Rockin' All Over Germany - my reviews of the German shows

All right, after I had honestly forgotten about this for some time now I will finally sit down and do the Munich review as well. If I don’t get it done till Wednesday when the Dusseldorf show comes on I’ll probably never finish it anymore…

So, the day between those shows was a Saturday and I have to say that, after that long Friday, I felt a lot of strain in my foot and I wasn’t sure how the next day was going to work out.

We drove back from Dresden to Wurzburg, a city which is about 70 kilometers away from where I live. Since my parents got divorced my dad lives there with his new wife and we spent the afternoon there sharing our common passion and watching the MotoGP broadcast from England. He afterwards brought me to a little village close to Wurzburg where our favorite soccer team played their final game in their relegation battle and won, which was quite cool. My cousin took me home then and it was already late Saturday evening when we arrived.

I just checked shortly online for any important updates regarding Munich and then hurried to get some rest for the next day.

We left at around 10am - we…that were: my cousin, his mum, my mum and another friend of mine which meant that we made the trip in the same allocation as we had done the Munich show in 2008.

This time there were fortunately no incidents…well almost. We were just about to enter Munich when we noticed that the car we had taken (the one from our grandfather who has the largest and most comfortable one) didn’t have any Fine Particles-sticker and as Munich is divided into different “environmental zones” we had no other option than to park right outside the city and to take the train / walk to the stadium. Oh, more to walk on that foot than I had expected…there goes the spirit!

But the train ride had its good sides - I met a really cute girl in there who also was on her way to the show and we hung out together later at the stadium and enjoyed some drinks together. So in the end, it could have been worse I guess.

The gates had not opened yet when we entered the Olympiapark, so we took the time to get something to drink and while we were lining up for the entrance I met Ronnie, a friend I have known for about two years now. We met via the German BJ boards and already had met personally in April of 2010 when my cousin, he and I had tickets for Champions League semi final of Bayern Munchen against Olympique Lyonnais. As we both were having tickets to the infield we decided to go and enjoy the show together. Once we got in I texted Johnny, who left the GC area to meet me in the back. We are friends for years now and finally getting to meet in person was really awesome and we had a long and funny chat. In the past we already used to watch live webcasts (like Rock in Rio 2010) together and discussing the band via ICQ which had always been a lot of fun. And, luckily, he recently added Mannheim to his shows, so we can enjoy the concert there together and rock on to our favorite band without the need of using some ugly messenger.







Time to move on, this time only The Breakers were an opening act and they were off the stage faster than in Dresden. A few minutes before 8pm the screens went on and Obie could be seen and heard while talking to people in the pit. Though this may have been interesting for the people watching the webcast, I thought it was just dreadful and totally killing the anticipation that had been present before. Furthermore I can’t stand this clown…but enough about that.

The band entered the stadium, which was still shown on the screens and made the intro rather senseless, but anyway. I have to say that I probably never experienced two shows so differently like I did in Dresden and Munich, and I needed a long time to realize why it was that way.

The intro ran over the screens and they rocked the house with Raise Your Hands. 2nd time I heard that as an opener after Hessisch Lichtenau 2006 and I think it is one of the songs of the band’s catalogue that fits the best in this slot. Right from this song the people were very much into the show, at least where we were standing (on the left behind the GC area). Throughout the show I noticed that the pit partly wasn’t as much into the band’s performance as we were in the back which may have been the reason people tend to judge this show in so many different ways.

Bad Name, BTBMB and Born To Follow were up next and went all down well, with In These Arms the first downer of the night came for me. I just can’t stand Bobby doing the solo and the band playing the song in a lower key doesn’t help it either. When Bobby went on doing his shit I turned around with my ears covered, which got me some surprised looks at first and then some big laughs after the people around me heard how this clown screwed up on stage.

Runaway was next and had the audience going and us rocking on, but I have to say that Jon did a better job on the solo in Dresden. It’s My Life was the typical classic and I had fun, but so far I had more “shallow” fun than two days before. By this I mean I was rocking along, singing, being pumped and partly even doing some of Tico’s drum hits. I was really having a blast, but didn’t get lost in the music like I did in Frankfurt or Dresden.

Blaze of Glory came up, my mother was extremely happy and I didn’t mind them doing the song, though Jon struggled with it in the end. Captain Crash was unavoidable I guess and I have to admit that I probably would play it frequently as well if I was Jon. Yes, we all get tired of it, but I think the lyrics are quite fun and the picture of the entire stadium waving their arms isn’t THAT bad.

The first real highlight of the night was about to come…Bad Medicine! I personally think that the y spiced up the performance of the song itself this tour and it’s finally fun to listen to it again. But this night it was just huge! Richie started the amazing riff of Rock You Like A Hurricane and I couldn’t believe my ears for a few seconds. The reaction around me was overwhelming and when Jon said “David Bryan, what do you got?” I went nuts! I adore that song and kept a bit freaking out as they kicked into it as I loved that cover ever since they first did it at the O2 last summer.





Alright, the song was done, everybody was pumped, and they brought on The More Things Change!

I don’t hate this song, but it totally killed the great mood and Jon’s speech drowned as well. Lay Your Hands On Me was next, and while in Dresden the fans went crazy about the jam session, it got close to zero reaction here.

When Jon hit the circle and the intro of WWWB came on I was feeling my heart beat rising once again. This is one of the fewer post-2000 songs that actually mean a lot to me.

It’s one of the tunes that caught me in the right mood at the right time - just like Undivded. I remember walking home from a great New Year’s Eve Party in 2010, being more or less drunk and seeing the daylight slightly coming up. It was the year I was going to graduate and at that point I had no idea how my future would really look like, if I was going to pass my exams and what would happen to our brotherhood of friends once everyone went his/her separate ways. All these thoughts combined with a bit of a flashback to the time my friends and I spent over the years together at school and abroad and the slightly rain that was falling…these impressions I experienced while WWWB was blasting on my headphones and it totally, really totally hit me. From that moment on this song has become so important for me and the lyrics just seemed to fit perfectly.

So now there I was, standing in the stadium, watching the huge animations and hearing Jon doing this song - and nothing happened. No, the performance wasn’t very bad, but it didn’t get me. I heard from other fans that, during the first leg of The Circle tour, the song seems to have worked in arenas with the lights being more impressive and the all-around setting being more fitting. Well, maybe I’ll experience the song tomorrow night again in Dusseldorf and change my mind, maybe not.

At this moment it was like you are sitting on a train watching the landscape passing by. You basically love the nature around you, but you just don’t have the chance to really experience it and soak it’s beauty in - that’s how the moment felt to me.

They went on with Bed of Roses - Jon’s microphone didn’t work properly, so he improvised by holding two at a time which got some laughs and applause. At that time I noticed again that the people on the infield were much more into it than in the circle.

I’ll Be There For You started winning the crowd back a bit, though the ad-libs were more and better in Dresden.

Bells of Freedom was done with the band on the circle and was way better than in Dresden for me as it was a proper acoustic rendition - Bobby didn’t play along at all and Richie took full charge of the guitar part in the song - the way it should always be!

Who Says - we made it through, the same goes for Sleep. The song that had been so amazing in Dresden was a major let-down for me, it felt flat without the covers and groove wasn’t in there. But from now on the show and the energy REALLY picked up and got me rockin’ like crazy again. Someday was full of energy, as were HAND and KTF. I noticed that Jon’s vocals sounded a bit shot, but I can’t say that he didn’t try. He put all in he had, as did the rest of the band. Richie got to shine more and more as the final part began.

The encores were about to start and my Dry County moment was finally there. Just beautiful live and Richie owned it! Wanted had a much, much better crowd reception than 2 days before. I expected, or rather feared Prayer to follow up, but Tico hit the drums for Always. That surprised me as Jon’s voice didn’t seem to be up for it, but he did a decent job and Richie played a great outro. He clearly enjoyed being there and doing what he can still do the best.

Prayer was supposed to end the show and by the time it was over I wasn’t sure whether we’d get more or not. I looked at the watch and saw 8-10 minutes left. Like a flashback Jon’s words from Sydney shot through my head “I still have 10 minutes to play…” and I started to wonder if we’d really get These Days as well?! I don’t give a shit about DC and TD being the “unexpected expected” or not, but both in one encore is ace for me! Especially as I don’t see 10-20 shows per tour!

My wish came true and I was immensely rocking and enjoying the song and when I saw Jon on the screens saying “wait a minute” I couldn’t believe we’d even get more. We did and Blood On Blood was a cool way to end the night!

So, the show was done and I felt happy, pumped and burned out at the same time. I had really rocked and sang along with all I had the entire night, as had the people around me. I couldn’t have survived one more song I guess, as my foot kept on screaming inside “you bastard don’t even care about giving me a rest even when I’m broken”. Well, dear fractured bone, blame it on the love of Rock’ n ’Roll!

Besides the pain I felt so different after the show…I was happy and burned, and I had so many songs I loved. But in Dresden I had this feeling of being lost in the music, like being away from the happenings and the world around. This didn’t happen in Munich, still it was a great experience!

I tried to phone Johny after the show, but it was too loud and we couldn’t understand each other. I wanted to ask him if Seb and the rest would like to come to the back for a little talk, but the moment I hang up the phone I already saw them coming. Unlike in many other stadiums, the GC area leaves the stadium on the same way than all the others do. It was really fun meeting Thierry, Seb and schlochty (what’s his real name btw?) and Seb told me he thought the show was dreadful and a C- in his book. I still can’t agree with him, and to me that’s what makes such meetings more exciting - you can discuss your different point of views on stuff like that. How boring would it be if we all agreed on everything?!

Along with thousands of other fans we waited for the trains to get outside of Munich again and the started our way home. There I made an interesting experience - there’s no album like Destination Anywhere if you want to calm down and relax after being so high after a show - I think I listened to it twice in full and then found some good sleep…



Next stop: Dusseldorf - tomorrow night!

Round 4 - Heading To Mannheim - Now it’s do or die!



Two months have passed since this show took place and I somehow never came around to write a review. So, for those who may have enjoyed reading the other so far or just for the sake of completing it here’s the final round of my German tour 2011.

The first crazy thing happened almost a week before that show when my parents decided to both go to that concert - as I mentioned before, they have been divorced for two years now. Memories popped up in my mind from the last show we all did together - Hessisch-Lichtenau 2006, which was quite a disaster due to certain different reasons. Also Munich 2003 hadn’t been that easy with both of them, not meaning the shows itself, but many things that happened around.

So 4 of us started off our trip to Mannheim at around 3pm on that Saturday - me, my parents and Lena, who had already been with us in Munich. From where we live, Mannheim is just a 2 hour drive - I wanted to leave earlier, but got outvoted by the rest of us. And there we were again, right at the highway’s exit to Mannheim, caught in a traffic jam. Man, I was already getting pissed that early again. We made it to the concert sight at around 6:30 then and what looked to be still quite empty coming from the back (the Maimarktgelände is rather long) turned out to be a pretty packed crowd already. Standing more in the back, in the middle of nowhere, that was something to get excited about - not!

But things and the whole night started to turn at that point. I got texted by Johny (Avantasian), who I had met months before at a local club during a Bounce concert. He told me that we should go to the very left side (where all the different footing stands were located), around the barrier and go to the left screen. It worked and was the tip that saved our night - we all of a sudden were even close to the pit area, had a great view and great people around us. By this time the support act was still playing - Vintage Trouble. For the first time in Germany The Breakers didn’t open and, though I never minded them in that slot, I thought Vintage Trouble did a much better job. They’re music had a cool grove and they seemed to be more experienced being on stage.

After they had done their set we went to get something to drink and take a toilet break, before we wanted to settle at our position. Back at the “pirate” bar I met Seb, Katherine, Erik and Thierry. We had a short conversation, Thierry told me how awful Jon also sounded in Zurich and we all agreed that the opener (as the shows with Happy Now and Captain Crash in that spot both tanked) will set the tone for tonight. Afterwards we arranged a meeting point for after the show, as Kathleen and Paul were still in the pit and Johnny, Ronny and Johny were at totally different points of the festival site.

When walking back to our position I kept thinking “this is the final German show and every last German show this decade was special”, trying to convince me that this night would turn out to be good. Normally that’s what an artist should do and not the concert attendant himself. Well, the band still had the chance to prove it, because, even though Dusseldorf (and supposedly Zurich) had been downers, every final German tour show in the past had been awesome - Munich 2001, 2003 (or alternatively Kiel) and 2006 as well as Frankfurt 2008.

The music kept playing, Jon’s white microphone stand was on stage and everybody got excited around us. They were singing, chanting and I thought “wow this could be a real awesome crowd”. The only time I experienced fans being to hyped even before the show went on was in Munich 2003 - and we all know where than went! I didn’t know if there was a curfew, but got a little nervous at around 20 minutes after 8 as the band still didn’t show up. But just as these thoughts went through my head the little orange “balls” at the beginning of the intro started to pop up on the screen and I screamed “it’s about to start”. Everyone around me started to cheer and get crazy. Awesome!

When the intro was done my heart beat was immensely high, anticipating, hoping and at the same time fearing the first song. Tico counted the beat off and Richie busted into Raise Your Hands! Here we go! It was exactly the right song to start to work the crowd and to get everyone going. The only thing that bothered me a little bit was that the sound out there on the left wasn’t as loud as I wanted it to be, but this may have been due to me being used to the overpowered volume in Dusseldorf. It changed and got better throughout the show anyway. Bad Name followed right up to Raise Your Hands and Jon seemed to get more and more relaxed and have fun. The best thing that could happen! It went down great, as did Born To Be My Baby. For the first time this tour I heard Jon properly hitting the “na na na” part in the end, something where he clearly struggled in Munich and Dusseldorf, even a bit in Dresden. When We Weren’t Born To Follow kicked off I realized how good it could turn out that night. Jon started singing and I got goose bumps, for the first time ever during this song. The vocals were just so spot on, he wasn’t mumbling or anything and just sounded very good!

Towards the end of the song I started wondering what will be next. Will they go over straight to Lost Highway or finish the songs and go with In These Arms or Whole Lot of Leavin’? I wasn’t overly excited about any of these alternatives, but loved what happened: Jon shouted a few “oh yeah” and announced The Radio Saved My Life Tonight! I had listened to this song heavily the weeks before, thinking how cool it would be to hear it again. And it rocked the house! Of course I prefer the tune in its original way, but they spiced it up a bit. It sounded faster, with more punch and David’s backing vocals were very present. Tico missed one beat at the end of the guitar solo, but then drummed like crazy as if he wanted to make up for it. After that little break, where Jon sings about walking home with his dashboard light the build-up followed - the part I love most about the live version of this song. The audience clapped and shouted like crazy and I rarely ever felt better at a live show than at this point - and it wouldn’t change for the rest of the night!

The song was done, the cheer immense. Jon did a short speech, talking about how it was good to be back, greeting the people from the military airbase and saying that no one played here for 8 years since he went 20 minutes over the curfew back then.

Then It’s My Life kicked in and kept everyone just on their feet! Afterwards the cheering was so loud I didn’t ever hear the first notes of Runaway. Jon did a much better job on the solo than I ever heard him doing before, he really got better and could kick Bobby’s ass easily. Though I still don’t see the point why Richie isn’t playing it himself, he still most definitely is in a different league with his skills!

Jon pointed at Tico and the beat for Sleep When I’m Dead kicked in. Once again Jon changed the speed of how the audience should clap, just like in Dusseldorf. But the major difference was that he did it here because he felt like he could really let it go, whereas it felt so forced half a week before. He let us count it in and started the song. People following my reviews here might know how much I loved the song in Dresden and how flat it fell on me both in Munich and Dusseldorf. This night the magic was back again and somehow I was again taken away by the lights. I don’t know why, but both in Dresden and Mannheim I was standing very much to the side of the stage, meanwhile my position was quite centered on the other shows. Maybe the view is the reason the lights made more impact on me, I can’t think of anything else to be honest.

But it wasn’t just the lights, the whole performance was a lot more intense. The song had a grove tonight and that’s what it needs to breathe. After the solo Jon did his Mick Jagger parody by playing Start Me Up which worked very well and afterwards he and Richie spotted an Elvis double in the pit. He said something, imitating Elvis tone in his voice and went back to I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.

I was so relaxed at this point, knowing that it was a totally different style of show than 4 days before, in fact, it looked like a different band. I was just having a great time!



We Got It Going On came and I didn’t even mind, the crowd was loud and the video effects are cool! About the song - well, I rambled enough about by now I guess.

Now we just came to the point where I started thinking “I heard all this in that way before” and right then another special treat “for our Germans fans only” came - I Get A Rush! It’s not my favorite song off the box set, but it was a welcome change and I enjoyed it, though Jon’s vocals weren’t so spot on during that song for once. Even now they didn’t lose the audience in any way, though obviously no one around me seemed to know the tune (I had a female fan behind me literally singing along word for word, but she always shut up for the box set songs).



Jon demanded a doctor and the women started dancing on the big video wall. Now this song everybody knew again and accordingly was the response. What made the song special was, besides the good performance, the middle part. There weren’t those standard phrases after the guitar solo, instead Richie came to Jon’s mic and they both joked about the women in the pit writing request banners with Jon saying to Richie “that’s why you get divorced!” Then he grinned down to the pit treating them “Mercy, huh?” and starting the “yeah yeah” parts which I heard about a thousand times in Dusseldorf with the band failing to get it done right back then. This time it was different, all joined in, so I’m pretty sure they had rehearsed it before. Also Hugh played a nice bass line which I never heard before. After they got their treat Jon told David he needed “that old time rock and roll” and this got an even bigger cheer out there on the left that Mercy before. After they had finished the cover songs he challenged the crowd by telling Richie that we seem to get tired early. We most certainly didn’t and it just got louder by that!



Time for the circle, time for an outing of Bed of Roses. The performance was vocally good, much better than in Munich (besides the fact the microphone worked this time), but still couldn’t hold a candle to the mind blowing rendition of Frankfurt 2008. Everybody enjoyed it anyway and was singing along, holding up flashlights and cigarette lighters. Ironically I struggled all night long to get a proper connection with my mobile phone, but during this song (where probably most of the calls to people outside were done) I could easily phone 2 friends of mine and make them happy.

Richie joined Jon on the circle and they started discussing, I guess about a banner requesting Never Say Goodbye. They ended up staring I’ll Be There For You then. Yeah, I would have loved a rendition of the Slippery classic, but the NJ ballad is a song they can really play every night without me ever getting tired of it! And to make a comparison again - whereas it was delivered without any emotions Dusseldorf you could feel here that the song meant something to the band again. It was nice with the long sing-along part in the end.

Now the part I was so hoping for finally came back!!! Tico and Dave made their way out onto the circle, because it was “too much fun” being out there. Another sentence that gets said so often, but this time I believed it. I was eagerly awaiting whatever would come and when Jon told the band “good luck with this” I knew something rare would be coming up. It was Miss 4th of July!!!



The day after the Dusseldorf concert I had been driving in the car with my dad, and we were listening to a live compilation of the circle tour. I was pissed and angry and when this song came up I told him “see, why don’t they just play such a song acoustic on the circle??!?!? Would make every diehard happy, has a great melody and isn’t hard on Jon’s vocals” Now that they did it I looked over my shoulder and saw my dad with a big grin on his face - he was thinking the same!

They stayed on the circle and started Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night. I normally share the opinion that the electric version works better but the audience just along the same way and when they key change came on and everybody sang along like a big choir I was totally shaking for a moment. Brilliant!

Well, every night has got to have it - Who Says You Can’t Go Home. This time it was carried by the audience even enjoying that one. I was pretty sure nothing could ruin this night anymore for me.

When the song was done I spotted Richie having his guitar he usually uses for Hey God. And I knew that this would be the rare spot where the song might appear. I already was getting hyped when Jon punched me right in the face by screaming “Captain Craaaaaaaaash!” No, Jon! NO!

I was a little bit unsatisfied, for the first and only time that night!

The fans around us didn’t seem to mind though, they were waving their arms and clapping all the time. When the turd had finally reached its end, Jon said that this would be a song from the Greatest Hits they had not done live here so far. Really? This Is Love, This Is Life? No, No Apologies! We had it in Dresden, but Jon never gets those facts right anyway. It was awesome, really rocking the crowd and I totally loved it again! I tried to phone my cousin, who had been with us in Munich and got pissed that he didn’t get it. I just saw on my mobile phone that the line was open, not realizing that he had been too late to get the call and all was running onto his mailbox. Well, he got to hear Have A Nice Day afterwards. The song had the guitar being edgy in the mix and Jon nailing it - and especially singing at the right time, something that had been terribly wrong in Dusseldorf.

I was sweating, my hands were burning from the constant clapping and my voice was fading - and I loved it!!! Brilliant night!

Keep The Faith again was stellar, everybody was pumping their fists in the air - screaming “faith!” That’s how it should be! The song, which was a rather no-go in my very early fan days, grew so much on me over the last 2 years. Every time you’re on a borderline in your life the words get more meaning and I screamed the lines “it’s hard to be strong when there’s no one to dream on” and “trying to hold, trying to hold on” into the night of Mannheim like I never did before and like I may never do again. It was just a burst of emotions in that moment. They had done it again - I was taken away from the reality by their music!

The encore break followed. Normally the band leaves the stage for one, maybe two minutes. This time they were off almost 4 minutes and I started to think that they are going to totally kick the setlist into the garbage and so something special now, considering how awesome the band’s mood, Jon’s voice and the audience had been all night long.

The people being there with me told me afterwards that my look was so different to what it was before the show, my eyes seem to have been sparkling and I was already in a different world.

They came back and, knowing now that original encore was supposed to be When We Were Beautiful / Wanted Dead Or Alive / Superman Tonight / Livin’ On A Prayer I was more than happy that they stayed behind the stage for a few more minutes and totally threw it all around!

Tico counted in, hit the drums and Hey God exploded on the stage! Now I heard it before, in Munich three years ago. There it had been special because it was rare, this time it was special because it was brilliant! Like on Undivided and When We Were Beautiful, I have to go a little deeper her as well.

It was in late 2006, where the marriage of my parents started to crack. We were on vacation and while driving in the car they had one of their many fights back then. To that point I had never paid much attention to the These Days album, but on this day I turned it on with the vague hope to escape having to witness those fights for once. And there it was, the edgy guitar tone exploding like everything that was on my mind a singer who sang with so much passion and anger about the same things that were concerning me.



I felt that Jon had taken all that kept me away from sleeping at nights and put it with all his emotion into that song. It was the first time I started to find strength in music and where I discovered and found the magic of the These Days record for me. It had really been a turning point in my life regarding my connection and attitude towards music and its power.

And now there was this feeling again - Jon literally singing his heart out on stage, adding some extra lines, really delivering what this song was about to me! He got on his knees after the solo, adding some rasp to the vocals while singing and looking into the sky. That was so intense that I can’t deny having a tear rolling over my face at that point. I had never, neither during Undivided or WWWB, felt such raw emotions while witnessing a live show. It touched me, but for some reason (thank God) didn’t put me down emotionally after the song. I was just thankful!



The “national anthem” came up and even the sunrise on the screen was somehow special at this point. The version was the best one I heard live, with the audience taking over the first verse and Richie shining on the 2nd one. Jon and he shared the vocal duties brilliantly and there was the brotherhood feeling again that probably had been there 25 years ago when the song was written. Unlike on 90% of the shows nowadays, where the song is only done because it’s a classic that deserves to be there every night and with Jon going plain through the motions, it felt true at that point. But I was emotionally so far that they could have sung “My little green cactus” and I would have liked it. I guess…

Once again they discussed for a moment and In These Arms came. Not the song I would chosen, but it was (besides the guitar solo) good and the audience loved it and sang every line of it!

I was expecting Prayer, but instead Jon pointed again to David and he started Hallelujah! I didn’t really know what to think. Everyone always fancied about how awesome this tune would be, to me it had so far not been much more than a song with endless verses. I remember getting a little pissed off in Frankfurt 3 years before when Jon asked the audience what they wanted to hear and so many screamed for Hallelujah. He went with These Days back then, now it was the Leonard Cohen song. And 6:40 afterwards I had completely changed my mind! The performance was brilliant, so spot on and yes, I’d say, one of Jon’s best efforts on that song! I got goose bumps all the way through that tune and it was silent around me. But not in the way of “let’s wait till it’s finally over” like it happened in the past during Make A Memory, but in the style of “let’s appreciate this moment and suck it all in”. When Jon held the last long note the silence broke and rapturous applause set it.

I heard someone left of me saying “Magical!” (in German of course) and I couldn’t agree more. Here Jon really showed off that he developped as a performer. Yes, I miss the way he pulled some covers off with raw emotion in the early 90’s (like Shooting Star), but I really think he couldn’t have delivered this tune in such a way 20 years ago. This was great!



A thank you speech for the German fans followed and again it didn’t feel forced this time, it was honest and appreciated. Now Prayer was to start and there was so enthusiastic singing around me going on that I didn’t hear the band all the time, but I didn’t mind. That’s how I want to experience such a song and it rocked like hell!

They got together to take their final bows and the audience kept applauding till they went back and gave us one more, running close to the curfew. Love’s The Only Rule! One of my favorites from the Circle and so far I had always missed out on this. It was great, Jon went out on the circle for a reprise and the crowd loved it, though surely many didn’t even know the tune. I’m gonna fly…! I was flying for hours already by now!



This was the final, during the last “wooo oo” Jon’s voice split while returning to the stage, but no one cared about it anymore.

The lights went on and everybody was stunned. So many went by saying that this was the most awesome live show they had seen (mostly casual fans) and how brilliant live musicians these guys would be. I certainly didn’t disagree!

We tried to get something to drink, but almost all stands were sold out, so I already headed to the meeting point where Kathleen, Paul, Terri, Seb, Thierry, Steph, Erik, Ronny, Johnny, his girlfriend and Johny joined us. Everyone loved the show and was happy. We chatted for some time, took a group picture and, as much as I didn’t want the concert to end I didn’t want this moment to end as I knew that it could easily be a few more years before I’d see most the Sebstage group again.





Then we went back to the parking lot, talking a while with Johnny and his girlfriend and giving Johny (confusing, isn’t it?) a ride home to the nearby city Heidelberg.

This concert left me hyped for over a week, as it had really caught me emotionally and left me pumped, ergo it combined what Dresden and Munich had done separately before.

Everybody disappeared into the night, ending a summer of great concerts and magic moments for me…

Though I hate to respond to such epic posts with only a few lines - all I can say is thanks for sharing your experiences with this band!

Definitely an insightful and exciting read - I also cannot wait for what the next chapter holds.

I wrote them back in 2013 but saved them on some device due to me having to send in my laptop and the data getting erased. I'm currently on the lookout - I honestly don't remember where I saved them but they gotta be somewhere...I WILL find them