Änt sätt wos Börlinn... (DK, 25.10.2004 @ ICC)

[natz]

I’ll try to make it short (I said I’ll try) – feel like I’ve got years of sleep to catch up on. Spent 3 days and nights on the road with my boyfriend who finished his brief Europe tour at the Cork Jazz Festival on Sunday night. From there I took the late flight back to London, had a couple of hours to change and then hopped on the very-early Monday morning machine to Berlin. Thanks to smooth transfers I had a couple of hours to put my head down at my friend’s place before I took off to meet the gang of UNIVERSAL Jazz. And before anyone gets over excited, we didn’t get to see Diana herself until after the show. She spent the day exploring Berlin, buying ridiculously uncomfortable shoes and checking sound.

The interesting thing about going to a DK gig together with “her company” is the unobstructed view upon the business and its background. To continue the repeated threads about this year’s ticket prices and selection of venues (apart from a few exceptions such as L’Olympia in Paris, the Philharmonie in Munich and the Royal Albert Hall in London): Yes, it’s not been going too well for the concert organisers. The Europeans at least are struggling to sell out. This is to a large extent due to what we would all expect: huge and jazz-unfriendly halls (I am already scared of the Gruga-Halle experience in December) and crazy ticket prices. I am getting the vibe that one will learn from this.

Anyway – let’s say the ICC in Berlin (international congress centre) was maybe 4/5 full. Still a nice bunch of several thousand people, so who is to complain. And the audience was well up for it (relatively speaking) and it was obvious right from the start that Diana enjoyed that night, being in Berlin and having an excellent sound setup.
She kicked it off with “I Love Being Here With You” followed by “All Or Nothing At All” – so nothing out of the ordinary so far. She was in a chatty mood and began popping Strepsils yet again against the remains of a cold she suffered from. Wilson, Hurst and Erskine were a total mess *sigh*... just kidding and trying to get your attention. They were as faab as ever – what else can I say. As much as I love Jeff Hamilton, Peter is The Man for Diana’s versatile extended range stretching from the standards to the new Krastello material. Man, is he relaxed.

She gave herself loads of space for solo-pieces such as “But Not For Me” and “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” plus four (4!) encores incl. a very fresh unaccompanied version of “’S Wonderful” and the ever wonderful “Departure Bay”. All breathtakingly beautiful and I do hope that at least some of those will be on the new DVD.

It was particularly touching how the audience applauded after the first few bars of “The Girl In The Other Room” as well as “Let’s Face The Music And Dance” – proves once again how popular and especially ear-catching Diana’s own tunes are catching up with the well-known standards.

So, we had a great time and I enjoyed seeing her again after her BBC gig here in London in April.

We hung out backstage afterwards – not exactly the most cosy area in these multi-purpose congress venues I can tell you. We had some fun with a strange triangular scooter though. Lots of space for racing around once we’d figured out how it worked. The sweet thing about Diana these days is that she is talking more about how Elvis’ “Il Sogno” and “Delivery Man” are doing (I must highly recommend both albums btw.) and what their sales figures are, than her own. “I don’t know how my CD is doing. Honestly. It’s still doing okay, isn’t it?...” And that was absolutely genuine. She said that the venues are selected by the individual concert organisers and she can’t really worry about that, too, but that she was happy tonight, “the sound was brilliant, really good. That’s so very important to me and the people enjoyed it a lot. I love playing here” – she’s always laughing at me when I ask her about next plans. “That would be bad luck – even if you don’t put it on the website” – “Would I ever?”. So I had to sign in blood and swear on my ancestors graves... Well, the only thing I am allowed to blurp out is about that planned solo-piano rendition of Costello’s “Pump It Up” – a joke she’d already cracked during the concert, with one person laughing. She tried again with us. But I guess I was more hooked on something else she’d said earlier. And I reckon there’s going to be some very special news pretty soon... (!)

[scielle]

But I guess I was more hooked on something else she’d said earlier. And I reckon there’s going to be some very special news pretty soon... (!)

Hm...I hope that means she's with child or something...

Anyhow, forgive my ignorance, but what is it exactly you do that enables you to have backstage access et al? Nice job if you can get it, eh?

Well, thanks for keeping us in the loop.


scielle
(off to see Joni get her doctorate!)

[TRX-C]

Thanks, Nadja. It was a great post, and a welcome one. It's nice to have "behind-the-scences" info. Plus, we haven't heard much from you in the last year or so.

[Coda]

Thanks, Nadja, for the great report. You're making us very curious, of course, about the upcoming news.

[harpfingers]

Thanks Nadja! That was a great review of the concert and the behind the scenes. Sounds like you had a great time!

[natz]

Dear-oh, no, the news is actually that she’s signed up to play the flute in Barry Manilow’s new musical “The Middler Years”. What were you thinking again?

btw. Thanks, Rémi, for maintaining such a neat and stylish(!) Forum. So much devotion...

Anyhow, forgive my ignorance, but what is it exactly you do that enables you to have backstage access et al?

No idea what to say, really. Just happened. Mainly through friends, work, the website and by trying not to be a total pain in the bum, less of a nervous fan while fighting against a natural shyness I guess. Be assured that I appreciate and value the privilege very much.

[scielle]

the news is actually that she’s signed up to play the flute in Barry Manilow’s new musical “The Middler Years”

Has hell frozen over yet?