Alright part 2. It got pretty long so scroll if you want to.
Wednesday Concert day!Getting into bed way to late I also got out of bed a bit later than I planned. I woke up at 7 am already, but as that had me only on about 5 hours of sleep I tried to sleep a bit more. When I got out of bed I got somewhat nervous like I was getting for over a week already. Today was concert day!
I still had a million things to do though, like doing some work that I wasn't able to finish off on Tuesday so I had breakfast behind my computer. My sister would come just after 11 am and I also needed to get some groceries, but we got those when my sister arrived. We went with her car to the store and then after that switched cars so we could take mine to Amsterdam as I have navigation in my car. She had Adam's cd on to my surprise so we enjoyed some Adam vocals already. I got out of her car with "Rumors" playing and when I started my car the same song was playing on my playlist! That started of great! We had something to eat and went off to the venue. In the car it turned out my sister wasn't aware he would be doing Lay Me Down. She did listen to all his albums, but wasn't even aware Adam was singing that one I guess. She also had just watched WTTS (Idol) just once and wasn't impressed much. She didn't hear the studio version yet. So we also listened to that one and also CGH as she didn't knew that one either yet. She liked CGH and thought would suit Radio 538 a lot (to bad they aren't playing it (yet))!
When we arrived at the venue around 2 pm there were about 30-40 people there already. I greeted a few that I had seen the day before and we sat down waiting. We were just talking to Malcolm when a promo person from the venue came asking around if she could take some video's. So she started filming Malcolm and I thought I would be next, but she also filmed me grinnin beside him. So I made it to both FB and Instagram. I'm becoming sorta famous now!
scontent-ams3-1.cdninstagram.com/t50.2886-16/13002964_1724480841153012_1672596456_n.mp4The one on FB is a bit longer:
www.facebook.com/heinekenmusichall/videos/vb.129793227049975/1273213082707978/?type=2&theaterThen also mireile, nic42 and freakydeaky arrived and we had some nice talks in the que. At some point it also started raining a bit. Gladly my sister came prepared with a umbrella so we sorta stayed dry. After it got dry again it was bathroom breaks for everyone as it became close to the time we got into the venue. You could notice the excitement building in the que as people got louder. Some also played his music. I remained pretty calm as it didn't really sink in that I was going to see him that night.
When we got in they let us in in bunches. We were all in the first bunch that got to the next glas doors where we were searched and were let into the venue further. That didn't go very fast so when we got into the hall it was still pretty empty. Only the early entry people were there (hi mireille) and a section for the Photo Op people was squared off by a lint and some security people. We stood right after that early entry people on the right side of the podium. Time to sit down again for some more waiting...
Our view at that point:
When it filled up some more and it got close to the time of the support act we stood up again and moved a bit more to the squared off section for the Photo opp people. The space seemed a bit big for us and there might be some opportunity to get somewhat closer to the stage. When they arrived just before the support act there was indeed some space left and when the security guys gave way for everybody to fill that space there was a rush from the back to that space. We (my sister and I) managed to get somewhat closer to about 5th row, but were also almost squished in the process. Nic42 and freakydeaky were just in front of us. Luckily towards Adam time the space got somewhat better again and there was also some room to breathe and dance later!
The support act was a last minute booking as it turned out later because the original support act (a finalist from The Voice) cancelled for some reason. They played good music, but there was also playing good music both before and after their set, so they didn't really warm things up. They did take a nice picture of the crowd (we are not in it though):
Then it was almost Adam's time! Surprisingly I was still pretty calm. It was like I wasn't really getting the fact that he would stand in front of me in just a little time. When the time went past 9 PM the crowd started cheering every time a pre-show song ended expecting Adam to show up. At some point they also started shouting his name as it took a little more time than most thought it would take it seemed, but then BTIKM started and the fans knew now is the time!
Excitement builded and then lights out and the A showed up!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfXPAqF0a4YHe started off good. I tried to take some pictures, but I was shaking so hard that it almost didn't work. Got a few nice pictures though, but also managed to take a screenshot of my phone at around 10:20 pm as I was not able to do things the right way. I only managed to take one other very short video of GT, but that one isn't worth posting. My sister got more video's, but she didn't have time yet to upload it to her computer.
During the concert I still had a hard time focusing on Adam. Pre-concert we were asked by some younger girls behind us if they could move in front of us as they couldn't see anything and we were bigger (my sister and I aren't that big, but apparently they were even smaller). I told them I was also there to see Adam up close so they couldn't. They kept jabbing about it the entire time between the support act and Adam and it was very annoying. I didn't hear them anymore during the concert though.
I noticed with Runnin' and Sleepwalker that Adam didn't go up as he normally does and it just didn't feel like he was connecting with the crowd. Of course the hard core fans were there in front jumping and screeming, but even the Photo op people weren't moving much. A few times I looked back over my shoulder and there was so little movement there. I think I felt that in some way or maybe my sister being there held me back, but I felt like I just couldn't let go completely and enjoy that man that I love dearly who was right in front of me.
I was singing loudly with all the songs though and screaming a lot between songs. My sister also took a video of me and I seemed very happy singing along (with about the same look on my face as I had during the Kun je het al zien recording). There were however to much distractions in my mind. Thinking about what people in front of me would think about my singing and trying to look around some big girl standing a bit left in front of me.
Then no Talk! I saw him debating with himself after MW. It took longer than normally to get back to his mic and when he did he signaled the band to continue. He did WWFM with his mic in the stand and after that it seemed to me like he wanted to take that moment to talk to us, but then the band started ALN and he shrugged his shoulders and continued.
It took until LMD for him to get loose and also for the audience to really respond to him. I remember telling my sister that now he's loose. His vocal runs on LMD are amazing and also the rest of the songs are amazing. With IIHY he says you know this one, but I bet half of the venue didn't know it. IIHY didn't get higher than #3 in the Pre-chart although it got pretty high in Belgium. At the end of IIHY it seemed like he was saying goodbye. He thanked us very much and also pointed at the band a couple of times to thank them. When also the screens came up with his TOH banner I was convinced that was it! The crowd however started cheering and shouting we want more and while I saw some people adjusting some settings on the keyboard rig I was still not convinced he would come back. I was soooo happy he did!
He ended great and then I finally saw him smiling a lot! I kept screaming and singing along and I just screamed my lungs out. When it ended I was feeling empty. I just didn't know what to say. It's like I was not feeling anything at all anymore. I saw people gasping and flailing, but I just couldn't join in completely. Adam was great and he didn't miss any note, but I did have the feeling it could have been better. To me it seemed there was some magic missing to this concert and I was feeling pretty ashamed because of that seeing everybody else so happy.
My sister really missed him talking and making jokes like he did with Queen last year. She was still talking about that yesterday again. And even though I have seen her look completely focused at Adam at some point during the concert she's not fully converted yet. We are pretty down to earth people though and when someone had told me how madly I would fall for Adam two years ago I wouldn't have believed it.
The next morning I was feeling drained of all my energy. I was moving like a zombie and I'm so glad nic42, mireille, betty and freakydeaky wanted to meet up again in Amsterdam. They got me happy again and it was such a lovely day. When I took the car to Amsterdam that morning I was crying in my car because I couldn't feel happy about the concert, but spending the day with such lovely people fixed that for some part again. I still got my moment where I mourn a bit about a missed oppurtunity for Adam. Because even though the reviews were mostly very good and he was praised for his vocals I know he could do better when he had a better audience to react to.
I'm very happy for him that the UK audiences have been so great and also the people in Russia who cheered for him a lot.
When I finally looked at my pictures this weekend I noticed that I had taken a picture of him smiling and looking happy. That made my heart jump for joy (2 unlimited!).
A few more pictures are on my instagram:
www.instagram.com/skaschep/Sorry for the long recap. I think I needed this to process some more. On Sunday I'll be flying to Copenhagen to visit the concert on Monday with nic42 and mireille. I got an early entry ticket so hopefully no big girls in front of me this time to distract me and I really hope I can enjoy this one and Adam to the fullest.
