Berlin-May 24th

Well, it was a really fun day with Paula, Steve and Sally in Berlin before the gig. It wasn’t raining (though not as warm and sunny as originally predicted but hey, we’ll take what we can get LOL :wink:) and we did a hop on/off bus so we could get around the city easier. Sally speaks fluent German so that helped too as the bus we did wasn’t one that had the pre-recorded info in multiple languages, it was a live commentator. We had 3 different guides since we got on/off a couple times and 2 of them were quite good with the english but occasionally Sally would translate or point things out to us. We saw the Berlin wall which was really cool. Though going through the lower part and seeing a picture from back in the day of men lined up and looking like they were going to get shot certainly reminded us of how awful a history the wall had! On a lighter side, we all stopped for delicious fresh made waffles. Paula’s was plain with ice cream, Sally had apple and cinnamin compote, Steve had the “Canadian” version which was with maple syrup and I had “Italian” which was Amaretto, caramel and whipped cream…YUM! 😀

When we arrived at the venue, it was still quite early and we were hungry so decided to find some food and ended up at a small little Italian restaurant (because I hadn’t had my fill of Italian food with the waffle ya know 😆 :wink:), then made our way into the queue. Our hope was to get front row and thanks to Steve, he nabbed a spot on Mr. C.s side so yay for that! The venue was holding up to it’s name…it’s truly a dome and very cool. It’s a large round floor and then bleacher like rowed seats that went all around but not too far up (so lower than say having a balcony). The ceiling was, well, a massive dome and I wondered how that would effect the sound (as it turned out, Metroland was super loud and hard hitting to the ears but either Chicky changed something or our ears quickly got used to it because it was fine from there on so no worries. :D)

Steve and Sally hadn’t seen Vile Electrodes yet as they were at UK gigs so Paula and I told them we liked them and when they came out, I had the best view of Martin I’d had such far. It was fun to see what he truly looked like and he would often throw his head around and sing along to……he was definitely having a good time. Steve also pointed out on the last song (though apparently Paula saw him earlier) that Mr. M. was watching from the far back stage area….I’m assuming he approved. 😀

When the lights went down and Mr. H.#2 and Mr. C. came out the cheers started and a good amount of clapping for Metroland. Mr. M. did his intro in German again and I didn’t think to ask Sally what he said but more dancing for Messages. This was quite a big stage so lots of room for Mr. M. to move. Steve also noticed (and we all saw it continue through out the gig ) Mr. C. singing along…awww! 😀 There was a young couple behind us, late teens, very early 20s top and they were bopping around with the rest of us, first for Dresden and then for HoM. With Steve, myself and Paula all bouncing together, it reminded me of Marks and my ‘bouncing sandwiches’ that we often ended up getting in with someone, it was great! 😀

When Mr. M. called Mr. H. out for FLaD, he got called the star of the show again and Mr. H. started to come down laughing, then turned back and said “I forgot to push the button” and went back to his keyboard to set things up for Mr. M. LOL. When he came over by us, he looked down at Paula, half expecting something to fly his way I think but she didn’t have anything this time so when he realized he kind of gave her a nod like “what, nothing?” and she laughed and shrugged like “sorry, I don’t have anything this time.” Steve had earlier teased he’d flash Mr. H. and as it turned out, he did! 😯 though neither myself, Paula, or even Mr. H. saw so it was all lost on us LOL. When it was over, he got a great response and stood there for a minute to enjoy it as Mr. M. kept pointing to him. Then Mr. M. said “why not have a Hollywood moment in Berlin?” and Mr. H. shrugged and laughed like “eh, why not?” and IYL seemed to go down well.

Swaying for Night Cafe and Souvenir got a great cheer when it started, then it was JoA/MoO. Way back in Milwaukee 2011, Steve had suggested we try to windmill with Mr. M. We did, had a blast, and since then, have wanted to do it again but last years fests we weren’t near each other and the only UK gig we were both at this time was Liverpool and we had assigned seats that weren’t close so we were determined to do it this time. When Mr. H.#2 started to bash it out, we started our windmills and during the middle, musical part, Steve said “here we go” and he and I just let loose. Paula and Sally were laughing at us and Paula got some video….SO fun! 😆 😀 When it was over, Mr. M. got a great response and I looked around to see a lot of people cheering and clapping in the balcony too. The roundness of the venue made it easy to see everyone and gave a good vibe it seemed.

When Our System started, Paula and I did the funny little ‘move’ she and Steph had made that has us go “ping” and kind of flick our fingers, then “buuuurrr” and roll our lips as we sway our other arm. They had showed me in the car when the song would come on during the UK tour and I did it in their honor in Liverpool since we weren’t together 😉 but tonight Mr. H. #2 saw us and though I only saw him laughing, Paula said he was exaggerating his hitting of the “ping” sound for us. 😆 During TLaC, Mr. M. gave his towel to an adorable little boy in the front row (Paula and I were all “awww!” when earlier, he was able to get his hand slapped by Mr. M. It seemed he was with his parents, one on each of his side and when I’d look, he was always smiles and bopping back and forth :D) and a friend got her hand kissed during KtM. I was happy to hear Pandora’s Box again, as were Steve and Sally since it wasn’t done in the UK. There must have been another youngin on the other side of front row because I heard Mr. M. say something that sounded like “you’re much cooler than your parents”. It’s so sweet to see parents being able to share this with their kids! 😀

Mr. C. got sang to during Locomotion, though it took a little bit for him to see, then he laughed as did Mr. M. I think this was also the song Mr. M. went way off stage to the side. I thought “where’s he going?” but there must have been a gap because I saw him looking out and waving, Am assuming out to the side seats and when he came back, he said “it’s nice back there.” SotSS got a better sing-a-long than the past few gigs and Mr. C. grooved as usual. When it was time for EG, our gang just let loose and it was fun to see that the young couple were bouncing around too. I couldn’t see the center too well due to the stage being long but overall, it seemed this crowd got into it the best of the three German gigs thus far. It was thank yous, intros, waves and goodbyes before they walked out and at one point, everyone started stomping their feet, us included and I could see by the shaking of Paula’s camera that it was causing a good vibration LOL.

When they came back out, Mr. M. looked at Mr. H.#2 and said “are you tired?” He seemed to nod a bit like “yeah, a little” so Mr. M. then turned to Mr. C. and said “Martin…are YOU tired?” Mr. C. kind of shrugged like “eh, not really”. Mr. H. was next and he laughed and shook his head no so then Mr. M. asked in German and we all yelled “NO!” in our fluent language LOL. Mr. M. said “well, Malcolm is tired so is there a drummer in the house?” People cheered and laughed and Mr. M. said “sorry Mal, no drummer so you’re gonna have to keep playing ” and Mr. H.#2 laughed and shrugged like “ok, no worries.” 😆 Some of the German fans were hoping for Secret and made signs to hold up saying “Secret” and then “Thank You” if they did it. They must have held them up because I heard Mr. M. say “no, that’s tomorrow” and they instead launched into WotMW which got a good “hey hey”. Electricity was introduced in German but 1979 was in there and in between bouncing, I looked behind and saw the young couple dancing together…as in proper dancing not bouncing…sweet! 😀 We also started doing the “da der da, da deeer da…” and got pretty loud. Mr. M. started going “dea dea da dea dea da…” so we changed to that later and just had one final great bounce and laugh. When it was over, a final round of thank yous and goodbyes, then the guys were gone. What a great gig! I think it was one of my favorite venues and though it wasn’t full, the crowd was totally up for it. (and in all fairness, this was the biggest venue of any of the European gigs it seemed…Brussels being next)

So, highlight of the night. Originally I thought it was going to be our windmilling until SMS. Unbeknownst to me until later when he told me, Steve said the young guy behind us had yelled out “Sister Marie Says” before Pandora’s Box. I had heard Mr. M. say something to him like “we’ll do that next but first this one” or something but at the time, it hadn’t really registered because Paula and I were busy taking turns moving spots so that the girl could be up front for KtM and PB and Sally moved back so the guy could be front with her for PB too.  So anyways, PB gets done and  Mr. M. comes by us and says “who wanted SMS?” There was a pause and then I heard the girl behind me say “ooo, ME, I’m Marie” or something like that so I turned and laughed, kind of patting her but, since it took her awhile to respond (and apparently the guy never said a word when Mr. M. asked), as a joke Steve pointed to me as I was turned and mouthed “it was her.” So I came back around and saw Mr. M. looking at me saying “you want SMS?” I’m thinking “yeah…sure” so nodded and laughed 😀 so he says “OK, this song is for YOU!” and points to me so I kept laughing and immediately went into congregation pose. But Mr. M. continues by saying “This is Lori, she’s come all the way from America so you know she’s got problems” 😆 and said something about they love me and we should pray for me. I was like 😯 😆 😳 :D, we all started clapping and he said “this is for Lori”. Awww, bless, so sweet!  We all bounced around and between, Mr. M. would say something like “pray for Lori” and the four of us were in stitches. I kept thinking “OMG” 😆 😳 😀 (though it all made sense once Steve told me what he’d done :lol:) and just before the second congregation part, Mr. M. asked me if I was better now, I laughed, nodded and gave him the two thumbs up before bouncing some more. When it was over, he was in front of me and I was cracking up and blew him a kiss. He said “Paul really can save you” (because Mr. H. was Jesus tonight) and I laughed, looked at Mr. H. and he was laughing and nodding to me mouthing “I can”. When the gig was over, the gang were all “Sister Lori, Sister Lori” and Steve told me what he’d done. He said “I figured you’d either love it or really hate me afterwards.” Aww, how could I not love it? It was hilarious and really special! 😀