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		21/06/96 - TRABRENNBAHN, HAMBURG Review by Yvonne Kehrbein: Before arriving at the venue we thought we’d be among the first ones but we were horribly mistaken. A few real Baddies were already there. Time seemed not to move at all and the starting rain really didn’t help either! Plus, it was far from funny to see how a few people were let in long before us. They must’ve won a meet & greet or something, I figured. The gates were to open at 3 p.m., however they had us wait another frikkin‘ hour! At least I got to persuade a Melissa Etheridge (she was one of the support acts) fan to trade his ticket with mine as his had a cool image while mine was just a computer print. When they finally opened up, the way to the stage turned out to be one helluva fast run with obstacles due to a very uneven ground. I tripped more than once but could always prevent myself from falling. Arriving at the stage I was happy that my friend and I had managed to get to the front row after all! Now the endless waiting seemed like peanuts and an interesting chat with some of the security guys about the Rolling Stones being a boyband really raised our spirits. Hilarious! At 5:30 p.m. The Gin Blossoms hit the stage and the massive bass sound made us protect our ear drums with whatever we could find in our pockets (you don’t wanna know!). Standing right in front of the speakers didn’t help much as we couldn’t understand a single word of the lyrics sung. At one point, though, I think I recognised the song 'Hey Jealousy'. In between the support acts suddenly a guy appeared at the front row and started giving out wrist bands of different colours. I should later find out that they granted access to the stage as Bryan invited a couple of fans onstage on that tour. Having bad luck on my side I didn’t get one but my best friend did. Lucky her - I was soooo envious! Around 6:30 p.m. Melissa Etheridge appeared onstage and really got the crowd going. She played some of her best songs like „I wanna come over“, „Your little secret“ and „Like the way I do“. One fan had brought a scarf and gave it to her as a present and I just couldn’t believe that she handed him the necklace she was wearing in return. Yes, he did get to keep it! After Melissa was done the fans with the wrist bands were taken out of the crowd (including my friend) and escorted onto the stage. Then things went quickly. Suddenly lots of guys with cameras appeared in front of me (where the heck did they come from so fast?) and placed their equipment right in front of me. Well done, guys! As I kept complaining one of the dudes mumbled something like "....only three minutes...just one song....“ Bryan opened up with 'The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You' and I loved the fact that for the first time he started a show with a new song. "Hello, Hamburg! I’ve never played such a place before. What is this? A horse park? Well, it doesn’t smell like horses!“ Yes, Bryan, this venue is usually for horse races.He went over to 'Do To You', another new song off the new album. Bryan was in a real chatting mood and started talking about the European Football Championship. "What do you think about the EFC? Ya think it’s gonna be England and Germany in the finals?“ Loud cheers were our answer! Bryan seemed familiar with more than just a few words in German and kept asking us questions like "Was ist los?“ (What’s up?) or "Alles klar?“ (You alright?). Someone threw a T-shirt onstage and he read out loud the guy’s (!) address and asked "What’s the message, baby?“ That really had us laughing. He also spotted a front row banner which read "If you play Native Son we’ll donate 50 cent to Greenpeace“. Bryan raised an eyebrow and asked "50 cent? More like 50 Deutschmarks! I’ll see if I can remember it, ok?“ Another fan threw a pink panther onstage and Bryan was obviously confused. Grinnin‘ from ear to ear he said "Guys, I’m 36 years old and I’m getting this! Ya, I’ve always wanted a pink panther, yay!“ Absolutely hilarious moment! Remember when I told you that it was raining before the show? Well, it all suddenly stopped when Bryan came onstage - I’m not kidding! "When does the summer start in Germany? What, today? (indeed it did start that day, June 21) Brrr, I hope it gets warmer than this. Did y’all notice that it stopped raining when I came onstage?“ Sure, Bryan, of course we did! J '18 Til I Die' was introduced as "song you might know or not know“. Geez, after 'There Will Never Be Another Tonight', one of my personal highlights of the show, I really had to catch my breath from singing and jumpin‘ around. We got a lil break during 'Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?' with the K-man on the beautiful sounding Spanish guitar. When the song was over another fan screamed something at Bryan. He looked at him, asking "What do you want, bigmouth? Come here!“ (Ah, I just luv it when he does that, he he!) He got Ben from Bavaria onstage (Ben, if you read this, I’m sure you remember....) and wanted to know if he can sing. "Only your songs“, Ben replied. But Bryan asked him to sing something in German. "Hey, a Bavarian beer song maybe!“ Bryan suggested. So funny! Ben then started to sing "Zieht den Bayern die Lederhosen aus“. Those who have ever been in Bavaria or live in Germany know this song! He then went over to singing 'Summer Of '69' whereas Bryan kept throwing in a few lyrics from the Bavarian song. That was frikkin‘ hilarious. "Ok, now it’s my turn to sing again!“ Bryan insisted as we wouldn’t let him. Bryan then disappeared and headed for the b-stage for a couple of real good rock’n’roll songs. "We came out here so we can be closer to you and you can be closer to us, understand? Are you happy now?“ A woman’s shrill scream was the answer. He turned to her and asked "Was? Kommen Sie mal her, Fraeulein!“ (which means: What? Come here, Miss) He pulled her up onstage, looked her in the eyes and asked with a deep and low voice "Can I make you happy?“ Guys, you can probably imagine the crowd’s reaction! A couple of other girls where pulled onstage as well and everyone was shakin‘ it to 'She's Only Happy When She's Dancin'' During '(I Wanna Be) Your Underwear' giant underwear was put up on both sides from the stage. Especially the rockers 'Kids Wanna Rock', 'Cuts Like A Knife' with the obligatory na-na-nah’s were absolutely awesome. And of course a brilliant 'Everything I Do' and the finale 'All For Love' couldn’t have to be given credit. Bryan and the guys waved their goodbyes after close to 2 and a half hours of pure rock’n’roll! Setlist: The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You Do To You Kids Wanna Rock All I Want Is You Can't Stop This Thing We Started 18 Til I Die This Time Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman? Touch The Hand Cuts Like A Knife One Night Love Affair I Think About You It's Only Love Everything I Do Run To You There Will Never Be Another Tonight *b-stage* Seven Nights To Rock (I Wanna Be) Your Underwear Hamburg Blues Land Of A 1000 Dances She's Only Happy When She's Dancin' *b-stage* Summer Of '69 Somebody All For Love

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