Concert Review: Mannheim, Germany - April 1, 2011
Michaela K.:
This time the ladies were really at his feet -at least one of them….. After that fantastic concert in Frankfurt I decided spontaneous to go once again - to Mannheim, especially because Mannheim is not too far from my home. And I thought, maybe it would be also nice to sit a bit further back to have a better view to the screens and the lightshow. But then, around midday time, I got a first row ticket at ebay (even much cheaper than the original price) !!! For two hours I was so full of anticipation - but then I got a phone call from the seller and he told me, that he had sold the ticket otherwise and he sees no obligation in an ebay deal...... Ooooh, I was so disappointed and angry. For the next few hours I thought that I will not go at all to the concert. Only 2 hours before the concert started, I decided again to give it a try. Thankfully there was no traffic jam on the road (on a friday afternoon...), because that was really last minute. When I arrived at the venue I saw the ticket shop closed (astonishing, because the concert was not sold out, but maybe there was another shop at the other entrance) and only one single person who held her ticket up -as a sign that she wants to sell it. Well, I said to myself, don´t buy at the first chance, admittingly I hoped to do some seat-hopping with a low-budget ticket. But then I found out that this ticket was in the middle of row 1 of the second block. THE perfect place to see the effects and lightshow and still to have enough space to get up and run to the front for the dancing part! Well, I spent a bit more than planned, but at least the seller was a friendly lady and not a ticket tout. She told me, that she really planned to go herself, but then made other plans (I can´t imagine what was better than going to a CdeB-concert....). And then - a new disappointment. The row with the number 1 was not the first row of the actual block, there were two rows directly in front, which belonged to the first block, so the aisle was actually between the last rows of the first block. Well, OK, let me tell about the concert itself (I was really a bit bad tempered during the first songs, but it changed fast....) The date of the concert was April 1st and there were two april fool jokes going round. The one of the CdeB-Newsletter said, that we have to come in pyjamas to get a private extra concert and the one from facebook said, that everyone in a pirates dress who will go to Jason and say "Aaaahhhrrr" will get a special surprise. I wasn´t taken by both, after Laurent already got me with his CdeB-related jokes!! But talking to some other fans in the venue I was told that Jason still actually has a little surprise. So I went to him and said "Aaaahhhhrrr" and he showed me a piece of paper with the words "April April" on it and first he was too quick so that I couldn´t read it, mostly because in my mind I was still somewhere else - because of the mess with the ticket. I must have looked very baffeled and Jason must have thought either "what a homourless lady" or "we really got her with the joke" or even both…. However, I got a real nice autograph of CdeB with one of those lovely pictures which were taken in a ship for the Moonfleet promotion. The order of the songs was the same like in the concerts before (no extra Transmission Ends this time), but Chris told his little stories between the songs in a different way, so it never becomes boring, no matter how often you see the show. The sound of the smugglers "Ahhhhrrrrr" developed to a running gag meanwhile. And by the way, Chris got some really strange news on his AhhhhrrrrrrPhone..... And he told us, that the irish banks will give back all the money and commented then in German language "April April". It was nice to see the light show from a differnt perspective and I discovered some details in the films on the screen that I haven´t noticed before. And it was very interesting to see how Chris "caught" the audience -step by step (though I think he had probably to work a bit harder for that than in Frankfurt...). Most in the audience were probably people who prefered the old songs to the new ones, but they were certainly not those, who don´t know more than the Lady in Red. They all sang along with the Spaceman and they all recognized Spanish Train with the first sounds. They still were a bit reserved with Have a Care at the beginning, but when Chris finished the Moonfleet part with The Storm they clapped their hands to the rythm like mad! And everybody looked shocked and numed during The Leader and very moved during People of the World. During The Leader I got actually more goosebumps than in the front rows, because it I could see both screens and Chris himself at the same time. After the break I moved to another empty seat, not much closer than mine but at the aisle and because of that an easier start for the run to the dancing part. And no one blocked my view directly in front of me now. Chris was now wearing again one of his patterned shirts and from the distance and with all the lights it really looked a bit like it was rose. I´m still very happy with his choice of songs and so I enjoyed every minute again. At some point someone shouted for Patricia (well, OK, the perfect setlist could still be improved probably…..), but this wish became not true unfortunately, Chris commented as always that Patricia is too old meanwhile and we certainly won´t see her „nackt“ anymore. When the crowd rushed to the front I was lucky enough to have a place at the stage again. Chris was on his walk through the audience meanwhile, again followed by the cameras. And somewhere at the tier he invited a red dressed lady for a dance. But the lady slipped or stumbled and really tumbled down and lay at the floor! Chris –usually never irritated and always singing, no matter how much he gets touched and kissed- got a bit out of his singing routine…“Oohhhhh“. But thankfully obviously nothing serious happend. When Chris came back on stage, I found out, that the shirt was actually rose… Again the dancing part was so much fun and Chris smiled so much, I was (am) really happy that I was at this (for me) unplanned additional concert.