Backstreet's Back the 2nd
Oh. My. God. There are no other words for yesterday's concert. I thought the one in Stuttgart was awesome, but the one in Berlin? Ten times better. In case you haven't read it somewhere else
We got to the venue at about 7:10, but they'd already let in people for a while I think. Right when we came they opened up another entrance, and we said a hurried goodbye to slippery_fish and the_milky_way, who we'd met up with earlier that day. We got inside pretty quickly then, and they didn't take away _bettina_'s camera, yay! After putting away our coats (for 2€!) we went looking for a place to stand and found one to the side of the stage, where we had a quite good view already; better than I had in Stuttgart. Because while in Stuttgart there was this huge area in front of the stage reserved for wheelchairs, in Berlin there was only a small pit right in front of the stage (yes, they did come down once in a while, and yes, there was a lot of commotion when they did), and then another barrier a couple of meters away, forming a small area right in front of the stage. There were already people standing there, who we were told had been the first 200 to be inside the venue. Now all those people had to get in there somehow, right, and that's why the barriers didn't go all the way from side to side, but there were security people blocking the entrance. Right where we were standing. One girl asked one of them if they would let more people in once the concert started, and he said, "maybe". So we spent an agonizing 40 minutes while the supporting act was on stage hoping that "maybe" meant "yes", when they suddenly, during the break, started to pull people out of the crowd who got to go to the front. Small girls, at first, and then slightly bigger ones, too. Then Bettina got picked, and we were all torn between "let me in too!" and "go Bettina!" (she was the important one, after all; i.e. the one with the camera). At least I was. I don't remember the last time I've been so nervous and excited. Then I got picked, too. Um, I think. I was suddenly standing in front of the red and white plastic band, so I went and joined Bettina in the front. And finally -- maybe we whined enough or maybe the security people decided to let some more people in anyway -- Saba made it, too. Needless to say we were all very happy, and did I mention how close to the stage we were now? Like, eye-contact close. So close that I didn't see any hair under Nick's arms, but Bettina says she did. Erm.
I didn't want to write anything about the concert, because I did all that already but the other two seem to have decided I'm the designated writer. So (half of this has been dictated to me):
Oh, I nearly forgot. _bettina_ will have pictures soon!
The rest of the day in Berlin went something like this:
The first thing we did when we finally made it to the city center was meeting up with slippery_fish and the_milky_way at the Alexanderplatz. Saba and Bettina then went sightseeing with those two, while I went to see a friend and former classmate of mine who's been living in Berlin for a few years now. It was very nice, I saw her new apartment and we chatted for about two hours, then went to eat some delicious Falafel before I left to meet the other four again. My friend's boyfriend was there, too; he's another former classmate, but they haven't gotten together until about years after we'd graduated. It's only slightly weird. And because my friend is mean like that, just before we left for dinner, she just had to ask me, in a loud voice, "So? Which of the Backstreet Boys do you like best?" *grr* I met the other four again in a cafe and we stayed for a couple of minutes longer (and for Bettina and Saba eat their freakishly large baguettes) before walking to the venue.
We got to the venue at about 7:10, but they'd already let in people for a while I think. Right when we came they opened up another entrance, and we said a hurried goodbye to slippery_fish and the_milky_way, who we'd met up with earlier that day. We got inside pretty quickly then, and they didn't take away _bettina_'s camera, yay! After putting away our coats (for 2€!) we went looking for a place to stand and found one to the side of the stage, where we had a quite good view already; better than I had in Stuttgart. Because while in Stuttgart there was this huge area in front of the stage reserved for wheelchairs, in Berlin there was only a small pit right in front of the stage (yes, they did come down once in a while, and yes, there was a lot of commotion when they did), and then another barrier a couple of meters away, forming a small area right in front of the stage. There were already people standing there, who we were told had been the first 200 to be inside the venue. Now all those people had to get in there somehow, right, and that's why the barriers didn't go all the way from side to side, but there were security people blocking the entrance. Right where we were standing. One girl asked one of them if they would let more people in once the concert started, and he said, "maybe". So we spent an agonizing 40 minutes while the supporting act was on stage hoping that "maybe" meant "yes", when they suddenly, during the break, started to pull people out of the crowd who got to go to the front. Small girls, at first, and then slightly bigger ones, too. Then Bettina got picked, and we were all torn between "let me in too!" and "go Bettina!" (she was the important one, after all; i.e. the one with the camera). At least I was. I don't remember the last time I've been so nervous and excited. Then I got picked, too. Um, I think. I was suddenly standing in front of the red and white plastic band, so I went and joined Bettina in the front. And finally -- maybe we whined enough or maybe the security people decided to let some more people in anyway -- Saba made it, too. Needless to say we were all very happy, and did I mention how close to the stage we were now? Like, eye-contact close. So close that I didn't see any hair under Nick's arms, but Bettina says she did. Erm.
I didn't want to write anything about the concert, because I did all that already but the other two seem to have decided I'm the designated writer. So (half of this has been dictated to me):
- Brian was his dorky self, making faces all the time.
- Nick sang to Kevin about being pregnant, while Howie and Kevin sang to each other about love and happiness.
- AJ has a nice strange way to hold his microphone. Yes, there is a picture for proof.
- Howie was looking so good! They all were looking so good!
- Nick and Howie bounced off the stage arm in arm for a quickie break.
- They still didn't have any fancy costumes, I don't think they even wear the same shirts every time. I remember Nick wearing a green t-shirt at the end of the show in Stuttgart, but this one was black. With a black wife-beater under it, as he took it off when they were going off stage. Now why couldn't he have done that sooner? And he wore a sleeveless shirt at one point, which I would definitely have remembered; it showed off all the nice tattoos. Mmm.
- Still near to no choreography, and no-one dropped his hat this time.
- They sang a nice mixture of old and new songs, although one thing threw me off the last time, too. The album's called Never Gone, the tour is called Never Gone, but they didn't sing it. Um, okay.
- They were touching all the time. Arms around each other, bumping into each other or pinching each other's cheeks.
- Nick was veeery hyper. Possibly on drugs. He apparently took a shower during the first break, because he came back with his hair all wet. And talking about hair, at one point he rubbed over it so it was standing in all directions. So cute. He also was obsessed with making us sing "I like to move it move it".
- The fake snowflakes were foam, by the way.
- Especially for turloughishere: I think I might have cracked a little. I do admit that Kevin can look hot... under certain circumstances.
- We were so close! Did I mention that before?
Oh, I nearly forgot. _bettina_ will have pictures soon!
The rest of the day in Berlin went something like this:
The first thing we did when we finally made it to the city center was meeting up with slippery_fish and the_milky_way at the Alexanderplatz. Saba and Bettina then went sightseeing with those two, while I went to see a friend and former classmate of mine who's been living in Berlin for a few years now. It was very nice, I saw her new apartment and we chatted for about two hours, then went to eat some delicious Falafel before I left to meet the other four again. My friend's boyfriend was there, too; he's another former classmate, but they haven't gotten together until about years after we'd graduated. It's only slightly weird. And because my friend is mean like that, just before we left for dinner, she just had to ask me, in a loud voice, "So? Which of the Backstreet Boys do you like best?" *grr* I met the other four again in a cafe and we stayed for a couple of minutes longer (and for Bettina and Saba eat their freakishly large baguettes) before walking to the venue.