Berlin - 5th - 6th February
It was only about 2,5 weeks ago that I decided to go to Milow in Berlin, but for those 2,5 weeks I had been very excited and almost couldn't wait until 5th February. On the day before, I went to bed early - and got a bit of a scare when I woke up a while later. I heard the clock strike 1, 2, 3, 4 - oh f*ck I overslept, I'm gonna miss my flight! - 5, 6, 7, 8, ,9, 10, 11.... Oh thank God, it's still Thursday evening! So I went back to sleep for a few more hours ;)
I woke up again a little before 3 AM, 20 minutes before my alarm went off, and jumped straight out of bed and into the shower. If only it was this easy to get out of bed every day! (It would be cool to have a Milow concert to look forward to every day ;))
Got to the airport on time and had a very quiet flight. Arrived in Berlin around 7:35 and had a long time to wait before the others arrived. Luckily I had brought a book so I had something to do besides drink coffee for three hours;) When our little group was finally complete we had some lunch at the central station (Asian food, very nice) and then did a bit of sightseeing - Brandenburger Tor and Alexanderplatz :) Then it was time (ok, after a short rest) to get to the venue, where it was bloody freezing cold, even with so many people standing close together. A little after 7 PM the doors finally opened and we got inside. And got a place in the front row thanks to Minka :D. Another hour to wait....
And then, FINALLY, the concert! The support act was Australian singer Lenka. I had only ever heard her song 'The Show' and although I liked it, it didn't make me go 'Ooooh I wanna see her live!'. Especially not when I'm waiting for Milow to come on ;) Lenka's performance was ok - she has a good voice and her songs are nice, but just a little bit *too* happy happy cheerful for my taste. Cute guitarist though ;)By the time Lenka left the stage, I was almost bursting with impatience to see Milow, but again we had to wait a bit :/ (As if I hadn't spent enough time waiting already!)
The band came on first and started playing. Then: Milow's wonderful voice. He opened with a new song, The Kingdom, which I absolutely loved after the first minute already! It was also a great way to start the concert and got the crowd going right away. But still, no Milow on stage. He sure took his time before he came on! When he did, of course the screaming started... bit annoying right through a song when he's still singing! Maybe he should have waited till the instrumental bit in the song to come on, so at least we wouldn't have missed any of his singing ;) Still, great song! And it was amazing to be so close to the stage! I'm glad Milow also attracts a more mature audience, and it's not all teenie fans screaming through all of the songs at his concerts. The downside is, there's also more guys there, and they're usually a bit taller than the average teenie fan - so the other two times I saw him live I was constantly moving my head, trying to see around the tall guys that are ALWAYS right in front of me :( Being in front row was a nice change! He did a lot of the same songs as on the previous tour, but also some new ones. They all sounded amazing and I can't wait until his new album is released and am already really looking forward to seeing him live again! (Brussels in March and Gelsenkirchen in June :D) Not sure which is my favourite out of the new songs because I love them all, but I think it's either This Kingdom or Little In The Middle.
About halfway through the concert I felt I needed a bit more space to breath, so I fought my way through the crowd to where Debbie was a bit further to the back. And although it was absolutely amazing to be in the first row for once and I'm very glad I had the chance to be there once, AND I of course had a very tall guy standing in front of me again, making it very hard to see anything.... I have to say, I felt more part of the concert when I'd left the front row. The whole time I was standing there, it had felt like he was more performing for the people further away from the stage. He looked right over the first row, and also stayed right in the middle of the stage a lot, and I was standing more to the side. There wasn't much
(or none at all???) eye contact with the people right in front, which was a bit disappointing, and not what I'm used to with other artists. I understand that he also wants to include the people at the back and perform for everyone.... But I've been to a lot of concert, and even if the artist did give a bit more attention to the first row or even joked around with people there, I might have wished that I was right at the front as well, but I never felt left out. And there I was, in the front row for once, feeling left out :/ It's hard to explain as Milow does have a great way of connecting to the crowd, even with his eyes closed or looking into the air above the crowd - when I saw him support James Morrison on tour the difference between them was HUGE, Milow had a great connection with the crowd, while it seemed as if James only noticed there were people watching him after about an hour, the first hour of the concert there was
no interaction with the crowd at all. I'm sure you can guess which part of the concert I liked better ;) I want to make it clear that I did really, REALLY enjoy the entire concert in Berlin! But he could move around the stage a little more ;)
Anyway, the whole concert was absolutely amazing! When I was in front, I was really focusing on just his voice, not filming anything this time to really take in the entire concert without getting distracted - and I'm glad I did because Jonathan has such a great voice, and it really is an amazing experience to hear it live. When I moved to the back, the atmosphere was just a tiny tad bit better, and there was more of a party/concert vibe ;) Which was also great, even if it distracted me from the singing a bit. Too bad it's hard to get both at the same time :/
Time just flew by and when I felt like the concert had only just started, it was already over :( Very sad, I wish he could have sung all night long!
After the concert he came out to sign for people. Now I don't really want to cricize this as it can be a bit of a touchy subject, I know it's incredibly sweet of him to do this and I DO appreciate it. BUT I think he should only do this if he really wants to. And I wonder if he really does want to do this every night, right after being on stage for an hour and a half, not even taking some time for himself first. We didn't get in line right away so Jonathan had been giving out autographs for quite some time already when it finally came to my turn. To me it felt like he was just signing totally on auto-pilot. I don't think he even said 'Hi' or anything? So that left me feeling a bit sad - especially as I'd traveled almost 700 km to the concert (ok - he didn't know that but still :P) I had wanted to say something to him but didn't - that is of course 100% my own fault, but his not even looking at me (until he gave me back the album) or saying hello threw me off a bit and I felt like he just wanted to get everything over with as soon as possible. Which I completely understand, but that's what makes me wonder if signing after every concert is really such a good idea? When you want to do something like this, do it properly or don't bother at all. I personally would not have been disappointed if he hadn't come out after the concert to give out autographs, after all, a concert is not a signing session. But that's just the way I feel.
I actually feel a bit bad now, having written this, because it's something he does for us :( But I just had to say it, and I hope nobody takes it the wrong way. If you don't agree, please don't shoot me! ;)
Then, after everyone who wanted an autograph had gotten one, Jonathan walked away and it was really all over :(
After the concert we went to get our stuff, and then straight to the airport, where we spent the night. Respect to Minka for staying with us, when she could've been comfortably lying in her own bed ;) Of course I couldn't sleep at the airport and since my flight wasn't until 8:10 AM, it was a very, very long night for me. And then when I was up in the air I even enjoyed my flight (yes, me, the person who HATES planes). It was so pretty with the sun shining, blue skies and fluffy white clouds ;) so I didn't even want to sleep on the flight. I have to say, I was very glad when I was FINALLY reunited with my bed at 11 in the morning, after being awake for 32 hours. BUT it was all totally worth it and I'd definitely do it again if I had the chance!
Jonathan, thank you for an amazing concert! Girls, thanks for a great time! Thank you Minka for the ticket and showing us Berlin (even if it was only a little bit of sightseeing), Claudia for arranging a place to stay (even if it didn't quite turn out the way we'd planned) and Debbie for your company ;)
I woke up again a little before 3 AM, 20 minutes before my alarm went off, and jumped straight out of bed and into the shower. If only it was this easy to get out of bed every day! (It would be cool to have a Milow concert to look forward to every day ;))
Got to the airport on time and had a very quiet flight. Arrived in Berlin around 7:35 and had a long time to wait before the others arrived. Luckily I had brought a book so I had something to do besides drink coffee for three hours;) When our little group was finally complete we had some lunch at the central station (Asian food, very nice) and then did a bit of sightseeing - Brandenburger Tor and Alexanderplatz :) Then it was time (ok, after a short rest) to get to the venue, where it was bloody freezing cold, even with so many people standing close together. A little after 7 PM the doors finally opened and we got inside. And got a place in the front row thanks to Minka :D. Another hour to wait....
And then, FINALLY, the concert! The support act was Australian singer Lenka. I had only ever heard her song 'The Show' and although I liked it, it didn't make me go 'Ooooh I wanna see her live!'. Especially not when I'm waiting for Milow to come on ;) Lenka's performance was ok - she has a good voice and her songs are nice, but just a little bit *too* happy happy cheerful for my taste. Cute guitarist though ;)By the time Lenka left the stage, I was almost bursting with impatience to see Milow, but again we had to wait a bit :/ (As if I hadn't spent enough time waiting already!)
The band came on first and started playing. Then: Milow's wonderful voice. He opened with a new song, The Kingdom, which I absolutely loved after the first minute already! It was also a great way to start the concert and got the crowd going right away. But still, no Milow on stage. He sure took his time before he came on! When he did, of course the screaming started... bit annoying right through a song when he's still singing! Maybe he should have waited till the instrumental bit in the song to come on, so at least we wouldn't have missed any of his singing ;) Still, great song! And it was amazing to be so close to the stage! I'm glad Milow also attracts a more mature audience, and it's not all teenie fans screaming through all of the songs at his concerts. The downside is, there's also more guys there, and they're usually a bit taller than the average teenie fan - so the other two times I saw him live I was constantly moving my head, trying to see around the tall guys that are ALWAYS right in front of me :( Being in front row was a nice change! He did a lot of the same songs as on the previous tour, but also some new ones. They all sounded amazing and I can't wait until his new album is released and am already really looking forward to seeing him live again! (Brussels in March and Gelsenkirchen in June :D) Not sure which is my favourite out of the new songs because I love them all, but I think it's either This Kingdom or Little In The Middle.
About halfway through the concert I felt I needed a bit more space to breath, so I fought my way through the crowd to where Debbie was a bit further to the back. And although it was absolutely amazing to be in the first row for once and I'm very glad I had the chance to be there once, AND I of course had a very tall guy standing in front of me again, making it very hard to see anything.... I have to say, I felt more part of the concert when I'd left the front row. The whole time I was standing there, it had felt like he was more performing for the people further away from the stage. He looked right over the first row, and also stayed right in the middle of the stage a lot, and I was standing more to the side. There wasn't much
(or none at all???) eye contact with the people right in front, which was a bit disappointing, and not what I'm used to with other artists. I understand that he also wants to include the people at the back and perform for everyone.... But I've been to a lot of concert, and even if the artist did give a bit more attention to the first row or even joked around with people there, I might have wished that I was right at the front as well, but I never felt left out. And there I was, in the front row for once, feeling left out :/ It's hard to explain as Milow does have a great way of connecting to the crowd, even with his eyes closed or looking into the air above the crowd - when I saw him support James Morrison on tour the difference between them was HUGE, Milow had a great connection with the crowd, while it seemed as if James only noticed there were people watching him after about an hour, the first hour of the concert there was
no interaction with the crowd at all. I'm sure you can guess which part of the concert I liked better ;) I want to make it clear that I did really, REALLY enjoy the entire concert in Berlin! But he could move around the stage a little more ;)
Anyway, the whole concert was absolutely amazing! When I was in front, I was really focusing on just his voice, not filming anything this time to really take in the entire concert without getting distracted - and I'm glad I did because Jonathan has such a great voice, and it really is an amazing experience to hear it live. When I moved to the back, the atmosphere was just a tiny tad bit better, and there was more of a party/concert vibe ;) Which was also great, even if it distracted me from the singing a bit. Too bad it's hard to get both at the same time :/
Time just flew by and when I felt like the concert had only just started, it was already over :( Very sad, I wish he could have sung all night long!
After the concert he came out to sign for people. Now I don't really want to cricize this as it can be a bit of a touchy subject, I know it's incredibly sweet of him to do this and I DO appreciate it. BUT I think he should only do this if he really wants to. And I wonder if he really does want to do this every night, right after being on stage for an hour and a half, not even taking some time for himself first. We didn't get in line right away so Jonathan had been giving out autographs for quite some time already when it finally came to my turn. To me it felt like he was just signing totally on auto-pilot. I don't think he even said 'Hi' or anything? So that left me feeling a bit sad - especially as I'd traveled almost 700 km to the concert (ok - he didn't know that but still :P) I had wanted to say something to him but didn't - that is of course 100% my own fault, but his not even looking at me (until he gave me back the album) or saying hello threw me off a bit and I felt like he just wanted to get everything over with as soon as possible. Which I completely understand, but that's what makes me wonder if signing after every concert is really such a good idea? When you want to do something like this, do it properly or don't bother at all. I personally would not have been disappointed if he hadn't come out after the concert to give out autographs, after all, a concert is not a signing session. But that's just the way I feel.
I actually feel a bit bad now, having written this, because it's something he does for us :( But I just had to say it, and I hope nobody takes it the wrong way. If you don't agree, please don't shoot me! ;)
Then, after everyone who wanted an autograph had gotten one, Jonathan walked away and it was really all over :(
After the concert we went to get our stuff, and then straight to the airport, where we spent the night. Respect to Minka for staying with us, when she could've been comfortably lying in her own bed ;) Of course I couldn't sleep at the airport and since my flight wasn't until 8:10 AM, it was a very, very long night for me. And then when I was up in the air I even enjoyed my flight (yes, me, the person who HATES planes). It was so pretty with the sun shining, blue skies and fluffy white clouds ;) so I didn't even want to sleep on the flight. I have to say, I was very glad when I was FINALLY reunited with my bed at 11 in the morning, after being awake for 32 hours. BUT it was all totally worth it and I'd definitely do it again if I had the chance!
Jonathan, thank you for an amazing concert! Girls, thanks for a great time! Thank you Minka for the ticket and showing us Berlin (even if it was only a little bit of sightseeing), Claudia for arranging a place to stay (even if it didn't quite turn out the way we'd planned) and Debbie for your company ;)