Concert Review: Ulm, Germany - August 25, 2010
Chris Williams:
Hi all, well seeing as no one else has done an Ulm review I might as well have a go at one so Claudia and I set out from Nurnberg mid morning and drove the 2 hrs or so to Ulm. We found our hotel quite easily and then went for a swim in the hotel pool which was very nice indeed Then as Claudia wanted to go in the sauna I went back to my room showered and dressed and went for a walk by the river as it was such a lovely afternoon But horror or horrors while I was outside the hotel taking a photo, I dropped my spare 8 Gigabyte memory card from my camera down a drainage gully thingy I was sooo annoyed with myself as I thought that I had lost it forever, and they are not cheap to replace..and even worse most of the photos on it were CdeB ones and our few days that we spent on holiday in Ireland last month. Thankfully apart from a few CdeB ones that we took these last days eeverything was backed up on my computer already After I got over being so dam stupid and carless, I then took a lovely solitary walk along the river...ok I had Jurgen (my travelling ISG bear with me)....and he enjoyed the views as well I then walked back to the hotel and after getting ready for the show we took a taxi to the venue really early as we had already heard that there would be terrible parking problems...............we did the correct thing and got there in about 5 minutes We then met up with Anya and had a lovely relaxed meal in a hotel garden restaraunt then took a slow walk back to the venue. It was packed as we arrived, and as Claudia went off to help Jason Anya and myself went to take our seats. I had a lovely view as it was my first front row of the tour so far The stage was quite high, and of course the front row quite a way from the stage as always in outdoor venues There seemed to be many people there although 2 seats right next to me in the front row remained empty till after the break when 2 women came and sat there. We were told that the concert would start a little late as traffic was having a hard time in the area, so I guess it must have been around 20:15 or so before it started. The usual light show was the first introduction, but it does not look anywhere near as impressive when it is still light outside Chris came on stage dressed in the usual black trousers and shoes and a light black jacket as in the previous night, and no sign of the leather jacket yet Under the jacket he had a dark blue and white patterned shirt.....best I don't try to describe that one anymore The atmosphere right from the start was pretty good with quite a few people clapping along.....at least in the rows around me. The evening was nice and warm actually...although I still needed my fleece jacket on till the dancing part at the end. Again I will not go into too much about the set list, as I don't want to spoil it for other people who have not been yet. But Chris was in a good mood and was having quite a laugh with the band at certain times, especially to the bit in Revolution when the line says 'I can hear someone knocking on my door' Tony always makes a noise on his drums.....but Chris forgot to sing that line and then suddenly he remembered and started again I absolutely ADORE Chris singing The Long And Winding Road and Without You and the latter one always brings tears to my eyes. When Chris sang People Of The World --the song for Neda......in previous nights a few fans have stood up as the song builds up but at Ulm loads and loads of people followed and for as far back as i could see there were people standing. Of course after the song was over we all sat back down straight away. Later in the show someone took a present up to Chris....and it was some bananas, and Chris kind of looked puzzled and then handed one to each of the band, and Al actually started eating his on stage, It was quiyte funny really The rest of the show was pretty uneventful, until it was time for the infamous LIR walkaround bit and as soon as Chris started this people rushed to the front of the stage, ready for the fast bit at the end This section went really quickly and Chris was in a very smilie and happy mood Only too soon it was time for the very last songs and once they were over we made out way back to Anya's car and she kindly drove us back to our hotel, where she joined us for drink before driving back home. After she had gone, we spotted a pool table and Claudia and I enjoyed ourselves playing pool I have only ever played it once before and that was last year in the Netherlands, but I seem to really like the game...............pity we have not got a house big enough for a pool table at home After that we went to bed and as I was getting dressed the phone rang and it was Claudia, she had spoken to the staff at reception about me losing my camera chip down this drainage gully thing right outside the hotel, and they had called a maintenance man who was waiting for me to show him where I had lost it the day before Thankfully I could remember roughly where I had dropped it and hey presto as he lifted the drainage cover, I could see my 'chip' all still in its plastic container.........and even better when I got it back to my room, it was still OK So thanks to Claudia's idea to ask at reception if there was anything they could do, I now have my spare camera card/chip back with no damage to it at all Well that's about all for this time............. Take care all, Chris(W)thebluehealer and roaming CdeB reporter