[Kuba80BJ]

Some of you might remember my review of the Dublin shows last year and also review of Richie’s new album, written almost a month ago. Those two were kind of connected but the things I will try to tell you now, will be the final chapter to this unbelievable story. I guess I can even call it my own personal BJ trilogy. With this review I would like to take you on this journey with me once again.

When I was writing that Dublin shows review all I wanted was to share my chase for a dream with you and its amazing happy ending. My quest for ‘Dry County’, no matter how unreal it sounds, was a true story (here it is for those who haven’t read it –(http://drycounty.com/jovitalk/showthread.php?t=53224). I know it sounded wordy or something, but I was as honest with you all as anyone can ever be. But it was actually a post by one of you in that thread, that made me realize something I was not aware while writing it. A lady called TaughTalk said this: “…You know what, out of all people, I wish Richie himself would read your review...”. That one sentence made me realize that even though I was only writing what’s in my heart and soul, and even though it was not intended to be like that, somehow it has become my tribute to not only a band, but most importantly to Richie. And that one sentence was a spark, that started the flame in my mind – “Is this really possible? What are the chances Richie himself reads my review?” I mean, come on, I am just an ordinary guy from Poland, I am one of thousands of fans all around the world that would love to say something to Richie or Jon and will never get that possibility. Why? Because it’s simply impossible. We live under the same sky but in completely different worlds. They are rock stars, out of our reach. You won’t find their phone numbers, or e-mail address, just to say: “You guys are amazing and have been the soundtrack to my life”. Yeah, for us it seems this is a really great unique line and we think it’s only us who feels like that, but they hear it all the time probably. For them probably it’s 1000th time they hear it and is no different to simply “You’re cool”. Anyway, at first I read that sentence, smiled and thought – “Yeah, that would be so cool if he reads that” but the second after it I was like “Nah, impossible”. Impossible ? What does it mean really? Wasn’t “Dry County” in Dublin impossible too? Who’s to say if something is possible or not? The more I thought about it, always it led me to one conclusion. Only we can stop ourselves from making our dreams come true. We set some invisible barriers in our minds, giving ourselves answers before giving something a chance. And “coincidently” I found a video on YT of my other idol from my youth – Michael Jordan (I was a die-hard fan of the Bulls in the 90’. Absolutely nuts about them). That was his speech he gave while being taken to NBA Hall of Fame. It was few years back from now, and I have seen it before, but this time I focused more on what it was really about. And it was the last sentence of that speech that has totally changed my way of thinking. It goes like this: “Never say never, because limits, like fears are often just an illusion”. And it was not just some cliché line by some random guy. If anyone of you knows the biography of the greatest athlete ever, you would know how he got to the top. He broke all the limits and erased the definition of the word “impossible”. And it forced me think this through again and ask myself again – “Are there any chances Richie might read it? Any? Even the tiniest?” If so, it’s possible. The limit might only be an illusion. For sure damn hard to do, but possible. I had two options. Either wait for him to surf the net to find it, or show it to him directly. The first one is like waiting for a miracle, while the other forces me to hard work. But how can I show it to him directly? There are no contact details. So if there aren’t any, you need to find other door that might lead you to desired room, huh? And so, here’s how this journey starts.

It was the middle of July last year, still with TC Tour going on in Europe, when I set myself a new goal and dream - find a way to show Richie my Dublin review. And why really? The reason was extremely simple. Just to thank him for his music and show him my deepest gratitude for everything that it has given me throughout my whole life, for 20 years now. And maybe also by doing so to encourage him to have enough strength to fight with his own demons, to find enough positive vibes around that would prevent him from doing stupid things and keep him away from his addictions. I believe that sometimes even our heroes need a helping hand, even if it’s only kind words that we can give them. But that’s the least we can do in return for everything their music does to us. My story might remind Richie that somewhere out there, there is another “Kuba”, waiting for his fav song and that he can’t let him/her down for the sake of a good drink or any other addiction.

My review has subconsciously become a THANK YOU letter that I always wanted to write. I have already written one for Jon, in London, and gave it to Obie asking him to pass it to Jon at the O2. I have never found out whether it has reached Jon or not, but I did everything I could to do it. This time it was time to say thank you to his right hand. If Jon is Michael Jordan of this band, for sure Richie is Scottie Pippen. And as we know, without Scottie the Bulls would have never made such a dynasty. I always looked at Jon and Richie as on MJ and Pippen. Perfect duo. You take any of them from the team, and you don’t see the same team. Together, they are unstoppable, without any of them, the machine doesn’t work that well anymore. Still a great team, but let’s just call it “stoppable”. And all the honors should not only go to Jon, but also to Richie.

And as you know, it was Richie, not Jon, that played the key role in my story. His solo in DC was the heart of the dream. Without him the dream would not be fulfilled. Moreover we both have daughters, so I think he might relate with my torn father love too, that was put out to the test. From start to finish of that story, I was connected with Richie, and since eventually he delivered and gave me more than I expected, I felt I just need to thank him for all that. His (and BJ’s) music is a part of me. I am just that kind of person, who just wants to give credit when the credit is due. And I think I owe Richie a huge THANK YOU.

And since there was absolutely no way to write to Richie directly, I started to write to anyone that might be related with Richie in any way, but mostly on professional level. All messages with more or less the same line: “Could you pass it along to Richie, so he could read it?” and pasted the link to the review over there. Of course many times I felt it’s not enough and I also had to write a short (in my case “short” is not a good word I think) letter to convince that person to read it and then decide if it’s worth passing along to the man. But quickly I learned a hard lesson, that actually no one reads it, or at least does not have time or will to answer me. My problem was that people who know Richie, are rock stars or celebrities or work in music biz too, that has their own fan base and probably receive hundreds of messages too, so one more, and even not directed to them, probably was not something that would be thrilling for them. Anyway I didn’t want to give up that easily and still were looking for a new way to reach Richie. After about a month or more, I realized that probably this quest is indeed impossible and not just an illusion. And I dropped it. I lost the game.

And as the weeks went by, rumors about Richie’s new album started to show up over here. It was the greatest news for me. His album was the one I wanted to hear the most. Not the band’s, not Jon’s, but his. And as the news about it were dropping here on regular basis, I found the thing called Twitter. My new door to slip the note to Richie underneath it. And so the new bunch of people that know Richie showed up, including Luke Ebbin and other people working on the new album with them. To be honest with you, I am a total anti social-media guy. I don’t have FB (so it seems I don’t exist, I know) and I had no idea what this whole Twitter was all about. But there was one thing I enjoyed in it – interaction, and a chance to get a quick reply. So I started to follow Luke Ebbin and as soon as he encouraged Richie to make a Twitter account too, I created an account for myself too, as this might be the thing that will finally enable me to show it to him directly. My account was made for one reason only and no one knew about its existence. And so, I think it was end of January when I started to tweet to Richie. I did it every day for quite a long time, I think until late April, but I also learned quickly, that there’s thousands of people like me tweeting to him. I thought it would have been much easier, and even though Richie even did reply to people occasionally, he never replied to me. So I decided I will tweet him until 29.06, which was exactly one year after the show with DC. On that day alone I sent I think about 50 tweets to him, but still never got the reply. So again, I lost the game.

[Kuba80BJ]

What’s worth mentioning is that I did manage to write to 2 people very closely related to Richie business wise, and they both answered me. The first person said that is not allowed to pass any messages to Richie or Jon. And I have to say I thought it was very classy from that person because: 1) that person replied to me at all, 2) told the truth and didn’t try to tell me what I wanted to hear. I always prefer the hardest truth from the sweetest lie. That person gained a lot in my eyes.
And the second person was quite opposite. I managed to get contact in early March on FB actually (through my wife’s account) and that person even told me that read the review and that liked it very much, and most importantly that will pass it along to Richie for sure. For a moment I felt I finally did it. But even though I was writing to that person several times more, and surprisingly getting replies too, every time I heard “Haven’t passed it yet, I am busy now, but I will do that soon”. And that soon never happened. For me the thing was very easy – copy & paste the link, simple as that. 5 seconds of that persons precious time. But that never happened unfortunately. And it’s not even that I am mad at that person. I am not, really. I understand that someone can be very busy at work, hell I am very busy at work too, but I would never give anyone hope, when I know deep inside of me that I don’t have intention to help at all or simply can’t do it for some other reason. Cold truth, but the truth. It always works better than a lie. That person promised me to pass it along to him and never did that. And that did more damage than good. But, enough about it. The fact is, that again, for another couple of months I tried to go to Richie through different door, but again this path and those people on the way did not led me to the goal. So, again I lost the battle and dropped Twitter and social media for the summer.

And in the meantime, the tour was announced and I got the tickets for the show in Berlin. I was happy as a little kid. I dreamed about it all my life, but after Dublin shows more than ever. And what was even better, the band has never come this close to me. Finally , for the first time it was only a few hours’ drive. It is about 500km (one way) from my hometown to Berlin, but still far closer than 1400km to Paris or even more by plane to Bristol, London or Dublin. Finally no plane was needed and as I personally hate flying that was comforting too.

As you know the way of announcing Richie’s shows was rather mad. They showed up out of nowhere and the sales started the next day. So quick decisions needed to me made. And I was at work when I read over here about the show in Munich. Quick search on the net by myself and I found the info about Berlin show too. That was the best news of the year for me. I had no doubts I will go there, and I had already discussed it with my wife that she is going with me too. As I have written in my review of the album recently, at that point as I was buying the tix, I hadn’t heard a single song off the new album, except “Every Road”, but my wife did. And she has fallen in love with “Get So High” right away and just wanted to hear this one live really bad. So I was happy that I will go with her, just as for all other 6 BJ shows we’ve been together. But this time, as the tickets for Richie were a bit cheaper than for the band, and since it was so close to us, I decided to give it a try and take some of my friends with us too. And I thought only about 2 of them, right away. Those were my band members, that I used to play with a couple of years ago. They both love rock music but I kind of invited them to BJ world years ago. We used to jam a lot in the past, mostly on acoustic guitars, playing BJ songs together (and many others too). If there were any people in the world I would love to take to the show with me – that would be those 2 guys. And minutes after I found out about the Berlin show, I called both to ask whether they want to join us, telling them I need a quick decision. Both of them said “Yes”, but could not confirm it 100% as they would have to check either with their boss or wife whether they can go or not. Thankfully, in the morning both of them received green light. All we needed was some luck during the sale. And when the moment came, I was lucky enough to get us the tickets on eventim.de and from that moment I just knew this trip will be special.

So, we got the tickets and were just impatiently waiting for the day of the show. In the meantime I had a monster month at work and of course the album was released in the meantime too, and finally I could listen to it and have fallen in it right away, but you can read more about it in my album review, so I will not get back to this now (here it is: http://drycounty.com/jovitalk/showthread.php?t=54388). I just would have to underline, that Richie’s show was the greatest thing that kept me going through all the storms in that time. That was my light on the horizon and no matter what was happening on the way I just knew that my reward is waiting for me on the 13th Oct. in Berlin. But never in my wildest dreams I had foreseen the things that were destined for us over there. If you thought that my Dublin story was unreal, you better stop reading now, because the things that will happen later will beat Dublin to pieces.

I couldn’t wait to hear Richie live, with his solo stuff. My fav song has always been “Ballad of Youth” and I was kind of hoping I might get it with a bit of luck, but also after the release “Seven Years Gone” has joined BOY on the podium, and was hoping to get that the most too. But apart from song choices and set lists I thought that my presence at the show might be my final and maybe best shot to pass my Dublin review to Richie somehow. I didn’t know how I should do it yet, but it was worth a try. I’ve done that spontaneously already at the O2, by meeting Obie, so maybe in Berlin I will meet someone else or maybe even Richie himself. You never know. So I was going to prepare a special printed version of my Dublin review, that would also include my photos from the shows and I also decided to add my album review to it too, as both of them seemed like Part 1 & 2 of the big picture.

And suddenly only a week before the show, last Saturday, a new factor showed up in this whole scenery. A new person actually. After trying to send messages to all the people working with Richie in any way, I thought I basically knew everyone and sent a message to every important person. But I guess I was wrong. On that day, Matt, Jon’s brother, that I followed on Twitter too, introduced one person to the world. Mr Nick Light – the tour manager of Richie’s solo tour. Who is that, you might ask? I had absolutely no idea. I have never heard of him before. Maybe some of you did, but I haven’t. And surprisingly he seems to be related with the band since early 90’! Anyway, I started to follow Nick right away, and in one of his first tweets he said the band is flying tomorrow to Europe for the shows. And here’s what I thought: “Ok, a trip from LA to Amsterdam will take a lot of time, so usually people might be bored on the plane, so maybe that would be the perfect time to read my review, huh? And maybe give it to Richie either on the plane right away or later?” A bold thought, but again, for the first time in a long time, I decided to give my luck one last try on Twitter. I decided to send a tweet to Nick early in the morning LA time, so in the afternoon in Poland (9h difference), before anyone else will tweet him, so he wouldn’t miss it. And so I did….and believe or not but Nick replied. After almost a year of trials on Twitter someone finally saw my tweet! And as usual I just asked him to read my reviews and pass them to Richie later, and that it’s really important for me. I also wrote that I can’t wait till the show. I did everything the same way I did in those few hundred of messages to dozens of other people. And here’s what he replied:
https://twitter.com/NickRLight/statu...50364573466624
https://twitter.com/NickRLight/statu...50529531273217

“I promise to read it on the plane” !!! I couldn’t believe he replied to me and moreover that he is going to read my reviews. I felt I am getting closer and closer to my goal that Richie reads them too and that it might happen even that day. So I was waiting for any other news from him and whether he read it eventually, but…again, like with all other people it seemed it was only a one time shot and again no more news from Nick. They landed safe in Europe and the shows started to roll, but I still didn’t know if Richie got this or not. But after reading more about Nick and reading his tweets I realized we both have very similar jobs. We both take part in or organize events and take care of all the logistics that goes with it. I saw him tweeting in the middle of the night, still working. 24/7 kind of job, exactly like mine. So I could understand he was very busy and that he might not have enough time or strength to read it on the plane, so I just thought I will try to find Nick before the show and give him the reviews personally. I had no guarantee I will meet him, but it only cost me some ink in the printer so worth a try for sure. During the week I was working at nights after work on those reviews, making a nice looking layout to it, arranging my photos, front pages to the reviews etc. I wanted this to look very personal and unique. I wanted to put my all heart in it and make it more pleasant for the eye. I made a small book, with 25 pages in total, all done in MS Word. I would never say that this basic software might help me make something like that, and I work with Word every day at work. Like I said I spent few nights, working on it until 2am or longer but I think that hard work has paid off and I knew that I can proudly give the final version to Nick.

[Kuba80BJ]

So, we reached the day of the show now. We left home at about 9am in the morning and drove together to Berlin. A car full of die-hard BJ fans. I was the craziest one for sure, but like I have said before I couldn’t have picked a better crew for this trip. Right when my friends came to pick us up, the first question was: “What will we play in the stereo? Richie, right?” And everyone agreed. I had all BJ and Richie’s albums on pen drive with me and we were listening to it all the way to Berlin. Nothing else. Fantastic! We were all so pumped for the show. That was the first BJ related experience for my mates, and they were extremely excited for it. One of them even took the guitar with him, so we could play it on the way, and hoping that maybe Richie will sign it too. And he has a beautiful guitar – Taylor K20CE, worth about 5 thousand dollars! I didn’t even know he has such an amazing guitar. We haven’t played together in a long time, and he now plays in many different bands, and basically makes a living from concerts, especially during summer season. You can listen to one of the bands he plays with here (http://www.youtube.com/user/duoacousticofficial).

We were heading to Berlin and on the way, for the first time, I explained my friends my quest that I’ve been working on for over a year and that I will try to pass my reviews to Richie somehow. They liked the idea and thought it’s worth a try. When we reached the border, for the last time, I wanted to check if Nick wrote anything new on Twitter and in fact he did. He said he’s looking for meeting many people in Berlin and that he will have some time for that between 3-5pm. When we were leaving the border it was 3pm already(we had a stop for lunch over there that took us about an hour unfortunately). So we didn’t have much time to be honest and about 130km left to Berlin. And since my friend already knew my goal he drove there as fast as possible. We decided to go to the venue first, hoping to meet the band (most importantly Richie of course) after the sound check, which should finish more or less at that time, or at least try to find Nick to give him my reviews. And so we did.

On the way I had thousands of thoughts in my mind. I was extremely nervous. I knew that in the next couple of hours, I will get the answer whether my dream is possible or not. After trying to make it for over a year, I reached the point where everything was in my hands personally but I needed a lot of luck too. I was trying to think of what I should say if I meet Richie. I was making the lines in my head but all of the sounded stupid. I was afraid that if I get the chance I will not know what to say, or will make a lot of mistakes in English or will simply say something stupid that will make me look like an idiot. But I tried to calm down and not to think too much, and let it all be. What must be, must be. I left my destiny in God’s hands and I just closed my eyes and prayed so he could help me make my dream come true again. Faith has never let me down. I got to this point only thanks to my faith, both in God, and myself too. And when I felt I don’t control it anymore I just gave it all to Him and my guardian angels.

When we reached Berlin centre we got stuck in some traffic. As it has turned out there was some strike, and a group of people were walking on street back and forth, blocking the way for the cars, in the centre of Berlin!!!! Great, we were almost late already and it was almost 5pm, so chances of meeting anyone before the show were going down. With the help of GPS we took a way around and somehow we reached the place at 4.45pm. We parked just in front of the venue, as it was actually a part of small shopping mall, with parking spaces outside. So that was good news actually.
When we walked out of the car, we went to the front doors and saw a group of people waiting for the early entrance and great spot. I tried to find Nick in the crowd but he wasn’t there. We went a little bit away from them, and we reached some fire escape stairs, that looked like a backstage entrance too. There were some people waiting there too, with different kinds of things to get signed by Richie. But neither Nick nor the band was there. We also saw the tour buses for the band, just at the same parking lot as we were, about 25m from us, but no one was there too. It was already after 5pm, so we thought we already missed the sound check to be honest. Moreover we had to go to the hostel we were staying at for one night, to check in, which was about 10km from the venue.
So actually we didn’t have much time to be honest to do all that and be back for the show as soon as possible to get a good spot.

And suddenly, I saw Nick walking down those stairs, coming our way. He was actually heading to tour buses to tell something to the driver. It was about 5.20pm, so only about half an hour since we arrived. That was THE moment. I was waiting for such a chance since Dublin. Remember, that Nick was the guy who replied to me on Twitter already so I had a good excuse to start the chat and ask him whether he remembers my tweets and his promise to read reviews on the plane. So it was now or never and with a decisive step I walk toward him and started the chat, holding my printed reviews in hand. I introduced myself first, we shook hands and I asked him if he remembers my tweets from Sunday morning. He was very nice and said he did. But I didn’t even ask him whether he read them or not and I just told him I have it printed with me. And I started to explain him why those are so important for me, what they are all about etc. I told him about my Dublin story and that I went there only to get DC. He looked at me and smiled and said “DC is my fav song too”. So we already had a good start of the conversation. I showed him all the photos in it, and also explained that there is a review of the new album in there too. He seemed to really like the layout and this printed version and started to flip through the pages. He also asked if it’s in English and of course I confirmed. To be honest I don’t remember exactly what I told him as I was extremely nervous, but I just asked him to pass this book to Richie and that it’s the most important thing for me and if he does that he will help me make my dream come true. He smiled again, said that it looks really nice and that he will give it Richie for sure. YEEEEAAAAAHHH! Finally I made it! Almost 1,5 years of trying through so many people on the internet but it seemed I finally found the right person for help. I also had to ask a bold question, what are the chances of having a picture with Richie and he replied that Richie was not there and won’t be back until 8pm. I also said if he can ask Richie to play “Seven Years Gone” tonight, and he just laughed and said he has nothing to do with set lists and that only Richie makes those decisions. I have no idea how long this conversation has taken, but I finished it saying how grateful I am for his help and that I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. He said it’s not a problem and that he will do it for sure. So, mission completed. The minimum task was done. There was no photo with Richie but at least there is a chance he will receive my reviews which was the most important thing. So here we are, Nick and me, as a proof of this meeting.



When I walked away I felt like I won the lottery. Just like with my DC quest, again I made it. It was only thanks to faith, hard work, determination, patience, perseverance and of course some luck, but I made it again. I was so happy I could not find the right words to express it. But I totally forgot that I also wanted to give Nick my business card, just in case he ever comes to Poland and need any help, and as he was still walking around between buses and the venue, I walked to him again and gave it to him. He said “thank you” and again assured me he will leave it Richie’s dressing room and walked back inside to the venue. As he was walking up those stairs, again he was flipping through the pages of my book, so I assume he really liked it, which gave me a lot of confidence he will really pass it to Richie.

So, with the job done already, we could go to hostel to be back for the show in the evening. We came back to the venue at about 7.45pm and there was no queue at the main entrance. Since we knew that the place is not big, and that everyone will have a good spot anyway, and we didn’t care about being in the front rows at all, we decided to give it a try a wait for Richie outside to have a photo with him, as he was about to be there at 8pm,as Nick said, so in only 15 minutes. Security men were waiting by those stairs so we knew it’s not too late. And so we waited but as it has turned out Richie was late and arrived at about 8.30. He arrived in a black Mercedes and the driver went as close to those stairs as possible, giving us no chance for a photo with Richie. And actually there was only 12 people there, including the 4 of us. We hoped that Richie will agree for photo. But unfortunately he was in a rush and when he was stepping out of the car and on his way to those stairs, one of those people waiting with us shouted ‘Richie, can we have a photo with you?” , he replied “I’m sorry man, can’t do it now, I’m late, maybe later”. And indeed it was quite late so can’t really blame him. My friend was holding his Taylor guitar hoping Richie would sign it, but also no luck.

[Kuba80BJ]

And now, as he was walking up those stairs, I thought it’s the only chance to make a song request directly to him. I mean I have sent him many tweets asking for SYG, but now it was in reality. And I shouted “Richie, Seven Years Gone tonight, please” and he answered: “I don’t know if I can make it, bro” haha I can’t believe it. Can I call it a conversation with Richie? I guess I can. And it seems we are brothers now. It was worth a try and he heard me and replied. I can now officially say we both have talked this through, I mean possibility of getting SYG. I know it was just one sentence but it was kind of cool to get in such a interaction with him.

One more thing, I have to admit that Richie sounded ill indeed. We’ve all heard that he had cold and it really sounded like that when he was answering us. His throat for sure was struggling and that might be one of the reasons he didn’t play SYG on any of the shows, because that song has the most demanding vocal parts of all the songs on AOTL. He also didn’t try any falsettos during the show, which are there on the album versions, so this cold might really justify all that.

So, Richie went quickly inside and it was quite close to 9pm so we went inside the venue too. We were quite surprised that we ended up with quite nice spot. Sure not front row, but the concert room was so small compared to all the previous shows we’ve been to (all stadiums or arenas) that I would say we were about 10-15m from the stage. I thought it was perfect. All four of us stood together, waiting for the show to start.

The floor was packed and there were also loads of people on the balcony. There were no seats though and everyone was standing. To be honest with you I will not write much about the songs itself now. I will do it differently this time. Here’s the set list with the links to all my videos. I recorded THE WHOLE show. So you can judge yourself how it went. I have not taken a single photo during the show, only videos. But my friends did take some amazing shots and I will post them later. In the description of each video I will write my thoughts about them as soon as possible. So here it is, song by song:

1. Burn The Candle Down - http://youtu.be/928ZOBYisZ4
2. Every Road Leads Home To You - http://youtu.be/4391yAH2MOY
3. Nowadays - http://youtu.be/THWHliljnGI
4. Stranger In This Town - http://youtu.be/5sI83kKE6oY
5. Taking a Chance On The Wind - http://youtu.be/WSX79sGNE0Q
6. Weathering The Storm - http://youtu.be/Eorxf4P2WjU
7. Sugar Daddy - http://youtu.be/qEYFvCasNGU
8. Learning How To Fly With a Broken Wing - http://youtu.be/N9k50czxfKg
9. Hungry Heart/I'll Be There For You - http://youtu.be/vxiJB8r8jiY; http://youtu.be/dIjCJlrhpZI
10. Hard Times Come Easy - http://youtu.be/86328ayITOE
11. Shooting Star - http://youtu.be/aqSJU65r3pU
12. You Can Only Get So High - http://youtu.be/3vx2T8ZdTf4
13. Fallen From Graceland - http://youtu.be/481QWkxYNcs
14. Who Says You Can't Go Home/Wild Night - http://youtu.be/toPZkIY3qJo

Encore:

15. Midnight Rider/Wanted - http://youtu.be/JeYXLjVMqjM
16. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End - http://youtu.be/43BiffGzs8E
17. These Days - http://youtu.be/N0Y0JPbuAfY
18. The Answer - http://youtu.be/KM9HHvZzTQM
19. Prayer - http://youtu.be/xFvjonrvWmc

I have already seen that some of you think that I really sacrificed a lot by filming the show and that probably I was watching it through camera screen all the time. Well, let me tell you something - I didn’t. In fact, as it was my 7th show, I kind of got this whole thing to perfection and actually this time it went the smoothest. Believe it or not, but while I was recording I was looking on stage either above or under the camera, or I had it on the right side so it wouldn’t block my eye view. I was just looking occasionally to check if I am pointing it right, but it really had no affect on my perception of the show. None at all. In terms of the view. There was only one problem. My arms were killing me from holding it up for almost 2,5h. I had to move my arm a lot and I apologise for the shaking, but I did my best. When I really felt fatigue in arms I just zoomed out and filmed the stage from the distance, to put my arms lower and give it rest a little. But such breaks were enough to make it to the very end. And moreover, don’t get me wrong, but I mainly record it for myself. That was my only Richie show, probably the only one in my life and I want to keep that memory for the rest of my life. Those videos will help me with that. When I look at them now I feel like I was there again. Same spot, same view, same chills. It’s like being there on a constant repeat. Like personal time machine. I don’t regret filming the show at all. It only did not allow me to jump to some of power songs, but since my condition is not great anyway, I think it’s worth skipping some jumping to have it. And of course you win in it too, which for me is a pleasure to share it with you. So don’t worry about me, it’s not a problem for me at all.

I have to mention few things though. First of all – the crowd. If there was any reason we had such an amazing setlist and the longest show of the tour, it was the only reason for it. People were absolutely amazing, right from the start. But I think that turning point of the show for the crowd was “I’ll Be There For you”. Those “whoah whoahs” were unbelievable. Everyone sang or even shouted it, including myself. And even when the song finished, the crowd still kept singing it and Richie had to go on with it again, and again. Actually if I remember correctly those whoah whoahs helped to get him out for the second and third encore too. It was the crowd persistence that made it, and Richie had no other choice and returned with rarities.
We were actually standing right next to a nice couple and I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that the guy that was standing on my left side is from JT. The tall guy, with glasses and black t-shirt, that sang his lungs out on almost every song, with that funny hoarseness. You can hear him on many of my videos, especially on ILBTFY.

The other thing worth mentioning were the encores. I knew that one encore is a given, so didn’t worry he would go back after WSYCGH. But it was not that obvious when he came for the second one to give us TD. But actually the third one was shocking. It seemed the show was over after TD. The lights on stage were turned off and people started to walk out of the concert room, including us. There was a group of people in the front that still shouted for more and when I was leaving the room, for one last time I wanted to check if it’s really over and I saw the guy getting guitar on stage and suddenly the lights were turned on again on stage. One of my friend’s was already out of the building when that happened and my wife and the other friend were on the stairs outside already. That is the reason why the last two of my videos are taken from a different view and angle. That was the spot I found after leaving the one we had throughout the whole show. And then he gave us “The Answer” and later “Prayer”. Both of them were magical. I don’t know why, but during “Prayer” just when solo was about to start, I think something happened with his guitar and he just took it off, and singed without it to the very end. It was great. I always loved “Prayer” acoustic and it was the first time I heard it live. Unbelievable. Out of this world encores. All three. Those were a cherry on the cake of this fantastic show.

And as for Richie’s skills. I think he was phenomenal. He sounded really amazing and the things he did on guitar were epic. Sure, he was off key at times on vocals, but I really blame the cold for this. I heard him talking outside and I am shocked he sang so well, with such hoarse voice and cold. He was without a doubt the man of the show, the brightest star that left all his heart and soul out there. I don’t think I have ever seen him in such form on any of my BJ shows before, and I thought he was unbeatable in Dublin. Well, he was even better in Berlin.

I think the band sounded great as a whole too. To be honest Luke Ebbin was the weakest part of it and his backing vocals were not so great. But enough to not spoil the fun. Other than that the rest was fantastic. And what I liked the most, was the pure joy of playing in them. They were like music beasts on stage. Lots of jamming, lots of improvisations, and just love for the music. You can easily notice passionate musicians in them. Music is their greatest passion, without a doubt. And I, as a former musician myself, and both of my friends too (one guitar player, the other our lead singer) and my wife who’s a singer too, were all impressed how great they all sounded. I would wish any musician to have so much joy out of what they do, as those guys have.

As for the faults in the show. Well, for sure WSYCGH is the biggest mistake. How on earth he can play it for the die-hards, especially in Europe is beyond anything. And personally I would swap “Shooting Star” and that Beatles medley for any of his solo song. Not that they were bad, but still I’d prefer his solo songs on his show. And of course I am sad the most that “Seven Years Gone” and “I’ll Always Walk Beside you” were not played at all. Two of my fav songs from the new album. Or “Ballad of Youth”. There must be some kind of greater reason why those are not in the set lists. Such a shame, as they seem to be fan favourites and I think he is aware of that very well. So maybe that cold had something to do with it? I don’t know. But still I wish one day I will hear them live or that he will play them later during the tour.

[Kuba80BJ]

And the last thing. Such small shows are absolutely thrilling. Now I have experienced it all – stadium, arena, theatre. And the last one was the best for me without a doubt. It creates such an intimate atmosphere. You feel you can literally touch the sounds, say anything and your voice will be heard. The interaction with musicians is just unbelievable. I wish one day BJ will play such a show in Europe and I will get to be there too. I’d pick such shows any time over the stadium shows and would pay much more for them too.

As the show finished we quickly went back to that backstage entrance outside. Limousine was still waiting, so we knew Richie did not leave the building yet. As you know it was the longest show of all European shows and it finished at about 11.40pm. When we got there, the crowd was already there. Definitely much more people than before the show. And we were all waiting for Richie to come outside to show him our gratitude for the last time. Our car was parked again very close, just few meters away, and my friend went for his guitar to try to get Richie’s signature again. It’s always worth a shot although it was really cold and it didn’t do any good to this gorgeous guitar, but it was his decision and moments like that do not happen often. Time was running but still there were no signs of Richie. Many people went out down that stairs, including the support band, Richie’s band members but still not Richie. But at some point Nick came down to fans and picked some guitar of a fan and went back up to get it signed by Richie. “What a lucky man”, I thought, now there is no chance my friend will get it. He was standing right by those stairs but Nick didn’t see him. After few minutes, Nick came back with the signed guitar and everybody in the crowd gave a loud applause for the owner. And now Nick started to collect any kind of memorabilia, like photos, CD booklets etc. to take them up again and get it signed by Richie again. And as he was walking back up again, my friend asked him to take his guitar too, saying something like “Mine too!”. But Nick shook his head for a “No” and said “no more” and started to walk up the stairs. I was few steps away from my friend hoping to get a nice photo of Richie walking down the stairs. But when I saw my friend being rejected by Nick, instantly I jumped towards him, grabbed his guitar, hold it up as high as possible and I said one more time “Nick, can you take this one too, please?!”…He stopped and he looked at me. I don’t know, maybe he recognized me from the afternoon, I am not sure. And I thought “ Oh my God, there is still a chance”. He grabbed the guitar, and looked on the neck. As it was quite dark he had to look closely, and when he saw “Taylor”, he picked it up to the end and said “Ok, I’ll take this one too”!!!!!!!! OMG!!!! I couldn’t believe it myself too. My friend will get his dream come true too. When we bought the tickets weeks before the show, he said right away “I am taking my guitar and will get Richie’s autograph on it”. And he was so right. And when Nick took it, the whole crowd started to clap their hands in ovation for us. We both couldn’t believe it but after few minutes Nick came back down with all those little things and my friend’s guitar. Here’s the moment when he is handing it over to my friend:


And there it is, Richie autograph – “Richie Sambora, 2012”!!! I think that value of this guitar has just multiplied a couple of times. It was a valuable guitar anyway, but now with this autograph of one of the greatest guitarist in the world it has become a priceless jewel and a collectible item of the highest kind.

But that’s not over. When my friend had it in his hands, he started to play the “Whoah whoahs” part of “I’ll be there for you” very quietly. And I thought we should take advantage of this whole situation
and told him to play it louder and then probably the crowd will pick this up. I started to sing and suddenly everyone joined us. We sang it at midnight, right outside, giving Richie that one last magical moment and giving back for this amazing show. But still, Richie was not going down and we probably did dozens of loops singing it and it became boring. And then some guy from the crowd went to us and asked my friend if he can play “Seven Years Gone” and he said he did not, but I said that I do. And my friend passed the guitar to me, and I started to play my fav song. I couldn’t believe what was happening. We are waiting for Richie after the show, and I get to play the song everyone was hoping to hear. Even more, the song I asked him to play right before the show. I was the last person he heard before going into the building, asking for this particular song, and now it seemed that out of some weird coincidence, I will play it for him, instead of him playing for us. As my friend did not have a belt attached to guitar it was very hard to play it in a standing position. So I had to squat to be able to play it. After a moment I finally found a good position and could play it with full force now. It was unbelievable. Again people started to sing with us too. But still Richie was not coming. It was almost an hour after the show finished and he was not leaving. We also played few loops of verses and chorus and people stopped singing so I stopped too. You can actually watch it here, it was quite dark over there so it’s not very clear but my wife tried to capture the moment: http://youtu.be/yzLVBnb4Qnc

But I realized this is the best song to thank Richie for everything one more time. Sure, those “Whoah whoahs” from “I’ll be there for you” are much easier to sing for the crowd, but SYG would be so much better to show respect to him. Not a BJ song, but his own masterpiece. And in fact the one fans want to hear the most and for some reason the one he can’t sing for them. I decided, that the moment he will show up on those stairs I will play it and sing my lungs out to thank him personally again for his music. And finally, after about an hour, he showed up and I started to play. The crowd joined me and it was clear that Richie was truly moved by this situation. He was surprised that so many people were waiting for him outside and I personally would like to think, that he was touched hearing his song for farewell. He stopped in the middle of the way down, and raised his hands to thank us all for being there for him. He looked really tired but also very happy and satisfied. He went straight to the car and there were no place for photos or anything else. As I was playing the song, my wife managed to take one last shot of Richie driving away and what an amazing shot it is. Just take a look at this yourself. Look into his eyes. I think those eyes say it all. He was truly touched. He did not expect the Berlin audience to give him such fantastic support throughout the whole show and even after it. He left his whole heart and soul on stage but for sure the crowd gave exactly the same in return. He left the place really happy, fulfilled, just as I did, as we all did. That will be one of the most magical experiences I have ever had in my life.





So, as always the good things end quickly and we had to go back to our hostel. I couldn’t sleep until 4am and I had to share the first thoughts with my friend over the internet (also from JT) and also sent my thanks to Richie and Nick on Twitter again for such an amazing show. What a day it was. Beyond anything I could ever imagine. Again, you may think I made this all up, but believe me, not a single thing in it is a lie.

On the next day we wanted to see the city at least a little bit, as we’ve never been to Berlin before. We had a 2 or 3 hours walk and it was very nice and we saw the most important sights for sure. To add some downs to the story, not to make it look too sweet, I can tell you that I lost my phone in Berlin. While we were driving to city centre, we got stuck in the traffic again and we didn’t move for a long time. And I walked out of the car to see what’s going on and I heard something falling down. I saw my memory card from camera on the street and I picked it up and I thought that was it. But about 2-3km after that I realized I don’t have a phone with me and I was sure it was the phone that dropped back then too. We drove back to the place hoping to find it, but as my wife tried to call me, the voice box was answering automatically, so I guessed the phone is dead already. But what I really wanted was my card with number and memory card in the phone. The phone was 3 years old and I was about to change it soon anyway. And when we got there, we found it on the street, but in 5 separate parts, damaged totally, but at least I got the card and my phone number. So this trip had to have some kind of sacrifice too.

[Kuba80BJ]

Our way back home was great too. Again we were listening to Richie’s new album on a constant repeat. But my friend also played some of the songs he recorded with his other band on the stereo. Very good piece of music and it made me proud I had a chance to play with him at some point of my life. Same goes for my other friend. This trip would have never been this awesome without my companions. This was my dream team for this trip. My lovely wife and two of my closest friends that feel music exactly the same way as I do. For all of us music is about emotions. Not about knowledge, not about craft. You have to feel it, not only hear it. You have to let it in to your heart, not only to your ears. The bond between us is like the one between Jon and Richie and I don’t exaggerate on this one. It was amazing to experience all that with them. I was thinking about going to London too, in the last minute but I thought that nothing in the world would ever top our Berlin trip. I’d have to go to London only by myself and it would not be the same, even if he sang SYG for me there, which now we know didn’t happen. So I guess this whole trip was destined for us and we had not only a chance to be at the best show of the tour, but also with the best people on earth.

And once again I just would like to underline the importance of Nick in all this. I have to tell you that I am impressed with his working ethics and life ethics to be honest. It was an honour to meet him. He was doing far more than what he had to. Come on, he is a tour manager and he doesn’t have to take care about things getting signed by Richie, yet it was him that walked down to fans several times to pick things up, bring to Richie and make their dreams come true. He is one of the nicest man I have ever met and you could see in his eyes he is a very humble and modest man, always willing to help anyone in need. And he’s a great family guy that is proud the most of his little son, and mentioned him several times on Twitter. When you have someone like him taking care of your tour, nothing can go wrong. Kudos to Nick for all his work and dedication. For sure, he’s the star behind the curtain, an unsung here I might say. Hats off to him.

But I saved the best for last for you. We got home after midnight. All the way I was thinking how incredible that whole trip. My friend got his dream and now has an autographed guitar, and I finally passed my review to someone who should bring it to the person it was intended to. But I couldn’t be so sure whether he actually gave that book to Richie or not, just as I am not sure whether Obie passed my letter to Jon at O2 or not, even though he promised to do so. I truly believed and kept the faith in Nick, his eyes were so honest I would never accuse him of lying to me. But as soon as we got home I just wanted to send Nick a photo that I have taken with him and thank him once again for the meeting and will to help. It was about 1am already but I tweeted him and in fact that was the first photo I sent on Twitter so I was not sure whether I did it right or not. And then only an hour later, as I was checking the videos I took , the photos my friends took………..he replied:
https://twitter.com/NickRLight/statu...35383980994560
https://twitter.com/NickRLight/statu...50886371835904

I am not ashamed to say it. I couldn’t stop crying for over 15 minutes. Happy tears and that inner feeling that I can move mountains. I am so happy that I was able to thank him personally and show my gratitude, that he can read it anytime he wants. Nothing more, just a THANK YOU. Still it’s nothing compared to what their music has given me, but I think that especially artists enjoy those moments when someone appreciates their work and creativity. It’s always good to know that something you have done makes someone else happy. It’s always great to give back love when you receive it too. Things so simple, that don’t cost you a thing, but that are far more valuable than any material goods. I am glad I could share my heart and soul with him, just as he shares his with me.

Once again in my life, I have proved myself that there is no such thing as “impossible”. Anything is possible. Any dream is within our reach. No matter how far you reach, don’t give up. Look up for the sky or higher. And don’t be afraid to lose. Dare to fail. That’s the only way to success. MJ said in one of his Nike commercials: ““I’ve failed over, and over, and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”. Keep that thought in your mind and learn from those who made it big. And most importantly Keep The Faith and believe in your victory. If you won’t, no one else will. You’re the only person that might stop you from your dreams.

So what’s next? I think I will meet him someday. I hoped it will happen in Berlin, but can’t really complain it hasn’t. I think I was blessed enough during this trip. And when the right moment comes, I am sure I will meet him. Step by step, and I will do it…..

I was wondering how should I finish this whole story and again life itself gave me the answer today. I follow Paulo Coelho on Twitter too, and here’s what he posted in the afternoon…….

http://youtu.be/WwxuTPdzkTQ





THE END

[Bounce7800]

Just Joking...

But seriously, well done on getting your review to Nick and great job on the Richie autograph. Getting my ugly mug in a photo with one of them is a dream of mine which I need to work on too, I'm sure you will end up with one given your persistence. I had never heard of this Nick bloke before coming across him on Twitter, but he was a very good source of information, and communicated a lot with the fans which is something very rare from anyone in the Jovi camp. You also got a great show in Berlin too, so good job all round.

[asok80]

Awesome to read! thank you for sharing. Berlin was indeed magical.

[muziektaal]

Hey!

I read all three of you reviews. Each one is really fantastic. I am happy for you, you really deserve it! I hope your dream meeting Richie will come true someday.

[Neurotica80]

Nice review, I think you maybe need to add a little more detail though 😜