Jim Kroft – Lindenbrauerei, Unna; Mai 22nd, 2013
Second night in a row of seeing Jim – I could totally get used to this. 😉 I did expect less people than in Cologne, but not this few. When I arrived, only J. was there and it was just the two of us for about one hour. Even by the time they opened the doors there were not many people around. It is a nice venue but a bit big for so few people. We counted 33 in the beginning so there may have been around 50 later and most of them stayed at the tables in the back. I felt sorry for the bands – they would have deserved a full house.
The Plea started of well, making good use of the bigger stage. The sound was a bit loud at first and there was too much echo on the microphones for my taste, but that was only evident when they spoke and got better when Jim was on stage. I enjoyed their set just like I did the previous day. Their songs have a quality for getting stuck in your head after hearing them a few times. I sure hope to hear of them again, they were fun!
Setlist
Praise be
Odyssey
Feel it ticking
Oh ah yay
Out like a light
Glass Waltz
Staggers
Changing the stage setup took longer this time, maye they were hoping a few more people would show up. I took the time to go and talk to a few of my former colleagues who had come to the concert as well. I was a bit worried the lack of audience would dampen the band’s enthusiasm, but the contrary happened. Having so few people there made them work harder and the whole show was very energetic. 😀
I had been hoping for a small change in the setlist, but they had the same one as the previous day. It didn’t matter though as I really liked that one. I love the fact that he plays a few songs from the “One Story, One Song” project too even though they have only been released on Spotify. Especially ‘Promises made in vain’ is really beautiful. He also mixed the new songs nicely with the older ones and we got songs from all three albums, some of which I had already forgotten about.
The songs I remembered best were the ones played on the tour with Martin and James last year like ‘Birthrights’, “The Great Doomsday Story’, ‘Memoirs from the Afterlife’ or ‘Guess that’s what the Gods said’, but by no I recognized the ones from the new album as well. Personal highlights foe me were ‘Threads’ and ‘Through my Weakness’, my favorites on the album, but I enjoyed many others as well. ‘Tell me’ was good for a sing-along and so was ‘Waiting for a healing’.
Considering the small number of people we were quite loud in calling them for encores and they gladly complied. All night they played their hearts out, giving us all they had. I loved watching and photographing them, enjoyed the freedom to move around while doing so. It was a fun show and anyone who didn’t go there missed something. After this one, I would not mind seeing a few more, but it won’t happen this tour. Maybe next time.
Setlist
The Hooligan Army
Bye bye the Elbe
The Jailer
The great Doomsday Story
Threads
Birthrights
There’s something missing
If I’m born too late
Haiku
Promises made in vain
I hope you know
Guess that’s what the Gods say
Memoires from the afterlife
Tell me (where to begin)
See how the darkness grows
The Loneliness of the Vampire
Dreaming to some purpose
Through my Weakness
Encore
Waiting for a Healing
Lullabies in Spring
After the show there was the usual chatting. Jim, as always was polite and interested. He is just such a nice guy, making everyone feel important and genuinely grateful for support. He said he’d much rather play for a few people who really want to see him than for a huge audience who’s just there because it’s the place to be. Such a humble person, who seems perfectly happy with what he has achieved. It’s just great to see him gain a bigger following and more success. 🙂