Oberhausen rocked!!! Now this was the sort of audience that Macca and his fantastic band deserved!! So different from the luke-warm reactions the first night in Cologne, and tons better yet than the Hannover audience. Maybe it's because we're soccer country around here, or maybe because on the whole we're a more uncomplicated and outspoken bunch of people than in other parts of Germany, or maybe it was because the floor was standing room only, or .... I dunno. All I know is, Cologne was great, Hannover was fantastic, last night was ... words fail me!!! So I was maybe 30th row in Cologne, 6th row in Hannover, and - 2nd row last night, or maybe 1 1/2th row :) because there was nobody between me and Macca playing the piano! For most of the show, I was right in front of Brian, with a really good view of all the rest of the guys, especially the one who counts most. From the moment that silhouette appeared on the screen, people were cheering, dancing, singing, partying, having the time of their lives. And you could see how those five guys on stage relished that.It must have taken Paul all of two minutes to realize this was going to be his sort of audience. And he visibly relaxed. You could see it in the smiles he gave John Hammel when they exchanged guitars, the way he triumphantly held up his guitar after songs - yes, and in his interactions with the audience. Sure, he told all his usual stories. Sure, the set list was the same. But there was spontaneity too - and a whole lot, by Paul's standards. He acknowledged my sign (You Rock! Thanx! on one side and The Greatest Show on Earth!) on the other side three times in the first maybe twenty minutes, then later said - not to me, but to the audience in general, 'You know, when you're up here in the middle of a song, trying to remember your chords, and get the lyrics right as well, and then someone in the audience holds up a sign that you're supposed to read, that can be a bit distracting!' So I yelled, 'Hey Paul, read my sign!' Everybody around me laughed, but he didn't hear me :(. Then, when he told the black poloneck story, someone cheered, and he said, 'That's pretty sad!', and the front rows went 'Huh?' and he said, 'Well don't you think it's pretty sad to get so excited over an item of clothing?'. LOL! There was more - my mind is a blank ... if / when I remember, I'll tell you. One other thing - after the John and George tributes Paul suddenly said, 'Yeah what about Ringo?' - and launched into Yellow Submarine. I know he's done that before but I think he only does it at the shows he really enjoys. There was a girl in front row with a sign, 'It was magic - Paris!' and Paul nodded and said to the girl, 'Yes, and here too!' - I think he really meant it, and it was true! People sang most of the songs, lots of people around me seemed to be as familiar with the solo / Wings material as with the Beatles, and when the guys had left the stage, before the encore, instead of just clapping and cheering the whole arena sang Hey Jude to make them come out again. And when they came, Paul sat down at his piano and just followed the audience for a nice extra Hey Jude sing-along! It was absolutely marvellous!! And the tour photographer took loads of pictures of me :). My sign, me with my sign, me singing, me not singing, and kept giving me the thumbs up and nodding at me to let me know the pictures were good. So who knows - maybe I'll find myself in some sort of Macca tour booklet one day :). The only problem is, this was near the end of the show and I was sweating and probably looking pretty dishevelled. Oh well ..... And my non-fan husband, who had the time of his life again, was heard to say to a woman standing next to us, 'I didn't use to be a fan before the tour but now .....' And he tells me he wants a DVD asap, so please Macca, ok there's the BITUS dvd but a BITW one would simply be lovely .....OK now I'll take a deep breath and maybe catch up on sleep, and then we're off to Munich in a week. It's getting better all the time?? No way it can get any better than last night!!
Ute