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Tour Reports 2010

chrisreafan

Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by chrisreafan »

Just back from the concert in Amsterdam. Man! In my younger years i was a fan of AC/DC but never saw them live. Chris his guitarwork was impressive. Hardrock. Electric Guitar was like Santana was playing. Firm rockblues with virtuos guitarwork my father says who went along. The Band played great. No drummachine.
Very Loud. We enjoyed it to the fullest. Every hitrecord (like Road to Hell) went his own way. Never ever heard Road to Hell like this. I mean with this concert there was no need for a different playlist because of the above. Can't explain it further but its the price worth to travel to England and go to the concert if its played like in Amsterdam

Must sign off now

just great
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by Mr_Blues »

chrisreafan wrote:Man! In my younger years i was a fan of AC/DC but never saw them live.
What´s so wrong with AC/DC with the older years??? ;)
Still great band, though I haven´t seen the recent tours,
saw them back in 2000 and 2001 and that was ballbreaking :)
Too many good words to add here.
I better just sit back and drink beer. :)
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by hannah »

Hi All Chris Rea fans,

I've been to his concert last night (march 05.2010)and it blew me away!
I love every single songs and to be honest I love his blues more and more and his come so far yet still so far to go was great,2 thumbs up!!I'm waiting for his next tour in Holland and his new album.
I heard he's undergone several surgeries last year.I hope and pray that his health grows stronger and stronger for the years to come.

God bless,

Hannah
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PAB
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by PAB »

Hi everybody,

March 4th was the date in Brussels (Forest National). I was there and I really enjoyed the gig. Very professional and square, true, but very energetic. The public was hot and the main objective has been achieved: I spent an excellent evening with Chris Rea.

:D PAb
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by Bart »

My thoughts after two nights with Chris.
Last Friday we had tickets for Chris in Amsterdam. Regrettably Shéba (my girlfriend) has got a whiplash, so she wasn’t able to attend this standing concert (there were some seats available in the back of the hall). We waited till Friday morning to make the decision that she couldn’t join me, therefore I wasn’t able to give the ticket to someone else. I arrived at the venue at 14:00h, to start the long wait outside. It was very cold and it was raining, so it was not very comfortable. Till 15:00h I was there waiting alone, till a friend of mine arrived. At 16:30h some more friends joined us (the same group with which I had been waiting in 2006 and 2008!) and not very long till some other people started arriving. At 18:30h the doors of the venue opened and after a short wait at the doors inside we could finally enter the hall (and get a bit warm!). The long wait paid off, as I had the best spot in the hall, right in front of the microphone… At 20:00h Paul Casey started playing. I was positively surprised. I have received all his CD’s from Paul himself (as we have some mail contact) and I have been following him for some time, but I never heard him play live! I think he is really a talented singer/guitarist and luckily the crowd joined him in singing the up-tempo “I do…”. If you haven’t done it, please be sure to check out his work on his website, he is really good! After 4 songs he left the stage and after a short time Chris and the band (joined by Paul) hit the stage. It was really great to see Sylvin back with Chris (I had already seen them together during the Bush hall gig last September). The show started with a blast and the sound was very good in the Heineken Music Hall (one of my favorite venues). Really loved “where the blues come from” and a wonderful new “twist” to Josephine. After “Looking for the summer” (which has always been one of my favorite tracks, so I was glad to be able to hear it live again) Julia was played. Man, I was blown away… What a wonderful new version of that song. How many ways is that man able to play this song? I really love it and it was in my opinion the best of the set list. It has been said before, but “electric guitar” is indeed a wonderful song played live. I didn’t like the studio version very much, but played live it has become one of my favorites. It has the “old” Chris Rea feeling within this blues song. It was specially the lyrics together with his energetic playing that touched me (I’m gonna make that baby sing… WOW!). “Come so far…” was also better played live then on the record. Stainsby girls was good, but I couldn’t help feeling that he “left a part out”; that it shouldn’t be done when he stopped playing it, cut in half so to speak… It was very hilarious seeing him “shoot” at the audience with his guitar while playing this song. As you may know “the road” is my nr.1 favorite of all time, and though it was great hearing it again live for me it didn’t have the power that I sensed during the last Bush Hall gig or the previous tour. Still loved the song though … As last song “Let’s dance” was played. I have never really liked that song, but I must say this live version was very “catchy” not to mention funny (“I’m never too old to dance”). After this last song he left the stage and the hall was left in the dark for quite some time, which makes people expected another encore… Of course like all other shows there wasn’t any so after some waiting the lights were turned on and people started leaving the hall. It was a wonderful show and as far as I can judge the people around me have enjoyed it very much. There was lots of dancing and jumping and people singing with the songs. On the other hand Chris looked very tired and not well at all, which worried my a lot the whole show. To me he looked nevertheless like he was enjoying himself very much (he even put out his tongue towards someone taking pictures of him – with flash of course – all the time) dancing like I have never seen him dance before (he seems to be dancing more and more every new tour). He recognized me and said hello to me at the start of the show, so that was great!

After this whole experience it wasn’t over for me… We also had tickets for the show in Dortmund on Saturday. Shéba wanted to try attending this concert as it was seating only and it was her Christmas present! Since it was a 200+ km drive we left early (or so we thought), but due to many road construction works and heavy snow we arrived in Dortmund around 18:30h (doors would open at 19:00h). After waiting in line to enter the parking lot for quite some time we only had three cars in front of us before we could enter the parking lot when it was closed by the police (full). So we had to search for another place to park the car while the clock was ticking (and we knew Shéba wouldn’t be able to walk very far). After some searching we found another spot in the proximity of the hall and we started the long walk to the hall (which was very painful for her). Thanks to a very friendly steward we could enter the hall through the “disabled entrance” without having to wait in the line (thank you!) and we could enter the hall in time before ths show started at 20:00h. We had rather good seats in row 10 (seats 1 & 2). When Paul started playing I immediately noticed the sound being very bad, not too mention not loud enough to fill this large hall. The German audience didn’t give him the warm welcome that the audience in Amsterdam did, and almost no one joined him in singing “I do…” when asked. After the support act and a small pause it was time for Chris to enter the stage. Surprisingly enough he looked much better then the day before in Amsterdam, so that comforted me a lot. He played (of course) the same set list as in before. Shéba saw Chris live only once before but that was in the small Bush hall, which has a completely different atmosphere as the large Westfallen halle. She enjoyed herself very much although she couldn’t dance to the music as I did due to the pain. My thoughts about this show are generally the same as above, Julia was still the best song of the list. He played Let’s dance slightly different then in Amsterdam. Same as during previous tours I noticed the audience participation in a seated concert is less, which didn’t stop me from dancing like I’ve never done before. During the last two songs people started walking to the stage and – although I generally don’t like this because people on the front row couldn’t see anything with all these people in front of them! – I got on my feet as well. Regrettably Shéba had to stay seated but I was enjoying myself right in front of Chris. After the show was done I waited for the tour crew to come and break down the stage. Pat Baker (his production manager) came to me to give a hand and asked me how I was… Well, what do you think after such a show :-D . What I forgot to mention; the stage set looked really great! I know Pat has put a lot of work in it and it did indeed pay off…

All together two wonderful nights and I really would love to see the rest of the tour as well. For all those of you who are going to attend an upcoming show, you will enjoy yourselves, that’s for sure! Have fun and please come share your thoughts here after the show (and of course keep joining us also when the tour is over ;-) ).
REAgards, Bart (webmaster)
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by Shéba »

Hello !!
Here a report of a Chris Rea “Newby!”
I've had the time of my life during the concert in Dortmund! (As you can read in Bart's review I couldn't attend the Amsterdam concert..... :-()
It was great to see and hear Chris Rea live during a big concert; I've only seen him live at the Bush Hall.. He is a true artist and a great guitarist and he has given a great show.
My favorite songs were: The Road to Hell and Let's Dance. Julia, Josephine and Easy Rider were also great!.... Uhm….. Well I can't make really a decision about witch songs I liked the most! I loved all of them...

The supporting act, Paul Casey.... Wow! I liked his sound very much.... what he did only with a guitar and a microphone... Wow! I liked the songs he played so much I’ve put the album "Scrapbook" on my iPod.

For those of you who are still waiting for a concert, have patience and enjoy yourselves!!!
It’s worth it!
Greetings,
Shéba
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by Crusoe »

Bart : What a great review.. I am now even more excited ( if that's possible) seeing Chris next Sunday in London.
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by blueskev »

Hi Bart and Sheba,
Great reviews, I'm looking forward to saturday in Brighton even more :-)
Hope you feel better soon Sheba,
Regards,
Kev.
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by Chris »

Great reviews, Bart and Sheba, I think it was a good idea to go to two different gigs.
Sorry to hear Sheba couldn't make it to Amsterdam.
Thank you both for your reviews. They only confirm what I've seen, heard and witnessed locally.
Take care and get well soon (Gute Besserung?) Sheba!
Chris
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by Vitello Tonnato »

Last weekend I visited my first Chris Rea concert. Oh dear, that blew me away. Some years ago I saw a cut-together of his 2006 farewell tour on TV and felt a bit sad about that farewell. Even that performance was really awesome - from that point I knew, that CR is an amazing live musician and if there'll be another tour I just have to watch him live.

I didn't have a clue what to expect and did only know that there's much more blues in his recent works now, what is really "my cup of tea". Paul Casey and his great performance in the beginning led to an exciting atmosphere.

And then CR, his playing and his appearance were so powerful - hasn't he become 59 in March?! No interruptions, he played and played, changing guitars very often. The audience was quite reserved, maybe because there were seated. And the music - just perfect, loved every second of it. CR acted quite a lot during his singing and playing and was dancing every now and then. He seemed to be in a perfect mood and I hope that the next tour is not far away. Doesn't he release a new album in autumn? There is so much to look forward to.

All the best,
VT
:D
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by Shéba »

Hello Blueskev and Chris,

Thanks for your nice words... I'm hoping it will be better very soon...
And yes... it's very sad I couldn't attend the Amsterdam concert.... But Bart has told me all about it and he even phoned me when Chris was playing "The Road To Hell" and "Let's Dance"....

For Blueskev, enjoy the concert in Brighton! I really would like to read your review!
and Chris, I'm Dutch (not German)..;).. so it's "Beterschap" (= get well soon) but thanks anyway... I very much appreciated it.
Greetings,
Shéba
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by BLACKBOY8970 »

Hi All,

I was last week in Brussels. Like always a great performance ! The opening song (I Can't Wait For Love) was very good. Josephine was a little bit poor , but with the help of Neil on the keys if was fine to hear at the end.Great surprise was Julia , complety in a new jersey but i loved so much.The discovery of the evening was clearly Electric Guitar , i never have hearded this song live , but is was really top music ! Like always The Road To Hell was perfect. The encores was not so good like before , i don't like the new version of On The Beach and Let's Dance is even not my favourite number.

Some remarks :

- Sound was to hard , special the guitar solo's .
- No contact from Chris with his public , everything was very poor.
- It was his birthday (4 March) , and there was never "fire" in the hall. I really had the hope that he was going to do something special for his birthday but there was nothing at all.

BUT : Like always a very good performance ! 8)
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by tony »

Morning all, Dont see any reports for Birmingham or Liverpool, was wondering if anyone went and was there any Merchandise on sale (t shirts etc) i am off to sunny Brighton on saturday to see Chris, looking forward to it, have front row seats, happy days, anyway have a great weekend everyone, will try and take some piccies and put them on here aswell.

Tony :)
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by TescoGirl33 »

Hi all,
Still buzzing from seeing Chris at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham (March 9th & 10th).
He and his band came on stage at 8.45pm and put on a fantastic performance. Brilliant slide guitar solos, especially Stony Road and Somewhere Between Highway 61 and 49. Loved the extended piece on Stony Road where Chris danced around, and I loved the new version of Julia. As I was sitting in the first row centre stalls on the second night, during his performance of Julia where he gets the audience clapping along, he walked to the edge of the stage to peer out at the audience. Oh wow! He was standing right in front of me and I was looking right up at him. If I'd got up out of my seat and taken one step, I could have touched his leg! :lol: I knew I was only going to be a few yards from him when on stage, but didn't realise of ever being THAT close to him. Awesome! That really made my night. After seeing him Tuesday night, nothing much changed on Wednesday night, except I think the audience were more responsive to him and more enthusiastic. A great disappointment to everyone that went to Symphony Hall those two nights, was the fact that no flash photography or filming with cameras or mobile phones was allowed, and there were security people standing around different areas of the venue. If they spotted someone taking pictures or filming, they were immediately told about it. I spotted at least 3 people being warned about it when I went the first night.
After singing Road to Hell, Chris and his band waved to the audience before leaving the stage, but anyone who's been to his concerts before, knows, that he comes back on to perform two more songs before finally leaving. As soon as Let's Dance started, everyone in the first row stood up in front of the stage, (me included on the second night) dancing and clapping along and when it had finished, we all gave Chris and his band a massive round of applause with some people yelling out and a lot of loud whistling going on. This continued for a few minutes, with people stamping their feet on the floor and shouting for more, but, as I knew, Chris did not reappear. I'd seen Chris flick his two guitar plectrums on the floor before leaving the stage and I hung back hoping that one of his roadies would spot it for me so I could take a piece of him home with me, but even though he looked, he shook his head and I had no choice but to walk away with just the memories of two wonderful and fantastic nights.
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Re: Tour Reports 2010

Post by TescoGirl33 »

Forgot to mention in my tour report that there was no sign of any CR merchandise. :(
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