posted September 16, 2002 07:25 PM            

Well, that was quite a weekend! We left Yuma at noon and got into Capistrano at about 3:30. The drive is not always pleasant, but at least we made good time.

Got to the CoachHouse right at 6 and discovered that we were not the first arrivals, as Anthony, Martin and Ron were already there.

Christie Hayes (Hayesland) could be seen entering and egressing the club. It's cool that musicians are family, and can bring their kids to work, but it's kinda weird to see the "female lead" running around with her kid in tow. Not that there's anything wrong with it, or any of my business, it's just that I'm not acquainted with it. But it's cool.

So anyway, we get our tix from the will-call window and are escorted to our seats. Ron, Paul, Sari, Martin, Drama and Pep (from the Switchblade Kittens), Jeanette and Pam join the Bears at the infamous table A1. It's good that we're together, it makes it easier for the waitresses, and also for the management to keep an eye on us troublemakers. It's too bad that Scotto couldn't join us - so please, everybody make an effort to detail the show for him, so he won't feel like he missed too much.

Food at the CoachHouse is usually quite good, and on this night, I once again enjoyed the New York steak. Others scarfed down swordfish, chicken or the house special - lasagna. The veggies weren't crisp, but they weren't mushy either, and the rice was quite good. The Corona's were very cold, so that was nice, too!

The previously mentioned Hayesland was just finishing up their sound check, so we enjoyed a bit of music with dinner. As Christie finished up, the sparse crowd gave her a huge round of applause. The way the booze was flowing, we probably would have applauded somebody reading the phone book.

One nice thing about the CoachHouse is that you get a chance to mingle. Management isn't all snobby about "you sit there!" or "get back to your seat!". Seated right behind me, against the stage, was a long time friend of the message board - nativebeauty. She's a laugh riot and a real nice girl, too. We had a lot of fun with her. On the other side of the table was nailartist, and the next table held Anthony and friends. On the other side of the stage was seated the notorious drknight. Poor drknight met so many people from the board, and started apologizing to all of them! Not one of the members let him finish however, and all agreed that he wasn't the nutty one. Papabear says that drknight seems like a real straight-up kinda guy, and mamabear (who has a sensitive b.s. detector) says he's A-OK!

The Bears first met Scott and Charles last year at the CoachHouse. And we've continued to run into them at CoachHouse in March, and also in Phoenix. A couple of great guys, and a whole lot of fun to hang with.

At the last Capistrano show, Darvoset opened and was followed by Hayesland. I thought that they were a pretty good warm-up for Berlin. One Bears opinion was that Darvoset was a little rough (6 months ago), but that they were FUN! I thought that Hayesland was a little "tighter", but didn't have the same energy. Not saying anything bad about Hayesland - I really liked them. And she gave me a free cd - so how about that!

Anyway, this time Hayesland took the stage first. Got papabear all confused. Now I know that it's a small stage. After all, I was banging my knees into the stage when I turned in my seat. (I was close.) So it's a small stage and there is all the equipment from 3 bands. 3 drumsets. 2 keyboard stands. A bunch of guitars and basses. A bunch of amps, monitors, and all the other equipment for 3 bands. So you get the picture - a whole bunch of stuff on a small stage. I'm being clear on this, right? So Hayesland takes the stage. Christie is front and center. The guitar is waaaay off to the side. The bass is waaaay off to the other side. The drums are stuck in the back corner. OK, so they're not the headliner, and it's a small stage with a bunch of equipment, but there is NO CONNECTION between the band members. If I recall correctly (and I usually do), Hayesland is husband and wife. You sure couldn't tell on that stage. Christie would occasionally glance to one of the bandmembers, but it just seemed so lackadaisical. Perhaps the female lead singer should "look available" but everybody just looked kind of lost. Sorry, but I just didn't see the bond. The music was fine, they sounded fine, but after watching 6 weeks of Simon and "American Idol", it was just - fine.

I don't recall what I said about Darvoset half a year ago, but it must not have been too bad. And I really liked them this time! After Hayesland cleared the stage, Darvoset had a little more room to work - and they made the most of it. The lead singer, Christine, looked HOT! The whole band has been working on their "look" and I think it's really coming along. Christine had on this great skirt, and stockings and was really working the stage. Gotta love that blonde hair and with the purple. I guess it was purple - can't tell exactly under the stage lights. I'm not sure of who's who in the band, but the guy in the collarless suit - now that was an awesome outfit! I couldn't tell for sure what color it was, sorta grape? maybe? It looked hot, and must have been, because after several songs, he lost the jacket. But the white button down, over an undershirt, was perfect. And sooo much better than the pink ruffled tuxedo. Now the drummer doesn't have to worry too much about his look, because you can't see him. And I didn't. So it didn't matter. (Sorry to the drummer guy). And then there was Mark on guitar. Button down shirt, tie, shades, and that curly hair! WOW!!! Great guitar work. I'm not at all familiar with their music, but I like what I've heard. Martin and Ron also quite enjoyed Darvoset and we all are looking forward to seeing them again. OK! - who's the keyboard guy? I think that's Jay. The guy with the purple spikey hair. Damn, he cleans up on keyboards! I really like Mitchell and his performance, but if it came down to it - I think that Jay's spikes could beat up Mitchell's spikes! Did I mention the lead singer, Christine? Man, she was HOT! The outfit was perfect, she looked great, she was all over the stage, rolling around on the floor - man, she's been watching tapes of Terri!

to be continued........

posted September 16, 2002 10:30 PM            

Before the show, Linda is making the rounds. And everybody that recognizes her (or she recognizes) gets a hug. Even with a broke-up neck. Now that's gracious! And she is genuinely touched when somebody asks her to sign something. Dang, she's sooo nice.

Now when you're waiting for Berlin to take the stage, every minute is too dang long. Except this time. I'm not sure who was in charge of getting the talent to the stage, but they did an awesome job. There was barely enough time for a "head call" after Darvoset before Berlin's music started. Guys were running out of the lavatory to get back to the seats. The house lights go down, the 2001 theme music comes up, and Chris and Dallan and Linda and Mitchell take the stage. The Masquerade music starts and the divine Ms. N (or is it Mrs. S?) takes to the stage and the joint just explodes! There is pure joy all over Terri's face as she dances around the mic stand belting out "the painted faces on the street". So yes, another show starts with Masquerade. And I love it! It sets the mood for the whole show. It's lively, upbeat, fun, and (good or bad) it's FAMILIAR! Everybody knows some of the words - everybody can sing along! I'm singing along, drknight's singing along, everybody at the table's singing along - and it's incredible!!!

Now at the next table, nailartist (I think) is rocking along to The Metro and Terri takes a long look at her. Then Terri gets down on the floor and crawls out onto the table. Right in her face - eye to eye, cheek to cheek, lips to lips (allow me this one) - hair to hair - and ends with a big hug. OH! it was great.

Off to the next table, Terri's warming up for the Metro "treatment". This poor soul has no idea what he's in for. Once again Terri hits the floor, crawls out amongst the drinks and right into this guys' face. And he was waiting there - "And you were waiting there - Swimming through apologies" and "SORRRRRRY!!!" Oh, man, he never knew what hit him!

OK, audience participation time! "Now when I cue you - you sing "I Believe!, I Believe!, I Believe, I Belie-e-eve!" - "Ok, now, you all ready? good" And of course, we all get it right, because we've had 3 weeks to practice. You do have your cd, don't you? "I Believe!!!!"

An odd interlude - Terri has to stop to adjust her ear monitors. Problems with the sound, or setup, me wonders? I dunno - but she still sounds perfect. Is this what they mean by perfect pitch? Oh no! - here comes the sound guy to fix Terri's ears. She's making jokes about the sound guy feeling her up, but I don't think she's happy. Terri comments that the sound guy is really fast (a good thing?) but he will appear again.

Dancing in Berlin - whoohoo!! Probably my favorite Berlin song from my youth. First time I heard DiB, was on Richard Blades' afternoon TV dance show, MV3 (or something like that). I don't remember for sure, but Terri does - she told me so! Story goes that Richard Blade proposed marriage to the luscious Terri Nunn - who could blame him?!? Must have been before that last tour - I understand that garlic was consumed in mass quantities on the bus. Maybe that's really why Terri and John were on opposite ends of the bus and not talking.

"This song is about my first rave". "And I see all the people moving dancing through the corridors of light and I feel so alive, I feel so alive". What's this?!? Rave Dancers!!! In an interesting state of (un)dress! How cool is this - wow! And they can dance and move, too. Don't forget - this is the same stage that Hayesland just stood around on. Wow, you actually can perform on this small stage. Dancer 1 dancing on Dallan. Dancer 2 dancing with Linda. Dancer 3 dancing with Mitchell, and then back to Terri. And then, just like they appeared, the dancers are gone - and I FEEL SO ALIVE!

The music is our Drug - but unlike antibiotics, it's safe to mix with Tequila - and a big thank you to our waitress. And what's this? Evidently Terri wants to thank our waitress too as she leans off the stage and plants a big, full on the mouth kiss, on our waitress. Lucky girl - you don't get a tip - you've already got the whole thing!

Hey, here come the stools! And we get a special performance - a tribute to self-love, Pleasure Victim, acoustic! Dallan is again flawless on the 12 string. Dang, I truly enjoy that. And the multi-talented Mitchell on acoustic guitar. A little flamenco style finger picking across the bridge and oh, man, this is great.

Have I mentioned Chris yet? Chris is putting on a drum clinic tonight! I can actually see Chris' face and he is just somewhere else. I don't know if he's channeling, or just on another plane, but he's just "ON". Tonight, the drumming is just incredible.

Audience Participation - NO MORE WORDS - come on guys on my right - you can scream louder than the guys on my left - NO MORE WORDS! And the girls dancing in the improvised mosh pit at the end of the stage - Mitchell's biggest fans. And they mob Mitchell and drag him off the end of the stage - poor Mitchell! - he'll survive to play some more - but I think his hair might be bent.

Gonna do another song from the new album - this is Lost My Mind. And I have truly lost myself in the rapture of the evening - but wait, there's more! You know, there's that one song about sex, and here's another one! You can be my fantasy, my Stranger on the Bus, I'll wear my schoolgirl skirts...

This is a song by Marilyn Manson (just to piss off the guys that don't like it!) We're all stars now, in the dope show. What's Mitch doing now? He's running across the stage to talk to the guy running the sound board. Again? To my untrained ear, the sound is perfect, but I try not to let this be distracting.

Now the owner of the club, Gary, has been in the hospital. He's in bad shape. And it's his birthday. Terri, the most gracious of God's fragile creatures, tells us of Gary's health, prompts us to take a moment to show our support, then wishes Gary a happy f***ing birthday!! For tonight, Gary truly Takes our Breath Away.

Now you know, Sex the same way, night after night, can get monotonous. So I'm told. But evidently Terri thinks so too, so tonight, Terri is going to spice up our Sex life. About half way through, the dancers come back out. Now the girl with the shaved head (sexier than it sounds) comes right at me and Martin and slides onto our table. Now I haven't seen Burlesque for some time, but this semi-private dance is quite the treat! I've got a rave dancer to the left of my, a rave dancer to the right of me, a rave dancer in my face, Terri beside me, and Linda beside her! What more could anybody ask for? And the band tears into Donna Summer's hit "I Feel Love", and don't we all? Cuz Love or something like it's got a hold on me!

So thank you Terri, for spicing up our Sex life!

And is that the end of the show? No, not yet, an encore!

I understand that Giorgio Moroder is remixing "With a Touch" for a 12" single to hit dance clubs very soon. Seems to be A-OK with the crowd.

And the final tune - the Depeche Mode classic - Never let Me Down - cause I'm taking a ride with my best friend.

I confess, this is from memory, and I was having a very good time. The songs may be in the wrong order, but that is how I remember the show. If anybody is terribly concerned, I did take a set list off an amp and the official list is:

Masquerade
No More Words
Drug
Metro
Shiny
Pleasure Victim - Acoustic
Lost my Mind
Dancing in Berlin
Stranger on the Bus
Dope Show
Blink
Take My Breath Away
Sex

With a Touch
Never Let Me Down

I don't mind that Berlin starts with "Masquerade" - I like it! I enjoy "No More Words" and would probably miss it if it were removed from the show. "Drug" is not really about drugs, and anybody that knows the words would understand. I really like "the Metro" and the way that Terri performs it, especially "the treatment". I find myself singing "dancing through the corridors of light" to myself at odd times. I think that Mamabear's favorite track on the new album is acoustic Pleasure Victim. Lost my mind is really growing on me. And I love Dancing in Berlin. I will definitely miss that if they pull it from the set. I'm coming around to Stranger on the Bus. It's dark and macabre, but fun, too. I appreciate being turned on to new music and I do like the Dope Show. Not ready to go see MM, however. And who can argue with "loving fornication"? Not me. Sex is a lot of fun, and spicing it up is even better. I may actually have to start going to dance clubs to hear the remixed With a Touch.

It's really nice to go to a Berlin show, not just for the music, but for the audience. I've met a lot of nice people at shows, and made a lot of new friends. After the show, I was able to chat with Terri, Linda, Mitchell, Christie Hayes and her kid, and Mark from Darvoset. And Mark actually knew where Yuma is! I was so excited.