Well, where were we? Aaaah, yeah, waving the tourbus goodbye… All right. Getting back to the hotel, there is only one thing I want to do. Get my shoes off. Oh, and of course: get to bed. After all it seems we still have to get used to this unknown rock n roll lifestyle. The next day holds a relaxed programme for us, though, having a nice walk around Brussels, including Grand Place and Männeken Pis, I mean, we have to get some rest before rocking hard again the following day, don’t we? Anyway, angry-looking rainclouds and a suddenly following awful rainshower don’t leave us another choice but to set up camp in O’Reilley’s, an Irish pub just opposite the AB Club. Here we are, wallowing in sweet memories of the night before already. Then, train home, sleep and reset to rock n roll mode the next morning.
But before we finally get to show #2 on our BRMC tour list, let’s reflect on how I got to realizing BRMC would be playing in Essen. Let that savour. “BRMC playing in ESSEN!” People coming from the Ruhr-area will know what I’m talking about. We’re used to travelling at least to Cologne to see a band we like play. And then, of all the bands in the world, BRMC come to play a show in Essen. Well, why don’t they just come and play at my house then? No problem, I can get the furniture out easily. So one night, I had just fallen asleep, there’s my sister calling me up, going “Hey, d’you guess where BRMC will be playing?”. I just couldn’t believe it. Some time later, after I had fallen asleep again, I took a look at my mobile phone and had to make sure my sister had really called me up and I hadn’t sent a text to Natascha in a dream-like state. No, no dream, a real call. Okay, got to let that sink in.
And some months later (although it only feels like two weeks) the day has arrived. The familiar tourbus is parked in front of the Weststadthalle and lovely people I only met two days ago are already gathered sitting on the steps in the “Ruhrpott” sun. More and more I get the impression that BRMC gigs somehow resemble a kind of class reunion. The only difference being that you get people from all over the world and they all have the same passion. It’s a lovely thing.
There’s one aspect, however, that gets some of us a little bit worried. The European Soccer Championship is taking place at the moment and tonight Germany will be playing against Austria and trying to qualify for the quarter finals. Sooo, as Germany is a country that is crazy about soccer, which the cars hidden under German flags driving around seem to testify for us, there might be the chance that a lot of people had to decide between soccer and rock n roll and made the wrong choice. Our worries are without cause, however. By the by the venue gets fuller and fuller and those few who probably have stayed home or gone to a public screening to watch the match have no idea how wrong they are (left aside the fact that the match must have been quite boring as I got to hear later on – but, at least they made it to the quarter finals).
Stage time is 8:30 and almost on time the show’s about to begin. The first song is 666 Conducer again and this is the first and only aspect that disappoints me this evening. For the setlist is almost the same as in Brussels and thus doesn’t hold that many surprises for the ones who also saw the show there. After all, one could have guessed that there would be the possibility of it, considering the fact that Leah is still new and must have had quite a hard time to learn a huge amount of songs in such a short period of time anyway. But, and this is what makes all of that being critical stuff null and void again, Robert has a special treat for us. He plays Pretend! And he announces the song by explaining that he wants to give something special to the German audience, because they’ve always been very supportive. And being played on stage for the first time ever, as he tells us, is something really special. Thanks a lot, Mr. Been! I’m that flabbergasted, I even don’t dare to get my mobile phone out to record this special moment, I don’t want to miss a single second. As usual, Robert warns the audience that he’ll surely fuck up the song, and, also as always, that said he does. But who cares? It’s still astonishingly beautiful and people can’t do anything else but love this band.
Luckily, Mins dared to do a video.
All in all, the audience is a lot wilder than the Belgian one, jumping around, singing along and dancing, mostly during Punk Song, Spread Your Love and Six Barrel Shotgun. During that song I start thinking whether it was a good idea to be standing at the front. But only for a tiny second. Everything’s just perfect. After another energetic two hours set, the show finally ends with All You Do Is Talk again, but this time the background of the Weststadthalle, decorated with hundreds of tiny lamps and resembling a starry sky, adds even more beauty to it.
Here are some pics my friend Lisa (another happy soul that got more than convinced tonight) and I took.
Unfortunately, there’s no additional outside set for the fans tonight. But, as I said before, we’re spoilt. Let them have the rest they deserve. And let’s see what the other shows in Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Groningen might bring.
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