Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten - August 30, 2010


by Christian Ruf

translation by Astrid Nolde-Gallasch


Everything is going to be alright


Chris de Burgh captivates his fans at Schloss Pillnitz

This country has completely gone down, you shouldn't be deluded by Lena's victory of the Eurovision Song Contest. Now even the 
Irish people make their jokes about the German summer, more or less pitiful. What can come after that? In any case it was pure 
irony, when Irish pop bard Chris de Burgh rubbed his hands and "praised" the German summer. And as if he and his four 
accompanying musicians would be allied with the weather god in this not really tepid night, the performance on Saturday night 
in the park of Pillnitz remained free of rain, despite a few drops here and there. And maybe this was also, because the 
self-confident singer decidedly refused to play "Every Drop Of Rain", as somebody requested. "No way!", he declined the almost 
perky request. 

However gladly he accepted all the flowers, which were brought to him between the songs from his happy devotees. The little 
man was in a good mood, felt at ease in front of the castle which he praised more than once. Once he even started to tell a 
spleeny story about a wolf and big spiders - whatever comes to mind, when you are "too long on the road".

Right on time at 8 pm it started with a roaring intro, which reminded more of the sound of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. But then 
de Burgh came on stage and the euphoric fans, mostly older citizens but also many offspring de Burghys, could celebrate their 
star which they had expected longingly. When he came down from the stage at the late hour during "Lady In Red" and, accompanied 
by two big bodyguards who kept the route free, and walked through the rows singing and shaking hands, there was no stopping of 
the cheering.

The bard sang many old songs - even the one which is probably not well-established with the ferrymen of this world: "Don't Pay 
The Ferryman" - but also two or three songs of his nes album "Moonfleet & other stories" which will be published in October. De 
Burgh can even sing a few completely unknown songs to his audience, because they sound so familiar and there are hardly any 
musical surprises. De Burgh's songs are made to reach the heart, which is not a bad thing in the first place, so that everyone 
can silently put up his feet and dream himself into the land of the good people. Sometimes, de Burgh's crybaby soprano changes 
even the most depressive ballads into harmonizing "everything is going to be alright"-songs. 

In a well-proven manner one gets to hear the many longing tearjerkers, which only consist of a catchy melody and a beat which 
animates to sway or clap along, like "Missing" or "So Beautiful". But de Burgh also reflects the not so nice events of the world 
in his very own way: During the slightly oriental "Lebanon Night" he watches deeply depressed "the hell that came down from the 
sky". He can do it, and all in all one really enjoys listening to de Burgh, who rendered outstanding services to pop history, 
from time to time. Compared to the German summer he sometimes indeed bestows long-lasting feelings of happiness.