, so he didn´t know the new songs, but he
was very impressed afterwards ("What did he say that one was called - was it The Grace
of a - - dancer or what?"). So was I - One World, My Father´s Eyes and Spirit in
particular were incredibly well played.
We found Chris to be very relaxed and personal, sort of humble, actually - he seemed
very thankful that people had come to see and listen to him. We also found him very
entertaining, very funny, especially with the Britney-thing, which made us laugh
hysterically (my brother used to be a Britney-fan). The selection of songs were
wonderful. When he did the acoustic version of The lady In red we were surprised, and
we were thrilled and delighted to se Chris walk among the audience. He passed right by
us on the right side of the hall, and it was magic! Afterwards I said to my brother:
"We could actually have reached out and touch him". My brother said "I don´t know what
I would have done, if he had sat himself next to me."
We were surprised how well the electric set was played, and we both agreed that the
music benefited from the fact, that they played the song from the present band´s
perspective, and not trying to imitate the sound of the original recordings the way you
hear it on Live from Dublin. The band was extremely tight and professional, and I was
particularly impressed with Missing You (incredible guitar at the end)Living in The
World and Bal Masque - the last two are really songs none of us have noticed for real
before. We also agreed that the drummer was completely incredible - he played like
thunder, with a precision like a machine. Chris played just about everything I wanted
to hear - my bro would have liked The Revolution instead of The Leader-Vision-What About
Me, and I would have liked to hear The Mirror of The Soul, but then you can´t have
everything. When Chris went about shaking hands and giving hugs at the end of the show,
we agreed that that was one really cool move, and it confirmed to us, that Chris loves
his audience - he is close and he is personal. We were also very impressed with the
length of the concert - 2 hours and 15 minutes. Not many musicians at his age plays for
so long or indeed so well. Chris´ voice was also remarkable. For one thing he sings
better now that he has ever done, and his voice did not lose anything of its power,
clear pitch or intensity in the live situation, and it did not wear out at all during
the show (-you may want to compare this with Freddie Mercury, who was an incredible
singer, but he was never nearly as good live as he was in the studio). Impressive,
since Chris´ way of singing his songs is very demanding for other singers (-I know it
for a fact: I´m a singer...!).
We got our money´s worth - and much more! It was without question the best concert I
have ever attended, and since Chris is my favourite musician, it could not possibly
have been a better evening (except if one got a chance to hang out with the Man
himself...!). We were in high spirits when the show ended, and we went to my brothers
house and spent most of the night discussing the concert and drinking beer. A thrilling
experience to finally see our personal legendary hero.
/Jakob
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