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08/03/03 - DONAUARENA, REGENSBURG Review
by Roberta De Silvestre: Regensburg was quite a sudden decision - a couple
of weeks before the gig we realized that we could go... so why not? ;) It was
a fantastic weekend, which started at Munich airport where we met up and got a
car to drive to Regensburg... Once at the Donau Arena,
we could put a face to many names! :) We met Petra again, Claudia and her friends,
and Sandra from the webboard. We also met Isabella and Flavio, whom I hadn't seen
since the last Italian tour... Cheers everyone! It was a freezing day and the
venue was right next to the river, which didn't help with the temperature! But
once inside, we soon get hot... VERY hot, actually! The venue was PACKED, not
a single space was left empty - actually it looked overcrowded! The security (and
this was the only negative thing) was awful and clearly didn't have a clue of
what to do... From when we were waiting at the gates to during the gig (no water
at all...) and after it (it took us about 20 minutes to get out of the venue,
people were climbing everywhere to find a way out!), I really wouldn't recommend
them to anyone! But as I said, this was the only negative thing, and once the
gig started, frankly, we couldn't care less! ;)) And
then it was Bryan time... since the very beginning, it was clear that the guys
were in a great shape, full of energy and in a very high mood! :) They kicked
it off with Here I Am, which sounds better every time I hear it... then a series
of rockers: Can't Stop, 18TID... and of course Summer Of 69! Here the audience
was amazing, everyone was singing along word by word, so that Bryan let us sing
much more than the usual first lines. 
(Above)
Bryan calls Keith over to the side of the stage (Below)
Keith joins Bryan for a jamming session! 
Everything
I Do was as touching as always and got very loud cheers from everyone... when
I turned back to look at the audience, I saw a dark sea pointed of hundreds of
lights, it was breathtaking. To introduce It's Only Love Bryan said: "This
is an old song I used to sing with Tina Turner... Tonight we don't have Tina here,
but we have KEITH SCOTT!!!" :). Big cheers followed... Keith's solo was VERY
long and fantastic... we were all amazed. Even Bryan - there he is, standing back
and enjoying it along with everyone else, a big grin on his face :). 
The
first real surprise of the show was Let's Make A Night To Remember! I hadn't heard
it since 1997 and I couldn't believe my ears... it was even better than then,
so sweet and sexy. It was welcomed with screams of joy by everyone :). Other
special songs were Back To You, with Bryan starting it on his own on the acoustic
guitar... Heaven in the new, up-tempo version, which I love, I'm Ready, emotional
as usual... Loads of them! This camera guy never left us alone, and seemed to
have fun following us everywhere like he did in Berlin... Argh!! What have we
done to deserve him?? ;) The When You're Gone girl
was quite... er, interesting! Once on stage, she said she wanted some water otherwise
she could't sing! Bryan was baffled but gave her a bottle, and, while she was
drinking, asked her "Is there anything else we can do for you, while you're
here?" :)). He seemed to be quite happy about her performance, though...
Keith was laughing his head off during the WYG moment :))! 
(Above)
It's b-stage time The b-stage was even more fun than
usual, with Keith scratching his bum on the mike during Poison Ivy (it took a
good minute to Bryan to stop laughing and go on with the song!!) and Bryan doing
a very, VERY sexy "Elvis" voice on She's Only Happy. Then
it was time for Cloud #9, with thousands of arms waving to the ceiling... And
Run To You, as loud as ever! And then, Bryan pointed to an imaginary watch on
his wrist and asked "Don't you think it's time to go home?"... "NO!!!"
we replied, so he shouted... "You got it!!"The Best Of Me! When we saw
Bryan sitting on the stage, we knew what was about to happen, as we had seen him
doing it in Berlin... but this time it was even better! Bryan jumped off the stage,
starting from the other end of the stage and slowly coming towards us... taking
pics of the audience between one line of the song and the next! When Bryan arrived
next to where I was, he jumped on the fence and let everyone hug him :)... then
he moved to the right, and did the same... he leant forward to sing in our faces...
Then he jumped off and seemed to be going back... But
right after I took a pic he stopped, looked at me with a smile, and jumped up
right in front of me :). I put my arm around him to hold him up as he seemed to
be in a very unstable position :)). Everyone was going crazy... so much fun! The
final was breath-taking, and the second BIG surprise of the evening. After TBOM,
Bryan thanked everyone, waved and left with the others...everything went dark...
until we saw Keith moving towards the centre of the stage, all by himself, with
an acoustic guitar. He started an AMAZING spanish solo, which lasted a good while.
Everyone was listening in a total daze:)! Then the spotlight moved to Bryan who
started singing Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman with the sweetest voice ever.
At the end of it, Bryan said something like "Muchas gracias! Keitho Scotto!"
with a mock Spanish accent! :)) We laughed so much that he turned to us and laughed
out loud, too :)). It was a fantastic performance, and the perfect finale to a
wonderful show! Bryan was clearly VERY happy and called
us a "fantastic" audience... He didn't need to say more, with such a
smile on his face! :) The guys had to leave immediately
after the show for the long trip to Karlsruhe, but we did meet Keith and... I
also got to chat with Johnny from Vega4 when he came out of the venue (he was
the last one to leave)... which was really, really nice :). What a lovely guy
he is! Another highlight added to the night for me :). So it was the end of another
great night. The day after, we toured the historic centre of Regensburg and realized
what a lovely town it is! I especially loved walking on the Stone Bridge, over
the river Donau... a perfect way to slowly get back down to earth. :) A special
"cherry on the top" was listening to the radio while driving back to
Munich... and realizing that they were playing last night's gig! Wow, it sounded
so great... and felt so good to know we were part of it :). | | |