posted March 13, 2004 09:28 PM            

Well, where to start?!?

First, a great big Bear “Thank-You” to scotto for relenting to the groveling Bears and supplying us with seats to the show!

Our trip to the Golden State was rather un-eventful. Boring, yes, but precisely what one might expect traveling across the desert SouthWest. Beautiful in its own way, but a bit tiring to the keister. Traffic was non-existent, and we arrived ahead of schedule.

Reservations were made far in advance at the Best Western – and good thing, too, as the hotel was sold out. A quick trip up the freeway landed us at Petco. New collars, dog tags, toys, and food all the way around. Twinkie, Ho-Ho, Ding-Dong, George, Winston, Joe, and Leroy will be very happy.

Once again, we are bringing Berlin virgins to the show. Our grandson, Chase, and Krysta’s friend Karina. Krysta – yes, she was a bit late, but that is to be expected. I planned for this, and her lateness was actually just in time.

Chase and I had plenty of time to kill at the hotel. Unfortunately, no high-speed internet in the room, and AOL on dial-up was horrendous. Chase was entertained by Showtime, as I fought with E-Bay. Mamabear used the occasion to enjoy an over-sized bathtub, and do other necessary (and secretive) girl stuff. I tried to explain to Chase how “girls do these things” and just to accept it now, as it will never get better.

Six o’clock rolled around and it was time to head to the CoachHouse. As Mamabear was the designated driver for the evening, she took the wheel, and promptly missed a turn. Ended up well enough, as we found a BofA, and got to the show with plenty of time to spare.

The CoachHouse shows of recent memory have all been sell-outs, and the added publicity from the VH-1 show has certainly helped. Even before the doors opened the line was down to the end of the building. As the Bears had reserved seat assignments, I saw no need to get in line, so we hung out in front and visited with other fans. In the end, this was not the smartest move, as they serve the food and drink in the order that you sit down. But it was very pleasant to chat with Scotto, Kimo, Tony, Ron, Paul, Paul’s sister (whose name now escapes me), and Martin.

Once inside, we were shown to our seats, and introduced to our wait staff. You may remember the horrible experience we had last year with our “waitress”. Well, it was fresh in our minds, so I set out to make sure that tonight was different. A very “take-charge” Papabear introduced himself to the waitress and let her know that:
1: I was paying
2. We would be eating and drinking
3. We would be drinking some more
4. We find empty drinks to be intolerable
5. Drinks should come fast and cold
6. gratuity will not be based on custom, but on performance.
Our friendly waitress understood the situation, and I’m please to announce that she earned a sizable gratuity from our party.

The first round of drinks came promptly, and we placed our appetizer order. Between the five of us, we ended up with almost everything appetizer on the menu. I especially enjoyed the mozzarella sticks, but I did find the mushrooms to be rather tepid, and totally unsuitable for smoking.

With dinner comes salad. I’m always disappointed when there are no tomatoes. I don’t care that they’re out of season or expensive. I want tomatoes, dammit! Of course, the server stacks the salads, and doesn’t warn you that when you remove the salad plate, that there will be dressing on the table. Guaranteed if you’re wearing long sleeves. Well, there was, but I remembered from last time, and managed to avoid a messy situation.

I mentioned that we entered late. Late entry means late seating. Late seating means late eating. Late eating means that Darvoset takes the stage while I’m still eating. I would have much preferred to have finished eating first, but that’s my fault.

Darvoset rocks! We all love Darvoset! Kristine is great. Kristine looks great and the vocals are awesome! She sings, and dances, and it has been a joy to see her get better with each show. I had hoped to hear a few tracks that I was familiar with, but with the exception of one song, the show was all new material from the forthcoming album.

Jay is the keyboard(s) player. There is four of them (keyboards, I mean) and he is all over them. And spikes that could beat up Mitch’s spikes! Probably could cause serious injury to anybody trying to have a conversation with Jay in a loud environment! Don’t get too close.

Evidently Darvoset is in the market for a new bass player. This seems to have been a problem they’ve dealt with for years. The first bass player (I remember) just didn’t quite have it. Something happened to the next one (I don’t care to know), and now they have “the unknown bass player”. He appeared on stage in a full head mask (like the guys on TV’s professional wrestling) and did quite well. He managed 2 or 3 songs before removing the mask. I’m sure he would have passed out, otherwise.

Stefan is the founder of the group, and also the drummer. Krysta and Karina think he’s the cutest thing they’ve ever seen! I’ll defer to their opinion on this. He seems to do pretty well with the drums, and if he’s available, I’ve got a woman to sic on him! I doubt he has any trouble there!

Finally, Mark rocks! Mark plays guitar and has a great report with the audience. He gets right out on the edge of the stage and the groupies come running. We’ve had the chance to chat with Mark before, and he’s a great guy, and a load of fun.

After my steak plate is taken away, the next band takes the stage. Somebody called Mudbath. I try not to be too pre-judgmental, but, I dunno, with a name like Mudbath…

Anyway, the girls are great! Either I’m really old or they’re really young (or both), but I really enjoyed their performance. Although I could have done without the preaching. The lead singer, with her flaming red mane of hair, and her strong voice, was great. Could have done without the “don’t booze and drive” T-Shirt, however. I was very willing to overlook that when she insisted on repeating her warning. Maybe a 2 drink minimum supper club full of responsible, professional people isn’t the best place to preach?

I did find the bass player to be a real cutie, however.

After the two opening acts, it was time to visit the facilities. It was a clean, well-lighted place, with hot water in the sinks, and an empty paper towel holder. But there was a full roll on top of the holder, so I didn’t have to wipe my hands on my pants. Not all that I had hoped for, but better than expected.

I did return to my seat just in time for a fresh drink, tequila shooters, and the gentlemen of Berlin taking the stage. First Dallan, followed up by Chris and Mitchell. A moment of situating the equipment, and then….the opening bars of Masquerade!

Of course, Masquerade is the absolute best way to start the show. The tune is upbeat and has that long intro that allows Terri the dramatic entrance. When Masquerade was tried in the center of the show, Terri left the stage, and came back on for the opening of Masquerade. Just didn’t work for me. It is amazing that Terri can sing Masquerade at any other point in the show! After an hour of running around the theatre, performing the other songs, she still has the pipes to carry the big finishing notes. In my humble opinion, Masquerade needs to stay at the beginning.

After the amazing opening number, the addition of Pictures of You really works for me. It’s a great song from the past, and with the way that Terri and Mitchell have re-worked the music to several of the songs, it’s fresh and current. Of the original video singles, Now It’s my Turn has been added to the set. I’m looking forward to a House of Blues video show, to see what Terri does with the bird cage. I enjoyed the video effects added to the Anaheim show and wait anxiously to see what Terri’s brother has in store for the future.

Terri then introduced a song from the newest album, Shiny. It’s a catchly little number about somebody’s experience at a rave. I really love the line “dancing through the corridors of light”, and yes, we do all feel so alive!

At this point of the show, the band brings out the stools for the acoustic performance. This proves to be a well deserved break for Chris, as he’s been putting on a clinic tonight. It also highlights Dallan’s work on the acoustic guitar. We do miss Linda and her 12 string, however. In addition to Dallan’s picking, Mitchell proves that he’s not one to be outdone. Once again, we are treated to some fine finger picking (flamenco style?). It’s a real crowd pleaser and I really enjoy it.

The first acoustic number was No More Words. During the bridge, Terri broke into Stevie Nicks Dreams. Recently, she’s done just one or two lines, but tonight Terri did the entire song. I’m not a big fan of the acoustic No More Words, as I much prefer the loud raucous version, but I melt all over when Terri sings Stevie! In my opinion, With a Touch is much better suited to the acoustic set. After listening to the album version, I didn’t think that it would, but it really comes off well, as does Pleasure Victim, which has apparently been temporarily retired.

While the roadies were setting up, Terri solicited questions from the audience. I’m sure these were set up in advance, as there was nothing embarrassing or controversial asked. As I recall, one question was about a Chicago gig, and I don’t recall the other. If I had been called on, I hope I would have had the state of mind to ask something really interesting. Like “What happened with Linda?”, and if she planned to bring in another voice. Or perhaps “Did the VH-1 reunion change your feelings about the band members or the music?” Is it different in any way to sing John’s songs now? But nobody asked me, so…

Round about this time, Terri stuns everybody (especially Paul) by announcing that she’s pregnant! Always one to do things her own way, Terri explains that she and Paul are adopting a child from Russia, and that the paperwork takes about nine months. So, nine months of paperwork is her version of pregnant. Works for me, and keeps the figure, too!

Another new song follows, and this time it’s Lost my Mind. Well, I think Paul is just getting his back together after the pregnancy scare! Peter Gabriel’s Big Time is a new cover brought to the set, and with her mini-skirt and little black hat, Terri has a great time performing this song. Not to get quite as graphic here, but Terri sings about various parts of the anatomy getting bigger including her mouth, her ass, and ……….

And you had to be watching or you could have missed it cuz “in the blink of an eye”…and then the guys cleared the stage for a solo performance of Take My Breath Away. Every now and then, I just kind of forget about how great some of the Berlin songs are. And just to remind be, TMBA comes on the radio. Now that I’ve gotten past associating the song and the movie, I get a bit mushy when I listen to Terri.

A good evening always ends with Sex, and this was no exception. When Terri sets down to take her boots off – look out! And that was the end of the set. As the band cleared the stage, I headed off to the back room. Of course, there were NO paper towels by this time. As I expected. So I head back out to the table, drying my hands on my butt, and take a seat just in time for the encore. I was a bit disappointed in not hearing Drug, but Terri fed my addiction. Drug was followed by what has become my favorite cover, Never let me Down. I especially enjoy the dvd footage, not just because I’m with Terri (well, ok, mostly) but also because of Dallan. While Terri is busy dancing around and taking to the audience, we find that the majority of the vocals fall on Dallan, who is definitely up to the job.

Of course the end of the show means that the waitress brings paper, and not booze, and we were well taken care of, so she was too. Thank you!

It was announced that roughly ½ hour after the show that Terri would be signing stuff, so we hung out. There was a long, long line, so the Bears visited with Rock&Roll, Martin, Tony and Darvoset while waiting. Tony got some great shots of all the bands, and hopefully he will be sharing some pictures soon. Mark (Darvoset) kept us entertained with band stories and embarrassing anecdotes and the line finally started shortening.

Then I screwed up. The line was quite short, and I went around the corner to get Chase. When I turned back around, the line and Terri were both gone! Evidently, I was gone just long enough for Terri to think that everybody was gone, and she retired upstairs to her dressing room. Well, lady luck was smiling on the Chaseter, and Paul happened by. In my late-evening “oh no, I screwed up” type of panic I flagged down Paul and explained my predicament. Paul kindly showed us to an ante-room, and Terri came out to see us. Thank you so much!!!!

I introduced Chase to Terri and she asked him how he liked the show, and what songs he liked. Without any prompting, Chase answered that he liked No More Words, The Metro, and Masquerade. Mamabear had dressed Chase and he was looking finer than any 10 year old should, and she even spiked up his hair. Terri thought that Chase was adorable, and asked to touch his hair. Well, Chase doesn’t meet a goddess every day, and got a little flustered at this point. I was prepared when Terri asked what I liked in the show. I explained how I really enjoyed Pictures of You.

Terri asked what I didn’t like so much about the show, and well, you just can’t lie to her. In as creative, positive, and tactful way as I could muster at the late hour, I told her how I really enjoyed the “I feel love” version of Sex, and the cut into Stevie Nicks “Dreams”, but that I didn’t really care for acoustic No More Words. It was the probably the hardest thing I’ve done recently, and I hope that Terri doesn’t hate me now.

Always one to try to end things on a positive note, I pointed out to Terri that she in fact had three generations of fans in attendance this evening. Grandparents Mama and Papabear, Wild-child Krysta, and Grandson Chase. Terri was extremely gracious and signed a nice autograph for Chaseter, and we thanked her for a wonderful evening, and for allowing us to be a part of it.

During the drive back to the hotel, we decided that we needed to eat again. As luck would have it, there’s a Denny’s right beside the hotel. After finding a place to park the car (sold out hotel, remember?) we walked over to the all-night eatery. Inside, there seemed to be just one giant table, dedicated to Berlin groupies. The Bear clan took the available seats at the far end, and were welcomed by the guys from Darvoset. Unfortunately, the long table meant no conversation with Stacy (sgjs), but we did get to exchange hello’s on the way out. Very nice people, these Berlin groupies!