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04/12/04 - FESTHALLE,
FRANKFURT Review
by Maria Heutz:
I woke up at 10 and couldn’t believe that it was so late.
I woke up first at nine and decided to stay in bed for just two more minutes and
then, obviously, fell asleep again. I got a shower and got dressed. When I came
into our living room Moya was already there waiting and told me she had been there
since half past nine. What a shame. I didn’t want to be that late setting
off for Frankfurt but didn’t get to bed until about 3 a.m. in the morning.
This was because we had a meeting with friends who invited us to celebrate their
golden wedding.
We had a comfortable breakfast which took us a lot of time
and then we planned how to drive to Frankfurt. We searched for the route through
the computer and got a map printed out. Because there was not enough petrol in
the car we had a stop at the petrol station and by then it was already a quarter
to one when we started to Frankfurt. On our way we listened to SWR 3 a German
radio station. The radio speaker had promised they would mention something about
Bryan’s concert in Stuttgart. Some days ago you could win tickets for a meet
and greet but the only thing they reported was a short interview with that girl
who won the ticket. The previous evening, they had announced that they would report
about the concert in Stuttgart immediately after the gig was over. Unfortunately,
because of our invitation to the meal we couldn’t listen to that transmission
which we seriously regretted.
The weather wasn’t very nice. The sky was
grey and it was very foggy.
Fortunately we found our way to the Festhalle
in Frankfurt straight away. I was so glad we had to stop at a red light and had
to wait, otherwise I would have missed the venue. Some people were walking around
but we could see no queue. We parked the car in the “Messeturm” (fair
tower) and walked around to find a toilet. Someone told us where to go but when
we reached the building, to our surprise, we found the toilet door locked. So
we went around again and met Lance and someone else. Moya asked him if he knew
where there was a toilet and he said we should go to the Marriott hotel and try
there. . He said there is a public toilet on the second floor. So we thought that
maybe Bryan’s crew stayed there over night. A pageboy showed us the way and
we found the WC.
For the entrances we went to the backside of the “Festhalle”
and were surprised how many people were already waiting there. It was so foggy
and cold that we didn’t expect so many there. Not longer after we arrived,
I met Christiane. We have seen each other several times at Bryan’s concerts.
Our last meeting was at the gig in Dortmund last year. I told her about our problems
with finding a toilet and she laughed. There was one very close to the gates where
we were waiting. She also told about her meet and greet with Bryan in Munich.
She and Ulrike had been some of the lucky ones who met him there. Christiane told
me that he was really nice and friendly; he signed things and let them take photos.
Several times he was called to go on stage. So you now know why he is late sometimes.
Soon
a security man came and announced that soon the gates would open. They have double
gates in Frankfurt. There is a big place in front of the “Festhalle’s”
back entrances and gates next to the venue on the other side of the square. Also
he mentioned that there would be a stall there too to buy hot drinks like Glühwein
(hot wine) because the owner should have the same opportunity to sell as the stall
next to “our” gates. When they opened the gates it was a mess totally.
We had to run up some stairs. I took Moya’s hand, so we didn’t get lost.
Some young women tumbled down. We wondered why we couldn’t see the people
we had met before. We had to queue maybe another 1 ½ hours there. We were
squeezed like sardines and it was not nice but at least it was warmer than before.
Finally they let us in. We ran again but could only reach the second row in
front of the stage’s left side. I sat down to have a rest. Twenty minutes
before Beverly Knight came on stage I stood up again. Beverly mentioned what we
already knew: “Oh Frankfurt it was such a cold day!” Moya and I enjoyed
her music: Funk, Soul and R’n’B. She was very good.
10 minutes later
than promised, Bryan came on stage (meet and greet took more time again!?) and
started with Room Service followed by Open Road. He went on with the well known
setlist from the concerts he did in England in October: 18 Til I Die, Let's Make
A Night To Remember, Can't Stop This Thing We Started, Kids Wanna Rock and Back
To You which all were so great. I don’t remember when it was exactly (somewhere
in the beginning) but he said that he liked it very much to play Frankfurt and
said: “I love playing this building.” Festhalle looks great with a glass
dome. (I enclose some photos from the website.) He also thanked his fans:”
You know tonight is our last show in Germany. It has been a great tour and I see
some faces in the crowd who have been here every night and I want to thank you
for doing this.” Summer Of ’69 was once again announced as a song not
about the year and that we can be sure he will play it always in concerts. He
played it in a mixed acoustic and electric version. He then let us know that good
songs usually happen after dinner. “So if you feed me a good meal I write
you a good song. If you feed me a shit meal I will write a crap song. - Or maybe
an even better song because I have to earn a better supper. This next song happened
around 6:45 – no, it was 6:46. Here we go.” During Cuts Like A Knife
he did the same as he always does, trying to find out who in the audience sings
the loudest “na, na, na, nas” with his up and down thumb. The When You’re
Gone girl was Vanessa from Hattersheim (a city next to Frankfurt) but Bryan joked:
“She’s from Hackensack?” The girl tried to explain it again but
Bryan wouldn’t understand and joked again: “Hackensack”. He was
surprised when Vanessa told him she is a plumber. He said: “You can fix my
pipes any time you like.” She got the lyrics and couldn’t sing without
staring at the paper. After the song she got the usual t-shirts from him. Heaven
was played in his original version. Meanwhile he spoke to Lance at “our”
side of the stage. So I was very surprised when he announced It’s Only Love
with Keith Scott. I don’t want you to misunderstand me. I don’t have
anything against Keith. I love his guitar playing very much. I read in the papers
about the Braunschweig gig where Bryan sang this song together with Beverly Knight.
So I was waiting for this duet. But he did the song without her which was a real
pity. She is such an energetic singer and would have performed it very similar
to Tina Turner I think. They then played The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me
Is You and the band members thought it was the end of the concert before the encores.
They had already left their musical instruments and Bryan started to play Blessing
In Disguise. Keith, Mickey, Gary and Norm ran back to their places and joined
in. I loved this song the first time I heard it. It sounds so well live. The band
then left the stage.
Soon they came back for Cloud # 9 and Run To You. During
The Best Of Me Bryan came again into the gap and let fans touch his hands and
body which is such a nice gesture from him. He likes to give his fans what they
want (You want it you got it). The band was off and Bryan came back for the acoustic
versions of Flying and All For Love. He played the harmonica in the beginning
of Straight From The Heart which sounded really good and looked wonderful. The
last song of this show was Room Service again but this time acoustic with changed
lyrics. He sang: “You could be in Philadelphia; you could even be in Frankfurt…”
I must admit I prefer the original version because this one has more power. But
it’s nice to listen to the same song at the beginning and also at the end
of a concert. He wished us Happy Christmas and off he went.
After the show
Moya and I decided to wait for Bryan and his band. We went around the building.
It was so cold and the fog was still there. We realized that there was no chance
for Bryan or the guy’s to stop the cars where we waited. They couldn’t
leave the area through the fence. So our chance for autographs was really small.
Also people told us that Bryan never stopped the car on this German tour. Bryan
came out and climbed in the car. They came along the fence and he was talking
to his driver. He pulled down the window, smiled, waved to us and said: “I
wish you all a merry Christmas, bye, bye, see you soon.”
There was someone
waiting with us and it was her birthday at midnight. People sang Happy Birthday.
Gary came out to the fence and started to write autographs for everyone who handed
things through the fence. He was very polite, smiling and singed everything. He
did for a long while and it was so very cold. Moya spoke to him and got an answer.
I only thanked him for the show tonight. He answered: “You’re welcome.”
We said goodbye to Christiane and her friends and went to car park. The cash
automat wouldn’t take our money. I couldn’t get the bank notes in without
getting them back. So we had to go to the office and pay there. It was very expensive
– more than 20 Euro. There was a special tariff for concert visitors but
only when you had arrived after 5 p. m.
The way back home was horrible. It
was foggier than on our way to Frankfurt. Following someone’s backlights
was so good but not everywhere was someone to follow. One nice thing that happened
was that we saw one of Bryan’s tour buses, and we wondered if it was making
for Dover.
We were at home around 3 in the morning and went straight to bed.
Another BA experience was over.
Moya and I did 5 concerts this year which
means this is our personal record. We never did so many BA concerts in a year
and they all have special moments and memories we don’t ever wanna forget. 
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
Not Romeo Not
Juliet
Heaven
It's Only Love
The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is
You
Blessing In Disguise
Cloud #9
Run To You
The Best Of Me
Flying
All
For Love
Straight From The Heart
Room Service (acoustic) | | |
