Hmm… “strange”. That was my first thought after the concert! On the one hand, the concert was really great and awesome, but on the other hand it was… strange. I think that was due at least partly to the typically reserved Hamburg audience. The atmosphere in the front was great, and the first five, six rows were really going along. But further back, there wasn’t really anything happening at all; at least until a song was over. Then the whole audience went crazy and cheered very loudly! But during the songs, they didn’t do anything at all… which you could probably call polite. But I found it rather strange… =:-/

But the venue was really full! I forgot to ask whether it was sold out, but I don’t know where they could have put more people, so I just assume it was. *g* And as mentioned: The audience was really loud, even though a bit lethargic.

The setlist: Intro, Delikatessen, Djevelens orkester, Señor Torpedo, Veterans klage, Sigøynerblod, Resistansen, Philemon Arthur & The Dung, Din kjole lukter bensin mor, En for orgelet en for meg, Psycho under min hatt, Svarte katter & flosshatter, Sju bøtter tårer er nok Beatrice, Ompa til du dør, Bøn fra helvete, Kontroll på kontintentet, Maestro. Encore KGB and Die Polizei.

At the start of the concert, Kaizers had to work REALLY hard to succeed with the audience. So we got to hear sentences like “Well, you in the front are great, but you 500 people in the back, hands in the air now!” =;-) But they definitely managed to convince the audience! And even though I was worried a bit in the beginning that they might be annoyed by the cool reception, I didn’t notice anything like that.

This time, there was quite a bit of talking. The Jackal really made sure that his band colleagues were feeling well. He wiped their faces dry of sweat and fanned them air with a towel. “People always ask me: How do you keep the band together for ten years? Well, the answer is easy: Treat them well!” And after having to care for his band mates a bit more, he uttered a desperate: “You see, that’s how it’s been like for me for ten years now!” Poor guy… *g*

A bit later, he wanted to start Sju bøtter tårer er nok, Beatrice. But all attempts to start at the same time failed. The only solution: Throw a towel into the air, and everybody starts playing when the towel lands on the floor. Because “the magic is all in the towel!”

Again, they repeated a few elements from the last concerts, especially Hellraizer’s confusion about the break in Delikatessen, which he dragged out again, pretending to be the only one not “frozen”. Amazingly funny! And during Sigøynerblod, at least one of the guitar players made it up on a barrel this time. On the other hand, a few things were missing as well; the drum in En for orgelet, for example. And there wasn’t a screen either, which was probably due to the fact that Uebel & Gefährlich is a pretty small place and the backdrop probably just didn’t fit in.

In the first part of the show, the Jackal obviously realized that the tour is almost over now. So he looked back a bit and announced at the same time that they would be back next year. Yeah!

Unfortunately, there were some problems inbetween with the sound, and the Jackal’s microphone went out. That was sad, but then, it didn’t ruin the concert. =:-) At some point in time, Hellraizer complained about his microphone being turned off as well. But well, he’s supposed to have his guitar talk for him anyway! So he got the opportunity to do this right in the next song, when the Jackal asked him to play a 1:45 min solo! So under Psycho under min hatt, the Jackal was counting down the seconds of his solo.

Talking about solos; Killmaster modified his solo in Kontroll på kontinentet a bit and started paying his guitar like a harp or zither… sounded a bit unusual, but nice! The Jackal, however, didn’t like it at all: “Say boo for that solo!” Nobody did though… =;-) So he asked again if we really liked that?! And the two who said they didn’t were invited backstage for a beer..

Towards the end, the Jackal asked whether we wanted to hear another song? The audience cheered. Or maybe even two or three? The audience cheered even louder. “Well, just talk to me then, how should I know?”

So we got two more songs, and after that, it was time for the encores. After KGB, we could choose between two ballads: Kvite ruser and Die Polizei. Die Polizei won, which was probably smart because otherwise, only the first six rows would have sung.

So all in all a great concert – even though the audience was a typical Hamburg audience!