Paul McCartney – One on One Tour

What a difference two days make! Two days after the Chris Brown show, there was another concert I hadn’t bought a ticket to in the first place (mainly because it was a seated concert and I hate seated concerts – I may have mentioned that already 1-2 times ;)), but this time it turned out to be so worth it, it would have actually been a sin to miss it!

Rewind: When I think about Paul McCartney, I think back to my days at high school, when a friend of mine, who was a huge fan and even ran a McCartney Fanclub, used to share stories, music and books with me. Actually, Paul and especially his wife Linda were a prime reason for me to go completely vegetarian at that time. And that’s, btw, what I meant with stars being a role model and inspiration in my last post. Unfortunately, I somehow lost track of Paul afterwards, although I was always glad to see that he’s still involved with PETA (attention with the video, heavy stuff).

Anyway, last Friday was a beautiful sunny evening in the Olympic Stadium in Munich, everyone was chilling and chatting along – and suddenly Paul McCartney stepped on stage. It was three minutes to eight. I wouldn’t have expected him to come that early without any supporting act – and it was obvious that many others weren’t prepared either, because they were not even on their seats yet. But what a positive surprise to get going without having to wait! “A hard day’s night” was a perfect opener to get everyone off their seats. From that moment we were on our feet dancing and singing throughout the show, which made the seating arrangement bearable.

I’d say I’m semi-literate regarding the Beatles, but I’m not very Wings- and Paul-literate. Still I definitely also enjoyed those songs I didn’t know! No, this does not go without saying, because sometimes I can get bored if I don’t know the songs. I guess it’s all a matter of quality – and of course mixture. And Paul made sure there were enough popular songs in his program to fulfil the needs of those who came to hear the big hits.

Ok, some highlights:

• “Blackbird” with the stage lifting Paul and his guitar up and becoming an LED-screen for flowers and waterfalls.
• “FourFiveSeconds” – sounds so good in his version (who was that McCartney guy again??? lol)
• “Live and let die” with the pyrotechniques – firefountains and fireworks – a truly monumental performance! (Where’s Roger Moore when you need him?)
• “Hey Jude” of course. That finish! In a stadium! With thousands of lights and voices! Could have gone on forever!
• The end. That Medley that actually ends with “The End” on “Abbey Road” was so powerful and at the same time so beautiful! I love that last line – and what a wonderful message it is to take home at the end of the show: “And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make”.
• apart from specific songs: I loved that he had learned some German. Actually a lot of German, he did most of his introductions in German – and in pretty good pronunciation! I also thought it was cute that he got four people up on stage who had painted different banners – shows a lot of respect for his fans. And they had come from near and far to see the show. There were even quite a lot of people from outside Germany! I always adore fan-craziness! 😉

After 2,5 hours of non-stop playing bass, guitar, piano, ukulele aaaaand singing, the show was over. (I hope I’ll be as fit as he is at almost 74!) Although there were some screens and fireworks, it was basically all about the music! I liked his little joking but telling comment when he pulled off his jacket: “This is going to be the only wardrobe change!” He just doesn’t need wardrobe changes…

And the moral of these 1,5 weeks with four concerts? The “old stars” are waaaaay ahead of most of those new wanna-bes! They sing live, they play instruments, they connect with the audience, they rock for two hours plus… We really need to cherish them while we have them! (- and I know that’s my constant mantra, but it simply is the truth!)

Chris Brown – One Hell of a Nite Tour

Sometimes I let people talk me into concerts that I wouldn’t have gone to on my own. A lot of times these shows turn out to be great and I’m happy that I went. Few shows are a letdown. This one was definitely one of them.

I don’t know too many Chris Brown songs to begin with and from those I know I only like 3-4. So one could say that’s not a very good premise for going to a show. On the other hand, I love those good old entertainment shows with a lot of show elements, singing and dancing, and I was sure that Chris Brown would put on something like that.

Well, he tried, but he didn’t succeed!

First off, his management or tour agent or whoever made it difficult to enjoy the evening from the very beginning. Imagine a V-shaped stage and inside this V, you have an area where people can stand. Best spots in the house for sure. Now, who do you put inside? Take a guess: a) people who paid $995 for a special package including a meet & greet, b) people who paid €100 extra to get in early, c) people who waited outside early to get in first, d) people who came shortly before the show started. Chris Brown’s management decided to let group a) (about 10 people) and d) (about 150 people) inside. Can anybody explain that decision to me? What a punch in the face of his fans!

Anyway, the show itself started with opening acts. FOUR opening acts, including Kid Ink and August Alsina. The sound was crappy and the pushing and shoving in the crowd didn’t make it any more pleasant to stand there and wait. Finally, at quarter to ten, the opening acts were over and a voice announced that the show would start in 15 minutes. 15 minutes later, that same voice announced, the show would start in 15 minutes… Well, at half past 10, Chris Brown finally made it on stage. At that point I had already thought about going home…

Now, he still could have changed course with a brilliant show, but unfortunately he lost himself in mediocrity (and that’s putting it mildly). It didn’t help that he lip-synched most of the songs – and badly lip-synched so you could easily tell. I would have understood, if he had had a lot of choreographies to dance to, but he hadn’t. I didn’t even think he could dance very well, which surprised me most, because I remember videos where he did dance well. I wonder if he has some kind of health problem because he didn’t look well, either, his cheeks even looked sunken. But maybe that’s just me…

As I was not absorbed in the show, I couldn’t help but listen to the songs and especially the lyrics, which didn’t make it better. Yes, I sometimes even enjoy some of them “gangsta”-lyrics, although they are shallow as hell, but Chris Brown’s lyrics are so plain and so stereotypical… It’s all about drink and fuck and hoes and smoke weed… I wonder what kind of an influence this has on teenagers – because the audience was mostly teens and twens. My demands may be too high, but I always feel that stars should be aware of the influence they have on their followers so they should be careful with what they sell them as desirable behavior and rather be a good example to give them the right ideals and a positive outlook on life. I should have known from his history that Chris Brown just cannot be a positive role model. Unfortunately, he also could not put on a good show.

Herbert Grönemeyer – Dauernd Jetzt Tour

The last 1,5 weeks were peppered with four concerts, the first being Bryan Adams. I couldn’t find the time to keep up with writing about the other three and uploading pictures. I’ll try to do it this weekend, starting today with Herbert Grönemeyer, a German singer and songwriter, who has been successful for thirty years now. He’s very well-known in German-speaking countries but, I guess due to his German lyrics, almost nowhere else – which is quite unfortunate, because he has some wonderful songs and meaningful, poetic lyrics.

The concert took place on the Königsplatz in Munich, which is usually just a square with even a big street passing through, but sometimes it is closed down and used for concerts. With two neo-classical buildings framing it, it is really a beautiful venue.

We arrived at the Königsplatz at half past four and there were already quite a few people at the entrances – I’m bad at guessing, but I’d say maybe 150. But when the gates finally opened, everyone went for the B-Stage and we were kinda the only ones going for “the corner”, you know, that spot where stage and runway meet, which usually is the best spot in the house. We were really irritated but it turned out we had gotten the right place.

Unfortunately, it started to rain right afterwards, so we spent the hours waiting hiding under umbrellas and rain capes. The opening act “Me & Marie” played in the rain as well, but a few minutes before Grönemeyer came on stage, it stopped and the sky even turned blue and the sun came out, so we could enjoy the concert without getting wet.

Grönemeyer and his band played songs from his current album “Dauernd jetzt” as well as many of his hits – from the hymn to his hometown “Bochum”, to the hurtful “Der Weg” to his big soccer-song “Zeit, dass sich was dreht” and his new soccer-song for the current European Championship called “Jeder für jeden“. He has so many hits, he can’t even fit them all in one show, although he played for almost three hours already.

In spite of all his success, Grönemeyer is not taking himself too seriously – when he jokes about his hair-do, or his dancing skills and then swings his hips like Shakira with that lascivious, not-of-this-world facial expression. But the most beautiful thing is, that he is just completely absorbed in his music. You can truly feel that he loves what he is doing and he’s having so much fun himself, it’s addictive! You just love to sing for him and to cheer for him because it’s obvious that this makes him happy. And you want to see him happy because that makes you happy in return. Sounds corny, but that’s the way it feels! And in the end it seems that he doesn’t want to leave, the same way the audience doesn’t want him to leave. He plays one encore after the other. Finally, he ends with his version of Claudius’ “Abendlied” all alone on his piano.
And because he reminded me how beautiful that poem is and because that one verse got stuck in my mind and now somehow is closely connected to that concert, I’ll end with it, as it’s so true and should always guide our thinking and actions:

Seht ihr den Mond dort stehen?
Er ist nur halb zu sehen
und ist doch rund und schön.
So sind wohl manche Sachen,
die wir getrost belachen,
weil uns’re Augen sie nicht seh’n.
(Do you see the moon up there?
You can only see half of it,
all the same, it is round and beautiful.
The same goes for many things
that we laugh at without hesitation,
just because our eyes don’t see them.)

Bryan Adams – Get up Tour

What can I say? It was Bryan Adams – time again in the Olympiahalle! That’s basically all there is to say, because with Bryan you get what you expect: an excellent rock show with all the hits to sing along plus some new songs – this time from his “Get up“-album. I love the atmosphere on his concerts, because it sounds so beautiful when a few thousand people are singing. I love how he and his band seem to have a really good time on stage. I love how he can rock full out with his whole band for songs like “Kids wanna rock” and in the next second sing one of his beautiful ballads like “Please forgive me” only accompanying himself with his guitar. I love his covers of songs like Elvis’ “Stuck on you” or Eddie Cochran’s “C’mon everybody“. But most importantly I just love his own songs! And if he comes to Munich again, then of course, I’d love to go!