Manfred Mann's Earthband - On The Road August 2001
Sunday, 4 August, Karlsruhe, Germany
Posted by Thomas and Karin Hi,
it was the last gig for us for a while now and so we decided to enjoy it, whatever the weather would try... Sorry to read that you got such a wet
weekend, Martin, I know what that mean to drive a bike in such a rain! And if you got the same heavy rain like we had when we arrived in Happy to be dry at the hotel, we had something to eat there and after our usual short break we started again
to drive to the city area of Karlsruhe - and we had blue sky with some clouds and a warm sun at this time! I expected some difficulties to find a place for the car near the Europahalle, bt there were no problems. We left
it in a parking garage nearby and went into the direction of all the other people around us, following the music :-) And we were really surprised when we arrived: in the middle of the city such a beautyful area, surrounded
by some hills, a big stage in the middle, lots of stands all around, and of course already a lot of people who
walked around there, stood infront of the stage or sat in the grass - the hills were perfect tribunes for that free Open Air, called Hoepfner Summer
Nights. We were told about that great festival already by friends who had seen the Earth Band there in 2000, but we did not expect that it would be such a nice place here :-)
There was already the first band playing on stage. Their name is Lucille`s Lumbago - the made surely a nice music (Let`s twist again...) but it was,
also for sure, absolutely not what we wanted to hear. And because we met just after the first 5 minutes Paul, the Panther, and Sigrid (in that big,
big area full of people!:-) ) we wanted to talk a bit but the music was much too loud. So we all had been glad when that first part was over (around
6.30 p.m.). Meanwhile also Reinhard, Erika, Graham, Terry, Wil and Uschi arrived, and you can imagine that we had a lot of things to talk about!
Before the second band appeared on stage we walked to the merchandise stand next to the mixer to say Hallo to Pat and his great team there,
then we concentrated on the next gig: Knutschfleck is the name of the band. To be honest - again not our taste of music, a lot of "Nena" and some
others from the "New German Wave" - but they played it in a really good way! They had a fantastic show on stage, changed their clothes nearly
every five minutes, made a lot of jokes with the audience and could manage it to let the people be very enthusiastic. Not only infront of the stage,
also all around on the hills everybody celebrated that band when they ended their show, a little bit belated, at 9.15 p.m. The interesting fact to us:
the drummer and the guitarist of that band belong to the Moon Orchestra. You remember that name from earlier messages? Mick produced in spring their new CD...
Then it was time to look for some good places for the MMEB - concert. The weather was still dry and warm, the place infront of the stage was full
of people, all hills around, too. (In all there had been estimated 30.000, from Babies to old grandma`s). Fantastic mood, thanks to Knutschfleck
already before the Earth Band came out, and you should have seen that audience later during Blinded!!! We had been already told what happened in Bad Krozingen the night before. But we believed it only when we heard the first so wellknown
chords, oh yes, Father is really back! A bit shorter than usual, we missed the best solo in the middle, but IT IS FATHER! Thomas and me had a
special anniversary on that day, and we couldn`t get a better present than that song back on the setlist... It was like Christmas in August to us!
Another surprise was Carol - after the guitar solo there was suddenly a break - did they want to stop here??? - no, they played also the rest of
the song after a few seconds - so everybody, also the many "old" fans infront of the stage got something new to think about :-)
"Dancing" was brilliant as ever. Later the DemoMan Noel mobilized also the very last few (tired?) people to clap their hands, followed by a very
nice and impressive "She was", and from Blinded to the end of the last encore the audience got really excited till the very last rows on the top of the hills.
Outstanding yesterday Mick`s guitar solos, as well in Shelter and Castles as in Carol and Father - changing from soft melodies to strong parts and
back again; it is always fascinating to us what can be done with a guitar (and how this was done!)
The whole gig was wonderful, including the light show of Simon and Pat. It is always great when Simon plays his desk like a keyboard during the
gig. And it is simply fantastic to see how all those people around you are going in movement, to see all these thousands of hands in the air and to listen to thousands of people singing the lyrics - whow!
Mighty, the last great choir of the band and the audience - was that already all for today??? The gig seemed to have just started to us, but there
had been of course the full set played - and now it was over, what a pity! Near the mixer the people pushed each other infront of the merchandise
stand, many of them stayed a bit on the place infront of the stage, and we used the chance to say Hallo to all the others we did`nt see before the
start of the concert: Graeme and Lois, Heiko and Christiane, Iris and Angela... And it didn`t rain all the time! :-)
After some long talks and discussions it was time to return to our cars and hotels. Together with the Panther family we went back into the city,
found our car in the garage and drove back to our hotel. With some expensive but delicious drinks during a little party in the hotel bar this wonderful day ended at 3 in the morning...
The rest is as usual: We got up at 7 a.m., arrived well at home around 1.30 p.m., found there a cat, very happy to see us back... and now we can
only wish you all, the band and all fans who will be today in Rüsselsheim another great concert. Especially a great day to you, Ian! And some more fantastic gigs later in Sweden and Denmark... Greetings and best wishes K & T
Karlsruhe, so we can understand your decision to return home, really. It was raining so much that we had
difficulties to find the hotel which lies next to the Autobahn - you couldn`t see anything in all that water. And we were so lucky to sit in the car and not on a bike like you ... So I understood your SMS very well when you
asked me later how the weather in Karlsruhe is.
3/4/5 August, Bad Krozingen, Karlsruhe and Russelsheim
Posted by Wil Hi all,
After some rubbish mails, how is it possible they get through, I'd just like to say I've been back from three wonderful days and gigs. Bad Krozingen,
Karlsruhe and Russelsheim. All gigs with there own, different atmosphere, and good music. If you've been in Bad Krozingen you would ask you
how they can ever held a rock concert over there. Its a Kurort (german) for people having health problems, So quiet. But they came from
everywhere, England, Switzerland, Hungary, Holland. Perfect audience.Thanks Pink Panther for meeting you (and the button, Martin, Ronald and all the others.
Next day in Karlsruhe,so many people at a gig for the Earthband I've never seen (not even in the 80's. Completely different but again the audience
got completely out of his head (I don't know if this is the right English expression). Russelsheim (what a boring place) and even there the audience
came from everywhere and it was even possible to make a performance (on an old Opel plant, nothing compared to the two other Open air venues) I think it was the best of the three.
Thanks MMEB for peforming so well, see you in November in Holland. (For those who want to come, please let me know and I'll arrange the tickets
and if you want a place to sleep). The trip was one I'll remember for years thanks to the fans that accompanied me; Terry (you forgot to take your
poster, yoú'll get it in November), Graham (We didn't say goodbye), Graeme (yours as well), Lois, Erika, Uschi and Reinhard. Or better: Hazzle, dazzle, bassle, Herman, Harry (or Barry)
And the others fans we met during the gigs: Karin, Thomas, Pink Panther, Iris (thanks for the nice chat we had), Angela, Ronald, Martin (forget the weather next time)and the ones I forgot.
Lots of fun next week in Denmark (especially Reinhard, Uschi and Erika). Greetings Wil Posted by Graeme on August 07
Firstly hello to all the 'new' people we met at the gigs over the last weekend. If I can remember them all there was of course Mr. and Mrs. P Panther
(I hope Mrs. P will forgive me for I have forgotten her name but definitely not herself), Ewald and his wife and sister (both names of which I have
forgotten), Martin (at last), Gorodish (who has a real name and a wonderful command of the English language) and the very pissed German chap
who arrived on his bike and I guess who would have had much trouble in locating his transport and his route home after consuming a large volume of Vodka!
Thanks are due to all of the 'old' fans - Uschi for the tickets and for driving as well, Reinhard and Erika (Charlie and Marge) for booking the
accommodation, Wil (Maria) for volunteering to drive all the way from Holland to pick up Charlie and Marge and then on to Hahn airport to pick up
myself ('Arry) and Lois (Sybil) and of course Terry (Basil), Graham (Herman the German) for his restraint in not knocking the hell out of us for calling him Herman and not forgetting Roland, Iris, Angela, Susi, Karin and Thomas.
Thanks also to the Pink Panther for the wonderful badges which we will treasure and hope to add to in the future and for posting the message
with the correct spelling of Rüsselsheim so that I could paste it into my text without having to search for that funny ü character. I hope that I have
not forgotten anybody! Apologies to anybody I have forgotten, for bringing the typical British summer weather with us, for interrupting Manfred's,
Mick's and Richard's meal in Bad Krozingen (Manfred - sorry if I agreed with you that you were not as friendly as Mick), to Herman for calling him Herman and of course the 'English Humour'.
Of the 3 gigs we attended, for me the best one was in Bad Krozingen. The 'new' Carol was played with Mick's wah wah solo replaced with a heavy keyboard sound with some nice touches from Mick and then the
traditional ending we are used to. In Karlruhe and Rüsselsheim the ending was replaced by a restart of the song which I think did not work as well
but that is only my opinion. Of course the complete surprise was the return of Father. I do not mind admitting that I had a tear in my eye when the
familiar intro was played after Mick's announcement 'here's one we haven't played for a while'. It was wonderful to hear it once again albeit somewhat shorter than previously.
Manfred's keyboards were exemplary throughout and I don't know if it was because I stood further back but the sound was amongst the best I
had heard. A fantastic gig - a bit of a relief after the 'ordinary' one in Cologne 4 weeks previous. The Karlsruhe gig was to say the least - an
experience. It is a long time since I have seen so many people at a concert. To be honest it is something I do not really want to experience again too soon in my life.
There was nothing wrong with the music itself but when gigs are free such as this one there is always the element that is not really interested in
what or who is playing and will chat through the whole gig, steadily imbibing copious volumes of alcohol. Manfred's Martha solo was wrecked for
me by some dickhead shoving into me and then deciding he couldn't get through and disturbing me again. And then of course there was the
inevitable fight which broke out during the last strains of Quinn. The perpetrator of the scuffle had a look on his face which said 'kill' and was somewhat disturbing to witness. All too soon the weekend was over and the depression kicked in. The next morning mimicked
my mood by pissing down with rain again but on the way back from the cash machine Terry accidentally took a photograph of the inside of his trouser pocket and although it might not sound so funny written here it made me hurt with
laughter and I can not wait to see the picture! Back home this evening I have the reality of going back to my real life and returning to work tomorrow where I will not want to be as I want to be 'On The Road Again'. Regards Graeme
And so to the final gig (for a while for us) and to the charming town of Rüsselsheim.
Rüsselsheim had two redeeming features - an Italian restaurant where I enjoyed my obligatory Germanitalian pizza and an Earthband gig in town. As the home of the car
manufacturer Opel I suppose we shouldn't have expected anything better but as Maria said 'boring'. The gig itself was within the Opel complex and strictly speaking not open air as the
bands played inside a large marquee. Outside there were benches and tables to sit at to consume the food or drink purchased from the various stalls. The support band were a little
too loud for me, even outside several dozens of yards away and they sounded rather heavy which I might have enjoyed 2 and half decades ago. What followed was another brilliant gig
by the Earthband (without SOS) almost, but not quite as good as Bad Krozingen.
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