Montezuma's Revenge Pop Art
March 4th 2006 - Waldurfschule Münster
It was in July 2005 that Monika and I chatted in ICQ and decided we would go to a Montezuma concert together. We checked the tour dates and places and thought Münster would be great. On a Saturday night, somewhere in the middle between our home and Monika's home. Perfect.
The only thing we didn't know last summer, was that Bastian (Monika's son, who was also
coming along) had to play a badminton match that afternoon, so they had to hurry to get to
Münster. And I had to play a volleyball match. Normally we never play at Saturday, but
today... I had told my teammates I had to leave at 17:00 and we timed it perfectly,
because at 17:00 sharp the third set ended, so I could get a shower and get on the road to Münster.
My teammates had to finish the match without me. This was the first time I went to a Zuma concert in
Germany. Normally when we are going to a concert in Germany it's a Wise Guys concert. It caused a
really weird, funny feeling in my stomach. I could still hear the new Wise Guys songs in my head,
because I've been listening to the Wise Guys Totalnacht recording all week long. But no, today
it's Zuma in Germany! Change the switch, Corine!
As always we arrived too early. The parking place was deserted. We sat in our car and waited for a while, in the meantime we could observe dozens of rabbits jumping through the snow which was a very funny sight. We wrote an SMS to Monika ("Oops, wir sind schon da") and received an answer quickly ("Wir sind auch schon in Münster, werden aber noch pommes essen"), walked around the building and went inside because it was too cold to wait outside. A little later Monika, Bastian and Lena arrived and we could calmly find the best seats in the theater. We decided we had the best view in the first row. Nobody was there yet, just us, so we settled down and chatted until 20:00.
There was no scenery on the stage and I was wondering whether they'd forgotten to take it with them ;)
But later I found out there was no possibility to hang it in this theater. But I didn't miss it at all.
The Montezuma's started their show with Beautiful. They didn't wear the
costumes this time, I don't know why. But that didn't matter. I enjoyed the song so much, I just love
the arrangement. Looking for a place to land was next, and it's always funny
to hear the reactions in the audience ("oooooh!") when they build the pyramid. I felt really happy to be
here tonight and the Wise Guys songs that had been in my head all week, were gone immediately. Even my
Rock4 fever decreased as I rediscovered why I became such a Zuma-fan.
Another day is beautiful to hear and on my left I saw Monika enjoying it as well. A new fan was born already. There was a big applause, even though the audience was small. During It will come in time Menno shows us his great sense of humor. Menno takes all the steps wrong, when the others go left he goes right, when they go right he goes left. In the end, Menno is standing in the middle and gets really confused when Paul and Sanne on his right go right, and Hans and Bert on his left go left. What should he do? Really teasing, if you ask me ;)
Bert sings Aïcha, and it's so beautiful this time. I do prefer those small theaters like this,
or... I just like to sit close by. To sit in the first row is always great. In
Zoetermeer
I really missed the expressions on their faces during the show. Bert gets rewarded with a big applause. Then it's
time to hear the Zumakids speak German. Smart kids, by the way. Hans' son complains to his dad, because he thought he
would be free today but now he is in a school anyway. They start to sing I'll be there for
you and halfway little Paul starts to cry because his daddy is always only singing "dum-ti-dum-ti-dum".
The following conversation is just as hilarious in German as in Dutch and we laugh a lot. After Paul has harshly
silenced his son, they can finish the song. The sons sing along as well, but not as clearly and funny as I heard them
before. (Perhaps they can't sing in German) ;)
Paul brings his son to a woman in the first row. She can look after him for a while, and in the meantime Paul sings If I ain't got you. I wrote it before; It's not my favorite song of the show. But today I really enjoyed it. Pauls voice is so great tonight and Monika is sitting next to me, listening to the sound as if she was in trance. Wow. After this, it is time to sing Angels and Hans explains us what we have to sing. Luckily they have made the tunes we have to sing a little easier (In Zoetermeer the audience had hardly sung because it was really hard) and today the audience sings really well, if you ask me. When Sanne let us hear the tune for the third group and starts a mouth drumming solo, Bastian changes places and sits down next to Martin, which causes a lot of laughter. They both repeat the mouth drumming solo, but Bastian decides to go back to the second group, which is being objected by Hans on stage. Anyway, eventually we sing three different tunes and accompany the Zuma's during the start of the song. It sounds good. Before the men have a break, there's the exhausting Dance Medley. It's a medley full of dancing songs (for a complete list of the songs, read my report from Zoetermeer) and during the songs I can't sit still. Oh what a night.
Time for a drink. There's no coffee or tea, there's only "Wein, Sekt, Apfelschorle and Mineralwasser". Ok... zwei Apfelschorle bitte. The break is over pretty quickly and everybody is sitting on his chairs already, and when the sound technician enters the hall everybody falls silent because it probably means the break is over. And it is. The lights turn off and the five men appear on stage again. They show us the Maori Dance and I still don't understand why this is part of the show, because it is so silly. But it's funny, so who cares. Next is the song Smooth. Luckily they brought the five chairs. No costumes at the starts, no scenery on the stage, but the chairs are there! They make the 'dangerous' chair trick (where they step up the back of the chair and make it fall over) look really simple, but I doubt it if it's really that simple.
It's time for I want you back. When I hear the first tones, I start to smile and I'm hoping Hans is going to pick Monika to be his 'victim'. Hans starts to sing "When I had you to myself.." and he's pointing at me. "No... that can't be true, is he really pointing at me? Is he? No, he isn't, I'm only imagining he is. Oh my god, he _is_ pointing at me. No, this can't be true. Pick Monika!" That's about the thoughts that were running through my mind at that point. "But now since I see you in his arms" and Hans points at Martin. "It is true, he picked me... ok ok, just let it happen..."
I'm wondering if knowing
what is about to come is a good point, or not. Martin grabs the camera away from me and Hans comes down the
stage and kneels down in front of me. "Aaaaaah...." What happens next is hard to describe. I'm flying
somewhere in the sky... The other four come to the edge of the stage and try to get my attention, and then
they come down the stage. Hans takes Martins seat, Sanne pushes Monika away so he can sit next to me as
well, and Menno, Bert and Paul are standing and kneeling down right in front of me. "AAAAAAHHH" I don't know
where to look! I look from one face to another, damn they are so close! I think I've got the biggest smile on
my face ever. (More about it in my
blog) Why me!!? *scream*
The show goes on with Breakfast in America, but I'm still totally stunned because of what has just happened. I really like this song a lot, but I feel like I'm missing it, my thoughts are still with the previous song. I'm not complaining. I really enjoyed it! Next is Falling in love again/Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt. A beautiful solo for Paul and when he starts singing, there's a sigh of recognition in the audience.
Then it's Sanne's turn to sing Marlene on the wall, and this really is one of my favorite songs of this show. As always, I'm totally captivated by his voice during this song. So pure. The only disturbing thing is a woman who is making pictures. She's doing that all evening. Whenever she wants to make a picture, she walks (!!) towards the stage and puts her camera on the edge of the stage in order to make pictures. I've already been wondering why she is doing that, because every time she walks forward, she is disturbing the audience AND the singers. During Sanne's solo, she even dares to walk from the left to the right side of the stage, so she's walking in front of the audience. It's really disturbing and distracting, because suddenly the song is over and it's as if the audience didn't notice the end of the song. There's an uncertain applause and the look on Sanne's face doesn't need words to describe his irritation. Really unbelievable. Such a beautiful song and to have the guts to ruin the concentration, the atmosphere around it. Unbelievable.
They quickly get their laptops and start working from 9 to 5. In the end,
where Paul is climbing on his chair because there's a (computer)mouse on the ground, the audience is
confused whether they should applaud or if they are too early. I think most people don't see
what is happening first. But then they discover the mouse, and they get the joke. It's a matter of perfect
timing and having an attentive audience. The careful applause changes to an enthusiastic applause and Paul
dares to climb down his chair. Then they sing Time in a bottle.
Hans is putting the bottle on a suitcase, but it's quite unstable first. I'm scared it might fall off! But
it doesn't fall of, and the magic trick succeeds.
When they start with Sign 'O' the Times, I hear Monika next to me giving
a big sigh "Aaaah, Prince!". It's a very cool song, I love the arrangement and I'm still amazed by the
simplicity of the choreo, which is so great. This is clearly one of those occasions where less is more!
After this song, Sanne appears on stage with a suitcase, to sing If you're not the one.
I thought they might skip this song, because there's not much light equipment in this theater.
But they're singing the song anyway. Sanne hands out the dress, hat, boa and glove and the other four
are forming a woman with it. It's a beautiful song, but it's a pity they can't put the 'woman' in a
spotlight.
The show is almost ending, but not before they put on their tie-skirts and sing Living la Vida Loca. I quickly whisper to Monika that Sari (from the Wise Guys) can learn from looking at Berts swinging hips. It's another song where I can't sit still. I'm wondering if a concert without chairs (ein Stehkonzert - wie heißt das auf Englisch??) would work with Montezuma...
After a big applause, they return to sing When I get you alone. All dressed up they reappear on the stage and because Sanne can't find his tuning fork, Menno conjures one from his hat to get the first tone. But then Sanne pulls an oversized tuning-fork out of his pocket which gives a louder tone. During this song they show several magic tricks, and during one of those tricks, Bert is having some trouble with his shirt. His shirt is not fastened correctly, and it falls down. It's so funny to see him, first struggling and trying to keep his shirt where it's supposed to be, and then just let it go and laugh about it.
Normally, in the Netherlands, this would be the extra song. The show would be over. But the applause in Münster is big, we all stand up and cheer and scream for more. And we get more! They sing The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and that concludes this wonderful evening. To hear this song live is so great! I think I heard it live once, a long long long time ago. Or maybe not? Anyhow, if I heard it, there were definitely different Zuma's. I really like today's Zuma's a lot, and I hope they'll keep singing in this formation for a long time!