Live-Report: Rock Meets Classic 2015 (Leipzig, March 25th, 2015)

Another year, another Rock Meets Classic tour in Europe! In 2014 I attended this show for the first time and everybody, who read my live-report knows that I was totally blown away by this fantastic mixture between Rock hits and Classic arrangements, performed by various Rock legends such as Alice Cooper, Joe Lynn Turner or Uriah Heep. The line-up last year was the best I've ever seen and so I was excited to see who will be part of the show this time around. Yeah, what can I say? The line-up has again many well-known Rock'n'Roll superstars to offer.



Ian Gillan (Deep Purple), Rick Parfitt (Status Quo), Eric Martin (Mr. Big), John Wetton (Asia), Marc Storace (Krokus) and special guest Gianna Nannini brought us one hell of a show. But it wouldn't be fair to reduce this event to its famous singers, because there are three more very important parts that ensured an enjoyable show: first of all the fantastic Bohemian Symphony Orchestra Prague, second the rockin' Mat Sinner band and last but not least the choir, lead by the beautiful Amanda Somerville. When all these things come together it makes a tasty cocktail you rarely find somewhere else.

I think around 4.000 people attended the show this time and like last year I have to criticize the audience in Leipzig - at least for the first half of the show. It's always sad to see singers like Marc Storace or John Wetton working their asses off on stage and all they get is a little hand clapping here and there. For sure it was a difficult start because I think for the mainstream audience bands like Asia or Krokus are a bit too special and they simply don't know most of their songs, but a bit more enthusiasm from the audience would have been great. I'm also not the biggest Asia fan but John Wetton has a great voice and presented us a solid performance as well as Marc Storace, who started the show with the AC/DC classic "Thunderstruck" and just one single song ("Long Stick Goes Boom") from his main band Krokus. This was a rockin' start!

The first real highlight for me was singer Eric Martin from Mr. Big. He is the born entertainer and such a funny and likeable guy with a fantastic remarkable voice. He has so much fun on stage and his set was awesome. When he performed Mr Big's smash hit "To Be With You" the ice was also broken in the audience. This was the first time when the people got up from their seats for standing ovations. It was also really funny how Eric introduced the whole band and orchestra to us, while mastermind Mat Sinner left the stage and let him talk.

The next in line was special guest Gianna Nannini and I was a bit woried about her appearance at Rock Meets Classic, because I saw her already as support act for Bon Jovi back in 2008 and it wasn't my cup of tea, but I have to say this time she really surprised me. The orchestral arrangements were great and fit perfectly to the songs and everybody was singing out loud to her airplay hit "Bello e  Impossibile". But there was also time for a very quiet moment. Surprisingly Gianna took a minute of silence for the victims from flight 4U9525, that crashed two days ago. 150 people died and in my opinion this minute of silence was a nice gesture.

After a short break the show went on with a fantastic performance of Meat Loaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love" by the whole choir, orchestra and the Mat Sinner band. Goosebumps were guaranteed. Next in line was Rick Parfitt from Status Quo and I just can say this men is rigthly a legend. His performance was the absolutely highlight at this evening. Altough he is pretty old this men is such a gifted guitarplayer, who comes along with so much coolness so that you can't believe that this guy is already 67 years old - a true Rock'n'Roll hero, who lives this lifestyle. Also his set was fantastic, because every single song was a classic "Whatever You Want" or "Rockin' All Over The World" made the whole audience move.

After such a great performance the headliner of this evening - Ian Gillan from Deep Purple - had a tough time to convince me. Simply because some of the Deep Pruple songs aren't made to sing along like those feel-good songs from Status Quo and I'm more a fan of such sing-along tracks. But beside my personal taste it is undeniable that Ian Gillian is a first class Rock singer. "Hush" and of course the alltime classic "Smoke On The Water" (where all musicians entered the stage again, except Gianna Nannini) were my big favorites here.

Like I said the orchestra was again fantastic and very entertaining, as well as the whole Mat Sinner band and all background singers. It would go to far to talk about each person involved in this show, so if one of them reads this: you know who you are and you did an amazing job once more!

Finally I just can say that the Rock Meets Classic show 2015 in Leipzig was another winner and an awesome experience, although the line-up was slightly better last year in my opinion. But this is just my personal taste. Every fan of Rock and Classic should attend this show immediately. Come to Germany, to Austria, to Switzerland or wherever they play, because it's worth the ride! And now I'm counting down the days for another round in 2016!

You'd like to see more pictures from the show? Then take a look at the official Facebook-Page to this blog: https://www.facebook.com/RockMetal4You

Setlist:

01. Thunderstruck (with Marc Storace, AC/DC song)
02. Long Stick Goes Boom (with Marc Storace, Krokus)
03. Don't Cry (with John Wetton, Asia)
04. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (with John Wetton, Asia)
05. Only Time Will Tell (with John Wetton, Asia)
06. Heat Of The Moment (with John Wetton, Asia)
07. Take Cover (with Eric Martin, Mr. Big)
08. Wild World (with Eric Martin, Cat Stevens song)
09. Just Take My Heart (with Eric Martin, Mr. Big)
10. To Be With You (with Eric Martin, Mr. Big)
11. Green-Tinted Sixties Mind (with Eric Martin, Mr. Big)
12. America (with Gianna Nannini)
13. Bello e impossibile (with Gianna Nannini)
14. Dio é morto (with Gianna Nannini)
15. Latin Lover (with Gianna Nannini)
16. Nel blu dipinto di blu (with Gianna Nannini, Domenico Modugno song)
17. I Would Do Anything For Love (Meat Loaf song)
18. Whatever You Want (with Rick Parfitt, Status Quo)
19. In The Army Now (with Rick Parfitt, Bolland & Bolland song)
20. Rain (with Rick Parfitt, Status Quo)
21. Down Down (with Rick Parfitt, Status Quo)
22. Rockin' All Over The World (with Rick Parfitt, John Fogerty song)
23. Highway Star (with Ian Gillan, Deep Purple)
24. Strange Kind Of Woman (with Ian Gillan, Deep Purple)
25. Perfect Strangers (with Ian Gillan, Deep Purple)
26. When A Blind Man Cries (with Ian Gillan, Deep Purple)
27. Hush (with Ian Gillan, Joe South song)
28. Black Night (with Ian Gillan, Deep Purple)

Encore:
29. Smoke On The Water (with Ian Gillan, Deep Purple)