May 22nd 2006. I remember that day very clearly. One year passed but all the emotions are still fresh, every detail is so vivid. So, as Russians say, “we have a good reason to have a party”. I’d like to describe that “party reason” here, in this article. So I’m adding my impressions to all others’ reviews about last year Chris Norman’s tour.

Part 1. The prelude. The sole concert’s overture. In 2005 my friend and me went to the “Disco of the 80s” show. To be honest, I decided to go there just because of Chris… and maybe because of Bonnie Tyler, as well. Actually I associate Bonnie with Chris. Their voices sound in a similar way: a little bit husky but still charming and thrilling. We were waiting for a while: our heroes came out as the curtain fell. Bonnie was the first to sing and… ladies and gentlemen! Chris Norman!.. There was my tiny opera-glasses, my bad sight and people with dull faces among us. And so, Chris Norman! We are crying as we’re so glad to see him at last! We look at him from so far and so he seems to be just 5 cm tall, almost unreal. I’m nervous: I’d like to see and to hear EVERYTHING, in every detail. Suddenly I notice a guy with spyglasses! I ask him: “Hey buddy! Gimme that one!” He shakes his head: “Nope” I say “alright” and take my minispyglasses. Then my friend touches my shoulder, gives me those spyglasses and says: “Can you believe they were about to “go” upstairs when the owner called his friend. He was like “Listen, Palych! Give me the glasses back, girls here are going crazy with Chris. We need help immediately!” That’s how I’ve seen Chris through spyglasses! He was doing very well, his songs were fantastic, but it was impossible to feel him staying so far from the stage. At that moment an idea came to my head: it would be awesome if I went to Chris’s own concert, for example in the concert hall “Oktyabrsky”! Singers seems to be different in such an atmosphere, they behave in a different way. I think that during “80s Disco” though he was perfect Chris didn’t seem to be relaxed. It was easy to notice especially when Russian guys (Markin and Minaev) compering the concert wanted him to sing the last song in Russian! Maestro did it and then disappeared somehow (by the way so did Bonnie). The end of the song was sung without him. That’s why there was something unfinished in all Chris’s performance…No comments.

Part 2. The year of 2006. The solo concert. I think I don’t need to describe the set-list: it is already known. I’m going to tell you about my impressions from Chris, his unique singing and the people.

So let’s start. How Chris looks like: big and smiling. Thanks God I could see his poster every morning in Petersburg’s subway and every morning (and every evening) I was able to pass him by saying “Hello!”. This way I was preparing myself for the coming concert. That “Hello” was full of respect and eternal affection, no familiarity at all. Actually the people who prepared me were my colleagues fussing around and helping to compile the text with congrats, making a charming posy and supporting me morally.

The concert. Maestro and the audience. We had tickets in a simple part of the hall: the very end of parterre. But as the concert took place on a work day we had a hope that there won’t be too many people. My friends and me found out in the ticket office and put down the numbers of free seats. But still we had to change our seats three times and at last we took the best ones: in the center, 6th row, with the STAGE AHEAD. A family was sitting in front of us: mom, dad and a little girl, everyone had such happy faces that I even told my friend: “Look, the public matches the singer in their mood”. I saw that family singing all the concert long, especially the girl (and she was 12 or 13 years old!). Can you believe it? So, the conclusion: the average age of the audience didn’t start at 40! To the right there was a couple with so-called “rich” faces. He was bald and looked prosperous. She was so beautiful, but so cold at the same time. A little bit later, after taking our “right” positive energy, the man was even joining in a song and was trying to look happy. By stealth, so his wife wouldn’t get it. And of course there were my friends and me: crazy, gorgeous and happy. Actually we were those positive impulses that the audience was taking in and then giving that powerful energy to Maestro. I can say it about first 6 rows that were under my “patronage”!

CHRIS. As if my mind was in a haze. Ladies and gentlemen… Chris Norman… Live… on stage. A deep breath. Chris!.. A sigh: I’ll meet you at midnight… Here are my first emotions. He appeared on stage and started singing off the cuff, unexpectedly. And he turned to be so close immediately, just like this, in a second… It was the right method (for me, at least). Later there was a charming “Hi!” and the audience gave in. A woman’s husky voice: “Chris! You are Beautiful!” Maestro laughs and answers back: “You too!” Some “Smokie” songs. One guy from the first row with a faded white rose (he was so touched) was trying to give his “precious” to Maestro. Finally Chris kneeled to him (while the musicians were smiling kindly), spit on his palm for some reason and shaked the guy’s hand. The guy got stunned but after all decided that that special “stamp” would be better. Happy and a little bit lost, he came back to his place.

More songs. His voice. So moving, sincere, naughty, positive. The audience reminds a storm-glass: holds its breath when listening to lyric and philosophic songs, cheers listening to merry ones. His facial expression is so live, so kind. The singer is so sunny. A middle-aged woman with a posy comes up to the stage. Maestro kneels to her, so respectfully and carefully. The woman is kissing him for a long while. Then he spits as a joke (but it was provoked!). It’s strange but it doesn’t look vulgar, he’s always on a verge. After that, a rocker-girl with some kind of a toy kitten or a puppy runs out of the middle of the hall. Chris “falls” on his knees theatrically while a beautiful Amazon turns out to be enjoying the moment and kissing Chris. What a girl! But that’s all about the concert’s atmosphere: wonderful, warm and agreeable.

Flowers again. Lots of flowers. This time Chris collected all of them and stretched to the guitarist Joey. And the poor guy couldn’t cope with guitar’s wires, Chris and flowers and started tossing around in search of the exit. But Maestro wasn’t taken aback: he gave a kiss to his bewildered tiny colleague and showed him the way to the side scenes. The spirit of that situation reminded a joke: “Honey! Are you lost? – No, I’m just happy!”. But as far as I remember Joey never reached the side scenes, he just gave all the treasures to someone else and stayed hanging out on stage.

Then, rock’n’roll, baby!!! So hot, cool, awesome! During the concert the guards didn’t let people stand up and dance in spite of Maestro’s calls. They were just passing by and saying gloomily: “Not allowed!” In the very end those guys gave up: “All right, never mind! You can dance, guys!” And the people had so much fun! Everybody from the back of the stalls, the loudest and the most active, moved to the stage.

And at last there was a farewell. Well thought-out and stagy. First the people were perplexed: “How’s that? Why is Chris singing in another manner? Without microphone, and with another, special voice?” But it turned out to be another performance, fantastic acting, his own interpretation of someone’s idea. The movements and mimics are so exact. Well-done, Chris! I’d give him an “A” – everything in him: singer, musician, actor… a real person! That is all everybody needs! It is so cool when your hero turns out to be exactly the way as you imagined him (and even better!) – so wise, warm and enchanting. His manner of treating the audience without familiarity or condescension, but friendly and funny is fantastic. To cut a long story short the best thing that can happen is to find a dream and to win with it.

There are no omission points after that concert. It’s like semicolon. And I hope (no, EVERYBODY hopes!) that we’ll meet again! We’ll give our happiness from the association to Maestro and he’ll present us himself in his songs.