|
by Frank Fligge
translation by Astrid Nolde-Gallasch
Ode to the Westfalenhalle
The man is a cosmopolitan. At home in the world. A world star. Chris de
Burgh could have celebrated his 20th stage anniversary anywhere. In
Buenos Aires where he was born. In Ireland, his home country. But he
celebrated it in Dortmund.
There, where he feels most well. To be more exact: He didn't just
celebrate it, he commemorated it. As a three hour long ode to the
Westfalenhalle. His "livingroom". A concert evening as a deep bow
before his fans. Chris de Burgh celebrated and was celebrated. He moved
and was moved. "I always said that this is the best place to make music",
he started. And promised "a great party" for his anniversary. In the
early 80s, during the "Nacht der Lieder" (night of songs), Chris de
Burgh conquered the music world right away. In 1984 he played his
first concert in one of the very big European arenas, the Westfalenhalle.
It was the breakthrough of the Irishman, whose music gets labelled by
critics as being shallow or trashy. Complete nonsense. The man just
isn't a rock or pop star, but a songwriter. And as such he is formidable.
Many musicians before or after have praised the acoustics and
atmosphere of the Westfalenhalle. But nobody did it more beautifully
than Chris de Burgh. The concert on Saturday was also a love declaration
for this arena. He has recorded it, will publish it as a live CD and
DVD. Sound storage medium for the charts. Communication media for the
city of Dortmund. And while he had started praising, he continued right
away. In the afternoon, he had made a walk from his hotel, the Hilton,
towards the Westfalenpark. "I know many parks everywhere in the world,
but this one is definitely the most beautiful that I have ever seen."
Maybe the city council should think about making this scallywag
Irishman a honorary citizen soon.
Jochen Meschke from the Westfalenhallen knows what he has from such
famous advocates. Half an hour before the concert he gave Chris de
Burgh two noble bottle of spanish red wine. Chris de Burgh's favourite
drop. During the concert dozens of bottles, hundreds of bouquets
followed. Lots of presents. Even though the jubilee boy had asked for
presents for charity. For the children who are being attended by the
städtische Institut für erzieherische Hilfe.
But no worries, there were also mountains of presents there. They
piled up long before the beginning of the concert under both Christmas
trees to the right and left of the stage. Red ties, red balls,
Christmas tree in red - just like the lady in Chris de Burgh's second
best love declaration.
|