2. April 2005
Innsbruck Meet & Greet,

Hi everyone,

finally here it is, my Innsbruck review….

When I heard he would be on tour around my birthday it was only natural that asked my husband if he was still looking for a present for me and if yes, there was a city in Austria I always wanted ;-) to see – especially on a certain weekend.

Well, used to these kind of requests by now his first reaction was “don’t try to appear innocent I know Bryan is playing there”. Well, after some pleading I got him to agree to a weekend in Innsbruck, so tix, hotel etc. could be booked.

The weeks went by until I got a mail from a dear baddie telling me about a contest running at the Austrian fanclub, where they were giving away meet&greets. Ok, I thought, you don’t win, if you don’t try so I entered the competition totally sure that it was more then unlikely that I should win.

Another few weeks went by, I almost forgot about the whole thing when I got this mail from Austria “Congratulations, you have won 1 meet&greet etc etc”. had to read it a dozen times and print it out until it eventually dawned on me that this was meant serious.

Finally the day was here and we headed off early Saturday morning into a fantastic sunny spring day. We took a scenic route through the Alps along blue mountain lakes framed by snow-covered peaks and pitturesque Bavarian villages.

We arrived at the venue in the afternoon. It is a recently renewed venue from where you have a breathtaking view on the mountains around. I didn’t have to queue (very strange feeling) but chatted with the others until it was finally 7pm and doors were opened. I watched everyone running in when I noticed a guy filming the whole scene with a little hand camera. Since I had nothing else to do I strolled over and asked him if he was filming for BA. “Yes” he said, “we are doing his new video which will be out in the US”. He said he also was the guy who did the Room Service video and that the new one would be similar. My jaw almost dropped – they were filming for a new video and no-one knew about it lol!!!

I had to identify at a special desk for the meet&greet and had to wait another hour until finally the 10 lucky ones of us were picked up and guided through the venue to a spot where we were supposed to wait for Bryan. Seconds turned into hours before suddenly two guys with those cameras came in filming away each and everything which was not helping very much to calm down lol. Then there he was, walking around the corner with a big smile. Someone had given giant Room Service promo posters to everyone before but Bryan thought they were very unhandy (in fact they were, he almost “disappeared” behind them, and from then on he only signed tickets or booklets. Everything was a bit hectic, because there were the 10 winners, a lot of peeps supposedly from the venue management, the promoter and who ever else and in between all this the camera guys who were swirling around filming from left, right, down, top and upside down.

Bryan really tried to make sure everyone got an autograph and a picture and when it was my turn he signed the “Flying” booklet and also wrote “happy birthday” and two smilies on it. We had a picture taken and a brief chat – from which the main news is, that “Stripped” is almost finished and will be out as soon as possible (his exact words ;-))) we were rushed out of the room but managed to watch the scene from a few steps next to the stage. Cameras were going into position, the band also and then they were filming how they were going on stage, Bryan waving into the camera and saying something while jogging on stage. The place erupted while I was watching the first 2 songs from behind the stage before we were asked to leave. There were some empty seats up there so I decided to head for them and got a bloody fantastic one in the second row next to the stage- almost as close as being first row standing (well, only almost ;-)). But it had the one advantage, that you get a better view on the interaction between the band and the crowd as a whole. Bryan didn’t talk much throughout the show but one running gag developed. He said “I love Innsbruck, when I opened my hotel window this morning: blue sky, crisp air and those mountains everywhere. And later someone told me that they went skiing today *pause* has someone invited ME to go skiing??? That’s just not fair *smile*!” during the show he frequently said things like “and remember to invite me go skiing next time and don’t forget about that!”.

“I’m ready” was back in the setlist. It was not one of my favourites before but with the harmonica part it made me melting away. After the song had finished Keith kept on jamming on his Spanish guitar while Bryan was already changing his one. He came back to the microphone, watched Keith for a while and then said with a godfather voice “get your right guitar gear”. Someone had a little banner asking for “lonely nights”, which he did – great surprise, as was “Kids wanna rock” with yet another great guitar battle.

Throughout the whole show the guys with their little cameras were filming the band and the front row and Bryan also had one camera on stage (really similar to the Room Service video). In between two songs he took the camera, filmed the crowd and said afterwards “we have been doing a new video this afternoon – in fact we are still doing it now”. He also filmed during “Everything I do” and I think once more.

“Best of me” was again skipped from the setlist (hopefully only temporarily) and all too soon it was time for the acoustic part. The most touching one ever, because Bryan said that one of the crew members “had an accident yesterday and didn’t make it. Our prayers are with him and his family and this one is for you Michael” and then sung Flying. This background made the song so unbelievably touching and it was a very special atmosphere in the air. For the first time he also played “Open Road” acoustically, also dedicating it to Michael. Last goodbyes “hope you all have a great summer, take care, see you next time” and then Bryan rushed off stage. From my seat I could see that he was running outside the venue like a 100 metre sprinter and immediately left in the car.

So, we also said good-bye to each other knowing that it’s only a few weeks until the UK tour J

I spent a fantastic Sunday in the Alps with hubby, went walking, had great Austrian food and totally enjoyed the first summer-weekend of the year, so to say it in one word: it was a perfect BA-sun-fun-birthday-weekend!!!

Yours

Petra L.