Concert Review: Phantasialand, Germany - June 19, 2002
Astrid Nolde-Gallasch:
Well, what a wonderful day this was. It is hard to put it all into words, especially as it is late, but I will try.. We arrived at Phantasialand in the early morning, got our passes and a sheet of paper with the schedule for the day. All press people were supposed to meet up at 12:30, so we had a few hours to kill which some of us spent on the various rides in the theme park Phantasialand. While walking through the park we ran into the others from the list and had a great time together. So when we came to the arranged meeting place at 12:30 we received our press passes, and some official press information, most of which can probably be read in the newspapers tomorrow. At 13:45 we walked through the park to a place near the lake, where the little concert was supposed to take place. They had decorated this place according to the concept of the new album. There was sand on the ground, and deckchairs all around it. It was supposed to be a "beach atmosphere". Many journalists were gathering in front of the stage with their cameras. Somebody asked me, if I could bring all the fans to the stage, so that we could show some enthusiasm. Well, nothing easier than that.... ;) As the journalists didn't want to take pictures of the back of our heads, we had to sit down in the sand. What a gorgeous sight, sitting on the beach in the front row of a Chris de Burgh concert!!! Surely something very special... Chris came on stage, greeted the audience and started playing "There's Room In This Heart Tonight". And we all sang along, which probably made the journalists wonder how we knew the words since these were all new songs.... ;) A lot of this song is like it used to be, but in the end he has added a new part.. very nice!! He then played "Guilty Secret", the first single from the new album. This is a very rocky, catchy tune, and we quickly learned the words of the chorus to sing along to ... Next on the list was a wonderful piano ballad: "The Best That Love Can Be". Wow, what a song. Some of us had tears in their eyes, it was so beautiful!! Then back to the guitar again, next was "Save Me". Again a very catchy melody, so that it was easy to sing along to. The last song Chris played was the title track of the new album "Timing Is Everything". And throughout all these five songs, our little group was sitting in front of the stage, clapping, singing, enjoying themselves and being photographed by hundreds of journalists. ;) Sometimes I had the impression that they are taking more pictures of us than of Chris himself.... ;) After the concert everybody was being walked over to "River Quest" a new rafting adventure at Phantasialand that will be opened in a couple of weeks. Chris is sponsoring this new adventure, so he sat in one of the boats with the people who built it (I guess), and the journalists were taking hundreds of pictures again. Then everybody walked over to the Mexican restaurant for the actual press conference. When we came into this place we were very surprised... the tables were laid out beautifully, there were buffets full of delicious food all around the place.. it felt like we had arrived at a wedding party rather than at a press conference... if this is the way that journalists get treated every day, then I want to change my job...;) Chris sat an extra table and a microphone was handed around among the journalists, so they could ask him questions. He talked about the new album, the concept of it, the upcoming tour (with band of course, but the concerts might possibly last less than 3 hours, as Chris said he feels too old for that now..). Chris said that the renovations for his house in County Wicklow are now finished, and they are actually moving in next week. So he is in the middle of a very stressful, busy time right now. There were also some question about the football world cup, and who Chris supported (England AND Ireland of course). Dani asked him what his favourite song is to be played live, and he answered "High On Emotion" or "Don't Pay The Ferryman", as he loves to see people dance in front of the stage. After this question and answer part, Chris went backstage and had several appointments with journalists for interviews. I hope we will be able to read a lot of these interviews in the following days and weeks. Oh, speaking of interviews.. there was one journalists who interviews Heike and Claudia right at the beginning, while we were waiting for everything to start ... so we might have an exclusive story coming up here, who knows. :) So while all the journalists got their interviews, it was time for us to discover the delicious food... mmmmh, what a treat. We spent a couple of hours just sitting in the sun (yes, we had wonderful weather throughout the whole day!), chatting to each other, enjoying our food and drink etc. All this time, the new album was playing in the background. So we have now actually heard all the songs 3 or 4 times, though we didn't get a chance to really "listen" to them with all the chatting going on. But from what I have heard, this is a great album, wonderful melodic, rocky, catchy tunes. I like "Lebanese Night" a lot, and of course the ballad I mentioned before "The Best That Love Can Be".