Lorenz Wrote:
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> It's funny getting bashed for a different view,
> but perhaps I can get more clear when I write down
> the whole story from my point of view.
>
> The crowd was a sedated group of a middle-aged
> crowd with the occasional young face. A big
> difference to the crowds in Belgrade, Bucharest
> and Budapest. Yes, the weather was cool and so
> were the fans. I'm happy and relieved that not
> everyone was bothered by that. Perhaps some
> actually enjoy being in a surrounding that reminds
> me more of a group of people watching the Stones
> on TV? I guess you were not bothered by anyone
> jumping around or singing along the lyrics, I
> assume that this is some how some people prefer to
> watch a concert.
>
> I started the concert of from the first row on the
> tribune to the right, but moved to the FOS area
> with my girfriend and brother after SMU. There was
> a couple of young children with their great-great
> parents sitting behind us and I didn't want them
> to have an unpleasant evening because some tall
> guys were standing and jumping in front of them. I
> was surprised by how early the Stones started -
> the reason was of course that they didn't stay in
> Brno, but arrived by plane before the show and
> left to Warsaw right after. By the time the Stones
> came on stage the people were just
> standing/sitting around, no one really started
> cheering or clapping, people were just waiting.
> When the lights went off and the intro started on
> the screen I saw some smiles around, people were
> clapping, but nothing compared to my previous
> experiences.
>
> Pls don't serve random crowd shots of the first
> rows, no matter how lame the crowd, the sheer
> excitement of being so close to the Stones is so
> overwhelming that even a the Brno crowd could not
> resist cheering.
>
> Security was incredibly careless - we weren't even
> asked for tickets when we entered the venue, no
> one bothered to even check a bag or anything.
> Also no one cared that we jumped the barriers to
> the FOS area after SMU It was not very crowded,
> plenty of space between people that were moving
> around, chatting (which was comparably easy as
> neither the crowd nor the Stones were very loud)
> and looking for better spots throughout the show.
> We found a spot not too far away from the front
> (FOS was perhaps half size from normal) and tried
> to enjoy the show from there. Looking around us,
> while we were dancing and singing, we only saw
> slightly bored looking people, typing sms on their
> phones or chatting a bit. Politely clapping at the
> end and looking amused at Mick's attempts to speak
> Czech. As much as I loved to see the joy in the
> eyes of the fans in my previous shows, it hurt me
> to see the bored expression on faces of the crowd
> in Brno.
>
> I spoke to many people after the show, we had to
> wait for our train back to Vienna at 4:22 in the
> morning, and the ragged train station was occupied
> by 2 homeless and around 50+ Stones fans. Everyone
> was just shocked how the crowd could be so lame
> and for many first timers (including another
> brother's girlfriend) their impression of the
> Stones was not very good. And I'm so sorry about
> that, I was the one telling her how everyone is
> singing along and dancing, etc... People also
> mentioned things like "Funny how it seems that
> Keith is often not playing the guitar".
> Unfortunately, that is not only how it seems to
> be, it is the truth.
>
> And having the comparison of how Mick interacted
> with the crowd on previous shows everyone will
> agree that he shifted down a gear or two in Brno.
>
> To continue where I stopped before - the songs
> after Start Me Up were good, if perhaps a bit
> shaky, but nothing to worry about
ONNYA again,
> if not my favourite song live, was great to hear
> instead of Rough Justice (sorry, was so surprised,
> I texted Gazza they played RJ), Ronnie was turned
> up quite a lot, which was great for the song. Love
> Is Strong was THE surprise, with a fantastic
> performance on harp from Mick and great guitar
> work from Ronnie and partly Keith. I'm not going
> to post a song-by-song review now, as you can
> listen to the bootleg (many thanks silkcut - that
> was mighty fast!). In my opinion it was not a
> special gig, Keith does play less and less -
> mostly you see him moving his left hand up and
> down the fret, undecided what he should play and
> finally emerging out of his confused state with a
> lick. No, I'm not bashing Keith - but if this is
> what you call playing great, than I have to
> disagree. I believe we all have different levels
> of what we call great guitar playing, but Keith
> has crossed a line for me on this tour.
>
> Last but not least: was great meeting up with
> Kent, Sohoe, Baboon Bro & kids before the show! I
> hope it was enjoyable for you!
>
> Thanks for reading & and again, I'm glad if you
> enjoyed the show more than I did.
Lorenz, this was your last show? You can´t end it this way!
Come to London, it seems I have one ticket left for the 26th!!!