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30 August 2004 - Scroll down for sound bits and also hear my favorite MLE song - How Would I Know - live in Cologne!
Hello everybody :-)
I just came back from having the best two nights!!! :-) I went to the Frankfurt and Cologne shows (18 and 19 July 2004)...
May I just say... WOW!!!!!!!
I don't really write reviews and this one is mostly about me, so be forewarned... also, it probably will be in no particular order so don't try to figure it out :-)
FRANKFURT:
Because of the way they let people in, I wasn't able to get closer to the stage than third row... but no complaints... had a great view of Melissa and was in a good spot for her to see my signs... From the very beginning I held up my sign asking for my favorite song "How Would I Know"... I'd also asked these very nice girls up front to please put the other sign requesting it on the stage... it was cute, because she thought it was two different people requesting it... :-) Anyway, every time she came to our side (the left side, in front of Phillip), I held it up and said "pleeeeeeaaaasssseeee" :-) And every time she made a face like "I dunno about that"... :-)
Throughout the night, I wrote different signs, like when she sang "American Girl", I wrote "American Girl" with an arrow pointing down at me... when she saw that one, she tilted her head and made that sweet face... you know, the one where she smiles and looks at you so tenderly that it makes you feel there is nobody else in that place but you and her :-)
I did make other signs that were pretty lame, like "Angels Would Fall For You"... LOL! I also had my Etheridge Nation t-shirt on, and made a sign that said "Etheridge Nation 'Rep' here" and another one saying "Etheridge Nation in Da House" Didn't get much of a reaction on those though... oh well...
So... the show was EXCELLENT... I'm borrowing the set list from the board:
Lucky
All american girl
I want to come over
Angels would fall
Breathe
Similar features
Kiss me
Meet me in the back
Mercy
I want to be in love
Come to my window
Silent legacy
You used to love to dance (solo, guitar)
The letting go (solo, piano)
If you want to
Your little secret
Secret agent
I´m the only one
Bring me some water
Like the way I do
Giant
Honestly, I really could do without "Come To My Window", but I know it's a classic and she has to play it :-)
When she sat at the piano, I held up my sign AGAIN... she started to try to play "How Would I Know" but then she said she didn't remember how to play it, and told me she hadn't played it for a long time... maybe since the last time she was here... and I nodded... then she asked if I was going to another concert, and the nice girls up front answered "tomorrow"... and she said "not you... back there"... so there was Melissa looking right at me, asking me if I was going to another concert and I said "Yes, tomorrow" which wasn't really a concrete plan until that very moment ;-) So she said to me "I will play your song tomorrow. I'll practice it"... She said she probably hadn't played that song since the last time she was here in Europe and I nodded yes... :-) Then she told the audience "She has a big sign requesting a song"... By the way, I'm not quoting... I'm actually paraphrasing 'cause I can't remember the exact words :-) (30 Aug 04 - listen to it)
She then played "The Letting Go" on the piano... beautiful...
During "If You Want To" she got someone's cell phone and wanted her to dial a friend... the girl seemed to have trouble understanding what was going on, so while someone else explained to the girl to dial a friend who spoke English, Melissa was there tapping her foot, saying "OK, I'll wait"... :-) Finally Jackie was called, and Melissa spoke to her... It was really funny because Melissa was like "Do you know who Melissa Etheridge is?"... and then after a few moments she said "I AM Melissa Etheridge! Yes, really!"... LOL... anyway, Jackie was a lucky girl, 'cause Melissa talked to her and then sang to her a little bit in a very sexy way :-)
At the end of the show I held up my "THANK YOU!" sign...
COLOGNE:
On to Cologne... this time I ran like there was no tomorrow, and secured my spot on the right side of the stage, in front of Mark. Unfortunately, there was a barrier between us and the stage, so I knew only people with long arms would get a chance to get a pick :-)
I don't have a set list for Cologne, but I can tell you it was superb!!! The show was even better than the night before... but with Melissa, what else is new? ;-)
I remember she sang "Come On Out Tonight", "The Different" (OMG... YESSSSS!!!), "Yes I Am" (solo, by request), "Let Me Go"... wow, it was a great set list! IMHO, she should never ever EVER stop singing ITOO, BMSW, LTWID. Those three are just freaking awesome songs, even more awesome LIVE!
The set list would have been perfect had she sung "This Moment"... instead, she sang "Will You Still Love Me"... it was very nice, but I wanted to hear "This Moment"... :-)
Oh, both nights there were confetti canons that went off during LTWID. In Cologne, we surprised her by throwing confetti at her during "Crazy For Me"... it was great! We all hid the confetti and when we threw it at her, she said "You Got Me"... :-) Hee hee... how fun!!!
She also threw water on us before BMSW... :-) Oh! And also came out with a leaf-blower and threw all the cards and confetti right back at us... how lovely... confetti stuck on sweaty faces... LOL!!!
Backtracking to the piano song (I told you this "review" would be convoluted!)... When she sat down at the piano, I held up my sign and she said to me "I am going to sing your request." She asked me what concert this was for me and I held up two fingers, but she saw three, so she said "Your third?"... whatever :-) She then told me she had practiced it and she would play it for me (AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!). Then she looked at me and said "But this song... so saaad..." and I just nodded and she said again "so saaad"... Then I think it was woodenshoe who said "But beautiful" and Melissa said "Beautiful, but saaadd..." :-) Then she went on about how the dutchies didn't tell her what they knew and she didn't know... it was funny... tee hee... (30 Aug 04 - listen to it)
Anyway, she granted my wish and sang my favorite song of hers "How Would I Know"... and I was in heaven. When she finished I held up my sign saying "THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!"... (30 Aug 04 - listen to "How Would I Know" from the WDR radio broadcast of selected songs from the Cologne concert)
I also gave her a gift that she took, but don't know if she later saw or kept... I hope she did... it was a framed card of the "Bearlin Wall"... with teddy bears, hence the "Bearlin" ;-) An American fan (honorary dutchie) gave her a very cool lighter with the Queen of Hearts, which she really liked and asked that it be taken to her room so it wouldn't go where "all the stuff goes... I want to keep this one"... I reckon that means she doesn't keep many of her presents... tee hee...
This night I also made different signs, some lame, like "We love the way you do" or "You got our souls" (she did kind of react nicely to that one). Some not so lame, like when she came out singing "Lucky", and my sign said "Lucky Us"... that got me the tilted-head-smile again :-)
A couple more signs I just remembered were "You're off the hook!" and "Heck Yeah! You are a giant!" Tee hee... some she did like, some she probably thought were dumb... ;-)
I also made one that said "Crazy 4 U!!!" when she began to sing "Crazy For Me". I held it up when she came to our side and she was jammin' right there for me as I jumped up and down with the sign... too freaking cool!!! :-)
There was another moment... don't remember during what song exactly, when she came to our side again. I didn't have a sign up, but she looked right at me and gave me that smile of hers for about 5 seconds (yes, that is an eternity, peeps!)... I guess she could see I was really enjoying the show, my good ole sweaty self :-)
I was also smiling and doing the thumbs up a little bit with Kenny (what a nice dude that guy is!!!) and even more smiles and thumbs up with Mark (sweet funny guy). Phillip is a hottie... but I don't know about all the facial expressions when he's playing the guitar... :-)
Towards the end of LTWID I made another sign that said "Awesome... as usual" and she liked that one... got the tilted-head-smile one last time :-)
At the end I held up my "THANK YOU!" sign and then hoped for a pick that I knew I wouldn't get ;-) And of course I didn't get it... some person with long arms did ;-)
I have to say it again... WOW!!!!!!! THIS WOMAN FREAKING ROCKS!!!!!!!!
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