"And here he is ... Mister ... Eli ... Paperboy ... Reed!"

The program said 9 pm, but as we enter the Roter Salon at 9.45 pm, the venue is almost empty. The former jazzclub, normally packed from front to back, contains no more than ten enthusiastic fans and a bunch of german lost souls. Or at least, that's what they seemed to be until they prooved the complete opposite only 10 minutes later. My mom, sisters and boyfriend find a nice spot to sit and while they're sipping their drinks, I humm them some Reeds songs. Unexpectedly my sister joins in. "It's no coincidence I'm here....".


As The True Loves start playing, one of the trumpet players walks up front. He grabs the mic and shouts: "For you tonight will be playing Eli... Paperboy... Reed!"
There goes the young man, who's been standing next to me in the crowd for a few minutes, he jumps on stage, while shaking his legs as if snakes are crowling up. No time to loose, the first song has already started. This enthusiastic puppy (in the industry) has the voice of a seventies retired soulsinger performing a rockmusical.

Even though he doens't seem to get the audience excited straight away, the initial stiffness melts as ice as soon as the band decides to entertain themselves. They're having fun (although, in my humble opinion, Mr Reed over-exaggerates in trying to hide his insecurities by making fun of the other bandmembers). But it works. The people get greedy as they want experience the same gusto, and there they go: the first petticoats are up a bit higher than necessary. Feet start shuffling, fingers are tapping, some even whistle along. It is definitely not my way of partying (I miss naughty looks being exchanged), but the Germans are having a great time!
The music was great: the band swinging and Eli's voice refreshing as well as reminiscent. Normally I'm quite easy going. As soon as I see my family swing along, I'm sold. But this time the mellow atmosphere didn't really do it for me.
That doesn't mean we didn't have a lot of fun. But we had to heat the venue ourselves. No more tapping, this asked for real charleston legs. As The Satisfier kicked off, I was more than content. We did it.....




NOTE

This is not the first time I've experienced a lower level of enthusiasm at a concert in Berlin and it shouldn't influence me, but I do notice that the reaction of the crowd has a great impact on my experience of a show. Their stiff attitude (and I don't judge stiffness) almost seem to lower the venue's temperature.