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Post by snakelady on Apr 21, 2018 7:30:21 GMT
So it was very late that I had decided to go see RMC with Francis and part of the family came along including my mum, who got her ticket as a birthday present. For reasons entirely down to son #1 ( ) it was after 7pm already when we left my mum's place having picked her up. At least what was left of commuters went the opposite direction and we made it through both cities (LU/MA) and into the last of the underground parking garages with free spaces left right beside the venue in less than 1/2h. Due to our late ordering our tickets were further back - row 21, but at least in the middle and, what helped immensely with the view, in the second row of the first raised step. Lights were still on and music was playing loud from the speakers when we took our seats. Shortly after 8 a short and IMVHO tasteless video was shown on the screens first with a seemingly dead mouse in a mouth trap and The End played and with the music changing to Eye Of The Tiger the mouse starting to work out with that trap. Not funny. I don't remember all the details about when the orchestra took to the stage going into a few mins. of Beethoven, then the Matt Sinner Band coming on, everybody greeting everybody else and telling us about all the great guests that were going to follow, starting with Michael Sadler from Saga. The setlist has already been put up in the RMC thread, so there's no need to repeat that. As has been mentioned in the newspaper article Inna has posted, all artists apart from Francis played two more or less well known songs, then the next guys came on and that was done twice. That lead to too much talking, thanking the orchestra, the audience .. for my liking and the audience that had stood up from their seats always sat down again. The biggest problem for the overall atmosphere though was, that merely Supertramp were able to provide four well known songs. All other artists had at least 1-2 songs that were relatively unknown and in consequence the audience remained in their seats. Gotthard merely got a good reaction with the Purple cover Hush. Everybody tried to show off with their German language skills, Eric Bazillian from the Hooters even went as far as singing a whole verse of his second song in German. Well, it was a strange song anyway - he seems to be on some Christian mission .. The only section I really did enjoy were Supertramp. It was beneficial they mainly let the music do the talking and otherwise refrained from acting pseudo-excited. Back in the day I hadn't been the biggest fan of School, but I did enjoy it's rendition as well as all the other songs they played and would consider going to a gig of theirs. The Hooters and Saga have opened for Quo before and that's how they came across for me - good openers, but nothing more. When all of the guys were finished we got a short interlude with the orchestra playing the Pirates Of The Caribbean tune and their conductor and one of the MSB guitarists fighting it out with sabres - with the guitarist winning. After the conductor had risen again from the dead the last big introduction was made and Francis took to the stage, as always opening with Caroline. He had everybody on their feet and in the palm of his hand throughout despite talking a bit more than usual, but somehow I had the distinct feeling he was doing a job, but not enjoying it much. As usual I sang along every single song and headbanged throughout even during The Wanderer (a song I hate with a passion), but it certainly didn't grab me the way a Quo gig does. Maybe it had to do with the fact that despite two (!) guys with white telecasters the band wasn't good enough (you didn't hear much of the orchestra). What took away from all performances too was the bad sound throughout - the worst I've witnessed for a very long time. Then came the big finale with the inevitable RAOTW. Singing duties were shared by all, after Francis had sung the first verse and everybody hugged everybody on stage again - apart from Francis, who just isn't into hugging, but who could scarcely escape the singer from Gotthard. Not surprisingly he was the first to leave the stage too. Overall I'd say the vast majority of the audience left the venue happy and satisfied, but, as I had suspected before, this formate just isn't for me. Taking the skywalk and the elevator we were out of the parking garage in no time again, but there just wasn't the excited and satisfied atmosphere in the car we have after a Quo gig. It was ok seeing this once, but I won't go see RMC again and the others felt about the same.
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Apr 21, 2018 7:45:50 GMT
Cheers for the report, your Snakeness. The way it comes across, it all sounds a bit back-slapping. I suspect one or two were just glad to have a gig Francis is presumably doing it for the financial reward. It doesn't sound like his thing at all, although he does seem to be easily persuaded to do things he doesn't want to. Always has. But it does sound like a lucrative thing to do. Not sure what "both cities" are (LU/MA) Presumably the latter is Mannheim. I doubt the first one is Lugano Free parking spaces???? :oo: In the UK, that's called a luxury. Or a broken ticket machine Like you say, you had to see it even if just the once. I shall report on Mr Edwards' intimate little gig tomorrow when I get back. I think there might only be the four of us there!
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Post by snakelady on Apr 21, 2018 8:06:15 GMT
Cheers for the report, your Snakeness. The way it comes across, it all sounds a bit back-slapping. I suspect one or two were just glad to have a gig Francis is presumably doing it for the financial reward. It doesn't sound like his thing at all, although he does seem to be easily persuaded to do things he doesn't want to. Always has. But it does sound like a lucrative thing to do. Not sure what "both cities" are (LU/MA) Presumably the latter is Mannheim. I doubt the first one is Lugano Free parking spaces???? In the UK, that's called a luxury. Or a broken ticket machine Like you say, you had to see it even if just the once. I shall report on Mr Edwards' intimate little gig tomorrow when I get back. I think there might only be the four of us there! LU is Ludwigshafen, situated just on the opposite (western) side of the Rhein (about 150K inhs.). As we approach MA from the southwest, we've got to pass through both cities. Parking space here usually isn't a problem. Cities tend to make very sure that near big venues enough space is provided, so no desperate searchers block the streets or the inhabitants only areas. Ticket fee for the whole evening was 4€ .. Concerning Francis - yep, I guess it was the money (and Rick and Mick Box ..) who talked him into it. Can't see him doing it again though .. Looking forward to your report
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2018 12:43:41 GMT
Shortly after 8 a short and IMVHO tasteless video was shown on the screens first with a seemingly dead mouse in a mouth trap and The End played and with the music changing to Eye Of The Tiger the mouse starting to work out with that trap. Not funny. That was actually used as an advert for chedder cheese......
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Post by snakelady on Apr 21, 2018 20:13:10 GMT
Shortly after 8 a short and IMVHO tasteless video was shown on the screens first with a seemingly dead mouse in a mouth trap and The End played and with the music changing to Eye Of The Tiger the mouse starting to work out with that trap. Not funny. That was actually used as an advert for chedder cheese...... Yep, that was it (just without the cheese) I don't consider it the least bit funny (or good marketing).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2018 21:50:08 GMT
Yeah, I remember being shocked the first time I saw it on telly. Don’t think it was on for too long before being pulled as a result of too many complaints.
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Post by snakelady on Apr 22, 2018 5:46:00 GMT
Going back to the concert .. I've forgotten to mention - what did come as a big (positive) surprise was the fact that as near as no mobiles could be seen held up and filming. It was nearly like we were back to pre-mobile days ! :oo: Photos from the night: link
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Post by snakelady on Apr 23, 2018 7:34:38 GMT
Well, it was mainly an 80s set, so the majority of the audience was a bit younger - the other side (nothing wrong about it ) of 40 and I thought mobiles were well spread among them and even us baby-boomers these days .. It's probably rather we still behave more sensibly . The song Eric Bazillian played in German was something about god on a bus - I didn't quite get what he wanted to get across with it .. Guess I'd prefer the previous formate too, @inna . The audience could get in tune better with each artist and there'd be only half of the general talk - greeting everybody, thanking each and everybody .. Forgot to mention: Lloyd was there too looking after Francis and his guitars. Nice familiar touch seeing him walking up on stage, pinning Francis' set list to the floor before he came on.
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Apr 23, 2018 12:47:52 GMT
Forgot to mention: Lloyd was there too looking after Francis and his guitars. Nice familiar touch seeing him walking up on stage, pinning Francis' set list to the floor before he came on. Which explains why he wasn't doing Rhino's gig. He usually does but I can imagine the 'classic' one would have been a bit more lucrative. Or at least justified his salary
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Apr 24, 2018 5:12:45 GMT
Which explains why he wasn't doing Rhino's gig. He usually does but I can imagine the 'classic' one would have been a bit more lucrative. Or at least justified his salary Lloyd was with Rick, too, when he toured with RMC three years ago. He's never helped out at any of the Rhino's Revenge gigs I've been to, though. They always had to get up their gear with the help of the support band and their team. snakelady , What if god was one of us... just a stranger on a bus... Strangely, he's set up Rhino's Revenge/Woodedz at most of those I've been at! It'll just depend on who else has call on him I suppose. Good shout about the whole God/bus thing. I forgot about that.
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Post by snakelady on Apr 24, 2018 5:57:20 GMT
@inna - yep, that was it. Had me thinking '.. so what ?' throughout. mortified - maybe a question of who has first call - and in this case Rhino will have been second in line.
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Post by frozenhero on Apr 24, 2018 21:03:12 GMT
The song Eric Bazillian played in German was something about god on a bus - I didn't quite get what he wanted to get across with it .. Eric is a funny guy. That song has an interesting history; The Hooters had disbanded for a while in the 90s and Eric was working with Joan Osborne. He had seen a documentary about The Beatles and how they had to record everything on 4-track recorders before better equipment came along. His girlfriend asked him about that and since he had a 4-track recorder at home he wanted to demonstrate it and completely spontaneously came up with that song, which then went on to be a Top Ten hit for Joan Osborne!! :O (I think Eric also played the guitar solo on the hit version. It sure sounds like him.) The Hooters did their own version many years later, and it's far slower and mellower. It was on the same EP as "Pissing in the Rhine", the German song @inna mentioned. I think the first attempt at this was actually when Eric did a German version of "Private Emotion" (that huge Ricky Martin hit also written by him), with lyrics by Heinz-Rudolf Kunze and backed by a German band, called "Heimliche Sehnsucht". I don't think it's meant as a missionary track, but as you may have noticed, "All You Zombies" also uses biblical imagery, and "Satellite" (which they could have played too, since it was a big hit) actually also does. The only section I really did enjoy were Supertramp. It was beneficial they mainly let the music do the talking and otherwise refrained from acting pseudo-excited. Back in the day I hadn't been the biggest fan of School, but I did enjoy it's rendition as well as all the other songs they played and would consider going to a gig of theirs. The Hooters and Saga have opened for Quo before and that's how they came across for me - good openers, but nothing more. As somebody who's just listened to the 2006 Saga album "Trust" today and thoroughly enjoyed it (it's excellent!!!) I must strongly disagree. Saga are a totally unique band with a sound that can hardly be compared to anyone, although you can pick up snippets of Yes, Supertramp (listen to "Slow Motion"), Genesis and several other prog bands here and there. They have managed to create a sonic world of their own. Obviously going through a few singles doesn't quite get that across. And The Hooters are capable of holding up well on their own too (listen to the Both Sides Live album, which criminally doesn't even include "500 Miles", but is still a fab listen). Supertramp probably won't ever tour again, unfortunately. There was a tour announced for last year (I think?) but then we got the news that Rick (Davies) had cancer and they had to cancel it. Also, I'm not sure how fit John would be for complete gigs either - he was the one who did come across as old, compared to Michael, Eric and Francis, who aren't THAT much younger...
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Post by snakelady on Apr 25, 2018 6:23:56 GMT
The song Eric Bazillian played in German was something about god on a bus - I didn't quite get what he wanted to get across with it .. Eric is a funny guy. That song has an interesting history; The Hooters had disbanded for a while in the 90s and Eric was working with Joan Osborne. He had seen a documentary about The Beatles and how they had to record everything on 4-track recorders before better equipment came along. His girlfriend asked him about that and since he had a 4-track recorder at home he wanted to demonstrate it and completely spontaneously came up with that song, which then went on to be a Top Ten hit for Joan Osborne!! :O (I think Eric also played the guitar solo on the hit version. It sure sounds like him.) The Hooters did their own version many years later, and it's far slower and mellower. It was on the same EP as "Pissing in the Rhine", the German song @inna mentioned. I think the first attempt at this was actually when Eric did a German version of "Private Emotion" (that huge Ricky Martin hit also written by him), with lyrics by Heinz-Rudolf Kunze and backed by a German band, called "Heimliche Sehnsucht". I don't think it's meant as a missionary track, but as you may have noticed, "All You Zombies" also uses biblical imagery, and "Satellite" (which they could have played too, since it was a big hit) actually also does. The only section I really did enjoy were Supertramp. It was beneficial they mainly let the music do the talking and otherwise refrained from acting pseudo-excited. Back in the day I hadn't been the biggest fan of School, but I did enjoy it's rendition as well as all the other songs they played and would consider going to a gig of theirs. The Hooters and Saga have opened for Quo before and that's how they came across for me - good openers, but nothing more. As somebody who's just listened to the 2006 Saga album "Trust" today and thoroughly enjoyed it (it's excellent!!!) I must strongly disagree. Saga are a totally unique band with a sound that can hardly be compared to anyone, although you can pick up snippets of Yes, Supertramp (listen to "Slow Motion"), Genesis and several other prog bands here and there. They have managed to create a sonic world of their own. Obviously going through a few singles doesn't quite get that across. And The Hooters are capable of holding up well on their own too (listen to the Both Sides Live album, which criminally doesn't even include "500 Miles", but is still a fab listen). Supertramp probably won't ever tour again, unfortunately. There was a tour announced for last year (I think?) but then we got the news that Rick (Davies) had cancer and they had to cancel it. Also, I'm not sure how fit John would be for complete gigs either - he was the one who did come across as old, compared to Michael, Eric and Francis, who aren't THAT much younger... Thanks for the background info I know you're into Saga too and it's not that I don't like them - I enjoyed the band when they supported Quo in Colmar. What I did not like was, how the songs sounded with the RMC arrangements (and overall bad sound) in Mannheim - and apart from Wind Him Up they were unknown to the vast majority of the audience. WHU is a favourite of mine from the time, but I still wasn't able to enjoy it much the way it came across. Maybe the sound at the front was better ? Maybe the sound in Ludwigsburg was better ? But this wasn't Saga and it didn't sound good. Similar if not to the same extend goes for Francis even. This was not Quo and starting with Caroline made it very obvious. When Francis' guitar came in it much more started to sound like Quo, but the rhythm guitars sure weren't. Maybe if the orchestra had been more audible that would've made a difference, but apart from very few moments (i.e. with the flute or the one violin ..) it merely formed a wall of background noise and in consequence the focus was on the Matt Sinner Band .. Back in the 70s everybody owned at least one Supertramp album, me included. For a while they were very popular, but then were one of the numerous bands that disappeared when the NDW took off. And then they were kind of written out of music history like so many others ..
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Apr 25, 2018 7:23:09 GMT
I've always found Supertramp a bit of a guilty pleasure. I've never seen them live but, like many, I had an album or two. I've kept quite a few tracks from a number of albums for my iPod. Obviously, Breakfast In America is the one they're most remembered for and it is a good album. But I recall buying the Dreamer single way back in my mid teens. It was just so different. That and Sparks' This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us had a real impact on me at that age because they sounded like nothing else I'd ever heard. Sorry, hijacked that a bit there
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Post by frozenhero on Apr 25, 2018 9:38:23 GMT
Thanks for the background info I know you're into Saga too and it's not that I don't like them - I enjoyed the band when they supported Quo in Colmar. What I did not like was, how the songs sounded with the RMC arrangements (and overall bad sound) in Mannheim - and apart from Wind Him Up they were unknown to the vast majority of the audience. WHU is a favourite of mine from the time, but I still wasn't able to enjoy it much the way it came across. Maybe the sound at the front was better ? Maybe the sound in Ludwigsburg was better ? But this wasn't Saga and it didn't sound good. Similar if not to the same extend goes for Francis even. This was not Quo and starting with Caroline made it very obvious. When Francis' guitar came in it much more started to sound like Quo, but the rhythm guitars sure weren't. Maybe if the orchestra had been more audible that would've made a difference, but apart from very few moments (i.e. with the flute or the one violin ..) it merely formed a wall of background noise and in consequence the focus was on the Matt Sinner Band .. I though the guitarist on the left (can't be arsed to look up his name) was very good on the Saga tracks, which are incredibly tough to play (I know from personal experience). The sound, as I mentioned in my review, wasn't particularly good, but neither was the sound at Saga's "farewell" concert I saw last year. I do agree that they should allow more space for the orchestra, particularly during Francis' set. There were guitar riffs doubled with french horns every now and then but nothing all that outstanding. According to chart positions, "On the Loose" was Saga's biggest hit here in Germany, and it certainly went down well in Ludwigsburg. "Humble Stance" is also semi-famous (see SWR1 Hitparade positions), but instead of "Only Time Will Tell" I would have chosen maybe "The Flyer", "Don't Be Late", "You're Not Alone" (which is always a smash live) or even "Misbehaviour" (yeah, not a big hit, but a far rockier track). Back in the 70s everybody owned at least one Supertramp album, me included. For a while they were very popular, but then were one of the numerous bands that disappeared when the NDW took off. And then they were kind of written out of music history like so many others .. I'm not sure NDW was the main reason why Supertramp lost the public's attention, as it was a worldwide thing. "...Famous Last Words..." was actually still very successful in 1983, but it's a patchy album with just as many good songs as bad ones (including the big hit single "It's Raining Again"). And Roger Hodgson's departure, coupled with the stylistic change to edgier prog on "Brother Where You Bound", obviously didn't do the band any favours. But it's not like they're entirely forgotten; "Some Things Never Change" was a #3 on the German LP charts in 1997; "Crime of the Century" and "Breakfast in America" got deluxe editions, the "Paris" live DVD was very successful I think. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this here but one real problem is actually Roger's policy w/ regards to YouTube videos... I've always found Supertramp a bit of a guilty pleasure. I've never seen them live but, like many, I had an album or two. I've kept quite a few tracks from a number of albums for my iPod. Obviously, Breakfast In America is the one they're most remembered for and it is a good album. But I recall buying the Dreamer single way back in my mid teens. It was just so different. That and Sparks' This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us had a real impact on me at that age because they sounded like nothing else I'd ever heard. Sorry, hijacked that a bit there "Breakfast in America" is my 2nd favourite Supertramp album, but the singles are worn out from constant radio play. "Crime of the Century" (from which "Dreamer" is taken) is my favourite and I think it's one of the best albums ever made. Just as good as e.g. "Dark Side of the Moon". One of those albums. The two albums in between are not quite as consistent but have plenty of great songs too
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Apr 25, 2018 10:28:02 GMT
Cheers, frozenhero I've got 3 songs from Famous Last Words. I particularly like Know Who You Are. I might check out Crime Of The Century again. I've never heard anything from them before that such as Supertramp or Indelibly Stamped.
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Post by frozenhero on Apr 25, 2018 12:31:30 GMT
My favourite song from ...Famous Last Words... is "Waiting So Long". Hodgson's guitar takes on Gilmour-esque dimensions on there (as well as on "Don't Leave Me Now").
I only recently bought the debut album. It's OK, some nice tunes, but Roger sings almost all the tracks, which gets on my nerves after a while. And while it's curious to hear the band looking for their style (free jazz moments in the 12-minute "Try Again"!), some songs don't do anything for me. It's more like Traffic meets hippie folkie stuff. Also, at only four members (and no woodwind player) you can sense the band was not complete.
I don't know anything Indelibly Stamped except "Your Poppa Don't Mind", which is a nice little rock 'n' roll number - not far from typical Quo shuffle fare, actually, except for the prominent electric piano!
I think the band actually more or less dismissed those albums later. At least during their heyday, they never performed anything from them. Sorta like Quo never did songs from their first 2 albums in the 70s.
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