18/09/05 - SAP ARENA, MANNHEIM

Review by Chrissie:
Now yesterday was THE sunday I've been waiting for so long and I'll give you a little review.
It was an really exciting sunday because nobody did know how it will end, nobody could prophesy who would win the elections. There is no clearly result and so we don't know yet if the SPD with Mr. Schroeder will go together with the CDU and Angela Merkel ...
.....hehe
... if you are interested in german politics I must disappoint you, because this is a review of
Bryan's gig in Mannheim, 18th september 2005!
My husband and I left home at 18 o'clock and we reached the SAP-arena in Mannheim without problems after driving about one hour. We had to take a 10-minute-walk from the parking to the arena and it was so cold!
But we knew that inside it will be very warm.
We had enough time to find our places and I have to say that we never had better places. We had seats and they were on the left side of the stage, but not directly on the left side, but a little bit in the middle. Not so very high, but high enough. And near, wow! We didn't need a screen, we could see the guys from a distance about 8 - 10 meters!!! So after waiting from 19 til 20 o'clock - we could watch the results of the elections on big screens which were hanging everywhere in the floors - Daniel Powter opened his show. But maybe I'll tell later from that.

From our seat we could watch the door backstage and so we saw when the guys came onto the stage a few minutes past 21 o'clock. At the begining Keith was in front of the stage and they opened the show with Room Service. I have to say that it was one of the best shows we have ever seen, it was my 5th. Though the acoustic was not sooo very good and the audience was in the begining a little bit lame. But the guys were so great! They had a lot of fun, you could see it and you could feel it and after a while the audience was louder and louder, they sung and clapped their hands, Bryan didn't continue singing because the audience did and then he said "you are crazy!" Keith was also so great, he had a lot of fun showing artistic acts with his guitar: he held the guitar over his head and behind his head - while playing it! -, he stepped over it, he threw it into the air - and catched it... it was so great and funny, his show! Playing "can't stop this thing.." (I think it was that song) Bryan and Keith did a "duel" with their guitars: Keith in front of the stage played some sounds and Bryan a little bit behind played the "answer" or did other sounds. It was so funny and the both guys had a lot of pleasure doing that! The audience, too! This time I thought that "Run to you" is the very very best song live, because in the begining it sounds melodicly but it rocks, too. And all what Bryan is able to do with his voice he does it in this song: first it sounds like a balade and than it developpes to a rock song.

Of course Bryan wanted somebody to sing with him "WYG" and he was looking for a girl. This took a few minutes and was funny too because of Bryan's comments... Finally he chose Nadine, a girl who lived next Heidelberg. He asked her what she does and she said that she's studying international business. Bryan looked at her... doubing... shaking his head... saying:" international business" Then he asked her about the elections and he said that he has to do that - kind of proofing if she was up to date studying international business... hehe. They sung WYG and she did it quite good, she didn't need the text because she knew the lyrics. She got a T-Shirt for her and her mum and a big big hug from Bryan.........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh... guess there were a lot of jealous girls at that moment! The show continued and Bryan told a story without any sence. He told that the next song he first did at the piano but than he prefered the guitar because the guitar is his instrument. And the song happened after dinner. "As you know it sometimes happens after lunch, sometimes after dinner and I don't know why I tell this, just want you let to know".... hehe and than he started singing "EIDIDIFY"! What a voice, omg! Can you imagine an other guy singing this song? NEVER!!!

There was a fan in one of the first rows who had a banner with "please forgive me, pleeze!" Bryan saw it and asked her if she had done sth wrong. He said to her that she could come to him on the stage and talk about what she had done... And than he played it for her! Not the whole song, it was a little bit short, but so nice! When he sung "The best of me" Bryan took a bath in the crowd (hope you say that in english, too!). He disappeared in the audience and you didn't see him any more, but you heared him singing! He was touched by thousands of hands and the audience enjoyed it so much (guess Bryan, too!) Unfortunately we had to leave for a while and we missed one or two songs, I don't know. But the last song was again Room Service, the acoustic version (he played it for me because I love it so much... ) I'm now still on cloud # 9 but I fear falling down soon and than I notice that it is over ... :(

Setlist:
Room Service
Somebody
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
All I Want Is You
Heaven
I'm Ready
Please Forgive Me
It's Only Love
The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You
Cloud #9
Run To You
The Best Of Me
Straight From The Heart
Why Do You Have To Be So Hard To Love
All For Love
Room Service (acoustic)

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Pictures by Marloes Kerver & Jackie

BA on an acoustic performing 'I'm Ready' with Keith on Spanish guitar

Marloes with Bryan during 'The Best Of Me'

K-man on a solo

Bryan jamming

Jackie standing next to a poster for the show! She clearly needs to attend the school of 'Steve & Ade's a to z to robbing posters'! That would have been off that lampost quicker than you could say "why is Bryan ginger?"