Manfred Mann's Earthband - On The Road April 2000
Tuesday, April 11, Cologne, Germany
Posted by Thomas A. Hi Folks! Hereīs a short report of the gig in Cologne last night.
I got to Cologne by train and was at the Live Music Hall at about 6.00 pm. The doors to the yard were open, but not the door inside the hall. As I
walked through the yard, I detected Erika and Reinhard. Together we waited until the doors opened. Later Uschi joined us. Reinhard told me about his fantastic impressions of his England journey and I would have loved to be also there.
Suddenly the doors opened and everybody went inside quickly. I found my place in the first line next to Erika, Reinhard and a nice "Spockīs Beard"
fan. The name of the first band was "Glamourboys". They are from Cologne. They played 60 min and I was happy as they left stage not my taste
of music. Whilst the "Glamourboys" were playing, the "Spockīs Beard" fan told me a lot about her favourite group and made me curiously. As the
"Glamourboys" ended, Wil, our friend from the Netherlands, arrived. He found his place in the second line behind us.
After a short break "Spockīs Beard" entered stage and played a very good concert. I was impressed and really liked it. For me they sounded like a
mix between Yes, Genesis, King Crimson and Marillion. After their performance we saw again a short break in which the technicians prepared the stage for our favourites, Manfred Mannīs Earth Band.
Earth Band started as usual with "Iīll Give You". Suddenly it looked like the Moog failed! Manfred switched to organ and piano and Ian was very
quick on stage. Whilst they played "Shelter From The Storm" I saw Manfred for the first time sitting down and playing keyboards at the same time.
Then they played "Castles", then "Martha". I had a feeling, that it was shorter than the Dueren version last year for example, but pretty good
because Manfred played a fantastic Moog solo. Then they played the usual setlist: "Donīt Kill It Carol", "Angels At My Gate", "Father Of Night,
Father Of Day". Manfred and Mick performed "Father" very well. Then the audience was ready for the "Demolition Man", followed by "She Was",
"Blinded", "Davy", "Redemption Song" and "Mighty Quinn". The audience sang very good at "Blinded", "Redemption Song" and "Mighty".
Whilst the bands were playing, there were a lot of cameras around (minimum 7) that recorded everything. Three cameras were between the stage
and the audience so that we were not as close to the band as usual. Noel showed us his knowledge in german as he said "Supergeil". I donīt think
that the hall was absolutely sold out. But thatīs no wonder, there was no info at this website and I saw only one poster in Cologne. Why is it not possible to inform us fans?
One thing I must say is, that I feel very sorry for Karin and Thomas who were not there (many greetings to your boss, Tom). It was a great fun to
meet all the other Earth Band fans again and Iīm really looking forward to see the gig live in TV in June. I hope I forgot not too much facts in my report and you understand my bad english. Best wishes Thomas
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