The 12/4/99 Performance at the Coach House, San Juan Capistrano
The 12/4 show at the Coach House was yet another special show in that Berlin was recording for a live disc. In addition to a longer set that included some of the "older" new material, they also performed a "new" song.
As in the Vegas show, the DJ that had hosted Terri as a guest earlier that day introduced Berlin. Terri opened the set with Masquerade with the usual spunk, as shown above. The audience was really into this show, as evidenced by their applause. It sounded like the 1/6/99 Universal Amphitheatre show with only about 1/10th as many people!
Touch and No More Words were next as can be seen from the playlist that Tazz was holding up for Rock to shoot after the show.
At some point during No More Words, Kelley A., seated on my left, pounds me on the shoulder and yells, "She’s AWESOME….This is the best concert I’ve ever been to!" Before the show, Kelley had asked me whether we had ever seen Berlin before. I gave her some of the story of our "crusade", the RJA (&Scott) website, etc. It was gratifying to see her "blown away" the same way I was at my first show. She later e-mailed me with the following, "Again, it was the best concert I've ever been to, Terri Nunn is AWESOME, always has been."
Steps was performed next, in its major "industrial" manner. Lots of intensity, as shown in this next shot:
The song that originally amazed me relative to Terri’s delivery (and still does), You Don’t Know was next.
X-Girl, a relatively new number, was then performed. I like Terri’s vocals and the bass line quite a bit. Terri donned a pair of shades for this song, as seen below:
One of the "new" songs from earlier concerts was next, Courage. Those who have read past versions of the "Chronicles" know what impact Terri and this song had on me at Harry O’s back in November of 98, so I won’t go into detail yet again! I was thrilled enough to hear it again that I yelled, "Thank You, Terri!!!" immediately after its ending. This version did not use the djembe. Perhaps it was not convenient, as Roger was "encased" by plexiglass to tame the snare drum somewhat during the recording process. A bit of his "fishbowl" can be seen to the left of this wide-angle shot.
Next was The Metro which always just cooks. Terri was really getting into it with Charlotte in this next shot:
This was followed by Turn You On, another great newer song from "Fall Into Heaven II".
The next song, a cover of Blondie’s Shayla, was performed for the first time. It is Berlin’s contribution to an upcoming Blondie tribute disc. Berlin’s rendition is GREAT! I will buy the tribute disc just for this one track! Normally, I don’t like rap (I’ve stated as much in the 1/6 Universal Amphitheatre review) but I’ve got to say that "Meeks" was right on with the rap! The arrangement was great. Terri’s silky but strong vocals, Dallan’s broken-chord guitar work, and Scott’s bass line all combine for a very ethereal effect. It reminded me a little of Rapture. Focus wasn’t great in this next shot, but it captures a little of the flavor.
For this performance, Charlotte returned as back-up vocalist. Her presence was really apparent on For All Tomorrow’s Lies which was performed next. Of the back-up singers that I have heard, I feel she compliments Terri the best on this song as well as others. I get the sense that there is also a special relationship between Terri and Charlotte, as possibly indicated by this next shot:
Confession Time, a song from Terri’s solo album, was next. This is another song that, recently, has not been performed very much. I have heard it said that this is not a "Berlin" song, but judging from the way this band performs it on every occasion that I have witnessed, I would have to say that they "own" this song as far as I am concerned. It was a real treat to hear it done live again.
Tell Me Why, another perennial crowd "pleaser", was performed next. Terri made an extended pass through the audience during this song, even in the process of their live taping! Terri is standing at the end of our "table row" in this next shot:
Sex, (I’m A…) came next. The usual wild antics occurred but, unfortunately, we were unable to get a clear shot of them this time around. (There will be one in the next issue, though!)
This next shot shows Dallan singing lead on Never Let Me Down during the encore:
Take My Breath Away was the final song in the set. If memory serves me correctly, Terri commented that she normally determines to whom she is going to dedicate this song in her dressing room before the show. This night, the song was dedicated to her fans. She made another pass through the audience as shown in this next shot where she is standing on our table. Although this shot was a little tough (Rock post-processed like crazy to pull this much out of the darkness) it conveys much of the usual audience reaction to Terri. If you look real hard on the right of Terri, you can see a fan with her hands together as though she were praying, and another fan with her mouth open in awe.
As Terri walked back up the table toward the stage, I briefly held hands with her, which is an outstanding experience in itself, while the look in her eyes just melted every molecule in my anatomy!
All in all, it was an outstanding show. It was so terrific to hear some of the songs that
haven't been performed in a while! Whatever portions of the set make it to disc, I believe the live recording will be excellent! As mentioned earlier, the audience applause confirmed that fact! It sounded to me as though it was of stadium-level proportions. I don't ever recall hearing that much applause in a smaller venue!
After the applause had finished, Terri announced that there was a little sound problem when they opened with Masquerade, so she asked if everyone didn’t mind hearing it one more time. You can imagine the reaction! Terri and the band then just cooked on the reprise!!
After the Show……
After the show I had an opportunity to speak with a few more fans. Kelley once again stated what a great time she had and what a great performance it was. Jeff, a friend of (Webmaster) Scott’s, was a first-timer. Jeff summed it up as, "…entertaining, energetic, electrifying". He has since been to at least one more show, and I dare say he is starting to understand why Rock and I have "gone off the deep end", as it were.
We enjoyed getting to see another show with Scott and talking further about the Vegas experience in October. (RJA was missed!) Diane and Terry were also available to chat with.
We had a chance to say hi to Tazz and Geri as well, and we all spoke with Charlotte for a while, too.
We also had an opportunity to speak with Terri’s Paul after the show, as well as briefly before the show. We didn’t really expect to get an opportunity to get backstage with all that was going on, but we were pleasantly surprised. We were able to meet Meeks, the rapper who gave nothing short of a precision, inspired performance during Shayla. He has also had some input into some of Terri’s other recent projects (Gabriel re-mix on "Fall Into Heaven II").
Terri then came over to Rock and gave him a big hug before he knew what hit him!! He complimented her on the excellent show, etc. Next, Terri came over to me and left me essentially speechless with the one sentence she spoke regarding what our presence meant to her during this show. Terri is so sincere that I was visibly moved by what she had said. I then received one of those great hugs that definitely make all of this worth while! While I managed to thank her for a double performance of Masquerade (one of my favorites), thank her for doing some of the "older" new material, and tell her the show was excellent, I was still just emotionally blown away to the point that I told her I was getting all mushy so I better just walk away!
Some people may think Ron and I have gone off the deep end over the past 15 months (I usually don't argue with them about it...LOL), but it is a moment like that that makes this whole rare experience just priceless to me! It is almost as though we have our own, personal rock star, and one that can "take your breath away", so effortlessly at that!! I suspect I may be "preaching to the choir" as far as those reading this are concerned, but I have to say that Terri is so much more than a rock star (as if that wasn’t enough)!
Of the obviously "still blown away ilk",
The Unofficial Knights of the Berlin Roundtable
(As usual, write-up/integration by Paul K., <paulk@ieee.org>,
scans and digital photos by "Rock" B., <rwburch@home.com>)