An Alphaville experience by Michael Veiga
Apparently my ex had heard the news on the radio and she decided to inform me, knowing what a great fan of Alphaville I am.
I spent about half an hour phoning around to try and organise backstage passes.
Eventually I got through to the promoters and a voice on the other end of the line said that there wouldn’t be any problem… “Say what?” I asked him. “No problem. Just give your name at the counter and they’ll organize you passes to join us at the meet and greet after the concert.”
That voice belonged to Jarred Astin of the Show group Company.
We’re here at Carnival City,
Brakpan. We’ve got the envelope with our backstage passes. I’ve given Jarred
a phone call and he’s met us in the lobby of the stadium.
(The we and us I keep referring
to are my sister, my friends and myself).
We make plans to meet Jarred
after the concert, with the rest of the band of coarse.
The concert is good. Marian
seems to be suffering from jet lag though. Christian, Martin and Shane
are all in a good mood. The highlight of the concert for me was “Forever
Young” of coarse.
We all convene in an upstairs
room with the rest of the guests. About 15 minutes later, the band walks
in. Marian looks like a zombie. You can see that he’s really tired. I get
photo’s with the band and I chat to them for awhile. They all come across
as really nice guys. Shane and Martin tell a few jokes and everyone has
a good laugh. Christian is more of the quiet type by the looks of things.
Unfortunately, no cameras
were allowed in the arena, so I did not manage to get any pics of the guys
in action.
Marian and myself (you can see he’s not in the mood for pictures)
Christian, Shane, Martin and yours truly.
We’re back for the third
and final night of the tour. This time I’m at the concert with a different
group of friends.
This night the band was
AMAZING! Now jet lag relieved, Marian is all over the stage. The man never
gets tired! The whole band is in a really good mood. Even the couple I
came with are jamming and enjoying themselves. The best part of the concert
by far was when Marian handed the “Forever Young” chorus over to the crowd
who responded very well.
They played “Apollo” in
closing as usual, and as everyone started towards the exit, Marian and
Martin walk back on the stage. What seems to be a piano solo by Martin
soon turns into a beautiful rendition of “Dance with me”.
The crowd roars and Martin
and Marian leave the stage.
We join the guys back stage
for a second time, but in a different location. Everyone is drinking and
having a great time. The band joins us and I walk up to Shane and start
to talk to him. I explain to him how I never expected to watch Alphaville
performing because of a medical condition I have. Shane tells me to wait
a second, walks off into a room somewhere in the back and fetches a symbol
he says had seen it’s way around the world.
He asks all the band members
to autograph it and brings it over to present it to me.
- Needless to say, I was
BLOWN AWAY!
Marian autographing the symbol.
“I know how you did that.” Shane tells me. I turn to him and smile and he keeps the secret to himself.
Christian, Martian and Shane with another fan and her symbol.
I spent most of the night speaking to Christian. We discussed Europe and all the far-off places the band has been to while I perform more magic.
About an hour later the band has to leave. I bid them farewell and ask them to join us in South Africa again sometime.
My favourite picture…