Seeing the shows in Luxemburg, Halle and München, here are some few notes I took afterwards... I hope you enjoy!
Audience I
While in Luxemburg the audience seemed to be typical orchestral music
listeners (most with subscriptions to go to such shows), the audiences
were quite different in Halle and München.
In Halle most people seemed to be rock music fans (at least
what you could tell from their clothing) while in München the
audience was mixed.
Audience II
In Luxemburg the people just sat there enjoying the
show and giving standing ovations at the end, while there was always some
annoying background noise in Halle and especially in München.
Also there weren't too much autograph hunters in Luxemburg.
In Halle some people stood at the front of the stage from the
beginning of the encores until the end of the show waving with pencils, tickets
etc just to get an autograph.
One person I will for sure never forget was this ruthless
idiot, who was trying to get about 20 to 30 LPs
signed by Jon in München. Sometimes I feel like screaming!
Very funny was a guy in München wondering why the complete
first part of the "Pictured Within"-show sounded that
much like the album. Well, ok - he didn't know the album
at all - according to what he told me, he wasn't able to find the album during
the last 9 months :)
Venues
The venue in Luxemburg was the "Conservatoire De Musique", a
music school with a main concert hall built for orchestral
concerts.
Halle was a variety theatre with two large
balconys and a heaven consisting of lots of small lights.
The Muffathalle in München seemed to be an old discarded
factory building with all inner walls painted black.
Organization
Best organization is when you never see people organizing.
Very very relaxed in Luxemburg. When we arrived, we found
the conservatoire with doors wide open and had the
chance to step in and listen to the rehearsals. Also not
much security after the show - just a female sitting
on a chair before the backstage entrance. - that was all...
Also a very relaxed organizing in Halle, as there was also just one
single security guy in front of the backstage door.
Very annoying in München. A lot of people behaving much
more important than they really were. Security at all
possible and impossible places - and one of them trying to throw out
cello player Hagen Kuhr before the soundcheck :)
That's the way it shouldn't be done...
Music & Sound
Music and sound was great all three evenings, although in Luxemburg "Unsquared Dance" was missing and they didn't improvise as much as during the later shows. Some songs were played the first time in one part at showtime in Luxemburg, but as Sam Brown had forseen during the rehersals: "It will all work perfectly in the evening!"
Musicians
I had the chance to talk at least some few words to
each of them. Most of them didn't know more than "Smoke
On The Water" from Jons "normal" job. They all enjoyed
this tour and played brilliant.
Too bad the tour was that short, it was extremly
enjoyable to watch (and of cource hear) them grow from their
first steps in Luxemburg to the final show in München.
Sam Brown
Brilliant. Excellent. Incredible. Weird.
Jon Lord
It was very interesting to see Jon acting in a different
role, not as keyboarder of a rock band (his "other job")
but as host and musician in one person.
It's a shame he doesn't take the microphone more often.
I rarely heard that interesting and funny
narrations during a show.
And it was great to see how much he enjoyed doing his
solo stuff and how much he enjoyed to play with the
others.
Setlist
A great choice of songs, although a setlist can never be
perfect for everyone. And so there was also something I hoped
for - one or two songs from Sam Browns
"43 minutes..." which would have fit perfectly into the set.
A funny experience was that while in Luxemburg and München
"Stop" was received with much applause, noone seemed
to be familiar with this song in Halle - well, it
was a hit in western world before the iron curtain came down.
Thanks
First of all thanks to Jon Lord for that album
and tour. Also thanks to all other musicians, especially
Sam Brown for being the way she is and Hagen Kuhr, who
turned out to be a great guy.
Also thanks to all people who sent in reviews and pictures
from this tour.
Last but not least a big "HELLO" to all the people I met before and after the shows - hope to see you again soon.
Andreas Thul