Manfred Mann's EarthBand on the Road - March 2003
First concert this year - Manfred rocks.
Posted by Lothar on March 26, 2003 Hi family,
we are back from the most rocking Earthband concert of the last 24 years. When we are arriving in Bregenz I thought it doesn`t matter: 2000
people standing at 6 pm before the hall and were waiting to come in. At 8 pm there were 10 000 people in the hall.
Manfred started punctually at 8 pm. No intro but very heavy, the new drummer, with Carol and then the next songs with power I never heard. Next
was Martha, Castles, Demo, Blinded, Davy and Quinn. Show and of course the music were fine. but 54 minutes Eartband is to short. All songs other than in munique in dezember and this time Karin its reallytrue mighty was my favorite.
Status quo started at 9.30 pm double loud as manfred, they are making a good job - but mick with one guitar is quo with two guitars.
See you at first long concert in Aalen
Lothar 
Posted by Wolfgang B. on March 26, 2003 Hi, love MMEB, Wolfgang
just back from St. Poelten gig, being so angry that I should not write these words, because maybe I insult someone.
Don't be afraid, everythings ok with our band, its Status Quo that makes feel that way.
But let me start from the beginning. The venue was quite a big hall, moderately filled with about 2.000 people. Three of them to see MMEB, the rest
to see the the so-called main act Status Quo.
Carol started with overtuned bass, but soon the sound was ok and a wonderful rocking band brought an outstanding performance. Martha
followed, the crowd recognized the song and the mood started cooking. Castles (I love that song), Demo-man, She was/Blinded, Davy, Mighty -
and the show was over, what a pity. 7 songs of best quality in one to short hour. The band is better than ever - how do they do that?
But then - tune up the volume to maximum so that it just hurts as much as possible - Status quo. Play 25 songs in one and a half hour, use 3 chords (or maybe 4?), do never change the rhythm - and people love you! Why?
Well, Status quo are a really good Rock'n'Roll-band, I like some of their songs very much - but why need they all to be the same?
To all Quo-fans: Taste is different, I know. However, now (and once again) I know why I am a fan of MMEB. No song sounds like any other, every
song changes the rhythm many times, every song is dynamical and you can listen to solos that are really solo-masterpieces.
I am angry because this 'Musikantenstadl'-Rock sells better than quality and has to be the main act.
One wonderful and enjoyable hour, followed by one and a half hour filled with one song with the same rhythm with three chords.
St. Poelten gig
Posted by Kuno on March 29, 2003
In Reply to: St. Poelten gig posted by Wolfgang B. on March 26, 2003 I was at the Bregenz-Gig. And i absolutely agree with Wolfgang !
MMEB was great ! As usual !
But then...Quo came up....and then we had 3 chords for 2 hours ! And the only Song that sounds different (in the army now) was not played...(though i understand that this song is a bit difficult to perform in this time...)
The Gig was way to loud !
So, MMEB should be the main-act, and Quo should play their 4 or 5 greatest Songs.
Aalen, a new dimension of rock
Posted by Lothar on March 29, 2003 Hi family, Lothar
this time Paul and I will bring you a feeling from a spectacular MMeB gig in Aaalen. Paul perhaps tomorrow. I was starting the day with a great
feeling and this feeling is getting true.After the concert I wi'll writing best of - and setlist because my thoughts are off. But now 3 hours later you should get a feeling. Near my hometown Manfred makes a concert,wow.
We drive the 20 km to aalen go into the greuthall and i will speak to Simon but there goes a Cry to me which only can be IAN. "You crazy man in the
sun", I have with Ian a great reading, but the problem was the song, Angel , wasn't at setlist and its the song of me and my wife since 28.03.1979 ,
and today its 24 years, and Ian and i will still working on to make possible to make a "joke or better surprise". Wether the surprise not the joke doesn't matter.
Between a group before Manfred I had a chance to speak 30 minutes with Noel and 3 minutes with Mick!!
And then!! An intro and 5 men give their best. You can't feel that, but think of perfection of pink floyd and rocking of deep purple that is our Manfred
Mann's Earthband today. They are rocking that your eyes doesn' work at all. So you see Bregenz isn't there here is aalen live.
Hallo paul i need help: alcohol or birthday party i can't find my setlist.
At 8 pm started a group from aalen with much drive and makes people perhaps lucky. I was reading with Noel so I don't know but I think they were
good. Last song I mean was great. Then started Earthban: With Intro ( the new from munique gig. and drums to Shelter - for me its going on better
and better and the final song was Dancing. 7 Minutes in a way I never heard and never thought. Earthband makes his name as best liveband on earth honest.
Please get the setlist from paul think positive today is my birthday.This time all musicans were still perfect they give more of their best it was a
great gig out of dancing i don't know what was better, perhaps Carol - best version i heard - Martha , fantastic, Castles best off She was greatest
solos, Davy with power, blinde with many emotions,Demo with perfect mick solo my heart was burning, I came for you instrumental - cry or wine -
perfect. Mighty this time not so rocking but many driving true. SPIRITS lets my heart going thrue, but i don't know which was the better one. I think
every song i heard sometimes better (I just don't can say)-- this time setlist audience and our Earthband where completely the stars of the gig.
Never have so songs heard who after the concert no one will say this or that but insuccess this is a great concert.
Thank you Manfred, thank you eartband for a gig I'll never forget.
See you this year
Aalen a new dimension of rock
Posted by Paul on March 29, 2003 Good morning everybody :-))
In Reply to: Aalen anew dimension of rock posted by Lothar on March 29, 2003
As you have already read the report of chief reporter Lothar you know most of the highlights at Aalen. But not all ;-))
The concert at Greuthalle Aalen has been watched of 652 people and the supporting band of Schwäbisch Gmünd was really a good one. When
they finished it need only 20 minutes for entering MMEB the stage at 9.05 p.m. This was exactly the same start like at the Christmas Gigs in the end of 2002.
We had been surprised of a big family meeting there: Uschi, Martin and Beatrix, Susi and Jens, Bernie, Wolfgang, Lothar and his wife, and some others we have seen several times in the last years.
Now to the setlist: Intro - Shelter - Castles - Martha - Spirits - Carol - Father - Dancing - Demo - Blinded - Davy. And additional an instrumental version of For you and the typically end with Quinn.
Our personally highlights have been a really perfectly Spirits and very emotional For you - thanks to the whole band for an unforgettable concert and see you very soon :-))))))
Happy birthday to you Lothar, as a very specially birthday gift you will get our setlist ;-)
Pink greetings, have a nice day :-)
Re: Re: Aalen anew dimension of rock
Posted by Beatrix and Martin Retzbach on March 31, 2003 Hallo Paul and all others!
In Reply to: Re: Aalen anew dimension of rock posted by Paul on March 29, 2003
A really great gig in Aalen, back in the front row (and on the message board) after 246 days! I fully agree, except the supporting band. One song sounds like the other...
Our highlight was the instrumental version of "For You". Wonderful guitar sound, Mick...
Manfred looked younger than ever behind his keyboards. His keyboard parts seemed to be more often and longer than the last years. Great!
Hope to see all of you more often than 2002
Martin and Beatrix
Posted by Jörg on March 31, 2003 Hello,
yesterday MMEB played a wonderful gig in Hannover. Before the concert i talked a few words with Karin + Thomas at the merchandising. The EB
started at 20:00. The intro started - a atmospheric sound (has nothing to do with 'i'll give you') - Shelter - Castles - Martha (gets darker each year -
like this 'sakral' version very much) (no i'm not sure about the order) - Spirits (Noel and Mick) - Carol (i prefer this new version)- Redemption -
Father - Dancing - Demolition - Blinded - Davy. Encore: For you instrumental (great and so sweet) - Quinn (for me the best version i've heard). Most songs have changed a little bit - new solos rearranged.They stoped at 21:55.
The whole band was good as we know them (maybe a little bit better) - for the first time i saw Geoff Dunn (he gives the sound a very good drive).
After the show i waited for the band and got from Steve Kinch, Mick Rogers, Noel McCalla autographs on my ticket. Mick was so friendly to ask
Geoff Dunn to come out of the bus to sign my ticket as well - he came out and signed,too. A pity - Manfred Mann had already left the 'Capitol'- so i got no autograph from him. Very nice and friendly band.
Try to see and hear them - they are great again.
Hope you all could understand my school-english.
Greetings
Jörg
Re: Hannover - gig
Posted by Karin and Thomas on March 31, 2003 at 16:57:16: Pics on-line @:
In Reply to: Hannover - gig posted by Jörg on March 31, 2003 at 07:06:30:
Hi,
sorry, George, we are only the usual names who are posting gig reports, but may someone else is interested in it...
There is not so much to add to your great report, Jörg. It is a pity that you did not introduce yourself at the stand, Jörg - I`ve talked there to so many people but would have been happy to know who of them you had been :-)
We just want to say how much we liked the two new tracks on the list. Spirits was very well done and we enjoyed it very much. And For You
has only one mistake: 3:30 mins are much too short! :-)What a wonderful arrangement, and what a wonderful lead guitar on a great
keyboard-background. We guess now we have to visit some more gigs only to get this song some more times :-). The whole gig had an fantastic
athmosphere, and all songs were played different from the December versions. And don`t forget to mention Mick`s new guitar which makes a real
great sound. We enjoyed the show very much... And it was the first gig since a long time which was nearly 2 hours long. Seems to be a very intersting summer this year!
Best regards from an internet cafe in Düsseldorf
K & T
Düsseldorf, 1st April
Posted by Karin and Thomas on April 02, 2003 Hi,
we are back from the Status Quo gig in Düsseldorf now and want to tell you our opinion regarding the former messages about Status Quo. Sorry
Wolfgang, but we do not agree with you - it is simply not fair to say Status Quo was something which sells better than quality and so on.
The Philipshalle in Düsseldorf was yesterday not sold out, but very well filled by (estimated) almost 10.000 people. We were a bit late and met
infront of the stage Torsten and Birgit who stood in the fourth row, with three rows Status Quo fans infront of them. The audience stood very
very closed there, but just like Isabella wrote - also here the Quo-fans offered us to get their places in the front row during the MMEB- part. That was more than fair, and a big Thank You to them again from us (we had NOT asked them for that!)
The Earth Band started then at 8 p.m. with the one-hour-set like in Austria. And they were as great as in Hannover, the sound was fantastic, and
the audience too! The hall was filled by 90 percent of Status Quo fans, we guess, but they sang the MMEB lyrics better and louder than most of
the MMEB-audiences we had before and they let the athmosphere in the hall cook already after a few minutes!!! The Earth Band seemed to enjoy
that audience very much, they played with a wonderful freshness and power (you should have seen Manfred behind his keyboards!) and around
us the Quo-fans (amongst them some with 40, 50 or more gigs) gave MMEB together with us a great echo down from the crowd.
After one hour the MMEB gig was over, of course much too short to us, but we knew that before. We said thanks to the friendly fans around us,
changed the places, and Thomas and I found some free seats (yes, we are getting older :-) ) at the side of the hall. From that high place we saw
the Status Quo gig, and it was good! It was loud, okay, but not too loud. They rocked the hall from the very first minute, and it was a wonderful
view on all those thousands clapping hands down infront of the stage! And the show was good, as well as the musicians, so please let`s stay fair in our reports, just like the Quo fans had been infront of the stage.
Look, we love MMEB, just like you all do, and we even had been called "a bit mad" sometimes, also by the band and the crew, because of this fact
:-). And we will never be Status Quo fans in that way, because it`s not our taste of music. But that is the wonderful side of music - everybody
finds there a band which he really loves. And Status Quo is wellknown for their music, sometimes better than the Earth Band. Yes, Wolfgang, you
are right, we just like you appreciate the high quality of the MMEB shows, we enjoy the fact to get five brilliant musicians there live on stage, with
complicated arrangements and wonderful solos, always different from the day before and still perfect. We are also expecting the perfect sound of
the Earth Band, including the moderate loudness when we see a MMEB gig. That`s why we are Earth Band fans. But if there`s someone else who prefers the rocking and direct way of Status Quo - so why not???
We just mean, we all should be able to be a bit more tolerant in that question. And if you go to a Status Quo gig - so you should let them play there
like Status Quo and don`t expect an Earth Band style! The Status Quo gig yesterday was not really what we would like to get everyday again, it
was not 100 % our taste, but the gig was okay and good and the audience enjoyed it very much. It was very interesting to us like all the other gigs
of good bands we had seen outside of the Earth Band, and we appreciate the good and hard work of the musicians there on stage.
And don`t forget another fact - we as the fans do always represent our bands a little bit there infront of the stage, in our talks with fans of other
bands and in our whole behaviour. The Status Quo fans did it yesterday in a fantastic and absolutely fair way - so we should be able to do the
same, not only infront of the stage, but also here in our reports... Looking forward tosee you soon at one of the next MMEB gigs :-)
Best regards
K & T
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
