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Old 07 Dec 2009, 09:52   #1
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7 Concert in Prague (Czech Republic), Dec 2009

Review by Paul and Jan (UK)

Well we have finally recovered from the concert and the trip to Prague and now it seems a distant memory, but what a great one and here are our thoughts.

Prague-We spent a day before and a few days after the concert sightseeing and what a beautiful city it is with it's historic buildings, sense of history and small bars and restaurants. We visited all the main places, Petrin Hill & Tower, Castle, War Memorial, TV tower, Charles Bridge etc etc. If you have not been then it?s a must do!

Hotel-The hotel was a lovely old world one that was well placed on the tram route, a good price (with a kitchen!) and near to some great bars and restaurants (thanks Dreamroom for the choice). Only bad point was that there wasn't much of a bar. We did not see too many other fans, except at breakfast as we were out sightseeing so much.

Concert-On the afternoon of the concert we visited the Zofin Palace set in a small park on an island in the river and heard the band practising and it was making the windows shake!! This was the first concert we have been to since the legendary Tipi in Berlin (5 years ago) and we were very excited. Got there just before 8pm, so only had a little time to have a quick drink. When the show was announced we went into the hall (to the rocking opening of Golden Feeling) and it was packed (500-600?), we were shocked as we had in our minds that there would only be a few people there as the tickets were very expensive. Everyone was tightly packed in but we found a good spot on the right hand side at the front (but too close to the speaker). The concert experience was strange as although the show was over two hours long it seemed to go very quickly. The band started with all the well known songs first and then into a few surprises (see Willys videos). The songs that we really remembered were the ones we have not heard live before, Carry your Flag (sounded brilliant, our all time favourite), Lassie Come Home (so atmospheric), Fools, Golden Feeling, Caroline (dedicated to the lady of the night he met in New York who was an Alphaville fan), Leben Ohne Ende (good to hear a German song). The two new songs were very good, Gravatation Breakdown (uptempo dance song) and Handful of Darkness (very good synth lines and atmospheric). We were glad that I Die for You Today was played as it is a favourite of the new material but it seems to have lost some of the synth sound. Biggest surprise was Karel Gott, as everyone was expecting him to sing Love Will Find a Way but he sang the start of Forever Young in Czech. And then with two encores and the perfect ending (?This is the end of the show? ? Apollo), it was all over.

Afterparty-We went downstairs in the very historic Zofin Palace and we thought it would only be a few people who would have paid extra for the party, But we were wrong again, nearly everyone who was in the concert was at the party! There was one room with a free bar with beer, wine, cocktails and orange lined up on the bar and a small buffet with bread and cheese with plenty of tables to sit and talk. Next room there was a disco playing 70's and 80's tunes and another bar and coffee and cake. There was a lot of people dancing including Martin Lister! They should have played Alphaville all night (and the promised new album!) and then everyone would have been in the room!! After about an hour we went out in the corridor and discovered that we had missed two rooms at the back! The first room had the band, Bernard Lloyd, Marian at a table with a massive queue, more food with chefs preparing sausages and risottos and a marquee with even more food. We were amazed at all the free food and drink and wished we knew it was going to be more than a buffet (poor information on the web site)!! There were even plates of canapés, chocolates and little glasses of orange liquor that people came round and re-filled.

People-We met so many people it was difficult to remember them all (too much free beer!). Martin and David from the band (they were pleasantly surprised to hear English voices and Martin said how nervous he was singing on Handful of Darkness), Willy (how many 80's cd's have you got), Peter (nice t-shirt), David (can't wait for the new Antillies material), MikefromBoston (singing ?Sometimes I wish I was Dead? after a night out at the nightclub), Clare (glad you made it after your long journey), Collette, Russ, James and wife, Fishbones and husband (good to see so many Brits so far from home), the Swedes from Helsingborg (why haven't you heard of Milton Keynes, it's where Marshalls amplifiers and the MK Dons are from!!) and hello to all the other people we spoke to and have not named (the party went on to 3am but still was not long enough!).

Best and strangest experience-When Lassie Come Home started we were really enjoying the long instrumental opening and then someone tapped us on the shoulder. We turned round and there was Marian smiling, who said "Hi" who then stood in front of us and listed to the opening of the song in the crowd before racing back to start singing (we just managed to get a short video otherwise we would not have believed it really happened!).

Sorry for the long post but it was an amazing night and sorry to the people who didn't make it, I'm sure there will be more good nights to come.

Paul & Jan (UK)

---------------------------------------------------

Golden Feeling




Sounds Like A Melody








Wishful Thinking




Dance With Me




Lassie Come Home






Carry Your Flag




Gravitation Breakdown


A Victory Of Love






Euphoria




Caroline






Return To Paradise


Fools




Monkey In The Moon


I'll Die For You Today


Handful Of Darkness


Jerusalem


Jet Set


Big In Japan


Forever Young






Sweet Dreams


Leben Ohne Ende


Apollo


The Fans
Last edited by Krapplund; 15 Dec 2009 at 21:03.
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Old 07 Dec 2009, 09:58   #2
alphaandre
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you mean "return to paradise" :-) :-)
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Old 07 Dec 2009, 09:59   #3
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Ups, thanks
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Old 07 Dec 2009, 11:11   #4
Alphaanni
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'Return to Prague' ...

LOL


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Old 07 Dec 2009, 11:30   #5
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Just looked at all my files, Handful of Darkness is complete, I have the entire song on video, still uploading....
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Old 07 Dec 2009, 11:32   #6
FallenAngel
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Wow, quality is great! Thanks!


You can do just what you wanna
You can kill or you can die
Be a beggar or a princess
But you'll never lose your style
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Old 07 Dec 2009, 12:22   #7
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yeah, quality is COOL, so i can't wait to hear and see SLAM!
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Old 07 Dec 2009, 13:10   #8
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Almost done, there will be 39 videos in total, 2 songs are complete: "Return to Paradise" and "Handful of Darkness" - the rest you could call samples, and wanted to enjoy the show and not just record the entire night, but it gives a good impression how it was
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Old 07 Dec 2009, 15:00   #9
Alphaanni
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aaahhh ... HoD is only 3:17mins long... where are the other 4:xxmins with Martin singing and the big chorus????

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Old 07 Dec 2009, 15:03   #10
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Hmm, sorry if it's not complete...
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