The admittance was a bit late. They seemed to need more time for the sound-check than the day before. The "Fabrik" filled quickly and Moon Doc opened the show.
Wow! What a sound! I could hear every instrument clearly right from the beginning! Now I can tell you more about Moon Doc which was impossible after Hannover because I had just about no idea what they sound like. Moon Doc is playing Heavy Metal, yes (a lot of double bass drum). And it is melodic and Herman Frank (former guitarist of Accept and Victory) is very good. The band really was perfect, running from one track to the other. And they seemed to be happy too. I felt sorry that they had to leave after only 30 minutes, finishing with an Accept-Medley.
Wow! Next was Glenn Hughes, perfect sound again and also they were "in a good mood tonight", said with the words of Glenn. The band celebrated themselves on stage and that spreads to the audience. Everybody seemed to enjoy the concert this time.
Wow! UFO entered the stage half an hour after Glenn left with "Burn" and sound was perfect right from the beginning. The audience was on 100% at once. Yes, it were not the classical tracks that were welcomed most but the new ones from Covenant. The first two notes of the intro of "Love Is Forever" and the man next to me shouted "Yes, Love is Forever!". And, what can I say, I was in 2 meters distance to Michael, Phil and Pete! Yes, I was in heaven.
Even the set-list was the same as yesterday the concert was completely different! How is that possible? Did Michael read my report from yesterday? Michael's play was at 100% right from the beginning. No laziness at all! SCHENKER IS GOD!!! Even they do not play unexpected tracks again, it was very enjoyable even for a long time fan like me because of all the bits and pieces they did inside the tracks. Michael replaced the solo of Venus by a new one, superb! A small drum solo was added before the last chord of Too Hot To Handle. And so on and so on. They had to turn the Lights On right after Lights Out to prevent to be forced to keep playing for another hour or so...
I knew that I had to go to two shows at least. Hannover had the sound problems and I guess the band lacked a bit in self-confidence not knowing how the crowd would react to them and the new tracks. Everything was different in Hamburg. Above all Michael and his playing. He played perfect in Hannover and his play was far from perfect in Hamburg but brilliant! He improvised a lot more and took more risks in order to give us - the fans - what we came for. Thanks a lot! As long as UFO and Michael keep performing as engaged as in Hamburg not even the die-hard-Fans will be disappointed - I promise!
Also the mood on-stage was much better. Michael was joking around with Pete and Jeff (keep him in the band, boys!). Phil told a few good jokes (sorry, my memory for guitar solos is much better than for jokes...) and everybody was happy including me and the rest of the audience.
After the concert Michael signed all that he was asked for even if the official policy is only to sign what is bought at the show. I get to know two Schenker-fans from Hamburg who came with pictures of their own Flying-Vs to have them signed by Michael. It's nice to feel as a family.
I only had one disappointment that night: I didn't manage to get a picture of me with Michael's Flying V and Phil and Pete surrounding me...
Chris Gerlach
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