Concert Review: Oberhausen, Germany - October 26, 2002
Daniela Braun:
Hi everybody, I'm going to de-lurk for a moment to write a short review of the Oberhasuen concert. (Or maybe it's just a strategy to stay away from those test papaer sI have to mark...). Well, anyway, on Saturday afternoon I drove to Astrid's house, we had some coffee and quite a few of her delicious "nut triangles" and then drove to Oberhausen. At the Irish pub near the arena we met losts of list people from all over the world, well, Germany and Denmark, to be more precise. We talked ourselves into the mood for the concert and made our was to the arena. Many people hae been moaning about those seated concerts, but the fact that I had a seat in the front row mad it possible to spend the time before the concert in a nice pub, talking to nice people, and not queuing outside in the rain, then running to the stage and finding the same old people right in front of me. I had all the time in the world to find my seat before the show and talk some more to all the list-people near me, I think we managed to fill the complete front row. Some other fans around us were quite amazed to see so many people together, and I think we can expect some new people to join the list soon. And seated concerts make it possible for people to go up to the stage and hand Chris some flowers or other things. I had a perfect view of the stage, and maybe this made the show so intense, it's hard to explain, but Chris put such a lot of emotion into the songs that it was really fascinating to just watch and listen and enjoy. Especially "the best that love can be" nearly made me cry. The interaction with the audience was very good, too. After "St. Peter's Gate" he seemed to be waiting for the fans to sing the chorus again, I don't konw about the concerts inbetween, but I think Anke and Nugie started this in Cologne, and he seems to have liked it. At the first guitar sound of "Revolution" everyody got up and ran to the front of the stage, and from then on it was way better than every standing concert I've been to before, because there was no barrier in front of the stage and we were really close to it all. Too soon it all ended (I think he played for three hours). I can't really recall all the songs he played, but I have the impression he played less than in Cologne but it took him longer because the people in the audience started singing the choruses again and again. After the concert we went to an ice-cream parlour (the only place in Oberhausen with room for such a large group) and talked a little more. After a good night and a perfect breakfast (thank you, Astrid!) I made it home safely through the storm and rain. And now it's back to work! Hope to read more reviews, and hope to meet all of you again soon! Dani