Dear Harleyites and Crazy Ravers,
just some quick remarks on the third concert Saturday evening. Notes on the others will follow.

WHAT a gorgeous, wonderful time we had 12 hours ago at the Theater Figi in Zeist, The Netherlands. First the night was remeberable because of so many members of the audience who would not have come if it hadn't been seated. The majority seemed not to be regurlar concert goers. Second the three concerts were fantastic because of Steve's outstanding musicianship, his politeness, generosity and his esprit.
THANKS so much!
The theatre itself was fine, enough space, good accessability, reasonable good sound, enjoyable light show (a crafty light engineer indeed!), comfy seats, almost sold out. Well, and the seats were of advantage and of disadvantage at the same time. They were good for members of the audience who'd love to see Steve but couldn't / wouldn't like to stand for 2 hours or longer. Thus there had been many persons who would not have come if he'd performed in a normal club. At the same time the seats forbade to get up and dance ...... hmm, we could expect a rock concert after all, not a drama.
Before the show and in the intermission T-shirts, DVDs and CDs were sold off the egde of the stage by the stageshands, the technichians respectively. So when there were no clients to purchase something, we chatted with them. Thus we were also lucky getting in touch with James, Stuart and Barry after the show, because they came down the stage to say Hello.
Hans and Deb went over to Stuart who was there with a lady whom I didn't know. And me and Sandra follow suite but we did not know who she was. We hadn't any time to find out because Barry came off the stage to tell us something important. ........
SORRY for the "wrong" sequence of the shows!

Now, first show in Amsterdam, Q-Factory, the hall inside was big and ugly, on my opinion. I was curious about Paul and Harada-San
The set list was (a big thanks to Hans, he took some notes):
Here comes the sun - Judy Teen - Journey's end - Psychomodo - Sling it - Absolute beginners (David Bowie) - Friend for life - Cosat of Amalfi - Mr Raffles - Audience with a man - BREAK of 20 to 25 minutes - Stranger comes to town - Last time I saw you - Save me - She belongs to me (Bob Dylan) - Mr Soft - All in a life's work - Love's a primadonna - Sebastian - Make me smile - Tumbling down.
The set list for the second and the third shows were alike except that in Zeist, Theater Figi, he left out Tumbling down.
The venue in Amsterdam was the "Q Factory" a big complex including a cafe, a hotel, rehearsal rooms and the venue. The hall itself was, to my mind, ugly with a bad sound. The audience was perceptive and responding to Steve's music, and especially to his anecdotes about Bob Dylan, his appreciation of Bowie's work, and that he had his first major success in the Netherlands.

The second concert was in Weert, De Bosuil. Cosy little venue compared to the Q Factory, lower stage and better sound. The audience was easy going and its mood even better than that in Amsterdam. The set was the same, though. Steve started quite late, so the loading-in of the equipment into the van was just before midnight, if I remember correctly. IT WAS HORRIBLY COLD and humid! My breath looked like smoke of a cigarette (I don't smoke). Through the stage door you could see the edge of the stage, there was James talking to Ruud and his wife. Finally, when all band members were out, Steve came and he was immediately beleaguered by 3 Dutch autograph collectors (they looked like those -SORRY if I am mistaken!) and later by a small group of Germans, all asking questions, asking for autographs and photos. I was standing too far away so I could not hear what they were talking about. All in all it took at least 12 or 13 minutes until Steve got into the van. I admired him for having so much patience and endured the cold (which almost crept into my bones). At least I could give him the two little gifts: one big chocolate "S" (for the Dutch Sint Klaas,, I think) and a large envelope with three cards with stamps my aunt made espacially for Steve.
(My aunt loves doing calligraphy and that stuff, and months ago she started using old stamps and turned them into little "paintings". I supplied my aunt with photos of Steve and she did the "Steve"-stamps.)

Now to the most touching moment was in Weert.
The most heartwarming moment was in Weert: Debs R.'s encounter with a blind German woman who was there on her own to hear Steve. Her name was Alexandra. She was standing right up Steve's mic-stand. Steve realised early enough
her condition. At the last bars of "Sebastian" he bend down to her, took her right hand and put one plectron firmly into her hand, then gave her a gentle stroke on one side of her face. You can imagine how happy she was. I did not speak much with Alexandra though, Deb did. I should ask her about it.

Hi,
Traveled from Edinburgh to Weert for the concert last Saturday.
Great show great venue at De Bosuil, full house as expected.
Bonus was breakfast with the band as they were staying in the Golden Tulip in Weert.

Wow, that's nice to hear. But coming from Edinburgh you need something special!