We awoke at 10 a.m.
After a big breakfast we left into direction Apolda at half past 11 a.m.
We thought we could
arrive in 3 hours because the distance was only 230 km. In Jena we wanted
to meet Gaby. We were good till Dresden although there was much traffic
and the whole highway was more or less a big roadworks.
At the radio we
heared permanently about traffic jams. And so it happens that we also come
into one. Fortunately soon we could left the highway. But also on the countryroad
we got on only slowly. We expected 3 hours were long ago.
Short before Jena
we had the next traffic jam. In the meanwhile it was 4 p.m. and we only
could left the highway once more. But that meant we couldn't meet with
Gaby. We had no map and so we couldn't find the right way to her.
So we went directly
to Apolda, to the Stadthalle - the place of the concert. Finally we found
it. (It wasn't easy because also in Apolda they built all and no one could
give us a description of the way) We noticed we only could park for money
- okay it doesn't matter now. We changed the sweaty clothes and said hello
to Ralf, Bianka and Marion. With the time also the fans arrived. Gaby was
happy that we've found it also alone. Nearly everybody told about problems
with the traffic.
The security was
not so friendly. Uwe was very clever. He should unpack our bag. But he
only show the unimportant things. So we were able to bring our camera inside.
In general we were very lucky. All the others had to give up their bags.
Bernd was so friendly, he took the cameras of the other fans inside. So
the statement of the security "The band doesn't like to get shot" was disprove.
Inside the support-band
had sound-check. We had the impression they are not so good. Later they
confirmed that with their show.
They played only
one own song. The rest were cover-versions of songs by Queen and Bon Jovi.
We spent the time with conversations, even if it wasn't easy because of
the loudness. We got to know there were also fans from Italy.
The time went by
only slowly. Finally at a quater past 10 we pushed into the first rows.
With banner and chorus we came into the right mood. What a disappointment
as the organizer announced once more the support-band for further 30 minutes.
Unfortunately in the meanwhile some of the audience were drunk and disnerved
us very much. Finally at 11 p.m. AV came. Before the organizer had a speech
but the most he said was wrong for example that AV is a band from England
and they could be on tour since 1996. It would have been better if he had
said nothing.
Now we repeated
our procedure with banner and chorus .
Not many noticed
that Rob has strong problems with his guitar because something got broken.
He also had to let out his solo for "Euphoria". The reporters from the
local media took many photos and the mood was very good even if the concert
wasn't sold out. From the mood it was the best concert we experienced till
then. That explains maybe why AV prever concerts in Saxony or Thuringia.
The audienc ethere
is very enthusiastic. After 2 encores the fanclub stayed for some shoots.
The reporter used the chance to make also a photo of us. We had especially
to pose for then with our lighters.
After some conversations
with Martin, Rob and Alex we started to say good-bye. We knew we couldn't
meet for a longer period. We drove till 3:a.m. - it was about the half
of the distance. Then we decited to sleep for some hours in our car. After
we had once more a hard journey with much traffic jam and we've seen also
a crash. It was horrible.
We arrived our home
at 8:a.m. punctually for breakfast.
By the way: what
a disappointment! Although the media was so enthusiastic during the concert
they released an article full of mistakes and absolutely bad for AV.
