It was my 6th Donna's concert and the last time was in Yokohama (near Tokyo, Japan) way back in 1994!!
So it was just like a dream to see her singing on stage again.
"Ich weiss, Ihr habt so lange gewartet, ...aber ich auch!"
(I know, you guys have been waiting so long, ...but me too!)
Donna did her MC at least 80% in perfect German.
And the sentence above was the most memorable one (at least for me!)
She looked that she was really enjoying herself to be on stage and to be back in Germany for a gig!
And of course, so did WE!!! I think we went "quite wild".
The place "Tempodrom" was about 70% full.
(But I think if it was totally full, we all might passed out because of the lack of air!
So maybe it was better like that:-) Yep, we're THAT wild and hot!!)
The song listing was a bit different from the one in Paris:-)
I'm not sure if they're 100% correct, but I think it went like this;
The Queen Is Back
MacArthur Park
Could It Be Magic
Once Upon A Time
I Love You
I'm A Fire
Smile (as a Tribute to Michael Jackson, just like she did in Paris.)
Wassermann ("Aquarius" in GERMAN!!! But the chorus part was in English.)
On The Radio
Crayons
No More Tears
Be Myself Again
Stamp Your Feet
She Works Hard For The Money
Love To Love You Baby (It was as long as the Paris version!!)
I Feel Love
Bad Girls
Hot Stuff
-as encore-
Fame (The Game) (Thank God, she did this song! My most favourite from "Crayons"!!)
Last Dance
Her voice hasn't changed since 15 years ago, when I saw her last time!!
...or even better now!!! Her voice is like fine wine:-) AMAZING!!!
And I was really surprised and happy when she did "Wassermann".
You know that song is her first recording in her career.
I'm sure all German fans were sooo happy about it:-)
And she accompanied with four of her friends from the production "Haare" back in 1968!
There was an unexpected intermission before "Crayons" due to a tiny problem with some computer program,
but other than that, show went smoothly:-)
Some big differences between other shows and the Berlin one were;
It was "Free Seating".
And on the Arena part (the ground floor), there were no seats, standing only.
And that automatically meant "earlier you go, better position you get".
So I went there about 8 hours before the show started, and...
I could get a position at the very front!!!
Donna was only 2 meters away!! Lucky me!!!
She was so sweet, I must say:-)
"Hey Donna, I was the Japanese boy wearing red t-shirt at front. Did you notice me?!" LOL!!!
But it was just a magical night with Donna and we all enjoyed her show:-)
"Thank you sooo much, Donna!!! We always love you and we always will!!!"
TOMO :-) |
| The biggest surprise: She did sing "Wassermann/Aquarius" accompanied by 3-4 Members of the original Munich production cast including Roberta Kelly. And they sang it in German and English. Since I am an Aquarius that was the absolute highlight for me! They showed a lot of old pictures of Donna and the cast in the background. And the dancers tried hard to appear a bit flower-powered....
There were a lot of cameras including one on a moving crane so it looked like they are preparing a dvd or some "online" special. Donna spoke German almost throughout the show. She really loved speaking her second language: "Ihr habt so lange gewartet" (you have waited so long). "Ich aber auch" (but so did I).
The crowd was very young since the "t-mobile electronic beats" concerts usually target a very young urban audience. So many of the roughly 3000 were under 30. They filled the arena areas (no chairs) while the VIPs and older fans sat upstairs - but only for a little while before they all danced. The Tempodrom in Berlin appeared almost sold out, I don't know if it was but it was a really good crowd. My friend Wolfgang (the one who does the German Discography) won two "Meet & Greet" tickets and invited me to join him. Well, that went rather quickly after a longer wait. Hi-picture-bye. But after 30 years of fandom I actually met Donna in person. She was nice but I really wouldn't want to meet people right before the show either. One of the PR ladies said: "we had a timetable agreed upon for quite some time. But she seems to have another one. But you have to understand - she is very nervous because it is her first Show in Germany."
The show started at 10 pm (scheduled 9:30) with the usual "Queen is Back" intro this time followed by Mac Arthur Park. I don't recall the lineup but I am sure others will. The surprises besides "Wassermann": she did "Once Upon A Time / I Love You", Could it be Magic and again a wonderful sensual lengthy version of Love to Love You, Baby followed by I feel love. Right after "Wassermann" they had some technical problems which led to a 10 minute break. Donna handled it with grace. You could tell how much she was into speaking German when she repeatedly asked Nathan DiGesare "Was ist denn los. Wann geht es denn weiter?" (What is the problem, how long will it take?") And the poor guy and the band didn't understand a word. After the forced intermission she continued with "Crayons" while the crowd came back from the outside (Berliners love to smoke.) The show really heated up with the classic hits but a lot of the young guys seemed to know and love "Fire" and "Stamp". Donna did two encores "Fame" and of course "Last Dance". It was a magical night and I have to say that the sponsor did a great job in promoting the show. The Berlin papers were full of Donna the day of the concert and they showed clips and beamed her picture on the walls in the entrance area. They had a red carpet for VIPs and we spotted some TV-Stars. They really did a lot to make it one of THE EVENTS in Berlin this summer. And they succeeded. Donna certainly won a lot of young new fans with her first full length concert in Germany ever. She really enjoyed this night and so did her audience.
Frank
PS: The announced "String Orchestra" was not there. I am sure there is a story to tell, but I don't have it :-) |
Donna – “You put me in such an (awful…magic) spin, in spin…in ….ah!!!!”
What else is there to say about Donna´s recent appearances in Paris , Berlin and Belgium
( I know Belgium is not just a city….lol …sorry…couldn´t resist) ???
Well, all I can say is : that I really had a blast seeing Donna twice within a short period
of time –once in Paris the other time in Berlin. And let me tell you all from my perspective these 2 venues and Donna ´s act where really different even though she did her “show –routine” like singing “her string of songs –hit list” but on the other hand she really tried to give us “Germans” and I guess also the folks in Paris her/our special treat.
Donna prepared “Aquarius /Wasserman” (her song to stardom in the musical Hair/Haare,Germany) along with Once Upon A Time and I Love You. WOW!!!
Although I already knew that Donna has something in store for us…..because Mary (her sister told me so after Donna´s concert in Paris….no kidding) it was really fascinating to see all of it happen in front of my eyes in Berlin. Donna kept her word!!! J
And another thing: Mary and Latisha ( I hope I got her name right) the other backup-support for Donna) recognised me standing quite close to the stage waving my hands and yelling like a lunatic! They waved back at me smiling J
But what I really want to say is that seeing Donna THIS TIME SO CLOSE WAS ABSOLUTLY MAGICAL!!! The closer I saw her the better she looked…her hair- do, eyes (silver segments on her eyelashes), perfect face, gorgeous star-spangled –over the top outfit for “Fame” along with these unbelievably high–sexy–camp boots ..and wearing tinted glasses performing and living out her “Fame”song and status! Wow, WOW, Wow…. I didn´t know where to look at first….at Donna´s beautiful face, earrings, dress or those incredible boots!?
Donna really stunned me!
Another thing that stroke me was her performance of “I feel love” …I think she was really into it and her, sexy, luscious smile along with her movements just underlined it …I really haven’t seen her that good looking, sexy and content for years J I saw the Belgian Donna pics and I must say that the once that Ruud took are just gorgeous: Donna still looks so young and beautiful!
I think that´s it for now ….I also had MY CHANCE to take some pictures of that superb hot summer night with Donna in Berlin…Take a look and enjoy!!!
Raphael |