2014-02-01 - Stadthalle - Offenbach, GER

[serrano]

Something seems to go wrong with the VIP tickets for Offenbach, meet and greet only available with side seating tickets in the back of the venue.  I hope they correct it, since if I pay 200 EUR for a ticket I expect to be on the first row just in front of JP.

[serrano]

Got the tickets anyway, is anyone else here going to be there?

[Rhayader]

I will be there and in Ludwigsburg as well.

[Ralph]

Hi dudes and dudettes!

Long time lurker, even longer time fan and first time poster here. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and observations from the Offenbach show with you.
Maybe some of you have been there too - I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

The Offenbach show marked some sort of anniversary for me as I saw DT live for the first time on Feb 10, 1995 at the very same venue on the "Waking up the World Tour".
Since then I've seen them about ten times in different cities and venues here in Germany, but I like to think about the recent show on Saturday as my (almost) 20 year anniversary with DT 

Man ... time really flies 

I don't know why they played Offenbach Stadthalle and not the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt (maybe scheduling conflicts) as the later is - in my eyes - the nicer and bigger venue.
But I can tell you, the place was packed up to the roof! Quite literally as there is a large standing room in front of the stage with a seated balcony area in the back going up to the ceiling of the room.
And you could instantly tell that the place was sold out, people even stood in the last row behind the last seats up at the top of the seated area.

James even said in his introductory words, that they love it when the venue is packed in such a way.
But man, it was hard to get a good view when you're standing amongst that many people and don't belong to tallest guys in the world 
At the end I had settled somewhat center and around 20-30 feet from the stage which is fair enough 

Some random thoughts and observations:

• A big THANK YOU and WELL DONE to all you guys who made the animations and videos!!! Absolutely brilliant and highly enjoyable! People loved every part of it 
• As the setlist is well known I'd just like to say that I absolutely loved every part of it. Awake and SFAM are amongst my top tier albums and it was absolutely great to see Scarred, SDV and  Finally Free live. The crowd went nuts at the beginning of Overture 1928!
• During TEI the camera guy really rocked out to the tune in his chair.
• Although I'm not the biggest fan of the 12 Steps Suite, I think it was a very clever move of the guys to include TSF in the setlist as it is some sort of medley / conclusion for the whole suite.
• The animations during Enigma Machine are hilarious 
• BAI and especially IT are BIG crowd favorites. To see IT live was a great experience!
• All of the guys were on top of their game, especially JLB nailed it big time!
• Being a big fan of Awake I was moved to tears to see SDV live. Works very good in live environment (in my eyes) and got a great crowd reaction. I sure hope they will shoot a live DVD at some point of the tour!
• The energy level of the band and in the crowd was steadily rising. During IT and especially the SFAM songs it was all smiles from JLB and the other guys!
• Although I have seen TDOE live years ago during the SFAM tour I was totally floored! That song live is like a fucking vulcano eruption 
• It is such a joy to see MM hammering away behind the kit, such a great guy. Theres lots of energy coming from him. He went absolutely nuts during TDOE and Finally Free!

I'm sure that I forgot to mention a few things but seeing DT live is a wonderful experience, even after twenty years!
Needless to say - I drove home like this: 

To conclude this: If you are still not sure whether to see them this tour or not ... get your tickets ASAP and enjoy as the guys are better than ever.
Great performance, great production, great night!!!

[Thomas Pasieka]

• A big THANK YOU and WELL DONE to all you guys who made the animations and videos!!! Absolutely brilliant and highly enjoyable! People loved every part of it 

I am one of those guys! So glad to hear that you enjoyed that part of the show! Always puts a big smile on my face knowing that people appreciate the animations/videos. Did you by chance take pictures or videos? Would love to see. Are you going to the show in Duesseldorf or anyone else here?

[Daso]

There's quite a few good videos of this show on YouTube. None of them are mine, but for those who are keeping track of how performances are going 

[serrano]

The performance was stellar,  better than 2 years ago on the same venue (and back them it was great).
The videos and animations were brilliant, my respect to Blob and Thomas.

My only complaint is that this time they decided to put some of the PA speakers on the stage, one of them just in front of JP's pedalboard, 40cm in front of my face. Once i plugged my earbuds  the sound was great, the mix was more balanced and i could even hear Jordan. On the last tour i could only hear JP, MM and barely James.

James performance was great over the setlist, but Scarred, Illumination Theory and Lifting Shadows 

EDIT: I asked JP to throw me a pick. He took it literally and hit my in the face.

[Daso]

You plugged your earbuds to the PA peaker?