Last week The Concert had their two night gig in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The press was positive on the show. The reviews we saw seem to complain merely on the price of the merchandising, and some reviewers fear for "What's next? The Beatles, Queen or Sinatra?" But headers like "The King Is Dead, Long Live The King", "Magic Of Elvis Stays Tangible" and "Singing On Screen Dead Elvis Becomes More And More Real" cover stories on a great, enthusiastic band and a fantastic atmosphere. "The show was impressing indeed", "Maybe the first few seconds of Elvis The Concert were the most beautiful, when See See Rider started, the curtain fell and Elvis sang his first words. Secretly you believed it was all real. Those shedding a tear can comfort themselves with the thought that he or she wasn't the only one." and "Drummer Ronnie Tutt, guitar player James Burton, Jerry Scheff on bass, Glen Hardin on piano and the background singers The Sweet Inspirations and The Stamps, they were present. Over 30 years older, but still as musical, virtuoso and enthusiastic.", these phrases show that even the demanding Dutch critics were positive indeed.
From the fan-site we picked up two messages by Raymond Dumay on the Elvis Coollist (an Elvis-mailinglist). They were written just after he arrived home and you can still feel the tense of the experience in them. Gladly Raymond allowed us to include them here.
The Concert March 8, 2000 Rotterdam.
Been there! It was great but a little less than last year in Belgium. When 2001 started the house lights didn't go down all the way, so the buildup was a little less dramatic, the sound was poor the first few songs and the picture quality was less perfect comparing with last year in Belgium.
Before the show started we were walkin' around in the buiding and suddenly we walked into Myrna Smith of the Sweet Inspirations and that was the last thing we ever expected so we were in shock for 5 seconds than we approached here and we talked for a minute and got her autograph so we were in the mood for sure.
When 2001 started I had the same feeling as in Belgium, it shocked the hell out of me, tears came in my eyes and I was in concert with Elvis. The band was great and they were really enjoying themselves as did the crowd.
Polk Salad Annie was great with the band fully in sync with Elvis, You've Lost That lovin' Feelin' was impressive as all the songs were really.
When the Stamps did Sweet Sweet Spirit you knew you were in the same building with some great musicians and Bridge complete with a pretty large chorus was overwhelming.
The second part of the show was much bettter because of better sound and picture quality and because of the fact that the audience started to get with it. We were there shouting from the first minute of the show and the rest needed a little more time especially during Suspicious Minds the crowd went wild and started to approach the stage which resulted in a great response from the people on stage. For me it's the greatest showstopper ever produced.
American Trilogy was fantastic and emotional as was the entire show.
We are going again tomorrow and I can't wait to enter the building again it's to me the greatest experience a fan could get in his lifetime unless you saw him live in action of course.
The Concert March 9, 2000 Rotterdam.
Been there again and it was fantastic. The crowd was a lot wilder than yesterday, the lights went down on the right time just before 2001 started.
The crowd went wild sound and picture quality were much better than the day before Elvis was in great shape as always :-).
Just before the show started James Burton was at the side of the stage so we ran like hell and got an autograph and a conversation that lasted 6 seconds so we were really in the mood for the show as the day before.
The Stamps did a great version of Sweet Sweet Spirit which was one of the many highlights of the concert.
When the second part started the people went wild again and we were in a rollercoasterride of emotions which lasted till the very end.
When Suspicious Minds started we rushed to the stage and stayed there till the end. As usual Suspicious Minds was a showstopper, when American Trilogy started the crowd went wild and the people on stage really enjoyed that because of the fact that they really gave their all especially The Sweet Inspirations went all the way during American Trilogy.
So my conclusion is: 3 times The Concert ain't enough. I can't wait for the next time the tour comes to Europe.