SUNDAY
14 JANUARY 2001


SZENE VIENNA

Piano:

My Room [solo]
Siren Song
A Better Time
Tango For One
Unrehearsed




More Vienna Photos by Tamas from Hungary are HERE

Guitar:

Comfortable
Shingle Song
Nightman/Like Veronica
Ophelia
Modern

Piano:

Autumn
Bubble
Faculty X
Still Life

===== Encore:
Patient

Next 2 Photos and commentary are from Rick/KC



Vienna was sort of like being inside a black box. Really tall ceiling, but not a seat or table in sight.

Vienna was my first, though by now I can't remember what kept me from joining up for the early gigs. Oh, well. I crowded the edge of the stage with Koen V and Stefan. I found the gig the most filled with Hammill / audience banter of the seven I saw. Peter seemed to be having a great fun time.

He even commented to the audience that it should be obvious that there was still a lot of fun in the doing of it.

According to my diary, after playing Veronica, Peter called over to Stuart, "Time for a quick shift. A red shift. No, just kidding. Any other songs of mine you don't know?" I also noted a powerful visual which accompanied plucking all those characters from thin air. Wasn't repeated in any subsequent version. . . .



FROM KOEN V [PH7 LIST]:

I wasn't too convinced of the vocals during the Karlsruhe show, but in Vienna we got one of the most powerful shows in recent planetary history! In fact -- consulting my gig list -- the last time I was so impressed must have been Utrecht or Amsterdam in January 1998. Since nobody has sent in a word on the Vienna show, I'll provide a blurb about it later on, but don't expect a set-list from me.

The experience (yes, the here and now thing!) was so intense that I couldn't possibly remember all the songs. And no, I don't smoke anything funny.

The concert has been filmed by a local (or regional) station, 3 or 4 songs will be broadcasted in a few months. Part of the Vienna show was also video-ed by an official looking crew.

Apparently they got three pieces of Dagmar warming up the crowd, and five PH/SG. Dunno who, what, when it might be broadcast.

The show started a little bit restrained. But at least from the guitar Vienna started with a bit of comic relief. One of Stuart's little cabled boxes had gone belly-up, so they couldn't start the set as intended. While Stuart went off for a repair or replacement, Peter came to the front of the stage and announced the mime version of a Hammill concert, upon which he started mouthing words soundlessly, and staggering about the stage in slow motion.

Stuart not having returned on stage, Peter sat down at the keyboard and launched into a solo version of My Room. With sound this time. I hadn't heard this one played live in a very long time and enjoyed it thoroughly even if Peter apparently hadn't been playing it either since I last heard him do it.

'Losing the plot completely' is per- haps the only correct description. After the song, Peter called it a very hairy version. Indeed. But then Stuart was back, the equipment worked fine, and the set took off.

Some songs I do have a recollection of, but in no particular order: we had A Better Time in the first piano set, which must have started with Siren Song. Tango For One was also memorable. Especially for myself, since I'm one of those that aren't really wild about None Of The Above, but the live versions of the songs make a _lot_ more sense to me.

Presumably be- cause they're then stripped down to their essence. In the guitar set, we had an Ophelia :-). Also a Modern, which had a lot of Jericho in it, but who cares. Comfortable of course. Shingle Song. And an absolutely fabulous Like Veronica.

No broken strings there ... The second keyboard set had Autumn, Faculty X, even with largely corect lyrics I believe, and ended with Still Life from the 'nostalgia fest' repertoire.

There was one encore, Patient, on guitar of course.

Faculty X got a funny introduction and segued five minutes later into Traintime.

The encore was In my opinion, optimally chosen: Modern.

Unrehearsed

Oh, yes, that one was played in Vienna as well ...

FROM STEFAN L [PH7 LIST]

I have also been at the Vienna concert and I was very impressed. PH was a real entertainer, making many jokes and often repeating that he really enjoyed playing here and that it was a pleasure to play here etc. The "hairy" My Room was very funny, and after the concert I really understood Peter's philosophy of not really rehearsing for tours - it's just more interesting to jump into the cold water!

10 HAMBURG

12 KARLSRUHE

13 EBENSEE

16 LINZ

17 DARMSTADT

18 HALLE

19 DRESDEN

20 BERLIN

21 KOLN