Live Review : Nokia Showcase, Cologne (Germany), August 27th, 2009

O2 World,Cologne

How

When I first heard of the Nokia event, I soon decided to go to Cologne for short holidays no matter what. I love the town, it's easy to go to from where I live, and a friend of mine lives nearby, so I barely needed the perspective of seeing Tokio Hotel doing their official return to go there.

But I wasn't too happy with the Timbaland-ish sound of the new song(s), I worried that Bill had damaged his voice forever, and I don't think I can like a band with no voice. Also I'm superstitious, and since it's in Cologne, almost exactly 3 years before, that I discovered the band, I figured maybe it would end where it had started. Especially as I tend to have a 4-5 years / 3 albums "affection span" with most artists or bands. Past that time, either they're too much alike and I get bored, or they change in directions I'm not fond of, so we drift apart.


Looking for the venue area, quite lost...


It's here! ... But there are a million guards and bareers between the venue and us.
Odds of being able to get in without a ticket : 3 742/1. Well, sometimes R2 D2 gets it wrong... Sometimes.

As it happened:

Seriously, it's like being a fan of puppy dogs. You just want to smile back and hug them and make everything all right, because they're so damn cute, it makes the world happier and shinier.


After the acoustic set, they told everyone to sit down on the floor (an order, not a suggestion) while the guys would freshen up. They got back quite soon afterwards, and we got to watch as fans stood in small batches to get their autographs one by one. The guys were awwwdorable. Smiling, taking time when possible, perfect return.


It's hard to get a proper picture in low lights and in motion with trembling hands, so it's all I got. Gustav greeted me faster than I expected because the girl before me didn't say a word and moved quickly to the next ones. I have more experience of signing sessions even if it was my first with TH, so I tried to make the most of it and to actually talk with them. In English (I could muster a few words in German, but even if they understood me, they'd probably reply in German then, and I'd be the one not understanding).
Tom looks a bit... flipped out here? But he relaxed a bit when I started talking. Even if I think he thought my question meant I confused him with the lead singer, uh.


Kind of blanked out when I saw Bill, I forgot what I meant to tell him, to just take a picture of his beauty instead O__O
I honestly don't know what happened. I'm usually pretty quiet and jaded with them - always happy to see them, provided that they look happy too, but not hysterical. They really are puppy dogs to me. But he looks so surreal... Thankfully the friend after me did remember her speech, and hearing her talk made me stop in my tracks (... and leave poor Georg on his own) to spurt out my text.


And we got exklusiv Nokia mini-Gummies! XD


My Köln trophies : the Nokia / TH bag (... that I rather avoid showing off in Germany or elsewhere, though I cherish it), the lanyard + guest pass, the exklusiv CD with bonus content (a few TH TV vids and download codes that only work in Germany), and my autographs


This isn't related to TH, but if I had known beforehand that I would have the opportunity to talk to them, I'd have bought it for Bill. Killer kitty is very much him ^__^

My videos - the image is not so good, but the sound is

I took them thinking that Nokia would release proper, professional videos... Unfortunately they never did. I pretty much had to record anyway, as it was easier to see something on my camera screen than above the heads and hands of the people before me.

Tokio Hotel - Koln showcase - August 27, 2009 - UEDW
Ubers Ende Der Welt. And thank you for having us ;)

Tokio Hotel - Koln showcase - August 27, 2009 - Schwarz
One of my favorite songs... Such a treat.

Tokio Hotel - Koln showcase - August 27, 2009 - Automatisch
Automatisch akustisch ;) The first time they performed it live.

Tokio Hotel - Koln showcase - August 27, 2009 - Durch Den Monsun
As the title says

Tokio Hotel - Koln showcase - August 27, 2009 - Ich Brech Aus
Have I mentioned that I loved the setlist chosen for this showcase?

Tokio Hotel - Koln showcase - August 27, 2009 - In Die Nacht
Last song of the showcase. Another welcome treat.

It also nearly reconciled me with their fans, even though the queuing was... well... kudos to the security for eventually finding ways to make people behave. My heartfelt sympathy to the young guard who tried for a while to make the queue of "ticket-less" people move back to make room for the first rows... To no effect, except that each time some of us moved back, people from the back sneaked in the gaps >.<

I often wonder why people hate TH, but I never wonder why they hate TH fans.

But once at the concert, there was a lot more singing along than hysterical screams. And that sounds a lot better. More like a concert and less like a primal teen hysteria fest (oh, cool. I never noticed that TH is short for TH but could cover Teen Hysteria as well). And I met some cool fans, always a nice bonus.

So, uhm, ja. I think I may have signed with the devil(ish) for 3 more years of madness, rather ^^

But they're the ones who signed the deal.

My (not-so) baby band, I <3 them.



Back to menu