Well, I’m sitting at Ron’s PowerMac to write another installment of the "Berlin Chronicles". This was another great show….maybe the fact that it was Valentine’s Eve had something to do with it.

It started out not all that differently from the Universal Amphitheatre show. As soon as we got in, Ron spotted the CD table. (He had wanted to make sure and get to it this time since we didn’t make it there at the Santa Barbara show.) Ron told the gentleman behind the table, "I would like 13, please." He was just sort of shocked, speechless is probably a more accurate description. Ron then asked, "Is there a problem with 13?"

About that time, I piped up and said, "Last time, we bought 28 at the Universal show."

Then the other person behind the table said, "You’re the guys from the website!! Oh, I love you guys!"

We were a little stunned that we had achieved this much notoriety. Then we introduced ourselves to them, and vice versa, and talked for a while. Both were members of Berlin’s staff, and one was a key member of the staff.

After Ron got done with the CD’s, she showed us some Berlin T-shirts that had been hand-signed by Terri. (Normally, I tend to stick to the musical side of these displays, but I think I speak for Ron also in saying that we can’t resist anything with Terri’s inscription! Once again, the money got legs!)

Then, we were escorted to our table by the hostess, with Ron carrying his CD stash. We had quite good seats again being about 3^rd and 4^th from the stage almost dead in front of Terri…thanks for the timely concert date postings, Rob! (In fact, I was telling Ron the other day that if he looked at the ticket scan from the 2/5/99 Santa Barbara show, the ticket number in the lower left hand corner is #1.)

Of course, the stack of 13 CD’s was quite the conversation piece. It wasn’t long before the people to his right started talking about the website. Two people across the table also joined in the discussion and, voila, we had met another very cool group of Berlin fans! At this point we should introduce the two couples: Christa and John, and Teressa and Phil. We promised that they would get included in this edition, so here they are.

By the end of the evening, Christa had taken a group shot for inclusion in the next "review". (She also sent in some additional shots, some of which you will see later – we seemed to have an abundance of photos this time around, Ron and I took about 100 shots between us). Well, the anonymity is all but gone now:

From left to right are Phil, Christa, Teressa, John, Ron, and Paul. Note that Ron had donned his Berlin T-shirt and the stack of CD’s is just to his left. We didn’t get the name of our photographer, but we’d sure like to thank her for an excellent group portrait!

Now for the show…..

It was somewhat entertaining to hear some of the comments and speculation as to exactly what Berlin would be like from some of the people in line who hadn’t seen them recently. Knowing how good Berlin is live after experiencing several shows, I looked around at a number of people during the first song, Masquerade, and saw the same stunned look of "WOW" that must have been on my face at the HoB show in September!

There seemed to be something special about this show. As usual, the band was very tight and Terri was singing her heart out, but this time there was more soloing and extension of some of the songs. The crowd basically went nuts with applause. As Ron mentioned in his "Comments" posting, the play list was tweaked somewhat with For All Tomorrow’s Lies being performed about halfway through the set. (This time, this song was substituted for Courage instead of Gabriel.)

Part of the charm was undoubtedly Terri’s all-lace pantsuit, as shown in my first photo. (I can’t imagine any visitor to this website not having seen how great Terri looks in all the shots that Rob has posted. However, just in case, I will offer my personal opinion, which has been confirmed by a very knowledgeable source: Terri is the consummate babe, with a voice and eyes that will melt any heart! Sorry if I am coming on a little strong here but I received some feedback regarding the last portion of the 2/5/99 installment where Ron and I got to meet Terri. This feedback was from a very credible source, Terri’s Paul, and I wanted to incorporate it ASAP. He told me that everything I said was true, but understated.)

I got another shot of Terri that reminds me a little of Debbie Harry, with Roger and Scott to her left and right, respectively:

Here’s one of Ron’s photos of Dallan jammin’ on the solo…

Christa provided a similar shot that gets more of Terri:

I wish that I had little more light or faster shutter on this next one, but I still really like it:

Christa took this next one of Terri providing a little extra attention down in front:

Terri made several comments relating to Valentine’s Day. She also asked some love-related questions of the band. She asked Dallan what he first notices in a woman.

Dallan replied, "Her smile."

Terri was going to ask Roger a question, but she said that he was the "silent type." (It’s OK Roger, I have a hard time speaking when Terri’s around, too!)

Terri asked Charlotte the same basic question and Charlotte replied, "The chest, the shoulders, the butt….."

Terri asked Scott something to the effect of what his idea of a romantic date was (see photo below).

Neither myself or Ron caught the whole response, but Scott’s reply had something to do with a jacuzzi. Ron got this great shot of Scott and Terri:

The next shot is a shot of Terri and Dallan singing together on I Can Love:

Dallan was really cranking it out on his solos:

The harmony between Terri and Charlotte on For All Tomorrow’s Lies was outstanding:

Ron got two superb shots of Dallan and Charlotte, who also got together a few times on the backing vocals:

This next shot is a wide angle that almost gets everyone:

This next shot was taken during Now it’s My Turn when Terri got to the "You have the right to remain silent…" portion:

When she got up from the stage, there were the makings of several alluring shots that I didn’t shoot for two reasons. The first reason was out of respect for her and her talent. The second reason was that I was too stunned to release the shutter, anyway. (Another personal opinion….Shania’s Grammy performance had nothing on Terri! Speaking of the Grammy Awards, although I missed about an hour in the middle, the only performance that left me in awe like Terri/Berlin does was that of Luciano Pavarotti.)

Terri commented that they almost took Confession Time out of the set, but the guys wanted to leave it in. I am really glad they did! (I hope Confession Time makes it onto the re-mix or a live album! It just cooks!) In fact when we got back to Ron’s place, Ron cracked up as I started humming it! (If it is removed in the future, my vote for a replacement is "Hideaway").

Closer to the end of the show, Dallan took the lead vocal on Never Let Me Down with Terri backing him up:

During the last song in the encore, Sex (I’m a …), one can never really be sure what is going to happen. Terri led a fan who had been standing by the edge of the stage onto the stage and over to Dallan’s microphone, where all three sang a few bars together. I have also found that one never really knows where Terri is going to end up during this song, from climbing around on the reinforcement gear to laying flat on the stage, as Ron captured in the next shot:

Also, near the end of the show, Terri did a table walk and then walked among the audience all the way towards the back of the club. (She also made a circular pass through the audience earlier during Tell Me Why.)

After the show, our newfound friends wanted to see if they might get the chance to meet Terri and the band. John was adamant about trying to talk our way backstage (that Guinness must have gone a long way!) We walked over to the backstage area to find a security person controlling the access. Ron and I wanted to get photos and some hardcopies of the latest reviews to the band. While I was momentarily indisposed, Ron was approached by three nice ladies (we haven’t met any other kind associated with Berlin). One of them noticed that he was still carrying thirteen CD’s and asked him about it (like I mentioned earlier, this was the conversation piece for most of the evening). Eventually, Ron admitted that he was buying them for people he had met through the website at which point, one of the women exclaimed, "You’re the one!" She then introduced herself as Terri’s mom and gave Ron a hug. They spoke for a moment and Ron asked if she could pass along the photos to Terri. But she was insistent that he do it in person, stating "Tell her that her mom sent you!" She then instructed the security guy to let him through, as our new friends cheered Ron on. Ron asked me to add that it’s easy to see where Terri gets her grace and beauty from.

About this time, I had completed my business as Ron was heading backstage. Ron asked whether his buddy could come along as well, and not realizing how small the backstage area was, whether our new friends could also join us.

The security person asked, "how many buddies do you have?" and shook his head saying "no way." I told him it was cool and I didn’t mind waiting. After about five minutes, I told him that he must have seen it all where he was standing. These must have been the magic words, cause he lifted up the rope and motioned me on. I asked about whether our new friends could come along, but at this point they were unselfishly saying, "just go for it". (Guys, you rule!)

Ron was having a conversation with Terri’s Paul as I was arriving. Being sensitive to all the fan duties that Terri and the band take time for, and having met her a week earlier, we were content to give the photos and the reviews to Paul so he could pass them to Terri. Paul being the cool guy that he is said, "no way, you guys give them to her yourselves", which we eventually did. Paul also said that he had told Terri that her Knights were here to see her, so go on in.

As we were talking with Paul, Terri came over and a record industry representative started talking to Terri. She had previously been talking to Ron, asking him about his 13 CD’s and the whole CD story. She grilled Ron about his "angle" and Paul vouched for his story that he had none. She was very interested in the band since her friend was a die-hard Berlin fan (and she had just experienced one heck of a show). Ron showed her the CD and eventually gave her one and one for her friend when she asked for them. She then went over to Terri. I was standing between her and Terri when she started asking several questions about the band, their new material, and current record deals, amid favorable comments about Terri’s vocal abilities and their new material. I must admit that after hearing her grill Ron and then follow up with a somewhat pressing tone while asking some rather detailed business questions of Terri, I had to restrain myself from asking her to "show a little respect". As I stood there listening to Terri patiently deal with this person, I was once again floored by Terri’s abilities.

After the record company sharks had been fed (well…maybe that’s a little strong) we got to speak with Terri, who was again very gracious. I complimented her on the Best of Berlin album going "gold", and said their next one will be platinum! We gave her the photos and reviews (as instructed, but we were very grateful for the instruction) and said that we were looking forward to seeing her at their added Coach House show in March. (We already got tickets to come full-circle and attend the HoB show, where it all started, in April.)

Finally, on our way out, one of Berlin’s key personnel (her name begins with a "D" but I don’t know if she wants to "go public") had us get behind the CD/T-shirt table and took a picture of us for RJA and his site.

Until the next edition,

The Unofficial Knights of the Berlin Roundtable, SoCal Chapter, bid you adieu.

Paul K. with much photo processing and contributions from Ron B.