Hey everyone,
It's a little bit belated review of Tina's concert of 23 February in Munich Olympiahalle that I had the luck to see.
Well, show began at 20.15 with an intro of The Beatles' Get Back sung by Tina (from record yet); then when the audience got into rhythm enough that went to the opening bass-hits of Steamy Windows while the huge red curtains opened and Tina stood high up there on a hydraulic platform some 6 meters above the stage in a glittering golden dress.
The first set contained five songs and hell, there was no sign proving she turned 69 last November!! If I want to be honest she has 6-8 kilos plus weight on her but she still can jump on one foot in those crazy red-sole spike-heel shoes and still dances like a 20-year-old and her voice is still breath-takingly amazing... actually it's a lot better live than on recordings! Those yeah-yeah-yeaaahs in River Deep - Mountain High really made the hair on my arms stand up.
She was very funny when asking "Am I right saying there's a carnival in the city...? Well, I'm your carnival tonight!" (There really was carnival that night in Munich)
After the first set that finished with rough guitar solos of Better Be Good To Me and huge flames burning all around the stage there was a dance performance by the young group called the Ninjas then the band started playing The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again that turned to the opening chords of Acid Queen when the huge video screen opened and Tina appeared AS the Acid Queen wearing all red with a huge cloak flying behind her.
This second set contained 6-7 minutes versions of What's Love... and Private Dancer with Tina wearing a glittering red dress I guess even young girls don't dare getting on During What's Love she actually squeezed that middle part of her dress in between her legs so she looked liked... well, you can imagine; she looked like standing there in panties
In Private Dancer there also was a very passionate saxophone solo by the amazing Euge Groove then the Ninjas came up on stage again while the stage transformed into a set of Mad Max III then Tina appeared wearing the same dress and wig she did in the movie. This first half of concert ended with fireworks exploding to the final strums of We Don't Need Another Hero and the red curtains closing in.
After the 30 minutes intermission the curtains opened to show a sitting set of the band and they began playing Tina's version of The Beatles' Help which was the musical top spot of the night... her voice almost broke the house down! This unplugged part went on with amazing performances of Let's Stay Together and I Can't Stand the Rain among others then they stood up to the opening of the Stones' Jumping Jack Flash... Tina sang her unique old-time combination of JJF and It's Only R'N'R while did that crazy head-shaking, arm-stretching, jumping choreography that she did 25 years ago... and I caught my breath because she did the VERY SAME way!! No slower, no lower, but with that very energy she had when she was around 40.
Then she left the stage to change and the Ninjas performed once again until a huge golden James Bond-like eye appeared at the back of the stage that opened slowly to the sounds of Goldeneye and Tina appeared in it. She was wearing a long gold and black gown and golden shoes. It was once again a breath-taking performance; her voice really made me shiver.
Then the show continued with her greatest hits like Addicted to Love or Proud Mary... Tina threw the gown off and under that she wore another very daring golden-brown dress.
Everybody got on their feet and clapped through the six minutes of The Best which was amazing especially by the end when Tina and her dancers did that foxtrot-like dance with those spike-heels on (if you've ever seen a live clip of The Best you know what kind of dance I mean).
The atmosphere went higher and higher with the beginning of Proud Mary full of flashing lights that ended up a 10 minutes performance of the song with Tina and the dancers jumping and shaking her hips doing that well-known stunning choreography.
Then Tina disappeared for a short while to fly back onto stage in black pants and a pirate-like white shirt to do Nutbush City Limits. By the end she was lifted up on a huge hydraulic moving arm some 10 meters above the audience... she was dancing up there on that one-meter-wide arm in high heels and I wondered how came she didn't fall off All the people in the house shouting 'nutbush' during that never ending fun-time she made us singing over and over again...
Finally she went back onto stage to do a very emotional version of Be Tender With Me Baby... she waved to us while the band leaving the stage (music went on); after a show lasting over 2 hours making her farewell both to us and her 50-years lasting stage work.
I can say she's got a huge load of strength, reflection and --- noone else has - we really fell in love with her from the first moment on. Plus we could feel she's a human being... she's so sincere and down-to-earth you can easily imagine her walking on the street in front of you and gladly stopping for having a cup of coffee with you. The way she treated her band; introducing each and every one including the lighting director, the sound engineer and the production crew... and she left both to her vocalists, Stacey Campbell and (the great) Lisa Fisher their own performances... you know she gave the stage to Stacey in the end of Better Be Good To Me and to Lisa in It's Only R'n'R when she went to change. And finally, when she asked us did we have a good time (and we, of course, cheered) she told us "Me too!".
These are the bits that make her the most authentic and loveable performer ever... and I'm sure I will never forget this wonderful meeting with the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll (or the more we call her in Hungary, the Rockgranny)!!!
The setlist was the following:
Steamy Windows
Typical Male
River Deep Mountain High
What You Get Is What You See
Better Be Good To Me
Acid Queen
What's Love Got To Do With It?
Private Dancer
We Don't Need Another Hero
--Intermission--
Help
Undercover Agent For The Blues
Let's Stay Together
I Can't Stand The Rain
Jumping Jack Flash/It's Only Rock And Roll
Goldeneye
Addicted To Love
The Best
Proud Mary
Nutbush City Limits
Be Tender With Me Baby
Thank you for staying with me; it happened to be a bit long... all the best,
Chris