Breakfast In Spain - Roger Hodgson and Supertramp website

Hi all,
Back in the US after enjoying the two gigs in Europe and a ton of travel, hiking and museums! , here's some scoop on Berlin:

Venue: Stunning new arena way over on the eastern side of town called the O2 World...there are several O2 venues throughout Europe, but this was the first I'd seen. Was a miserable, rainy day outside but seemed like a pretty good crowd rallied to get to the show on Monday. I'd heard ranging from 5,000 to 10,000, with a couple of folks working at the event saying 10K sold, so who knows? Seems about right, as the floor was packed as was most of the entire lower bowl of arena and I think it was built to seat 18-20K. Anyhow, not a huge crowd, but a very appreciative one. Perhaps most amusing was a guy in the front row who'd dressed from head to toe as a train conductor, then went completely nuts throughout the performance of 'Rudy'.

Performance: Identical setlist that seems pretty well established. Highlights for this show for me were 'Ain't Nobody But Me,' 'From Now On' (John held that final sax note for a near eternity and the audience responded) and, 'Another Man's Woman,' which featured another crazy/good piano improv by Rick D. Rick was in great form, but his voice had two pretty audible creaks during Goodbye Stranger and Crime...only real nitpicks I had. I was lucky to have great seats...on floor, directly in front of soundboard and the sound was excellent from this vantage point. I didn't have the chance to compare notes with others this time, but those immediately around me that it sounded super, etc.

Good:
-Band playing -really- tight now, with a very full sound, both instrumentally and vocally;
-More subtly, Cliff and Bob have really locked-down as a rhythm section...very good groove throughout the show.
-Rick's in great form, excepting the two things mentioned above;
-John-Lee horns tandem and Carl V on many varied guitars adds great dimension to some old favorites;

Bad:
-Some humming from the PA at beginning of show -- fixed after a tune or two;
-Identical setlist...some variety would be great;
-Some mic probably during Cannonball, as it seems that some of the keyboards went silent for several bars...fixed, but audible goof;

Roger stuff: Roger Hodgson leaflets and posters were distributed by volunteers or whomever at several point around the arena. Thankfully, those distributing the stuff were much more respectful than what I had experienced in Munich. The leaflets were the same as in Munich, promoting Roger but not trashing Supertramp's concert. Couple of German fans next to me expressed that they wished Roger could've been a part of this show, but that it rocked without him and that life goes on...Jesse in particular did a great job on Monday night with the Roger-composed tunes and the band behind him sounded great.

Other: This audience was a lot more 'into it' than was the crowd in Munich...starting with Ain't Nobody But Me, lots of clapping, singing, and even gobs of people dancing is the aisles by the time Goodbye Stranger rolled around. Good to see from the usually too-stoic Germans ;-).

I talked with some tour personnel after the gig and they told me that the band is having fun and that they're especially looking forward to sold-out gigs in London, Paris (added a second show and it's almost booked-out, too), others in France and some venue just outside of Amsterdam? Favorite gigs so far included Verona, Lisbon, and Barcelona...

That's it from here. If you get the chance, I highly recommend seeing this band live as it is a great band/show! best,
Mark