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Pictures:
http://www.poprocknews.de/galerie/categories.php?cat_id=224&sessionid=c7ceeb399332edf2f259151687cfd41ef&sessionid=c7ceeb399332edf2f259151687cfd41ef
Slade had three gigs in a row in Germany at the fourth weekend of October and we made a visit to one of them at Salzwedel (a small town between Berlin and Hamburg) on Saturday evening 22nd October 2005, while making a trip to Monis relatives in Oberlausitz. On Tuesday 18th October Slade had a big gig with Sweet in Prague in the new and very modern Sazka Arena, where they had an audience of some 10000 people.
In the cancer benefit concert at Salzwedel in Event und Freizeitcenter was 400-500 Slade fans. The next weekend after Salzwedel Slade headed to the east for concerts in St. Petersburg and Moscow 28th and 29th October.
Our flight from Helsinki to Berlin started in the early morning hours and we arrived very well at 8:45 hours CET in the airport Berlin / Tegel. We went by bus to the station Berlin Zoologischer Garten and got there soon into the train to Stendal. We arrived there and had 2 hours break. In the first place we thought, that this is really pitty for the time, but after our visit at Stendal centre we had another opinion. It was very nice to get a short view over this city.
Arrival and soundcheck in Salzwedel
We arrived at Salzwedel at middaytime and so we had enough time to have a look for our pension and leave our baggages there. We liked to go and search the eventplace, where Slade would play in the evening.
On our way from Ritters Hof pension we saw that this time the concert was well promoted also in the event town itself with many kind of plakats and smaller posters.
It was very good that we had enough time in order to enjoy the soundcheck of SLADE from the begin to the end.
Knocking nails into my house (Ambrose Slade - Ballzy Beginnings)
We had a very friendly welcome with Don, he was already behind the drums and we heard the great noize :-) We helped him also a little bit by getting nails for his drums for attaching the drums tighter into the floor. Don nailed the drums while the roadies were singing "ooh look at the bangin man...".
Dave Hill came also some 45 minutes later for the soundcheck, the same as with Don, a very friendly welcome and a picture.
It did not take a long time until also John and Mal came there and they started altogether the soundcheck. Don was doing his soundcheck, nailing the drums and other things for two hours, but the other band members took only less than one hour. As usually they played "Red Hot" and the guitarists jammed some bluesy tunes. The band played altogether "The End Of The World" ("M hat, M Coat") three times.
Pics and movie clips from the soundcheck
It was very interesting for Moni, was her first soundcheck with SLADE. We have some short videoclips from the soundcheck and a nice movie with greetings from SLADE for RMN Radio
for the show "Hits von gestern" with Paletti, Henni and Moni in the internetradio show 28th October 18-20 hours CET www.rmnradio.de .
We have also great pics from SLADE in their freetime look. At this time THANKS a lot on Bernd Zahn, the photographer. Bernd is working professionally and publishes his pictures in different countries, as in China, UK, USA, Russia, Ukraine, Holland, France, Swizerland. He is also working for sponsors and recording companies as well as for several newspapers in Germany. So also for the music magazin "melodie and rhythmus" http://www.melodieundrhythmus.com/
From him we have got very good backstage pictures from the soundcheck and the show. Bernd is also working internationally for www.sickboyz.de .
International meetings
It was also very nice to meet personally Hanne, Dons girlfriend from Denmark. She came with two other Danish SLADE fans. She told us, that Don was very happy about all the presents and greetings for his birthday in La Hulpe.
The soundcheck was over and we drove back to our pension and had a break, our day was already long having gotten up in the morning at 5:00am in Helsinki :-)
We called a taxi at 19:00 hours CET and drove back to the eventplace. We got our free backstage cards (on this place THANKS a lot to Kerstin Hartstock from the management http://www.hartstock-management.de/event.htm ).
After a short time there, some Slade fans came to us for saying "Hello". There were Rudolf Schubert from Braunschweig and Volker Rosenau from Weimar. It was very nice to meet both of them personally. Rudolf we had known already for a short time, but only via internet. Rudolf gave an interview in the Radio Special SLADE part II too.
We had a nice talk together. Some minutes later came the next fans to us. Now was it Olaf Ertel from Leipzig (Moni is working with Olaf together in a benefit project http://www.popcharity.de / ), with his wife and Andreas Heine from Berlin, the same as Olaf, a big GLAMROCK fan.
So we were in a talk around the table and this was a very good moment, to see Hanne and Don and go to asking for a picture all together. Slade had less than one hour for getting on stage, but Don was kind enough as always to take some minutes for some photos with the fans.
The showtime
First out of the three bands of the evening on stage got Jim Diamond and Band http://www.ems-jade-online.de/Veranst/Fair_Cafe_Jim_Diamond.html starting the noize for the evening. We were still talking in our table, but for some moments, I thought that I can hear the voice from Tina Turner, Jims voice was very much alike her.
The next was Sweety Glitter and the Sweethearts http://www.sweety-glitter.de/start.html We wanted to watch their show and it was very good (- Moni). They played songs from the seventies like "Crocodile Rock", "Angel face" (the Glitterband), "Ballroom Blitz" (The Sweet), "Paranoid" (Black Sabbath) and many more.
Warming up is over, getting Red Hot
After a short break it was so far. Now came SLADE !! The audience was completely out of hand and the mood was so great ! This time Slade started with a short extract of "We will bring The House Down", not with "Cum On Feel The Noize" as often lately.
There was also a couple of other changes in the running order of the set list; Noize was played as the first encore, "My Oh My" was in the middle of the set.
Dave Hill was in a fantastic mood and jumped over the stage as a young deer and smiled in the audience so very often. Dave also padded the most enthusiastic fans in the first row on their head.
Don gave the best as always and also Mal was very good. John came more and more in a very good action.
SLADE was really good ! And we asked us, from where Dave takes all this power and energy. Maybe also from his own enthusiasm about this, that the audience likes SLADE and showed it so clearly :-)
Setlist:
We will Bring The House Down
Take Me Bak Ome
Lock Up Your Daughters
Far Far Away
Everyday
Red Hot
Look Wot You Dun
Coz I Luv You
My Oh My
Run Runaway
The Bangin Man
Gudbuy T Jane
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Get Down With It
encores
Cum On Feel The Noize
Merry Xmas Everybody
Ring up the curtain, applause...
The show was over, SLADE went off from the stage and Hanne came to take some stuff, as the drumsticks from Don too, together. We went to her and asked for drumsticks and we got two used ones. On this place THANKS to Hanne :-)
We had then still a meeting with the Slade and glamrock fans for a beer and a talk in a really good mood.
Early in the morning we said "Goodbuy" and left the eventplace. Volker took kindly us to our pension with his car. There were some concert plakats near the pension and Volker took advantage of one of them. We said thanks and good night to Volker and fell soon asleep very pleased and tired in our room.
"Welcome to Sunday service..."
On Sunday Slade had the next concert at the Mau club at Rostock. Our next target was in the opposite direction, Monis ex-homeplace in Oberlausitz. On Sunday morning we had breakfast at Ritters Hof pension and some nice talk with the landlady.
After the breakfast we started our trip to Oberlausitz after a short visit in the centrum of Salzwedel. We had time enough for a visit at Salzwedel Centre and we were also here enthusiastic from this very nice city with the old Fachwerkhäuser (halftimbered houses) www.salzwedel.de .
Salzwedel is in Germany very wellknown for the very good Baumkuchen (treecake) http://www.baumkuchen-salzwedel.de./ .
Take Me Home, Take Me Bak Ome
In the middaytime we went by train to Magdeburg, where we had a short break too. The travel continued from Magdeburg to Leipzig, Dresden and Löbau in Oberlausitz, where we spent three days.
On Wednesday we travelled from Löbau via Dresden to Berlin. The airplane of Finnair brought us back from Berlin Tegel to Helsinki/Vantaa after some hard turbulences (10 minutes) over Poland. We arrived 21.45 CET in a white winter landscape from +17 degrees in Germany. Helsinki had got its first snow of the year in a snowstorm earlier in the same day. "So lets all pull together My Oh My, yeah lets all pull together My Oh My. We can ride the stormy weather, if we all get out and try. So lets all pull together My Oh My, yeah lets all pull together My Oh My..."
THANKS to SLADE for the memory www.amazingslade.net
THANKS to Kerstin Hartstock once more for organizing this gig and all the best for the future.
K.O.R.
Monika & Ilpo
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