13/07/06 - MOON & STARS FESTIVAL, TOWN SQUARE, LOCARNO

Bryan plays Locarno nearly 18 years to the day since he was last there back in Locarno '88... on the same tour all those years ago, he also played Werchter... something which he also did this tour. 18 years later and the band are still filling these outdoor venues... thats quite something.

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Review by Isabella:
When i heard Bryan was going to play Locarno this year i know i didnt want to miss this one, i had been there for the 88 gig and it was one i could never forget, not only because it was a fantastic finale of the 88 european tour, but also i remembered the special atmosphere of that venue, set right in the middle of the town, in the main square Piazza Grande. This year the gig was part of the Moon & Stars festival, which lasted for a week and brought to the Swiss town great names such as Depeche Mode, The Who, Eric Clapton.

Me and friends arrived in Locarno from Italy in early afternoon of a hot day and we walked to the main square where the technicians were making the last adjustments to the stage. I soon spotted many familiar faces from Italy, and it was nice to say hi after a long while. I also met up with 2 dear old time friends from Switzerland. The square was still open to the public and it wasnt clear yet how things would be set for the entrance. After a while a barrier was put at one side of the square but we decided to take it easy and not line up there as the run on the stones pavement looked not so nice...so we went for a stroll around town instead, and for an icecream at a café...it turned out that people sat at the tables could stay there while the square access was being closed at 6pm. At 7 the gate opened and we also headed for the front but while my friends stayed there i preferred to find myself a more confortable spot on the right side, exactly in the same place where i had watched the concert 18 years ago! from there i had a perfect clear view of the stage (although not very close) and also of all the square and its nice colored buildings which created a nice color effect when lit in the dark.

The square soon got filled while the support act was playing and Bryan and guys took the stage at 9 with SFSG to a big cheering from the crowd. The guys seemed to enjoy the view as much as i do and in a couple of occasions Bryan took his camera to take pictures of the square. He also had a word or two with people watching from the balconies! The setlist went on with the usual numbers, i especially enjoyed to listen to Hearts on Fire and Shes only happy (with some odd change in the lyrics!) which i hadnt heard live in a long while...and it was also cool to finally watch the guitar fight and Keith's funny dancing which i had only seen on video and pix so far...
The WYGG was Monica and she did her best although visibly emotional and not too familiar with lyrics.

The crowd was enjoying the show a lot and by that time the square was packed...Luckily my position allowed me full space for enjoying the songs and jumping and dancing. Bryan asked who had been there at the gig in 88 but we were not many to lift our hands, to which he commented that apparently all the citizens must have moved out since then! When the TBOM moment came Toe and crew arrived from backstage to help Bryan down, but for some reason he changed his mind and didnt do it. The acoustic set in the finale was especially great with all the cell phones lit up in the square and i especially loved Straight from the heart, while All for love closed the gig.
So it wasnt a very long concert, and no big surprises, but it touched my heart once again.
Bryan and guys had the cars ready backstage and they drove off before the town got crowded with people leaving from the gig, we said bye to our friends and started our night trip back to Italy.

Setlist:
So Far So Good
Somebody
Open Road
18 Til I Die
Let's Make A Night To Remember
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Back To You
Summer Of '69
I Think About You
Everything I Do
Cuts Like A Knife
When You're Gone (with Monica from Dieni)
I'm Ready
Hearts On Fire
Heaven
She's Only Happy When She's Dancin'
The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You
Cloud #9
Run To You
Please Forgive Me
Straight From The Heart
All For Love

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Thanks to Bruno Vogt for the setlist