It’s four o’clock on a Saturday morning and I’m already awake. This MUST be love. In order to make it to the venue in Brussels on time, my lovely companions (Kirsty, Natascha and Melanie) and I have decided to go for an early start. Being in Brussels at about eleven o’clock should do the trick. And referring to Kirsty’s and Natascha’s experiences with trains going to foreign countries, you can never leave early enough.
So here we go, heading from Dortmund to Cologne and from there to Brussels, full of excitement about the things to come. And first and foremost we’re wondering about what Leah, the drummer who’s on tour to fill in for Nick, is going to be like. Will the gig be fine? Or do we have to fear that our little tour is going to suffer from the band’s separation?
But what a night we should experience!
The first thing we’re confronted with (and I mean this literally) after an endless-seeming time in an uncomfortable windy and rainy Anspachlaan waiting for the doors to open is The Experimental Tropic Blues Band. Hmm. What exactly might be so ‘experimental’ or ‘tropical’ about them is a question that gets to be answered quite soon. They’re a three-piece, playing some kind of punked up fast blues and they are as lovely as to perform songs for us that include lyrics like “I’m a bad motherfucker” or parts of text referring to putting fingers up parts of bodies where they definitely don’t belong. At least if you ask me. Well, depends on the perspective, it seems… After all their seemingly testosterone-drenched performance leads to great amusement for the people around (not for Natascha, however, who has to endure a “Baby, I’m singing only for you”-attack by one of the singers) and has its highlight in, well, how may I call it…? An incident including a huge amount of saliva dripping from the microphone. People in the first row, get your umbrellas out!
Half an hour later it’s time for the real men (and now we also have to say women) to come out and play. Starting off with 666 Conducer they hit us with the intensity we’ve been longing to experience again for six months. Thank God they’re back! From the very first moment I have the impression they are feeling very well on stage tonight, Robert and even Peter reaching out for the end of the stage and being really close to the audience from time to time. Some people somehow don’t know how to behave and instead misuse the situation, one crazy chick behind me reaching out her hand, stroking Robert’s leg in areas that are definitely not to be touched without permission and screaming like a teenager on a Backstreet Boys concert. Helloooo? Is this a BRMC concert or The Chippendales?? Next thing she’s going to do is to get a note out and put it into his belt, or what? Anyway, she’ll learn her lesson tonight. Robert teaches her a lesson of decency by stepping back a bit and kicking her hand away. Don’t mess with the BRMC, lady!
Finally I conclude that our fears about Nick’s missing were totally unnecessary. Leah Shapiro does a really great job filling in for Nick and while I couldn’t imagine a woman playing in BRMC at the beginning, to be honest, I now learn to appreciate she’s there. There seems to be a connection between the three on stage that doesn’t need words. Thus, in a blissful state of total happiness, we’re being led through a set of
666 Conducer
Berlin
Weapon of Choice
Ain't No Easy Way
Stop
White Palms
Red Eyes And Tears
Awake
Six Barrel Shotgun
Heart & Soul
Fault Line
A Fine Way To Lose
Sympathetic Noose
Shuffle Your Feet
Howl
River Styx
American X
Whatever Happened To My Rock and Roll
ENCORE:
Took Out A Loan
Spread Your Love
Steal A Ride
All You Do Is Talk.
The set represents a varied mix of highlights from all the albums and playing two new songs, A Fine Way To Lose and River Styx, we are able to let our minds drift away into spheres of dreaming about a new album that might be coming up in some time. Getting ready to play Sympathetic Noose, Robert sits down on a monitor box in the middle of the stage, beginning to sing Jingle Bell Rock as he seems to remind himself of a kind of Father Christmas there. Happiness Faces all around. And the faces remain to be happy until the set ends in the beautiful All You Do Is Talk. Unfortunately, all gigs have to reach their end somehow. But being a fan of BRMC one has to realize that our lot is really spoilt. Or do you know any other band that always plays at least for two hours? However, my hopes of finally, finally, finally hearing 20 Hours live are somehow disappointed, but maybe one of the upcoming shows will hold a surprise for me…
So while I’m thinkinng “This couldn’t get any better.”, shortly after the end of the show Robert comes out and rushes out onto the street to play another 30 minutes set to the hard-boiled fans who didn’t have to leave early to catch a train or something like that. He tells us that he tries to avoid drinking by playing for us and starts off with Mercy, which originally was on the setlist but didn’t get played. Right into the middle of Mercy however, there’s this funny Belgian guy, who seems to long for an audience to listen to him, so Robert invites him to sing along with him and they do a kind of jam that results in pockets full of change for the Belgian guy. After a set of Mercy, Rifles, Chelsea Hotel, Visions of Johanna, I Am The Resurrection, The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll and Not What You Wanted Robert finally calls it a day.
Thus, it’s Peter’s turn now. Appearing from somewhere, guitar at the ready, he walks off to the nearby tube station and almost all people remaining, like a flock of sheep, follow him downstairs. There our luck continues, we get to hear A Long Black Veil, Fault Line, Complicated Situation, Cool Water and even a brandnew song which Peter performs sitting on the floor.
After this further additional set the day is still not over yet and Peter gets to play some more songs with his fans in front of the bus, one guy is even as lucky as to be allowed to play Peter’s guitar and they perform Love Burns together.
Then, after hours full of joy in the presence of this wonderful band, it’s finally time for them and their lovely crew to depart to their next show in Switzerland at 2 o’clock in the morning. And seeing most of the remaining people waving them goodbye is really touching. I’m on the verge of getting a white handkerchief out and wave myself. See you in Essen.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen