| september 16th, second show, my first visit (of 4!)
where classic meets pop.
the opening at 2000 hours.
some classical pieces played by the orchestra, then kid creole & the coconuts (to get a little in the mood) further some macy gray, john miles, direct (young all male dutch pop-rock band). in between more classical peaces by the orchestra.
i'm inpatient, the wait seems soooo long !
finally the intro of MacArthur park !!!!! Donna rises up out of the stage, and starts singing, oh that powerful voice. she's wearing black trousers with a black glittering blouse. she's enjoying herself. the orchestra plays the music amazingly well. a great combination. the "there'll be another song for me" part is included. when the song ends she starts talking a bit. oh what a fun surprise....she says in (good) dutch : "good evening everybody, it is so good to be here with you" ooh the crowd goes wild !!!
than she performs Bad Girls, she plays with the audience, it's great ! the song flows into Hot Stuff, and Donna rocks ! she takes the microphone standard (note: please put in the right word) like it's a guitar, swings it round her neck. i'm getting ecstatic. after Hot Stuff finishes she talks some more about having a special bond with Holland, because she had her first hit record here called The Hostage. i'm shouting and applauding, but apparently i'm the only one who knows the song!!! what follows is more of the other until the big final. all the artists come on to the stage to sing a song together. guess what? state of independence :-)
Donnas sings most of the song, a few lines by the other artists... is it me or did she look slightly disapproving when 2 backing vocalists sang a few lines?? luckily for us, Donna sang the rest of the lyrics, accompanied also by a great choir. a perfect ending of a great show.
i went home a very happy guy!!
right now i just got home from the saturday show. oh we got some great news!! the presenter informed us that the show would be recorded with camera's because the show will be aired at a dutch television channel. wait, it gets better....the show will air on december 31st :-)
i was especially happy because all the artists did their best, and certainly Donna proved once more that she is a great entertainer who wraps the audience around her finger, not only through the fun she clearly had, but (that's why we love her) with her beautiful and powerful voice. There are many diva's but there is only one Donna Summer !!
next weekend i'll see 2 more shows, it will be a long week :-)
after these two wonderful shows i'm getting more excited about Donna's new album, why doesn't time fly when you want to.
my best to my friends unknown.
- Rob (The Netherlands) |
As promised here a review of the Dutch Night of the Proms concerts at the AHOY Sportpalace in Rotterdam, where Donna performed November 15th, 16th, 17th and will perform next week the 22th, 23th, 24th and 25th.
We (that is Frank, Jeff, Henk and me) went already three times and it was WONDERFUL! Next week we will go again for three more evenings. Are we devoted fans or what?
After one of the concerts Donna herself asked if we already posted a review of the event and I told her I was going to do that the next day. So here's my review. I will also send a few photographs from the first evening and the second. Here we go:
Donna at the Night of the Proms
The Night of the Proms events are musical events which combine classical music with all kinds of other music like soul, r & b, disco and rock. In Europe the Proms has already a long tradition. It started in England years ago and was later introduced in other countries a.o. in Belgium, Germany and Holland.
The variety of artists differs in each country. Donna Summer for instance is to be seen only in Holland this year, while the Proms continues in Germany after Holland this year.
In Holland this year was Donna the main attraction. She was also mentioned at the top of the flyers which circulated here in Holland. Other artists this year were Macy Gray, Di-rect (a popular Dutch act), Kid Creole and the Coconuts and others.
Regular guests at the Night of the Proms are John Miles (who always performs his evergreen "Music"), the backing choir Fine Fleur, and the conductor Robert Groslot.
Donna came on stage right after Kid Creole's second performance with his classic "Annie I'm not your daddy".
When the band began with the intro of "Mac Arthur Park" Donna came on stage from a platform under the stage which made a spectacle Diva entrance. The crowd went wild. After "Mac Arthur Park" Donna introduced herself and talked about the fact that her career kind of started here in Holland and that she had one of her first hits here with a song called "the Hostage". At the same moment I shouted "the Hostage" and then Donna replied kindly that she wasn't going to sing it. She continued with "Bad Girls" and "Hot Stuff". Before she started with the slow intro of "Last Dance" she asked the crowd to sing it with her. The fact that thousands of people sang along with Donna on "Last Dance" made it once again so clear that "Last Dance" is not only a CLASSIC, but an EVERGREEN KNOWN BY EVERYBODY! After "Last Dance" her set ended and she got an amazingly wild applause. Then for a few fans of us it was possible to give her flowers, and it was obviously clear that Donna really liked that.
After her performance the host of the show asked all the artists to come on stage. When Donna entered te stage again, the band began to play the intro of "State of Independence" in which some of the other artist also sang a few lines. After "State" the host thanked all the artists, and the show was over.
The first evening Donna wore a beautiful white dress with silver rhinestones. The second and third evening she was wearing a beautiful chocolate coloured suit which made her look very elegant and was very Divalike.
I hope she heard it when I shouted Donna come back for a whole concert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Tom van der Roest (Eindhoven, Holland) |
| Last night was the sixth time I went to see Donna at the Night Of The Proms show. As all the other nights, Donna radiated with beauty and grace as she went through her usual set list (see other reviews). The crowd went absolutely loud and wild after Hot Stuff, cheering and clapping for quite a few minutes. But then......just as she did on Friday night, she surprised us with a short rendition of You Are So Beautiful (the Joe Cocker song) right before Last Dance!!!!! This was absolutely magical and stunning; I had tears in my eyes and goosebumps all over as her voice boomed across the hall when she sang this little surprise. You could really hear her heart through her voice. State of Independence, together with all other artists, went really well (the first nights they hadn't figured out yet who was going to sing what lines, so it was a bit of a mess sometimes). As SOI was a No. 1 hit in Holland, it was a real crowd pleaser. Every night before SOI, Donna was called on stage as 'the QUEEN OF THE PROMS' . And indeed, she was!
- Jeff in Holland |
I'd like to tell you about our FANTASTIC meeting with Donna, as I would like to share it with you!
If you like you can put it on your site.
After our first meeting with Donna Saturday the 17th, I asked her if she would like to see some of my maps with old clippings from the time when she was having hits in Holland and Belgium with "The Hostage" and "Lady of the Night". I asked her if it was possible to meet her and Bruce again. She said she would love to, and last Thursday November the 22nd we had the opportunity to meet her again (we that is Frank, Jeff, Henk and me).
After waiting a short while in the cantina of the AHOY sportpalace Donna and Bruce arrived. After hugs with Donna she came to sit down at our table and we gave her our presents. As she had called us our cheerleaders (on the first meeting) and had told us that one of her songs on the new album would be "Crayons" we had made a gold record in a frame with "Crayons" by the Cheerleaders on it's lable (with different mixes mentioned like the Hex Hector mix, etc.). We told her that we had some bad news and some good news for her. We explained her that we had stolen her song "Crayons" and that we recorded it in the studio, that we had released it and that it already went gold. The good news for her was that we were feeling a bit guilty about it, so we would like to give her our golden record! At first Donna looked very surprised and didn't know how to respond, but then she realised it was a joke. She really knew how to appreciate it and started laughing out loud. Another present was an Night of the Proms Hall of Fame award in a frame with a picture from Donna on stage at the Proms including our selfsigned photos (with Donna standing next to us, taken at the first meeting) like we were some kind of jury. This present also received a warm welcome.
The last presents were the original Dutch albums of "Lady of the Night" (the original Groovy/Basart one and the Prominent re-release from 1976 with the brown cover with Donna standing under the tree). I expected that she would already have those a ten times, given to her by other fans, but she didn't!!!!!!!!! She didn't even remember many of the songs on the album anymore, so I sang parts of the lyrics to her with my very bad voice, sounding like a crow . Donna recognised some of the songs, "Domino" a.o.
I asked her if she had the album on cd, but she said she didn't have it. So now I'm looking out for it to send it to her!
Next I took some of the maps with old clippings and it was nice to see that Donna and Bruce really were very interested and took all the time to look at it, absolutely in no hurry at all. Donna saw many interesting photos and clippings which she hadn't seen in a long time. She replied that it was really a trip down memory lane, and told us that her family almost hadn't saved anything from that era! She told me that she would love to get scans of the clippings. I said that was o.k., but in order to do that I needed to have an address. She said that she would manage something.
After the meeting had ended, we were able to take some pictures. The host of the Night of the Proms, Carl Huybregts, came in and said he was tired and wanted to drive Donna and Bruce back to their hotel (he was Donna's driver that night).
Instead of going away Donna took all the time to sign some of our CD's and records. The lovely lady wrote "You are the Best!!!" on my "I remember yesterday" album, something which made me feel "Lucky" and "Happily ever after" at the same time :)
Finally I gave Bruce and Donna some flyers about a beautiful exposition about art nouveau in the Dutch part of the Hermitage in Amsterdam, which I had visited recently. Donna told us she was going to Amsterdam next week and thanked me for the flyers.
This really was a dream meeting and it really is the gem from all of the meetings we ever had with Donna!!
Included is a picture from the official program from the Proms
- Tom van der Roest, Eindhoven. Holland. |
| And now that I have had the pleasure to see Donna live at last, last weekend, I thought this would be a good time to write you this message. About Donna's performance is already written by other Dutch fans and they are right IT WAS GREAT!!! She looked fantastic and had clearly lots of fun. When I heard the first sounds of "Mac Arthur park" my heart skipped a beat. In a cloud of smoke she rose out of the floor, and looked as the real diva she is. She sounded above expectation, what a great voice she has. And when she thanked the Dutch public for her first hit record "The hostage" she said she wanted to sing a special song for us and than she sang "You are so beautifull to me" van Joe Cocker. It sounded so good with her powerfull voice and than the audiënce began te sing it back to her. I had tears in my eyes and goosbumps all over, magic was in the air and everyone felt it! Than came "Last dance" and that was a party! And at last the cherry on the cake the Dutch number one hit "State of independence" sang with the other stars, but fortunately with Donna in the lead! She was anounced as the queen of the proms and she really was the queen! For me this was the best evening of the year and it's no wonder that a news paper in the Netherlands run as headline "Donna Summer, the re-discovery of 2007" and this years proms the best since years thanks to Donna. Now I'm full of expectation for her new album, I can't wait!
- Kurt, The Netherlands |
Last saturday I saw Donna in Rotterdam. many of my friends and colleagues saw her too that day or at an appearance earlier this month. They were all crazy about her. Some said: that's what legends are made of. It made me feel proud being a die hard fan of hers.
I also brought with me a painting I made of her and threw it on stage. Unfortunately she didn't pick it up but hopefully it was brought to her after the show (I probably will never know). The guy who was filming the show did film me too with the painting and during the performance Donna saw me too and waved. She was so great. She really moved me as she sang 'you are so beautiful to me' thanking her (Dutch) fans for being so loyal. As she was singing the song she had tears in her eyes and she thanked the Dutch for her first hit (The Hostage). After 30 years she still is more than a diva to me. She's a godess, a living legend. That became abvious again in Rotterdam.
- Herman, The Netherlands |