TEN YEARS AFTER 2007 -  "40th Anniversary Tour"
Musik Zentrum, Hannover  -  4 May 2007



 


 

 

 

 



HANNOVER, GERMANY – FRIDAY MAY 4, 2007 

TEN YEARS AFTER – LIVE  IN CONCERT

My turn to drive again. On a Friday afternoon, heading to the north is a nightmare. The autobahn from our house onward is referred to in these parts as “The Warsaw Highway”.

So many Polish people work here in Germany during the week and then return home with their pay checks for the weekend. From 11:00 in the morning until 9:00 in the evening the autobahn becomes a virtual parking lot. As the photo here shows. Right after I passed this tractor trailer, we came to a 45 minute stand still – turn off the engine – sit and wait. People got out of their cars and trucks and walked around on the highway, looking around. 

We finally got to our destination an hour later than expected, but no worse for ware.

The venue is a perfect size as well as being clean. The mixing board is right in the middle of the room and as we enter Wolfe and the other sound tech are in the process of working out the kinks and tweaking the system to perfection, with Chick Churchill looking on.

 
There is plenty of floor space, behind us and above is a balcony / loft which is only used for picture taking  this evening. The floor area is more than adequate enough for the audience participation.

 There is only down side to this particular event. Hannover is a  huge and prominent  city in Germany,  including  a very large population, but the turnout for this Ten Years After gig is far from impressive. At an outside guess, maybe two hundred people are in attendance.

I find it so ironically  funny, as you can never judge how things will unfold. For instance, this should’ve been a packed house, it isn’t. On another night, in another town, with a population of say five thousand - people might be over flowing out into the street and down around the block just waiting to get in to see the band. This is a Friday night concert, the turn out should’ve been far better. 

QUALITY OVER QUANITY:

There’s also a plus side to this situation, you’ve got room to move around at will. Brigitte enjoys that aspect, in order to get the best photos. As for me, I grab the closest bar stool and plant myself right at the end of the stage, just around the corner from those standing right in front of the stage, so that I have a birds-eye view of the band in action. My position is to the right of Leo Lyons and looking down the length of the stage.

Anita and Brigitte are centre stage, Reinhard wanders from the back of the room to the front and back again, always looking for the optimum spot for sight and sound quality.

Right in front of me, and (to my right) is our friend Jens and a young man that he brought with him from Hamburg to see TYA for the first time. This new fan is very tall, lanky and full of anticipation,  which reminds me of myself at his age. 

 ONE YOUNG PUP VS. TWO OLD DOGS: 

The concert will begin in twenty minutes, so ----and I have a chance to talk together. I’m sure that Jens has bored this young man to death on the ride down here, so I don’t want to overload him with any more information than he can handle.

I figure that the best way to help him is just to point out what to look for on stage.

But please don’t think for a minute that my helping him is as arrogant as it may sound to you the reader, because it isn’t that way at all, ----- wants any and all information that he can get. 

Leo is Leo, Ric is Ric and Chick is Chick – simple enough and self explanatory. It’s the “GOOCH PHENOMENOM ” that needs to be absorbed into your new musical psyche. 

My advice to ---- is don’t get hung up on Joe’s finger fast / fret work, but remember to keep your ears open or you’ll miss the total effect of his playing and performance. What you see him doing, many times isn’t what your expecting to hear. Joe, will slide melodies into theme’s rhythms into streams and textures, while holding notes, bending notes and creating something completely  different every second. Your eyes see it, your ears absorb it, but your brain can’t process it all.

So, your brain has to just accept it, not analyze it – your body feels it running through every fiber, and your eyes just become two insatiable jewels, that are silent witness to the entire extravaganza . 

 

PRETTY HEAVY INDEED:

Once again the show is running a half hour later than expected, we check the time every five minutes or so between each other, and we wait patiently. Then the introduction music starts and the lights dim. Chick walks out, followed by Ric and then Leo and finally Joe takes the stage – all the necessary working components are in place, let the magic begin.

“Working On The Road” starts it off, followed by “King Of The Blues”, “Big Black 45” and all the rest that fill up the usual TYA set list.

We all just smile at each other, nod and find it hard to believe what we’re seeing and hearing.

While the crowd is relatively small, yet respectable, you wouldn’t know it by all the noise they’re making. Clapping and singing along and in the end, clamouring for more, more more, and the band of course delivers the goods.

Encore, fulfilled – the end is reached.

After the meet and greet with the band the room is barren in no time. 

 

Such a strange vibe this evening, it’s Friday night and everyone seems preoccupied. The band played flawlessly, and the audience rocked, for a very enjoyable time, but something in the air just isn’t  agreeable to what just took place.

I’m at a loss to put my finger on exactly what was wrong and strange this evening, I just stick it in my memory bank and move forward.
Cloak and Dagger Mystery  – Friday The 13th  Full Moon – Halloween Night !!!   

HEADING HOME:

Sometimes the best part of going to a good concert, is the ride home. The three of us compare notes and discuss the evening from our individual perspectives. It’s from these conversations that I gather my notes and put together what will become these diary reviews. What songs we liked, which ones we deemed a little weak and the bands strong points in general. 

On this night the band was right on the money, full of energy and happy as hell.

Now we’re back home again – and  happy!

 

Our thanks to Anita, Reinhard, Jens ---  and TYA for a great time!  

 

Photos and Review by Brigitte and Dave

 
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