“Gibb Service International” web site.
| 17/09/04 – Stuttgart/Liederhalle 18/09/04 – Bonn/Museumshof 20/09/04 – Frankfurt/Jahrhunderthalle 21/09/04 – Berlin/Tempodrom | 22/09/04 – Dresden/Kulturpalast 24/09/04 – Bremen/Halle 7 25/09/04 – München/Philharmony 26/09/04 – Bamberg/Forum |
Robin in Bonn © Dennis Brosda
Stuttgart – September 17th.
Here in Stuttgart was the opening night of Robins Tour.
Robin performed with a small band and orchestra with grand piano and 4 back up singers.
There were two support acts.
At the beginning of the show there were some technical problems, sometimes Robins voice was hardly to hear.
There wasn’t much light show but several big screens above the orchestra.
Robin didn’t talk too much and the only mention of The Bee Gees was at the beginning of ‘Massachusetts’ when Robin told this had been the first number one of The Bee Gees in America.
In fact the mood of the audience wasn’t too good after the support acts but soon this changed when Robin came on stage. And specially after ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ there was a massive reaction of the audience.
I also loved the strong version of ‘Nights On Broadway’.
Also the new sound of ‘New York Mining Disaster’ was surprisingly.
And very special to hear Robin singing ‘Words’!!
Of course he did ‘Juliet’ and closed the regular list with ‘Tragedy’.
Encores were ‘Jive Talkin’ and ‘Stayin’ Alive’.
I regretted the fact that the show was too short but I enjoyed it although it began with some technical problems.
Babette
Bonn – September 18th.
I’ve been to the concert in Bonn: real good show.
Robin sang 18 songs however I would never have chosen ‘Emotion’ to open the show with!
Paul
Ron and Cobie
Bonn – September 18th.
Months ago we’d already bought tickets through the Internet and received them within a few days. And Finally it was September 18 – 2004, the solo concert of Robin in Bonn. For us it was a car tdrive of about 3 ½ hours but never mind, we’d been looking forward to it for months. Finally in Bonn we were lucky to see there were all seated places, this had been changed. When parking our car we saw a huge billboard with a very nice photo of the Robin Concert. It was about 15.45 when we rushed to the open air theatre and there were already a lot of people at the entrance. We’d loved to have a seat in one of the front rows saw we decided to already wait in line at the entrance and there we were fora bout 2 ½ hours!! Shortly after 6.30 we could enter after a check of our bags, digital cameras were allowed, lucky for us !! We hurried to the front and got seated at the second row, great!! All seated places we taken at once and there were people from all over: from Japan, Spain, Canada, Holland, Belgium etc. The show was planned to start at 19..00 but there was a delay and finally at 20.30 the orchestra came on stage and Robin. Everyone started to scream and clap. He waved to the audience and showed his thumb to the audience and the audience did the same thing back to him. He sounded beautiful with the Frankfurt New Philharmonic Orchestra.
Songs he did were:
Emotion
I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You
How Deep Is Your Love
Nights on Broadway
Love Hurts
Massachusetts
My Lover’s Prayer (with A. Griffin)
Night Fever
NYMD 1941
Please
Saved By The Bell
To Love Somebody
Words
You Win Again
Juliet
Tragedy
——-
Jive Talkin’
Stayin’Alive
Also songs normally done by Barry were now performed by Robin, that was very special to hear! The concert lasted fora bout 1 ½ hour. We did sing and clapped our hands and we enjoyed every minute of it.
Bye bye from Ron and Cobie.
© Ron and Cobie
Frankfurt – September 20th.
I haven’t been to one of the earlier shows, so nothing to compare but I liked this concert immensely. I felt rather strange seeing only Robin on stage but all these wonderful songs brought back lovely memories. I specially liked some of the new arrangements of the Bee Gees songs like for instance New York Mining Disaster. Having a real orchestra on stage again brought back old memories too.. I had a great evening!
Monika
Tempodrome
The concert was held in the Tempodrome, a beautifull small arena. After a rainy day in Berlin, at last there was the concert which I waited for, so long…but I had to wait one more hour before seeing Robin. There would be 2 mini-concerts, one from Alistair Griffin (Fame Academy) and one from Lucia and after that it took some time before the whole setup for Robin’s concert was done. Alistair did a good performance and I guess everybody was enjoying it. You could say that Alistair was proving Robin’s sense for talent. Later that evening Alistair would do My Lover’s Prayer together with Robin. (I understood that this song is goin’ to be released in Germany soon).
Very disappointing to me was the performance of Lucia. It was very loud and had nothing to do with the type of music we like. About half the audience left the show and that tells all. Robin’s show was in one word GREAT but also too short. He had a great voice this evening. His backing vocals, his band and not to forget the Frankfurt Philharmonic Orchestra did a good job and made this show unforgettable. Robin did a lot of standard songs like To Love Somebody, Massachusetts, I’ve Gotta Get A MessageTo You, which were very good. As usual the Fever songs he did, like Staying Alive, How Deep Is Your Love, Night Fever and also the song Tragedy, got everybody on his feet and nobody returned to sit down again. It was a pleasure hearing Robin doin’ these songs solo, it was great ! The only disappointing song to me was Nights On Broadway, which is my favourite Bee Gees song. Although the song was orchestrated very well, sometimes I did not hear Robin, it was like he was waiting for his brothers to take over.
I guess it was a bit strange to see Robin sing all these Bee Gees songs on his own for the first time and it might have been a difficult experience for him. A big surprise was the remake of New York Mining Disaster 1941 and I hardly can wait for the next oldie, remade by Robin & Barry together. It had a different beat and sounded very good. Also a big surprise to me was (Barry’s-) song Words, which Robin did very good. Robin showed his great voice in Love Hurts and also the song Please (done with backing vocal Errol Reid) was very good. The song Juliet was the audience’s great favourite and caused a little problem at the end, where the audience wanted to go on with the song…oh, oh, oh, …and the orchestra could not join. I guess it’s a little bit difficult to improvise with such a big orchestra. As I mentioned at the beginning of my report, the show was a bit too short.
Robin in Germany
I heard the great Robin song Saved By The Bell (live at last !!) and missed the others like One Million Years and August October, also good songs from the early days. I also missed songs like How Old Are You and Another Lonely Night In New York from the eighties. What I missed most was Wish You Were Here, which was in the playlist (according to the tour-programme) and would have been a good tribute to Maurice and Andy and …to Barry who I missed this evening. Maybe someone can tell me why this song was not adapted to the show. At last I would like to thank Robin for this great show, never to forget. I hope that there will be a concert DVD to come for me as a memory but also for all these fans who missed the show.
Wim Arts
München – September 25th.
Details of this concert and exclusive photos of Robin…
See the special report by Rosalien Beks.
Bremen – September 24th.
I went to Bremen with Clara, the mother of my best friend and fellow Bee Gees Fan Juliane (she herself couldn’t come with me, for her daughter Emmi was born just two days before). We found the way without many problems, maybe there were some magnetic forces leading us towards Robin?! What a wonderful feeling to see at last the lighted signs: Robin Gibb – Today – Halle 7! We had time left and got us something to eat, though I didn’t really felt hungry at all. I was so excited! When we eventually went into the hall, Alistair Griffin just had started with his songs. Our seats were in the second row (Robin would be so near, I couldn’t believe it!) and we sat down and I tried to listen to Alistair and then to Lucia, but actually I was just waiting for Robin. I looked around. The concert was nearly sold out; just a few far away seats weren’t occupied. There was a short break after the Pre-Show and I talked to some members of our German Fan Club, – never leaving my place not to miss something – and then the band and orchestra appeared on the stage. At last! Robin came from the right side, I couldn’t believe that he (and I) was really there. But he was, suddenly standing at the microphone, and the orchestra started with “Emotion”. Robin’s voice unfortunately was very low. The tone control was pretty bad most of the time, and I often wished the orchestra wouldn’t be so loud!
But it was so great to see Robin on stage. I was a little sad at the beginning – Robin looked so lonely, I missed the typical Bee Gees Sound, I missed seeing his brothers with him. Then I was swept along with the enthusiasm of the other fans. And they were very enthusiastic! With every applause Robin seem to thaw out a little more, he beamed with joy and lifted his thumbs up. Even if I couldn’t have heard a single tone – to see him that way, his smile, would have done to make me happy. One of my personal favourites was “Massachusetts”. His voice was (at last) very clear, the band and orchestra only soft in the background. I started crying. That song means a lot to me, it’s one of the first ones I listened to and loved as I became a fan.
I really don’t remember which song came next, I was so overwhelmed! I cried even more when Robin sang “Juliet”. I remember that I was a little scary when Robin announced “Words”, for I couldn’t imagine that special song without Barry. But he did great, singing that song in his own way and with his own ending (we all know Barry’s ending, don’t we?). I loved the duets with Alistair and Errol; I wished Robin would have chosen some more of his solo songs. Sometimes I felt a little strange listening to Bee Gees Songs without the typical sound.
But Robin was so breathtaking, I couldn’t stand being swept along. While “You Win Again” and “Tragedy” were played, the fans couldn’t stay at their seats any longer. They entered the space in front of the stage, which Robin seemed to like. He smiled even more, if possible. My heart was so filled up with happiness and love, I cried again – actually, I had never stopped – and was angry with myself, for the tears impeded my sight. The orchestra and the band were too loud again; it was even very difficult to hear the background singers and I had to listen intensely to get to hear Robin’s unique voice. But the atmosphere during the concert was so great, and the songs were as magic as ever. Then Robin waved ‘Goodbye’ and left the stage. We applauded, shouted his name, with support of the drummer and, of course, Robin came back. He introduced the members of the band and the orchestra and then sang again. After four more songs, endless ‘thumbs up’ and with his unbelievable wonderful smile he left finally. I felt like ‘walking on air’. Clara and me went into the foyer and I bought tour books and t-shirts for me and Julie. I started reading the book at once, still feeling unreal, and a quotation of Robin caught my eye: For Maurice. ‘Everything we are will never die.’
Thanks with all my heart, Robin! Britta
Bamberg – September 26th.
I’m just back from Robins very last concert in Bamberg and I must tell you that it was great! Robin was superb, the concert was much more than I expected. I was looking forward to Alistair and he was very good, I like him very much. Than Lucia came. And after that there was a break which seemed to last a lifetime! Than the band and philharmony came on stage and than there was Robin!! Everyone now forgot Lucia, we were standing and clapping and clapping. There was a wonderful atmosphere immediately. Robin was singing wonderfully and was smilling to us. He looked very happy, thumbs up all the time. When one started to play ‘You Win Again’ people started to run right under the stage, and stayed there for the rest of the show and all were dancing and singing with Robin! ‘Juliet’ was the biggest hit and when Robin had finished, the audience right under the stage continued clapping and singing and so did I!! It was wonderful… NewYork Mining Disaster to me was the biggest surprise of the concert. I’m already waiting for the DVD to come. I enjoyed the show very much.
Peter
