Berlin / GoGos show, San Francisco, CA - July 7, 1999 concert
(courtesy of Tomm Roland)
I was fortunate enough to catch the Berlin/Go-Go's show in San Francisco
last night(7-7). It was a really great show!
The opening band was an all girl punk band from NYC, the Lunachicks. Being
a punk band it was tough crowd for them to please but they managed to pull
it. Most everyone seemed to enjoy them and deservedly so, they played great.
The Go-Go's also played well but lets face it, they were never a heavy
musicianship band. They place went absolutely nuts for them, the crowd was
pushing, shoving, dancing, and screaming so much I could have sworn I was
in a mosh pit at Metallica. I almost bailed to the back of room but pride
took over and I decided I was not going to wimp out of the stage push at a
Go-Go's concert!
Although the majority of the crowd was there to see the Go-Go's, Berlin was
very well received and Terri seemed a little blown away at the response.
The band played great and Terri sounded incredible. I can absolutely see
what she was talking about in the interview on the web site when she
mentioned she is singing better with less effort. She really sounded great.
I was a little worried about how I would like the show. I had seen Berlin
three times previously (83 with The Fixx and Flock of Seagulls at Greek
Theater in Berkeley, 84 with Talk Talk in SF, and in 86 at a college in
Stockton) but all when I was a teenager. Back then I was a budding musician
who was into the music strictly as a fan, I couldn't and didn't evaluate
performances, or records for that matter, on a musical level. I have since
become a professional musician and as any musician can attest to at some
point it becomes very difficult to listen to anything with out pulling it
apart giving it a close criticism. I knew I would enjoy the songs from a
nostalgic standpoint but was worried I might come away a little disappointed
musically. I am very pleased to say that I was not disappointed at all.
The band was great and as I said Terri sang wonderfully! Dallan and
Rodger(I am assuming from previous reviews and the CD liner notes that those
were the folks onstage) really locked into each other and played great. I
was particularly impressed by how Dallan incorporated many of the old synth
parts onto the guitar which gave the songs a little more edge without losing
the melodic content of the synth parts. I really dug Rodgers playing, being
a percussionist myself I actually found myself looking around Terri a couple
times to watch Rodger play!
I won't do a song by song listing, for those of you who want to know I
grabbed a set list( thanks to guy in front of me who asked the roadie to hand
to him for me) and scanned it, I will send it along to RJA as well:
The highlights for me were, Touch(its crossed out on the set list but they
did play it), You Don't Know, Steps, and The Metro. Terri sang a couple of
lines from Touch to me and that was so cool. When I saw them in 84 on the
Love Life tour she sang 2 lines of When We Make Love to me so it was really
cool to kind of come full circle and have her sing to me last night. Of
course the difference of being 16 versus 31 means that while I know what song
it was she sang to me last night I don't remember what lines she sang to me,
I can however remember to this day every word she sang to me (I want you now,
forever now, I'll see you on the screen forever when we make love) back in 84.
I really like the live arrangement of Steps alot, better than the recorded
version in my opinion and the Metro has always been one of my favorite Berlin
songs. The band was really on last night, I was just listening to Fall Into
Heaven 2 which I got last night and as good as the live Metro recording is on
it, last night was even better!
I am really happy that I finally got to see Terri again. I moved from CA 2
years ago, just about when they started playing again so it was great that I
happened to be visiting while they played nearby! For most of the last year
I was actually living out of the country so I had to keep up on Berlin
happening through the site, thanks for the great site RJA! I actually
bought the tickets for the show last night online from India! I love the
web! Until next time.......
Tomm
The highlights for me were, Touch(its crossed out on the set list but they
did play it), You Don't Know, Steps, and The Metro. Terri sang a couple of
lines from Touch to me and that was so cool. When I saw them in 84 on the
Love Life tour she sang 2 lines of When We Make Love to me so it was really
cool to kind of come full circle and have her sing to me last night. Of
course the difference of being 16 versus 31 means that while I know what song
it was she sang to me last night I don't remember what lines she sang to me,
I can however remember to this day every word she sang to me (I want you now,
forever now, I'll see you on the screen forever when we make love) back in 84.
I really like the live arrangement of Steps alot, better than the recorded
version in my opinion and the Metro has always been one of my favorite Berlin
songs. The band was really on last night, I was just listening to Fall Into
Heaven 2 which I got last night and as good as the live Metro recording is on
it, last night was even better!
I am really happy that I finally got to see Terri again. I moved from CA 2
years ago, just about when they started playing again so it was great that I
happened to be visiting while they played nearby! For most of the last year
I was actually living out of the country so I had to keep up on Berlin
happening through the site, thanks for the great site RJA! I actually
bought the tickets for the show last night online from India! I love the
web! Until next time.......
Tomm