The 4/3/99 Performance at House of Blues, Sunset Strip

(Well, this edition is again a bit later than usual….I was pleasantly sidetracked (Ron, too) preparing for two special issues of the Chronicles….The "Unofficial Knights" were granted the extraordinary privilege of an extended interview with their "Queen"!!!!)

This was a little surprising to all, given that even the Universal Amphitheatre allowed flashless photography. What made the policy even harder to take was that, as Tazz pointed out, the lighting was great! (Oh well, at least the download will be a lot faster for this edition.)

As we walked in, Tazz and Geri gave us a warm welcome. (Thanks for the vest, Geri!) While we were waiting for the show to start, we also had an opportunity to speak with some of the Berlin organization about the 4/2 House of Blues – Vegas performance. Sounds like a great venue; but alas, no cameras allowed again. (I am really looking forward to the Berlin/GoGos show in July there!)

The warm-ups, Superhero and Blue Sky Roadster, were OK, but it was clear (and demonstrated at least once that I’m aware of) that the audience was there for Berlin. Standing up against the front of the crashbar next to the stage, Ron and I received a bit of a beer shower courtesy of a fan behind us that was a little impatient during the second warm-up band’s set. (This kind of reminded of the scene in the Blues Brothers movie where the band was behind the chicken-wire mesh….I think the venue was Bob’s Country Bunker…At least this fan was courteous enough not to pitch a bottle!)

Berlin opened with Masquerade, one of my favorites from their earlier work, which really got the sold-out crowd cooking.

The sound was excellent from my perspective. It was just a few dB softer than it was during the 9/98 performance, which got rid of most of the distortion that occurred previously during peak bass passages. We were also close enough to the stage to get a fair amount of sound from the amps, stage monitors, drum set, and Terri, herself.

Touch was performed next, followed by I Can Love and No More Words. By this time, the crowd was really cranked up, as Terri was just belting it out and the band was really tight. After No More Words, the applause just didn’t stop, lasting about a minute and a half. (I was a little more reserved at the 3/27 Coach House show, but at this show I think I made up for it...Ron, too…we were both screaming our tales off!) Terri just gave a little bow of her head in acknowledgement that caused one final peak in the applause before it subsided.

Terri and the band then performed one of their newest songs, Soul Sister. This is another one of those ballads that is an emotional powerhouse. From the passionate delivery and some personal words regarding the source material, it was apparent that this song is quite close to Terri’s heart (when you see her live, though, it’s not like the rest of the songs aren’t).

(Although I thoroughly enjoy the up-tempo material like Masquerade, No More Words, The Metro, Tell Me Why, etc., it is the slower, ballad-type songs that really "get to me". While I have tried to understand exactly why this is, after eight shows, I still am not 100% sure that I do. Terri’s vocals are better than ever, and there can be no doubt that Terri epitomizes what it means to be female, but another, perhaps overriding, contributor for me is that she flat-out exudes love and compassion in such a sincere, tangible way. As an example off-stage, I will never forget the look in her eyes when Ron and I first met her and I responded to her question of why did we do this (the EP’s, Chronicles, etc.). When I told her that she was a very special performer and that she meant so much to me that I wanted to give something back to her and the band, she was so visibly moved that I almost couldn’t speak any longer.)

Now It’s My Turn and Steps (from the EP) were next, followed by You Don’t Know. I won’t even get started about You Don’t Know other than to say that, even after 8 performances, I still get goose bumps from head to toe when Terri sings this song. (I enjoy the live version even more than the recorded version, and I recall several other fans expressing the same opinion after the web broadcast of the 9/98 HoB performance.)

About this point in the show, I saw demonstrated another aspect of Terri’s performance that makes the live shows so impressive to me; namely, her character. Throughout the performance, I was taking playlist notes for the review. There was a fellow standing next to me on my right against the crash barrier who practically crawled in my shirt pocket to see what I was writing near the beginning of each song. This was a little unnerving at first, being Hollywood and all, and Ron, standing on the other side of me was also wondering what was going on. I then decided to make it a point to show this gentleman what I was writing and he immediately recognized many of the song titles about the time that I would complete writing half of each one. He then turned to the fellow on his other side and signed (as in hearing-impaired signing) the titles to him. After I realized what was going on, I just showed him each one as I wrote it.

Meanwhile, this is all happening in the front row fairly close to Terri’s feet. (The HoB stage is quite high at about 4 to 5 feet). Since the HoB stage is not nearly as accessible as some of the other smaller venues, and the front of the stage is lined with monitors, cables, and stage lights, it was more difficult for Terri to interact with the audience. Of the two or three times that she did, one of them was spent on the edge of the stage singing to the gentleman on my right, and, if memory serves me correctly, the song was You Don’t Know. In this day and age when it seems that many people would rather avoid such an interaction, it was as though Terri sought it out!

For All Tomorrow’s Lies was next. Terri and Charlotte again performed this together to an arrangement having just Scott on synth. The harmony between Terri and Charlotte on this ballad was heart-meltingly beautiful. Scott also played his heart out on the synth. After the song, we, and several other fans up front, let him know that he did a great job to the point that he acknowledged our appreciation of his talent.

Like Terri has said, The Metro never gets old and the live version is somewhat "punked up". Another great live performance of the song that rang through my mind as I stepped onto the Metro for the first time several years ago.

Another new song, Turn You On, was next. As I mentioned in the 3/27 edition, it has more of a techno sound to it with synth accents that remind me of some of their earlier work. Terri also made some comments related to the subject matter prior to beginning this song. She said, "We girls like it when you guys dance…even the kind like…"[she gave a little demo of the type of dancing that may not be regarded by some as the ultimate in cool]. She also stated that she has reached a point in her life where she finally understands why guys want it all the time.

Moving right along….Confession Time is such a great song live, I hope it makes it onto one of the upcoming Berlin releases. The head-banging live arrangement was great, as usual.

An extended version of Tell Me Why that kicks bootie was next in which Terri was all over the stage, even whacking a symbol with Rodger on the drums. Speaking of Rodger, he reminds me of a cross between Mick Fleetwood and Golden Earring’s drummer. Every now and then, as he was really getting into it, he used a little extra velocity on his drumstick when he whacked the snare that I feel is an integral part of what makes Berlin’s live performances so great.

I think it was during Tell Me Why that Terri came to the edge of the stage on both sides a few times. Many fans reached forward to briefly touch or hold Terri’s hand. (I tried to restrain myself and leave Terri to interact with the many fans that were trying to touch her hand. However, I must admit that I couldn’t resist briefly touching that same right hand that had non-verbally conveyed so much love, compassion, and flat-out WOW at the 11/98 Harry O’s show during Courage.)

Speaking of a few new faces, while this was going on, there was a fan standing behind me who reached over the top of my shoulder a few times to try to hold hands with Terri. (This was quite obvious, too, because I was fairly animated at this point and I whacked into his arm a few times with my shoulder as I was jumping around.) After the second pass to our side of the stage, his desire remained unfulfilled. At this point, I turned around and noted a look of disappointment on his face that conveyed just how much this interaction meant to him (I could relate). So I held up his hand and moved him in front of me so he could get next to the stage. About that time, Terri came back and held hands with him a nice, long time (OH YEAH, can I relate…and the coolest part about it is that Terri is so modest regarding this kind of interaction.) This gentleman then outstretched his hand to shake mine in jubilant appreciation. Later, after the show, he introduced himself as Matt Bowers, who had written the review of the Phoenix show in 1996. He had made the pilgrimage from Phoenix to see this House of Blues show.

Next in the playlist was Sex, (I’m A…). Like I have mentioned in other "editions", one never really knows what is going to happen during this song. Terri teased Dallan by robustly pounding his rump a few times and eventually ended up laying flat on her back with her head hanging out into a crowd of female fans on the other side of the stage, one of which sang some of the chorus with Terri.

In addition to the usual, solid playing on his Gibson all night, Dallan also sang lead on Never Let Me Down with Terri backing him up

Take My Breath Away was dedicated to Terri’s special someone’s (Paul’s) mother. Although the performance of this song is always a killer anyway, what was wild about this performance was that early in the song, Paul showed up behind us with about three HoB security types. Terri then climbed from the edge of the stage onto his shoulders and went for a brief cruise in the audience while singing!

After the show, we had an opportunity to speak further with some of Terri’s staff. Ron had provided a copy of his latest collage for Terri, earlier. (He was told that several fans attempted to buy it while it was on the merchandise table).

We also spoke briefly with Terri’s Paul, who informed us that Terri wanted to do the interview with us for the site. We were both standing there kind of stunned that this was really going to happen. (It has since been transcribed and will show up shortly…all I can say is that this was yet another extremely special event for us, and I had no clue where all of this would lead when I sent that first write-up to Rob back in November!)

Until the Special Editions,

The Unofficial Knights of the Berlin Roundtable, SoCal Chapter,

Paul K. (the words…) and Ron B. (scans and digital photos)