Concert Details

Fan Reviews:

Review by J. Anania / Berlin, Germany
A good venue (outdoor amphitheatre, 22,000 capacity) but dismal weather. The cold, intermittent rain certainly dampened the crowd’s enthusiasm but didn’t stop the band from delivering a solid, professional show. Very good sound, it was some compensation for the rain.
No fooling around – the band hit the stage hard on the opening "Tell the Truth" and just kept going. Almost no stage chatter at all. EC mentioned Bramhall and Stainton’s names once each but never introduced the band, said Curtis Mayfield’s name (but not that he wrote the song!) after playing Mayfield’s "Here But I’m Gone," and threw in a several thank-you’s but that was it. The stage techs kept everything moving swiftly, getting the guitars out to ensure no delays or breaks and the music just flowed.

During the opening segment, Bramhall shared lead vocal duties on several tracks, but as the show progressed the vocal focus was squarely on EC. A nice grove all around on "Here But I’m Gone." "Isn’t It a Pity" was another highlight, with the lyrics seeming especially poignant coming from EC’s mouth given the sometimes-sad history (and wife) he shared with his long-time friend George Harrison. The arrangement was a good rework of the somewhat dirge-like original (off "All Things Must Pass," an album EC played on) and would make a great track on a future live set if one is released.

"Motherless Child" re-energized things after the semi-acoustic sit-down session, with some strong drumming and a great feeling from the band. Both Bramhall and EC continued to throw in superb guitar work and to my ears they peaked on "Little Queen of Spades" (a Robert Johnson song previously unknown to me. Buddy Miles obviously nicked the music for "Have You Ever Loved a Woman") and "Before You Accuse Me" with EC in particular leaning into the mix with his most focused and soulful solos of the evening. Bramhall sounded great on both tracks but EC trumped him.

Overall a solid, professional set from a group of pros with a set list weighted towards EC’s best blues-rock material but with several crowd pleasers ("Running on Faith," "Wonderful Tonight," "Cocaine") to satisfy the non-hard core fans. The show featured nice but subtle lighting effects and good use of the unusual behind-screen video screen (five tall rectangular sections with gaps in between directly behind the musicians), and offered video focused almost exclusively on the guitar playing via large screens flanking the stage on either side.
A nice "Crossroads" for the encore, then a big bow from the band, who linked arms (but would have scored poorly at the Olympics had they been judged on synchronized bowing) and that was that. No chance for a second encore apparently and the roadies had most of the gear packed by the time we made it to the top of the bowl (admittedly tough on the rain-slick stone steps with a big crowd). Thanks for the website.

Review by Fred Frome
Berlin was a stunning and overwhelming experience (quite similar to Nadja’s impressions for the Munich concert which happened on 17 August) despite the rain! Better to say nobody seemed to realize the impact the rain had – the crowd stood / sat tall simply ingnoring it.
The concert was ways better than Leipzig (though that was great, too) a compact show with an overall unique interplay, stunning solos from all musicians and with tasty background vocals, too. EC and Doyle were sharing solos as well as singing (Doyle is still improving!) I am especially proud of seeing Here but I’m gone with a great intro by EC as well as shared solos with Doyle. The "Drifting" replacer "Rock Me Baby" was somehow the anthem for the whole – evening, crowd and band, too. EC broke one of the twelve strings later in the song but did not care and shared some laughing with his guitar tech, Lee, while changing for the next acoustic afterwards! Nobody left except after "Cocaine"!