UFO at Tilburg, Noorderligt November 25, 1997.

Well, what can I say.. I've seen them! (Been there, done that, got the T-shirt) And yes, Schenker is still with the band. But will he stay?

But first the support band Danger Danger. I thought they were disappointing. To me they sounded like Poison in the Eighties. Nothing exciting, although the guitarist was OK. They didn't really impress the crowd at the Noorderligt in Tilburg. Quote of the bass player: "our next song is something you all will like, Going Going Gone, and that's what we'll do after this song". And still they tried to let the crowd sing along... After 45 minutes they finally quit.

Then we all had to wait for some 45 minutes for UFO to come on stage. The crowd (sold out) went wild at the first tones of Natural Thing. The setlist was the same as in earlier shows in Spain. No surprises there. What can I say. I've been waiting SO long. It was a dream come true to see the band perform all the classics and three new songs. I never thought that 90 minutes could go so fast.

Phil wasn't at his best, his voice was powerless all evening, and deteriorated towards the end of the show. Then again, Love to love was nearly perfect. The crowd helped him whenever possible, and the band really seemed to appreciate that. Phil, Paul and Pete were all smiles because of the enthousiasm of the crowd. Pete was in his regular mode (wild). Schenker didn't really notice were he was. He never aknowledged the presence of the band or the crowd. Pete tried to involve him in the show, but Schenker didn't react. I don't know if there's something wrong, but Schenker seemed to avoid all eye contact with the rest of the band, especially Phil. Between the first couple of songs he just stared at the floor, waiting for the next song to start. I've been a huge fan of Schenker for 17 years now, but I think this is unacceptable. Jezus, one smile in the general direction of the crowd wouldn't have hurt! Lighten up! By the way, what's the matter with his hair? It looked like there was a wig attached to his baseball cap.

The playing of the band was perfect. Just one technical glitch at the start of Venus, from the WOW album, but otherwise just perfect. Paul's rhythm guitar wasn't working properly, and when his roadie was reparing it, Paul was too late to play the keyboards during the second verse of the song.

The sound was excellent from the start. All instruments could be heard individually all through the night. When the show was over Schenker threw his plectrum into the crowd and, would you believe it, it landed on my shoe! I got it!

Finally the songs in semi random order

Natural Thing
This Kids
Self made man
Venus
Pushed to the limit
Only you can rock me
One more for the rodeo
Out in the streets
Love to love
Too hot to handle
Lights out

Doctor doctor
Rock bottom

Shoot shoot

Did I forget to mention a song? Check the earlier messages in this newsgroup. For all those with tickets to later shows: have fun!

Rene


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