From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V8 #300 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Monday, October 27 2003 Volume 08 : Number 300 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [AVALON] Aberdeen [] [AVALON] 2 for the price of 1 in Bonn [Jane Fraser ] To leave the list, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon-digest ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 17:19:33 +0000 From: Subject: [AVALON] Aberdeen Has anyone decided on a meet up place for Aberdeen yet? Sorry if I have missed this. Could someone recommend a nearby hotel, anyone staying over please let me know off list, Thanks to all who helped with tickets and flights etc... Regards, Mark - ----------------------------------------- Email provided by http://www.ntlhome.com/ ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 23:42:48 +0000 From: Jane Fraser Subject: [AVALON] 2 for the price of 1 in Bonn The best thing that can be said about the weather in Bonn at the weekend is that it didn't rain - much. After a horribly early start and a delayed flight we arrived to grey skies, light drizzle and an icy wind off the Rhine. A substantial German lunch left just time for a quick wash and brush up before hot-footing it down to the venue ridiculously early - well, those Germans are renowned for their efficiency and time keeping so we didn't want to take any chances. We hadn't gone all that way to stand at the back. A long wait in the cold was enlivened by visits to the nearest cafe for refreshments of a warming variety (a particularly potent Gluhwein being by far the most effective) and the longest sound check in history - well, Roxy history anyway. Rehearsals don't seem to have figured largely in anyones' recent schedules and we were treated to some interesting versions of the familiar Roxy favourites for well over an hour. Having heard virtually the whole concert once we were allowed in and sauntered casually (I'm lying - we ran for it as usual) to the stage to take up our chosen pole positions in front of Andy's mic and fortified with more Gluhwein prepared for another long wait. However by 7pm the German crowd was becoming restless and it was time for Ingrid and her amazing invisible band, and her sadly not so invisible dancers, to entertain us. I'm sure Ingrid's a lovely girl and no doubt her unfortunate penchant for audience participation would go down a treat at the German equivalent of Butlin's, but as an opener for Roxy - I don't think so! A few of the crowd did clap along but that was probably only because their hands were so cold. I managed to get my (cold) hands on a set list before the show and unsurprisingly there were no changes from the August US shows. Dreamhome was due to be played after Tara but had been scored out. Our hopes that the band were comfortably ensconced in a nice warm hospitality suite somewhere were dashed when Louise came on to do her tune-up with what looked like someone's mountaineering socks on her hands. At 8:10 the familiar opening bars of Remake/Remodel rang out and on walked a much slimmer Andy MacKay resplendent in orange, an elegant as always Phil Manzanera in black and white, and the third man emerged from the shadows in a heavy overcoat with a scarf knotted loosely round that ever-vulnerable throat. Rhett Davies and his team must have worked like demons since the sound check to get the sound as good as it was, but this seems to have meant little time for the lighting chaps to do their stuff and there were some problems with both. Most of the musical mistakes which had been so evident earlier on miraculously disappeared in the face of an enthusiastic audience and everyone gave very impressive performances despite the near-Arctic conditions. Michelle and Shar wore their fur lined Parkas off the shoulder throughout, Messers Good and Smith kept their jackets on and their shirts buttoned up to the neck and Louise just looked frozen. Mr Spedding appeared as cool (OK, cold) and dapper as ever, despite a new haircut which looked rather as if someone had attacked him with a pair of blunt nail scissors when he wasn't looking. The only ones seemingly unaffected by the near-zero temperatures were Paul, who wore only his usual black T-shirt from the start, and Julia who jumped around even more than usual (if that's possible) and soon discarded her woolies to reveal another of her lovely sparkly, sleeveless tops. Mr Ferry's coat and scarf were removed briefly for the benefit of the photographers but a minion was soon sent scurrying across the stage to retrieve them and he wore them for the remainder of the show. In the absence of costume changes he seemed to have decided to compensate with several hairstyle changes instead. Despite all these problems they seemed to be enjoying themselves hugely with Andy often smiling quietly to himself or grinning across at Manzanera and Ferry. Phil laughed and smiled continually, except when he failed to break that string during Ladytron despite his best efforts, and even Bryan seemed to find the whole situation funny. (I wonder whose daft idea it was to book an outdoor concert in Germany in October - and whether they've been sacked yet.) Overall it was a surprisingly good performance from everyone in very difficult circumstances and Ferry, MacKay and Manzanera genuinely seemed happy to be sharing a stage again. Top tip: Don't go to Bonn on a Sunday - it's closed. Jane (finally defrosted, and warm again for the first time in days) ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V8 #300 **************************** ======================================================================== For further info, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info avalon-digest