Concert Review: Münster, Germany - September 30, 2011
Michaela K.:
Münster has been my favourite city since many years and so it was a huge temptation to add this concert to "my" little autumn tour though this was not plannend from the beginning. Since the bonus material of the Road to Freedom DVD I know that Chris loves Münster and the "Münsterland" too, which was of course another reason to have this concert on my wishlist. But actually I had no idea that this one was going to be the best concert of the German Tour at all!!! Although just the fact to visit Münster again and to have such a wonderful summer weather at this last day of September was worth it. I spent the afternoon in the city and met up with friends in a cafe, sitting outdoors right at the Prinzipalmarkt, Münsters most famous street with typical architecture. Being late with buying a ticket it was not easy to get a good seat (though there were still enough in the back rows) and I could write a story around my ticket which would become much longer than the concert review.... However, in the end I had a seat in row 11 which was really a good one. Still close enough to see the expression in Chris' face (very important when he tells his little stories...) and with a really brilliant sound. So I was confident in the end, who would have known that I will not enjoy my seat as long as expected.... Before the concert started one of our forums friends had given lightsticks to the people in the audience, what a great idea. When Chris came on stage a lot of people gave him standing ovations and they waved with their lightsticks, which really looked good, so the concert was special from the very beginning. I enjoyed the first three Moonfleet songs, yet a bit sad, because I didn't know if I will ever hear them again live in concert. Though I think these are such great songs, he has to play them on further tours! They were followed by a short preview what will come next, two songs of the upcoming coversong album "Footsteps 2". I think the audience liked them, they spent a lot of applause. But with the "oldie" "Ship to Shore" they couldn't stay on their seats any longer, they stood up and clapped and danced. And this time it was not only a small part of the audience, it were most of them! And they also got up to the Moonfleet songs "Treasure and Betrayal" and "The Storm". So it was already obvious, that the people from my favourite city are a fantastic audience. Chris spoke again about pirates and people already started to shout "Arrgghhh", but he had given the joke another turn. And he made clear, that these pirates are different from the pirates in Berlin. (In Germany we have a small political party called Pirates and they recently made an unexpected good result in the election for the Berlin town parliament.) The first song after the intermission was (as always) "The Words I Love You" and while I was thinking about how and at what time to get out of my row (didn't want to miss the rush to the stage) -which was probably during "Peaceful Waters" or maybe already during the "Spaceman"?- some people gathered in the aisle. They didn't block anybodys view in the aisle next to the first rows, because there was no seating at the sides so close next to the stage. And so the security didn't send them back. And the more people realized that they were allowed to stay, the more gathered there. Whoops, I had to get up also, otherwise all these people would be in front of me when the rush starts! So no more waiting for the "Spaceman" or even "Peaceful Waters". During the next song the people started to move forward very slowly, but as soon as they walked into the space between the first row and the stage, the people who were sitting in the front row jumped up and ran to the stage. A short chaotic moment and then I was standing next to the stairs. Nearly a whole hour earlier than expected!!! How great that was to enjoy so much more time so close to the stage! Especially during "Borderline" it brought back so much wonderful memories to the times when we used to listen to that song standing. I really enjoyed it to be for 10 more songs in front of the stage as usual. When Chris introduced "Why Mona Lisa Smiled" he talked as always of Leonardo Da Vinci's inventions. But this time there was something new that Leonardo allegedly has invented. Chris took a piece of paper out of his trouser pocket and read in German what was written on it: "Abführmittel" (laxative). Yes, Leonardo invented the Abführmittel and it really works good, he said, as you can see all the ladies who run to to loo before the song ended. Very funny, I had a real good laugh, mostly because I was sure that this time it was not me who he had seen running. Because I had started from row 11..... There is always a rush to the toilet at the end of "The Leader Trilogy", because people who attend more than one concert know that this is the last song before the break and they want to be early to avoid the queue. I know this is not very nice, especially regarding the dramatic of that impressive song. But everybody who has ever experienced this nasty queues in front of women's toilets during the break would understand.. However, I enjoyed "Why Mona Lisa Smiled" ( which is one of my favourites of this tour) from that new viewing angle in front of the stage. "People of the World" felt a bit strange, because nobody could stand up, everybody was already standing. The first one or two songs of the solo part are the ones that Chris changes from concert to concert. So every audience gets the hear a song that others don't. This time when he started with the first line of "Transmission Ends" the crowd cheered. And they all sang along and everybody seemed to know the complete lyrics. The brilliant mood of the audience obviously transfered to the stage. And Chris was not only smiling a lot, he let another rarely played classic follow: "Perfect Day". Wow!!! I was sure that nothing would top this and of course I supposed that he will return to his routine setlist after these two songs, as always. But then he begun to sing "In A Country Churchyard" ......ehem ..if you heard somebody yelling....yes....that was me. It's my favourite ballad of all times and it was such a pity that it was not on the setlist this autum. But now there it was!!! And it was actually an extra, because "Spaceman" and "Peaceful Waters" from the regular setlist also followed. So we had five classics in the solo part. No need to mention that the solo part is something special anyhow and many people say Chris is always on his best solo and on guitar. Still I won't miss the dancing part with the band. Which followed of course after his "Lady in Red"-Walk through the audience. No more song surprises in this part of the show, but with all these special emotions through the concert it was even more fun than in the previous concerts. And people around me probably felt the same, the whole crowd seemed to be over the top. And there were so many smiling and raptured faces during "The Snows of New York" and smiling faces on the stage too of course. And even much more happy faces when Chris came down in the audience again at the end of the concert..... Can't tell you how happy I am that I decided for this additional concert. So I really ended "my" Moonfleet tour with the feeling that I have enjoyed it to the max.