Concert Review: Klingenthal, Germany - August 23, 2008
Chris Williams:
Hi all, Well here is day 2 of our adventure and Klingenthal concert!! So we set off for the 2.5 hr drive from Leipzig to Klingenthal late morning and the first 1 hour of the journey was great, lovely roads and autobahns . We found our way into and out of Leipzig with no problems at all!! Then after the first hour our ‘Garmi’ (SAT NAV) decided that the fastest route was way way across country. We sure saw Germany for sure, loads and loads of ‘Long And Winding Roads’ and kept coming across roads that were closed, and so we had to make detours, and wait for ‘garmi’ to pick us at again and set us on the correct road.......I can tell you driving in the middle of ‘NO WHERE’ in a country that is not your own, is pretty scary.....and stressful.........AGAIN !!!!!! So we finally arrived at the hotel where we were staying and according to maps, the hotel should have been 20 kms from Klingenthal..............but was actually 35!! Once arrived we soon found out it was worth the extra drive, the hotel facilities were absolutely fanastic. A great big swimming pool, inside and outside, at a temperature of 32C and 1.35 meters everywhere. That meant that I could go in the water without fear of drowning’!!!! The weather was very nice, although somewhat breezy outside. I really really enjoyed myself in this pool, and as many of you probably know, I cannot swim very well at all, but I feel I have grown in confidence over the last few weeks!! Then after the swim, I had my first ‘sauna’ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Claudia really encouraged me to try a sauna and it was pretty good I have to say..................the room had pretty coloured lights all over the ceiling which changed colours all the time and there was s the most beautiful small of lemon in there. Oh yes........and a ‘nude’ man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So after all this it was 18:00 hrs and time for a barbeque that we had planned at the hotel. There just happened to be one there last night!! It was a very nice early evening meal. We then travelled in Claudia’s car to the venue.............who I have never been in anything like it in my life before!! It was a Mercedes, with just about everything in it. As we went round corners the seat would ‘blow up’ on one side to prevent you moving...it was ‘COOL’and soo comfortable. I also got a lovely back massage as we drove along......just by the car seat unfortunately!!Like I say, pure luxury ? The journey took us about 45 minutes and by the time we parked the car and walked back to the venue, it was about 19:55 and we had to take our seats quickly. The actual concert Review------The Winter Concert In Klingenthal!! 7.5 C When we arrived we had to take our seats quickly, as it was soo near the start of the concert. We were in row 5 but actually it was row 8 because all the front rows were VIPS. We had quite a nice view, or so we thought. It was by the way very very cold and when Chris came on stage he had a T shirt under his shirt, and a jumper on over it and of course his leather jacket.............................I can tell you it was freezing. Like I say the front 5 or 7 rows were VIPS so I don’t think there was that many people in those rows who knew Chris’s music, at least if there was they did not really show it. Al the people from the back who wanted to take photos just kept streaming down from the back of the venue and standing in the aisles for the whole of the first halve, totally blocking my and every ones else’s view. I think during the first halve I never really saw Chris more than about 6 times. So as he sang Leather On My Shoe I had had enough and decided to stand up for one minute to actually see the man I had paid a lot of money to see!! A gentle man sitting behind me immediately grabbed hold of me and dragged me back down.....................he didn’t seem to mind that all the people in the aisle were blocking his view as well!! I really felt like walking out at this point. Where was security.............no where to be seen. Thankfully someone spoke to a security guard before the second halve and for this halve we had an uninterrupted view, which was of course much better. It was extremely cold throughout the night and you could actually see Chris’s breath in the air as he was singing. He made several remarks about how cold it was. He told how had been up the top of the ski jump earlier in the day and that anyone who would want to jump from that height must be mad. Half way through the orchestral part, the orchestra had to stop and re-tune as it was soo cold. Chris was soo funny he started jumping up and down on the stage to try to keep warm. It really was very very cold...it was 7.5C...more light a winter’s night. When the dancing part came we went down to the front of the stage and there was only a small area for dancing. Actually I was going to remain in my seat, but at the last moment I decided to join Andrea and Sibylle down the front and we soon warmed up a little as we danced and clapped along. The actual show was slightly less long than normal, as Chris left out at least one song which was Lennigrad. Maybe because of the freezing cold weather. After the show, Claudia drove us back to our hotel in comfort and warmth again, and we went to have a drink in the bar.....................until we found the bar closed!!! But thankfully the night reception man was able to give us some wine and Stewart some beer. We finally went to bed and had a good sleep. Take care all, Chris(W)thebluehealer and ‘Roaming CdeB’ reporter!!