November 22nd - Stadtgarden, Koln (Cologne) DE

Finally, after the Pukkelpop gig in August a new Spearhead gig coming up for us!! The first one of a whole week of touring. It promised to be a great  evening. Kathleen and I met up with Hegs and his girlfriend Elke before the show. The Stadtgarden is a really cosy venue for about 500 people. A cool detail about the venue is that you have to climb a slippery ladder to get to the soundboard... I know, I notice silly things sometimes. :-)  From the first song on (which was 'oh my god') it was clear that the band was really eager to rock the venue. They were absolutely rocking, lauging and dancing. 'Powerful' might be a good word, altough it might not be powerful enough...hmmm :-). The second song was already a highlight for me. I never heard 'Listener Supported' live before and I must say, it sounds really shakeable... Another thing that really impressed me was the way the band sounded. So much more as a whole as one year ago. I always thought some songs sounded to messy or chaotic sometimes, but now almost everything was played perfectly well together...that was my impression after the gig for sure. Another impression of this lovely gig was that Dave did EXTREMELY brilliant guitar playing. He really rocked like hell. Not that the other bandmembers were not doing their best. On the contrary , but Dave really blew me away. Especially during the 'Seven Nation Army' (= song by 'The White Stripes) part during Rock the nation...  (might just be an impression of myself, but anyway...:-)) Another thing that blew me away was the setlist. I'd expected a pretty standard setlist, but it was the opposite. Some great old songs like 'Love is da shit' and 'positive' and some songs I've never heard live before like 'Listener Supported'. Another great thing was the 'Billy Jean' jam with Michael behind the drums and Manas 'playing' the guitar!! Funky!! and oh, before I forget, maybe the wickedest thing was Carl singing Family Affair, so PERFECT!! He is definately a great singer too!!! After that night my conclusion was: 'this is the best Spearhead gig I've ever seen and it will be difficult to change that impression for the next gigs coming up!! Simply I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E !!   Oh and I keep finding great moments: One of my favorite covers they also played: War by Bob Marley!! I must say Spearhead makes it into something special every time!! Thanks guys!!

Funny detail:

Manas, Roberto and epecially Carl were having 'fight's with their microphone stands. Probably the fact that the stage was so smal the fell down easily.

SETLIST

01. Oh my God

02. Listener Supported

03. What I be 

04. Pray for grace

05. Yes I will

06. Love is da shit

07. Positive

08. Radio's beatboxing (panflute)

09. Billy Jean improvisation with Michael behind the drums and Manas 'playing' the guitar.

10. Rock the nation <Seven nation army>

11. People in tha Middle (reggae style)

12. Love will set me free

13. Everyone deserves music

14. Soulshine

15. Every single soul

16. Stay Human <Family affair> <Wonderful World> Stay Human

_____________________________

17. We don't stop

18. War <ole in tha bucket> <Get up, Stand up>

19. Bomb the world

20. Sometimes

21. Sleng Teng

22. Taxi Radio

23. Never too late

Playing time: From 9.15 PM till 12PM

Johan