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show review by MAIKE >> MAIKE's show pictures
Hamburg, Fabrik, 6 April 2004
My second Sardinas concert in three days, but probably I will never get tired of seeing his live performances!
First of all I would like to make a comment on Willie's remarks about the gig in Hannover. I partly agree on the remarks about the mentality of northern German people, who usually refuse to dance or to scream during the songs. Foreign musicians mostly don't know that and don't know how to cope with that situation.
However, I simply had the feeling that many people in the Blues Garage were quite indifferent about the music. Maybe I'm wrong but I guess that one reason is, that the atmosphere there is very "pub-like." I have the impression that many people go there to have a beer or to chat with their friends and not primary to listen to the music and to watch the bands. I remember that many people were talking all the time, which was quite disturbing.
Concerning Eric's way of performing I must admit that I understand that some people felt the way, Willie described. But when Eric played in Hamburg yesterday he played pretty much the same songs, including extensive jams with the band and the audience freaked out. I think it's always a matter of giving and taking between the audience and the artist. The better the artist plays the better is the feedback from the audience and the other way round.
Eric's playing was very groovy yesterday and it didn't seem to me that the audience got bored for a minute! It was pure magic between the crowd and the band and everybody seemed to have a great time.
First I was worried about the show because I didn't expect that there would come many people. Usually there play bands that are more famous than Eric, for example Living Colour, Jack Bruce and Steve Vai. The show was supposed to begin at 9 pm and at ten to nine there were hardly any people there, but as soon as Bjoern Berge started to play it became very crowded. Bjoern was just amazing! Although I already liked his way of playing in Hannover I felt that he was playing a hundred times better yesterday. He's got a great sense of humour and he really knows how to entertain people. Maybe I should mention, that he is not as overweight as I thought first. He simply has so many muscels that you easily get a wrong impression of his shape. Bjoern, in case you are reading this, SORRY!
Unfortunately his cds were sold out after the show, but I hope that I'll find them somewhere in a record store. Go and check this tattooed bluesy Viking out! He is great!!!
At ten pm Eric, Mike and Paul entered the stage. As I already mentioned the setlist was almost the same as in Hannover, but this time the second song, an instrumental, was not "Sidewinder" but it could have been "Green Tea". I'm not sure about that, because I only listened to "Green Tea" once. Maybe someone can help! Apart from that he played "Come On In My Kitchen", which is always a highlight for me.
Well, it was an extremely good show, my seventh Sardinas gig by now, it was very intense and hot. In fact, I was very grateful that Eric supplied me with water during the show. They played for more than two hours, the poor old dobro was burned again, Eric left the stage to walk through the crowd, crazy women were dancing around him and for a couple of minutes he played sitting on the edge of the stage. I only missed the "beer-bottle-slide-playing". Paul told me later that actually it had been planned but suddenly the bottle was gone! After the show they found it again and gave it to my Mom…
I felt a little bit sad when everything was over. Eric is really one in a million and his shows are simply incredible, but I'm pretty sure that we won't have to wait long until the guys will be back!
MAIKE's show pictures
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