Manfred Mann's Earthband - On The Road March/April 2004
The Robin 2, Bilston. Tues 9 March
Hi, Just managed to find an internet terminal on our wanderings around deepest darkest England. Excellent first outing last night, band in fine form and an amended set list. Setlist was:
Endy reckons the keyboards sounded different, lots more 'fiddly' bits going on and funkier (heavy).
All this and Man Utd getting knocked out of the European Champions League - the perfect evening (and the food in the pub beforehand wasn't bad either). Nigel
The Stables, Milton Keynes Wed 10th March
a much tighter set love the stables if its a lets sit down and be bored act but for the earth band its the wrong venue the staff are very friendly but
make you feel that you no not belong in there this is a jazz venue thats my groan for the day mick was out standing really enjoying himself but their
was an awful buzz all night noel seemed to be having problems early on in the set but in the end it was great see you in wales excuse the grammer I'm in a rush. Jon
The Stables, Milton Keynes Wed 10th March
Set was as the night before but with Dancing between Mars and Father - (did you forget Dancing Nigel ?) - no intro despite a large enough stage.
Mars is an interesting new inclusion - a bit of a taster of things to come? Not sure that jiggling with the running order and including one new song
is enough to get the excitement of late last century back. Personally I'm bored with Castles, Demolition Man and Quinn - thats my opinion - an
excellent gig but..... could be better. The Brook tonight and then thats it for me. Time for bed now , regards to all. Graeme
The Brook, Southampton Thurs 11 March
A stunning night at the Brook,admittedly a few mike problems,but the band proved their professionalism by overcoming those. To my mind this was
the tightest and sharpest i've ever seen the Earth Band.Mick rocked.Manfred was cool,Geoff and Steve were great.However, the highest praise
goes to Noel who exhibited a quite amazing vocal range,whilst remaining so cool. I have personally always preferred Noel to Chris (not to detract
from CT), and Thursday night was by far and away the best vocal performance I have witnessed from Noel. Keep rocking guys - you were amazing! Keith
What a fantastic night!! The band were on superb form with Mick & Manfred giving of their best. I havent seen the band for 20 years and my wife
has never seen them. In addition I have never seen Mick, Noel, Geoff & Steve play before however they upheld the MMEB quality tradition with
distinction. This show was professional perfection and it remains clear that true musicians have pride in their performance no matter the size of
the event. The set list was as previously mentioned with some of the best live vocals from Noel (nice Tom Jones touch) I have witnessed (akin to those of Chris Thompson).
The new song MARS appeared just that,"NEW", with Noel, reading the lyrics and reminisent sound of the solar fire (Holst- Planet suite) era. Whilst
well performed I will await the new album to judge if this will be another MMEB classic. To Manfred and the guys
I wish you a very successful tour and hope that you will grace South Wales again and make it my tenth opportunity to see my favourite band perform to the joy of yourselves and your loyal fans. Best Wishes Peter
ps. If you haven't seen the guys yet DONT MISS OUT
The Underworld, Camden, Mon 15 March
http://www.getreadytorock.com/reveiews/manfred_mann_gig.htm
Friday 2 April. Rockefeller, Oslo
Rocking in oslo Fri 2 April Here is the set list.
What a show! Best concert i've been to so far this year. MICK ROGERS really impressed me with his guitar playing. I've listen to the concert 3
times already in my minidiscplayer.
Saturday 3 April. Lillehammer, Norway
This is what the local newspaper said about the Gig in Lillehammer... and they liked what MMEB preformed on stage! http://www.gd.no/vis_sak.asp?refnum=11422 http://www.gd.no/vis_sak.asp?refnum=11425 Greetings from Norway
The Vikings Refreshment Company of MMEB -Thorbjorn The Best Gig yet ... maybe it was!? I have been to 17 MMEB Gigs now and this one at Lillehammer Blues Festival last night was superb!
Everything was set for the big day, 3rd of April... MMEB was visiting The Olympic City of Lillehammer in Norway. The Vikings Refreshment
Company On Tour Again... Ari, Per-Otto, Snorre and myself was heading for Lillehammer in Per-Otto's luxury car. After nearly 5 hours we arrived our destination, The Comfort Hotel in the center of Lillehammer safely (no Leitplanke this time!).
After a little bit relaxing in our rooms we took a taxi up to The Radisson SAS Hotel where the Blues festival kept house. It was not far away from
our hotel, but with me on crutches and Per-Otto and Snorre out of shape, taxi was the only alternative. Sorry to drag you into this taxi Ari, you was the one and only sportsman among us this evening!
When we arrived, The Festival has already started with some, for us, uninteresting bands. Well inside we met Ian Tompson in the lobby and had
(as always) a nice chat with him! Then The Vikings Refreshment Company rush off to the bar for some pints! It was lots of people in the bar
waiting for this evening highlight.... MMEB! We were very fidget and decided to go into the musichall downstairs, where we met Ian and Pat trying
to sell T-shirts. They were distracted by the "Jägermeister" babes in their provoking uniforms... Not easy to sell CD's and T-shirts under those
circumstances! Noel came and said hello when we stood there and asked me why I was on crutches... a knee operation I told him, and he wished
me well! Ari and Per-Otto was already in the musichall listening to TEN YEARS AFTER (a lengendary Woodstock band).
Snorre and myself went into the crowd 20 minutes before MMEB was to go on stage. We managed to find a place in the first row! It was a tight
squeeze, but it seems that all 1700 people managed to pack themselves into the musichall! FINALLY... Half past ten our band entered the stage! A
big warm applause welcomed Manfred Mann and his band. To the sound of Spirits the Gig was on... Tonights setlist was:
I was very curious about the new song, MARS... Noel had still not learned the lyrics so he needed his lyricbook, but he joked that off very easily.
And he told the audience that this song was a new one. It was a very good performance from The Band (5min 30 sec) and the crowd liked it! I
must comment FATHER... Good old Father, what more can I tell you!? So fantastic to see Mick's solo with Manfred! There was a big smile in
Manfred's face. No doubt that the norwegian audience liked what they saw and heard in those 10 min and 15 sec. Mick was now so enthusiastic
that he drop out of the setlist for a short while and started to play some BLUES in honour of The Blues Festival itselves! The crowd was in heaven!
During DAVY Noel reconized me in the first row and did some "crutches movement" for me... Great!
After DAVY The Band leave the stage and Manfred blamed the time and looked at his watch... the crowd applauded and didn't stop before The
Band was back on stage again and Mick gave the crowd his instrumental version of FOR YOU before Manfred started the tones of MIGHTY QUINN.
At the end Noel asked a very pretty girl in the first row to come up on the stage... and she did under a big applaud! She and Noel song together
and this was just a perfect end of an magnificent Gig! Noel surprised everybody on stage with this move and all was joy on stage when the Gig
was over after 1 hour and 53 minutes... Thanks to MANFRED, NOEL, MICK, STEVE, GEOFF and the PRETTY GIRL for another fantastic Gig!
After the Gig we met Ole Sanne, one of the organizer, and he was also very, very pleased! Tired and happy we went back to our hotel with lots of memories on our minds!
Thank you Ari, Per-Otto and Snorre for helping a Viking On Crutches through this Gig... THE BEST GIG EVER!!! (...in my mind!) Greetings from Norway The Vikings Refreshment Company of MMEB -Thorbjorn
MMEB At Rockefeller April 2. and Lillehammer Blues-Festival April 3. 2004:
Early in the morning april 2 , at 10 o clock, I took a bus from my hometown Trondheim to the capital in Norway, Oslo.
My destination was the MMEB - concert at the Rockefeller. It was a long way on the road before I reached Oslo. but I listened to MMEB-music on the bus, so time went fast.
I should have reached oslo at 18.00 o clock in the evening, but because of a car accident, my bus was at least 30 minutes delayed. I was afraid
that i should miss the MMEB concert, which started at 20.00. o clock this evening, but another bus come along on an other road, so i changed bus.
All for the band of course. The clock was 30 minutes past seven. when i entered my hotel royal christiania. In the lobby i heard a voice i have
heard so many times, yes it was Ari who had checked in at the hotel several hours before me. I just had time to change clothes , before it was time for us to go to Rockefeller.
MMEB at Rockefeller April 2
20.00 o clock they opened the doors.
I had not eaten some food since 3 o'clock , so I heard my stomach roared. I was hungry but i only found peanuts and beer at Rockefeller. I found
my place in the front row as usual, while Ari was trying to find t-shirts and cds. He came back empty. But anyway I also went along to the one
and only Ian Thompson. As usual he smiled when he saw me, i told him that torbjørn was on crutches,so he was not with us this time. As always Ian was a very nice person to talk to.
But since i had all the mmeb-stuff before, i did not buy anything, but someday hopefully this year, a new cd will see the light…. After some a beer ,
Leif from Sweden came along. Never met him before , but he was a great chap. We also meet Per Otto, but he could not stand with the Vikings in
the front row, because he had some friends from moss with him. After some more beers, it was time for music………………….. 21.30 MMEB entered the stage. the set-list was :
The band has changed the order of the set-list. I think the change is ok, because I am a little bit tired of Shelter as a opening song. That's my point of view. I think it was a refreshing start with Spirits in the Night. It was kicking .
What was my highlights from this consert? As mentioned above I liked Spirits, because of the song and the performance from Mick on song and
guitar. Castles has become a live favourite for me why? the arrangement , the song and the performance from the band. And of course the new
song Mars. sometimes difficult to understand what the lyrics were, but it was a good new song. Is it not time for learning this song, Noel????
Because Noel was looking in a big black book , when he sang this song. i thought first it was a joke, but it was not. only joking Noel.
And Manfred Mann playing keyboards on the song She Was. I love that sound. that old man is still kicking. But as usual for me the biggest highlight
was, the performance of one and only Mick Rogers on Father. I can hear this song twenty times on a concert. Just to hear Mick play guitar and
sing on this song gave me could shivers., and it all ended with the songs that has been a big hits in Norway: Blinded and Mighty Quinn.
From this songs the roof exploded of clapping hands and people shouting and singing. Blinded by the light. a really powerful performance with
Noel on vocal. Instrumental by Mick on For You. I did not recognise this song first, but I asked Ari, he recognised it and Mighty Quinn ended a nice consert.
But not the best consert at Rockefeller. Because i have heard the band better before. why? the crowd has been spoiled for years new, because the always now that MMEB is coming back every year. And the sound could have been better.
We ,the crowd should have given the band more and better feedback. maybee next time? that's my point of view.. I have started to give the mmeb-conserts stars.
so what am i going to give this consert? I will give the consert **** this time.
After the mmeb-consert I was so hungry that Ari, Leif and me went to a place here we could eat some food. it was called "jafs" I think. I called it
jaws from now on. why? I was so hungry that evening that i felt like a shark when i ate that food. Next day at breakfast Ari and I met Mick and Noel. We thanked them for a nice consert, and told them that we was going to the Lillehammer
consert also. then Mick asked how many miles it was by train from Oslo to Lillehammer, I told him it was three hours by train. After Ari and I left the
hotel, we was waiting for Per Otto to drive us to Lillehammer for another Mmeb-consert. But who was in the car with him? Yes the one and only
Torbjørn on crutches . Since we had phoned him before the Mmeb-consert at Rockefeller, he could not be home when Mmeb is holding another consert in Norway, crutches or not crutches.
After five hours by fast car we arrived Lillehammer. After a nap at the hotel we all went to radisson hotel where the Lillehammer blues festival
was held. The only reason why we went by taxi was the cripple man on crutches , Torbjørn. Per-Otto, Ari and myself we are in good shape.
MMEB at the Lillehammer blues-festival april 3:
following bands performed at the Lillehammer blues festival 2-3 april.: friday 2 april:
saturday 3 april
But for Torbjørn and me the aim target was MMEB of course. Ari and Per Otto went to the consert hall, just to hear ten years after.
Torbjørn and me went to a pub . beer and "jaegermaister" was very good. and the girl who came along with "jaegermaister" had a tiny skirt. what
a lovely lady. We also talked to some journalists from blues news. Afterwards torbjørn and me found some places at the front row. We heard the last song from "ten years after", i thought they played very well. Could mmeb do so???
So 21.30 mmeb entered the stage. The set-list was as following:
I know that Torbjørn has mentioned the set-list, but the only reason why i do so, is to point out the difference from the rockefeller- consert. They played Dancing instead of Angels At My Gate.
So what did i think of this consert. I totally agree with Torbjørn. I give this consert ******. It was just excellent. It was the first time i liked the
performance of all the songs. Why? the sound was perfect. Ii think it was because the room was bigger. The crowd gave the band a very good
feedback, and the band seemed to have a excellent day on job. I even saw Manfred Mann with a big smile on his face. The highlight was all the
songs, and i even thought the new song mars sounded better and better. I was in heaven. well done boys. After the consert I bought a cd with the Blues Band. (Paul Jones and Tom Mc´Guinness from Manfred Mann in the sixties are members .) and
drank some more beer. Then we all went to the hotel. Next day Ari, Torbjørn And Per Otto drove by car back to Oslo. I stayed some hours in Lillehammer just to visit my old aunt. Ten o clock in the
evening I was home in Trondheim. Tired but exited after these two Mmeb conserts. Hopefully I meet the band again , sooner than later.
I will thank Manfred , Mick, Noel, Steve and Geoff for these great conserts. I also will thank Torbjørn, Ari, Per-Otto and Leif for our MMEB-rendevous, and thanks to Ole for organizing the last consert.
I say as Arnold Swartznegger: I Will Be Back. The long viking from Trondheim, Norway. Snorre Nyeggen
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