Concert Review: Dortmund, Germany (Nokia Night Of The Proms) - December 14, 2001
Astrid Nolde-Gallasch:
Wow.. I woke up this morning and asked myself whether last night was really true or whether it was all just a dream .... but the flowers on my table were the proof, it's true!
Well, yesterday in the late afternoon my husband Thomas and I drove to Dortmund to see the Nokia Night Of The Proms in the Westfalenhalle. We arrived around 6 o'clock and met Silvia and her mother, Chris W. and Konni who had already been waiting since 3 o'clock! It was bitterly freezing. Thankfully shortly after 6 they opened the first doors and we were allowed to wait inside for the opening of the main doors, it was much warmer there. Soon Heike (H.) and her cousin Nicole arrived. We had a lot of fun!
When we were let inside we were among the first, so we made it right to the very front of the stage! What a concert!!! It was the 2nd time that I had seen this show, but the atmosphere was a million times better than in Cologne 4 weeks ago. One could see that with all this touring over the weeks, the coordination between the solo artists and the orchestra and the audience has improved a lot. Heike, Nicole, Silvia and I kept dancing through the whole concert, right from the start.
Chris's part was, as usual, just before the break. He sang the same four songs as in Cologne and he was the one who talked the most with the audience. His rendition of "Hey Baby" kept the audience in the best mood. During "High On Emotion" he ran in front of the first row again, and made many people, including some little kid next to us, sing "AGAIN".
After the break Laith Al-Deen was next, and in my opinion, he has improved his performance a lot since the first time. His singing was extraordinary, very touching and made us get goosebumps all over. Now I know that many of you have commented that they didn't like Meat Loaf's show much .. but
I have to admit that I also enjoyed his performance last night much more than in Cologne. I love the way that he acts his songs out on stage, and the swearing words he uses are just part of the show ... sure, the chewing gum has been grossing me out too.. but other than that, he is just a phantastic singer.
Soon came the big final, and all the artists came back on stage again to sing "Yellow Submarine" and throw flower bouquets into the audience. Martin Fry threw his flowers to me, and a few seconds later Heike caught the flowers from Chris! Just before the end Silvia caught the flowers of one of the background singers, so the three of us all had bouquets, it was really funny!!
After the show Heike, Nicole, Thomas and I went to a pub to have a drink to end this fabulous evening, and so it was quite late until we got home. But what a great night!!!