Twice
as marvellous... - A concert review by Katrin Wagner:
The 82nd
SAILOR show, the 6th time in Erfurt. And funnily
enough the promoter for this concert in Erfurt is
the same promoter (Traumzeit) who did an Oldie Night with
SAILOR there in August 2002. A few weeks ago I happened
to discover their website and e-mailed them to say
they should book SAILOR again. The Sweet were already
booked for this year's show at that time. And
then... suddenly... SAILOR and The Sweet with
"our" former captain Peter Lincoln at the same
show. Things couldn't be better.
Karsten and I are joined by our friend Christel at about
10.30 am. Then we pick up a friend of Karsten's called
Peter B. (not to be mixed up with Peter Lincoln who will
be called "Sweet Pete" from now on in this
report!) and drive to Erfurt with Karsten's car.
We arrive in Erfurt at about 3 pm and check in at the
hotel. SAILOR haven't arrived yet, so that we join fellow
SAILOR-fan Wilma and her son Kevin at the bar. Soon we
are also joined by Susi and Hilde. And to our surprise,
"Sweet Pete" is not at the venue for a
soundcheck with his band, but he's at the hotel and wide
awake now that I've just texted him. Oh oh... (sorry!
;-)) He's here already because he's had a different
flight and has come to Erfurt by train on his own. He
joins us for a drink and a chat while we all wait for the
other bands to arrive. "Yes, that's how it feels to
sit at an hotel and impatiently turn around every few
minutes while you wait for these SAILORs to arrive",
I tell him!
The other bands all arrive in a big coach (or a bus-bus,
as "Sweet Pete" calls it). All the other bands?
No. In fact one band is missing. And of course there's no
doubt that this has to be SAILOR. We're all confused.
"Sweet Pete" finds out that SAILOR were on the
same flight as all the other bands, but while the others
went on the bus-bus in Frankfurt to be driven to Erfurt,
SAILOR changed to a flight to Leipzig to avoid the long
drive and be here earlier. Back at our table at the bar
this causes some strange looks. Expect the unexpected!
This also leads us fans to another golden SAILOR rule:
Never make fun of another band or artist at a hotel bar
to then find out that fans/friends of them might be
sitting behind you.
We keep on waiting for SAILOR. Without success. We keep
on wondering where they are. Nobody knows. At about 4.45
pm we have to leave to get to the concert hall, where we
are supposed to pick up our press tickets before the
doors are opened at 5.30 pm. But due to a lot of traffic
we only get to the venue at 5.25 pm, and the crowd that
is waiting in front the doors is quite impressive
already. The people from the promoters didn't send us a
confirmation for our tickets, which makes me rather
nervous. We manage to find our way inside just in time,
and just as we've signed the list for our press tickets
the doors are opened. "RUN!........" I can hear
myself shout. At me? At Karsten? At all of us? While I'm
still wondering I find myself hitting the barrier in
front of the stage. Front row. 5 seconds later and we
wouldn't have been able to stand here any more! We have a
look at the official press information that we've been
given at the foyer. It includes a detailed page about
every band - except for one. There's NO information about
SAILOR except for the fact that they will perform here.
Why? They have a section with a nice text, a topical
photo and a link to my website on the concert's website.
WHY is there nothing in this press thing???
Wilma, Kevin, Susi and Hilde join Karsten, Christel,
Peter B. and me near the stage a little later. The
concert is sold out, as we're told. Lucky us!
The first band Grönland is quite good, as well as the
performance of Petra Zieger and her band, during which we
are almost burnt by a LOT of fireworks and flame-throwers
that are placed right in front of us on the edge of the
stage. Our faces suddenly feel rather hot - as does
Karsten's hat! ;-) Scary!
During a short performance of the Goombay Dance Band on
the so-called party stage in the middle of the hall, the
big stage is prepared for SAILOR. The schedule is quite
tight, so that we won't get any special songs tonight.
But at least we're looking forward to a SAILOR set with
all their big hits.
The sound is great and the audience is in a fantastic
mood (only interrupted for us personally at the second
song of the set which is the most inappropriate choice of
all for such a short show: "Wooly Bully").
Later we will be told how funny it looks to see us scream
and jump during "A Glass Of Champagne" and then
lean on the barrier and look annoyed during "Wooly
Bully". Due to the lack of time the audience doesn't
get to know the true promise of SAILOR live classics like
"One Drink Too Many" or "Vera From
Veracruz". But they really enjoy it, and during the
shortened version "The Old Nickelodeon Sound"
11.000 people all wave their arms in the air.
My personal highlight is my favourite song "The
Secretary", as well as seeing "Sweet Pete"
watching and enjoying the entire SAILOR set from behind
the mixing desk on the right side of the stage. He
watches them, he watches us, we watch him... This feels
very weird!
Despite the lack of time we get SAILOR at their best once
again. A wonderful show with marvellous music and a lot
of fun. Just typical SAILOR.
The big finale of SAILOR's set is of course Captain
Oliver's impressive rendition of "Con Te
Partirò" (Time To Say Goodbye). What a voice. I
want to film the whole song, but even though I'm leaning
on the barrier I don't seem to be able to hold the camera
still. The 11.000 people inside the concert hall are
amazed and thrilled.
After SAILOR we catch our breath during the great show of
The Manfreds. Finally we get a chance to see them! And
then it's time for another exhausting part of the
evening: The Sweet with our "Sweet Pete". Lucky
as we are he's standing right in front of us, and just
like during the SAILOR set, the SAILORs appear on the
right side of the stage to watch "Sweet Pete"
(and us). We even surprise "Sweet Pete" with
our SAILOR maracas during "Co Co" and
"Poppa Joe". Very funny.
After The Sweet I could use an oxygen tent, but instead
we have to make our way through the crowd to get to the
foyer of the hall. In hall number 2 we find something to
eat and to drink, and then we drive back to the hotel to
join the SAILORs, "Sweet Pete" and the other
fans at the bar.
The after-show-party is really enjoyable - as ever. And
this is another special thing about SAILOR. They are
there for their fans and friends before, during and after
their concerts.
And after all, personally I need the occasional concerts.
There couldn't be a better way to vent after a lot of
stress at work or after a bad time or when you're really
frustrated than standing in front of a stage, watching
these lovely special people and being able to sing along
and scream when you feel like it...
Katrin Wagner, 29 November 2007
Dreamtime
2007 (or: expect the unexpected, part 1567489...) - A
concert review by Karsten Wagner:
On the
24th of November 2007 we - Katrin, Christel and Peter B.
started with the "SAILOR-1" car in Kassel to
our direction Erfurt, where the big "Traumzeit"
(dreamtime) festival happened. Me, driving after a long
time! Luckily we had no traffic jams, so we arrived at
the hotel right in time. After Katrin woke up Peter
(again), oops, he came down to talk with us. Susi and her
Mum were there too. After another Suzi arrived, watching
us very "friendly", as ever, with concert-mogul
Rainer Haas, a big bus showed up in front of the hotel.
All the bands where in this bus, but one was missing.
Guess who? Yes: SAILOR! For some reason, they took a
flight from Frankfurt, where all the other bands took the
bus, but for some (er) "unknown reason" SAILOR
changed for a flight to Leipzig and now they were
missing.
We went to the concert hall soon, because they opened up
the doors early. So, anyway, Katrin and me were from our
radio station and got the permission to go inside before
they opened the doors. There we were, in the front row,
our friends Christel and Peter B. followed soon. Even
Susi and her Mum and Wilma and her son joined us.
First Band that evening were "Grönland", a
cover band of the in Germany very famous Herbert
Grönemeyer. But they were quite good. Second on the bill
was Petra Zieger and band, whom I didnt know until
then, but they where good as live-package. In front of
the stage, big flames came up ~20 feet high, so for us it
was very warm in a second, every time these flames came
up. After that advantage, we had a rest, because the
Goombay Dance Band showed up in the middle of the concert
hall, on a small stage with their full-playback. In the
meantime the stage was setup for SAILOR. Great that they
arrived in time, so it was space to "build" the
"Framelodeon" around the keyboards.
Sadly SAILOR only had half an hour to play, so the played
shorter versions of "The Secretary" and
"The Old Nickelodeon Sound", but some cover
versions. I really dont know why they cant
play any of their many hits ("Down By The
Docks", "All I Need Is A Girl"
) or
buried treasures like "Danger On The Titanic"
or the fantastic "Street Lamp".
One highlight was at the end of the show, that Oliver
Marsh sung "Time To Say Goodbye" in Italian
language. So he got standing ovations for this
masterpiece and his voice on that one.
During SAILOR's performace ex-singer Peter Lincoln
watched the show from behind the mixing desk, sang along,
danced and had fun with us.
After SAILOR, the Manfreds went on the stage, wit their
big hits "Mighty Quinn", "Pretty
Flamingo" etc
The man who gave the band their
name is missing, but the other originals are all there
and they play the hits, which Manfred Man is not doing
with his "Earthband" he has since the
80s. So I enjoyed the Manfreds very much!
After them, The Sweet were on the bill and wow - what a
show, songs and sound! Great!!! And Pete (our
ex-SAILOR-frontman) did very well, he fits totally as
Sweet-singer and he plays bass very well too. They were
my personal highlight that night!
After The Sweet, we decided to search for something to
eat and drink. In hall number 2, we saw Suzi Q. on a big
screen, playing 5 new, unknown new songs first, because
she likes to sell her latest album, well I think a
mixture of the well-known ones and new ones would be
better, but thats her prob. ;-)
After Miss Q., Karat where the highlight in the Eastern
city, its clear! But at this time, we went to the
hotel to party with our SAILORs and Sweet Pete, and we
all had great fun, joined by Bruce (Sweets
drummer), two Wilmas (one from the concert management)
and all the others.
The Party went on until the next morning, and after ~4
hours of sleep, we went to breakfast to say goodbye to
our SAILORs then we went back to Kassel wit me as the
driver again. ~~~
Looking for the next funny event
.
Greetz: Cap K / Karsten Wagner ~
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