The very next day I left Bremen for the quiet city of Schwerin. After all the hectic days, that was a welcome change. The capital of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is located in the middle of a unique landscape dominated by a dozen of lakes. The air was filled with Christmas songs as I strolled through this lovely city. I was impressed how many posters I saw on my way, advertising the event, even at the Christmas fair, and in front of the Tourist Information Centre. It's just like they all would say: "Hey, Peer Gynt is in town!!" The Speicher was easy to find, it's not far from the Pfaffensee lake in the city centre. It is in a building that might have been a factory in earlier days. The club consists of two areas, and from the venue, you have to climb a few steps upstairs to get into a beautifully furnished room. There, you can stay, have a drink, and wait for what will happen later on in a relaxed atmosphere. It was there that I got to meet the guys as they were whiling away the time before the gig would start.
A little later, it was great to see when the three guys from Norway, one after another, smilingly came out of their dressing room to step onto the stage. Peer, wearing his nice Norwegian outfit as always, played in some notes. That was the signal to start a fantastic show, beginning with a couple of awesome songs from the Fairytale album, such as To Be Your Man, Livin' The Life Aint Easy, I Can Tell, and Please Please Babe. Peer, always the core of the band, soon generated a very laid-back atmosphere together with Lars and BP, and the audience enjoyed all the performance a lot. Introducing the next song as one about travelling, they played the ear-catching song Sams Caf�. The show went on great with a nice little tribute to Walter Trout, because they recently did a long tour together with him. A very welcome treat was the following tremendous version of the blues number Tell Me. At the end of the song, they evolved some very quiet sounds, but then Peer screamed: "Let's bringing it back!!", and it went on till it fade great to the song Trouble. All that was so powerfully played, together with Peer's raw voice, it just highlights again how talented these guys are. We all had lots of fun and the band obviously as well.
They carried on with Homegrown Juice. But before they played it so beautifully, Peer explained to us that the song is about Norwegian Moonshine, which is some strong liquor that you put in into your coffee, and that makes you freak out completely. Then followed a tribute to the legendary Jimi Hendrix, and I was delighted to hear the extended version of Little Wing once again, which was so incredible with Peer on vocals and guitar. I felt just the same as the day before in Bremen.
The set continued with the nice little piece, which is so beautifully filled with Norwegian folk tones, and may be put on his next album, as Peer told us. They drove in a superb version of Oh Well, gave way to the terrific Fairytale, and returned to Oh Well to finish this stunning last ten minutes performance. Along with BP's steady-going drum sounds, Peer introduced his band members Lars on Bass guitar, and BP on drums, plus himself, of course, and wished us a nice evening. They closed their main set brilliantly with the instrumental number Hallingcaster, and went off stage.
But a little bit later, they turned up again after the noise of the crowd. Peer said that we obviously were enjoying ourselves a lot, and he was right, of course! As encore, they then played Good Lord. I was really pleased to listen to that amazing song from the Fairytale album, which I'd never heard before live. They disappeared again, to show up a bit later, as we asked them loudly. The band felt happy about the great response of the crowd, and the crowd was delighted by the second and last encore, which was Suzy Q.
Again, the band delivered a perfect show, there's just so much life in their music and performance, making the night awesome for everybody. Afterwards, I did something for my Christmas shopping, and bought two copies of the Fairytale album. What else could be a better gift than these, albums autographed by the artists themselves? After a while, it was time, and the band carried their equipment to the van, and we said good bye.
Lou
Bremen review
Bremen pics
Schwerin review (this page)
Schwerin pics
Hannover review
Hannover pics
Neuss review
Neuss pics
Lorsch review
Lorsch pics
Main Peer Gynt page
Main page
Link to Peer Gynt's official website
