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		27/11/04 - LEIPZIG ARENA Review by Yvonne Kehrbein: I arrived in Leipzig by train around noon. As I had booked a hotel room I quickly checked in, grabbed my stuff and headed over to the arena which was surprisingly easy to find. A few Baddies were already queuing and as usual time went pretty fast, despite the cold and a few raindrops. The standing area had entrances from both sides of the arena and I prayed that they’d at least open up both doors at the same time. Today I can’t even remember if they did cause once I got through security all I did was run! I made it to the front row - now it was time to relax. Beverly Knight is supporting Bryan on his German tour this winter. She’s got a great and powerful voice and she really knows how to strut her stuff. However, I still think that soul is not the right kind of music to get a BA crowd going (my opinion). She still managed to get a pretty good response from the audience. Bryan and the band opened up with ´Room Service´ and really had the crowd rocking from the first minute. I was a little annoyed by all these photographer dudes right in front of my nose who wouldn’t disappear until after ´18 til I die´ which was song # 3! I still can’t believe how great the new material sounds live and I really do hope Bryan adds more new songs on next year’s shows. „Hello Leipzig, wie geht’s?(how are ya?)“ Screaming was the answer. Bryan was in an awesome mood that night, stuck out his BAD tongue at us during ´18´ and couldn’t stop grinning as we took over ´Let’s make a night to remember´. He shook his head with disbelief and kept playing while the audience kept singing. And he certainly reminded us during `Can’t stop this thing we started´ that we shouldn’t even try to stop him. Bryan, honestly, would we ever try to do that? Nah! „Now we’d like to play a few songs from the ´Reckless´ album as it’s been 20 years since its release. And, umm, we wanna start with a slow song - ´Kids wanna rock`.“ Loud cheers and a bouncing arena in addition to Bryan’s and Keith’s guitar ´abusing´ really created a stadium-like atmosphere! Bryan took a little break to get a zip of water while the stage was all dark. When he returned he shouted out „I’m comin‘ back to you!“ and went on with a brilliant job on that song (even go the lyrics right this time, ha ha). ´Summer of ´69´ is still performed half acoustic which really both makes me happy and sad at the same time. I really do think it sounds beautiful as acoustic song but, man, am I the only one dying for it to get back to being played electric??? Things slowed down a bit during ´Everything I do´. „Ya know, writing a song really ain’t easy but the next one somehow was pretty easy, though. I don’t know why, umm, maybe it’s because it was after dinner.... It only took 45 minutes, anyway, here’s ´Everything I do´. During the ever-present ´Cuts like a knife´ Bryan seemed to be content with our na-na-nah’s from the beginning as he didn’t have to encourage us to get louder. Or maybe he was just tired of it, or maybe he forgot, ha ha, who knows! Once again it was time to pick a girl for ´When you’re gone´. Bryan took his time and chose a redhead from the middle of the standing area. While she made her way to the stage he treated us with a little ´Doo wah diddy´ again. The first thing she did was whisper something into his ear and had him laughing big time. He then turned to us and explained „Well, ya know, for once I thought I’d found one German girl with red hair and then it turns out that she’s from..., tell them where you’re from!“ She turned around to face us and admitted with a grin „My name is Dawn and I’m from Alberta, Canada.“ You can probably imagine our reaction. So funny! Well, so the Canadian teacher living in Hungary wasn’t sure whether she knew all the lyrics to the song so Bryan had the words given to her. She seemed a little timid and didn’t know too many words but personally I think she was just nervous as hell. Bryan also told her that she was very brave to come up there and sing. „Honestly, I could never do that! So, I really don’t blame y’all for not wanting to come up here and sing.“ ´Lil joke you are, Bryan! ´Not Romeo not Juliet´ was the only song performed with the new Room Service guitar which actually made me wonder why he hadn’t used it earlier in the show...! Anyone got a clue why? After another one of Keith’s breathtaking guitar-ripping solos, Bryan looked truly amazed and told us that Keith doesn’t play the music, he feels it. „And it doesn’t come from here (pointing at his own head), or here (touching his heart). No, it comes from right down here (grabbing his crotch)!“ Guys, have you ever seen Bryan grabbing his crotch??? I certainly haven’t and it was a hilarious moment, I tell ya! During ´The best of me´ Bryan once again came offstage to get in touch with the fans in the front. It was an exciting moment for me as I’d never managed to touch his hand so far. I’ve touched it twice now - I’m happy, ha ha! After the first encore Bryan came back alone and performed a few songs with just him and his six-string. He introduced ´All for love´ as song which „I recorded with a ´lil help from my friends. But somehow I like the way it sounds with only one person singing it.“ Got this one right, too, this time! He, he. „The next song I wrote when I was 18 but I didn’t release it until I was 23. I don’t know why but 23 was the right time for me to release it. And now, 200 years later - laughter in the audience - I’m still playing it to you.“ ´Straight from the heart´ followed with a beautiful sounding harmonica. After the last encore Bryan thanked us again and was about to leave the stage. The crowd’s cheers got so loud that Bryan was obviously overwhelmed and he seemed quite touched. He just couldn’t stop grinning and said „You’re trying to keep me here all night, ain’t ya?“ Just when I thought he was gonna get offstage he put his six-string back on and treated us with a beautiful acoustic version of ´Room Service´. I was absolutely thrilled. It sounded awesome acoustic and the audience was singing along beautifully as well. I’d never seen him start and end a gig with the same song, that was pretty cool. After finishing the song he said “And now I’m gonna get myself some....!”(room service, that is...) Eventually, he bowed again and shouted „Dankeschoen, I’ll see ya soon!“ Setlist: Room Service Open Road 18 Til I Die Let's Make A Night To Remember Can't Stop This Thing We Started Kids Wanna Rock Back To You Summer Of '69 Everything I Do Cuts Like A Knife When You're Gone (with Dawn from Alberta, Canada) Not Romeo Not Juliet Heaven It's Only Love The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You Cloud #9 Run To You The Best Of Me Flying All For Love Straight From The Heart Room Service (acoustic)

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