|
At Sunday morning the 27th of August i had a nice breakfast with Barbara and her friend. I booked my flight to Edinburgh from Frankfurt airport, only a footstep from Mainz, but unfortunately my flight went very late on Sunday evening. And it was Sunday. All shops in Frankfurt were closed and i decided to wait at the airport for my flight. It was a horrible waiting time, but hey, i had a very good reason to wait for! :-)
Late around midnight i arrived at my hotel in Edinburgh and i felt asleep immediately.
In the next morning i took a walk to the castle of Edinburgh and a nice walk through the city, after this i visited the Princess Garden and the venue. It was a warm and sunny day and a good time for a look what’s happened at the venue.
After a few minutes Olivier from Brussels passed by, he was just arrived at Edinburgh and on his way to the hotel.
After a while i met Bruce, Sandra, Tina, Lore, Doris, Patrick and Silvia and got my special Edinburgh shirt! We joked with the crew and took a rest at a bench with a beautiful overview to the venue and stage. The two Paola’s from Italy came along, but they only waved her hands for a “Hello”. Then Babara and Andreas came at this “unofficial meeting point” and we all went back to the city, most of us for having lunchtime, some of us for a sightseeing walk.
It’s always very easy to meet Simple Minds fans, when the band is in the city for a show! :-)
After a short walk and having a coffee i met Lourdes and we walked to the official meeting point at the Dome. There we met all the other crazy Simple Minds fans and huged everyone!
Then Lourdes and me decided to have lunch/diner at the Hardrock cafe. It was a good decision, we got a place just in front of some pictures and a used drum kit from Simple Minds! :-)
And then it was time to took the place at the doors! Some raindrops fell, but it was only a short shower and the sun came back and we waited in a sunny afternoon.
When the “doors” opened it was a crazy run through the Princess Garden, but at last we all found a place in the front row. I stood between Lore and Olivier in front of Eddie, Tina, Sandra Doris and Merve stood in the middle and Lourdes, Barbara and Andreas stood at the left side in front of Charlie. Perfect!
While we were waiting for the beginning we had lots of fun with the security guy. He was a very friendly guy and he helped us to put the banners at the barrier, to give our friends some chocolates and so on.
The show started with “El Presidente”, the well known ‘entree-music’ of every Simple Minds show this year. It was a pleasure to see the band live playing, when you know the songs very well. The sound wasn’t that good, but it was a good 40 minutes show with well known songs and i like “El Presidente” very much, and we had much fun during the show. ( You can find the recording from the this gig in the section: “Other Recordings”)
Then the very last Simple Minds show for this year started, and it was an blast! The Minds were in a incredible and fantastic mood. They played their show very powerful and enthusiastic!! And the crowd was going mad for this final show. Powerful and enthusiastic as well!!!
They played a 18 song show with all the highlights, but nothing special for this last show. But that wasn’t important (for me) it was a fantastic show, and when i looked to Eddie, Mel, Mark or Jim (Charlie was to far away), i always looked in happy smiling faces!!!!! And i think the band looked in happy smiling faces at the other side from the stage as well! :-)
But after 103 minutes and after Alive & Kicking the very last show was over. Bad it wasn’t a sad thing. Everybody, including the band, knew, after this fantastic year with touring around, the Simple Minds will come back (soon). I’m sure for that. They can’t stop playing live. This is their determination. That's their life!
After the gig we tried to find a pub for having a beer, but it was difficult, all pubs offered the last drink or were already closed.
At last Lourdes and I took a beer in the pub directly beside my hotel. And we let once again the wonderful day, the great concert and all these beautiful moments during this tour pass ourselves.
Kerstin 08th October, 2006
|
