Concert in Berlin

Gig in Berlin (1st of December 2012) – review

A Florence + the Machine gig in Berlin…one of the most intense experiences I’ve ever experienced. As fans, our biggest dream came true and we got more than we could ever have imagine – but as a fan club (more than anything) we had occasion to see each other in real life, to talk, laugh and (of course) cry together. And we made ourselves easy to notice. We did our best by taking two Polish flags with us, where we wrote “WHY NOT IN POLAND?” and “YOU ARE A GIFT”. We also prepared a banner with the inscription “SEX SWEET NOTHING”.

It’s worth mentioning that during our 4-hour waiting at the arena we could hear the soundcheck. Although it was freezing, we felt the warmth emanating from Florence’s voice behind those enormous doors… When they finally let us in, about 7 pm, we ran as fast as we could (despite our stiff and sore legs) straight towards the barriers. Never in my life have I managed to run a hundred meters in half a second.

In anticipation of FATM, we were revelling at the supporting band, which was the performance of Spector. (I’d like to add that I fell in love head over heels with them, they were really amazing. And the vocalist confessed love to us ;)). During their performance Isa, Rob and Chris showed up for a while on the side of the stage. All of the lights faded and the music subsided when finally came the moment, that stage had become completely empty. It is hard to describe what a fan feels, when he/she experiences being at the concert of their beloved band, which he/she has listened to for a years (and stared at Florence’s photos at the same time!), for the very first time. First sounds of ‘Only If For a Night’ and the Machine’s outcoming on the stage caused the furor, but the real power and authority over whole 7-thousand audience was Florence’s voice, which severally touched and moved each individual. Actually, neatly punched each soul. The three meters that divided us from the stage made it possible for us to see Florence in all her glory (seemingly closing her eyes, she read the writings on our flags!). It all felt like watching a really good, three-dimensional live stream in the highest quality. I particularly remembered the moment, when Flo (right after performing ‘What the Water Gave Me’) was losing her balance when trying to stand at the end of the speaker, which gave us the impression that she was going to fall straight on us. For the first few tracks there was a very solemn atmosphere. Florence was absent, her eyes wandered somewhere, disappeared. While singing she couldn’t stop having her head in the clouds and coming back to us. She totally lost herself in the music without paying attention to anything that surrounded her. Especially memorable was ‘Cosmic Love’, so powerful and full of magic that we could feel it in the air. Soon, however, we enjoyed the view of the continually, most beautiful and charming, smiling Florence. We also can’t ignore Rob, which at sight of our heart-shaped hands directed his way, and frantically waving in later time, gave us an engaging smile and… winked at us. Uhh.

I laughed when at the beginning, after the first few tracks, Flo went away and started to rearrange her hair with hairpins. We have it on the video with our ‘She’s rearranging her hair? No way!’ in the background.

For the most faithful fans the surprise was the ‘Bird Song’ intro which appeared for a while between ‘Cosmic Love’ and ‘Rabbit Heart’.

‘Lover to Lover’, and especially the moment ‘I believe!’ teared everything apart. This brilliant show of vocal abilities was heighten by the fact that absolutely everyone fell silent out of curiosity, if Flo will cope with it.

The totally breathtaking moment was when Florence asked us if we’d like to sing something with her, and then several thousand hall voices echoed the choir at the beginning of ‘Heartlines’.

Acoustic version of ‘Leave My Body” made the several thousand freeze enjoying it. I’ve never heard something so beautiful, really.

There waa a wonderful moment before the beginning of ‘Spectrum’, when we hugged all people standing in the reach of our arms. During this song someone threw in the air tonnes of pink glitter, which settled down on our flag, our faces, hair and everything around us. When adding euphoria, crazy screams and jumps that accompanied the song to the effect, it became quite amazing.

During the previous concert in Berlin, Flo promised to say something more in German, and she stayed true to her word. Not only did she count people who rose above the crowd at ‘Rabbit Heart’ (although she reached only eleven ;)), but also she delighted us with a short sentence about her guinea pig, or whatever sense it made. She apologized that she couldn’t say something more and explained that she threw the German textbooks out the window like the majority of naughty children from the school. Later she was delighted with the fact that Meerschweinchen literally means ‘little sea pig’, what she considered the best thing ever.

At the end – ‘Dog Days Are Over’. Everyone who saw Florence + the Machine live could confirm, that nothing gives such satisfaction and luckiness more than the powerful sound of crowd clapping in rhythm to ‘Dog Days Are Over’ and doing the legendary jump with Florence. And her melting mood. Right after that, she kicked Chris in the back saying, that everybody, except him, must jump but he didn’t have to, because his role was to tap the rhythm of the drums. Then Chris pointed out Tom (with a rod!), who also was ordered to jump. He didn’t do that, but she smiled again.

Isa and Rob were chatting through the whole concert and laughed when they only could. What amused me the most was that Rob every now and then poured himself a wine ;)

Smiling Flo still walked up to Isa (who showed the world her pink ombre for the very first time :D) and grabbed her hands. One moment she gathered all of us, put her hand on her heart, locked it and threw the key away. I crumbled, word-for-word.

There was one thing that alternately annoyed and amused me – it was bodyguard’s behavior. He seemed to be clearly bored and kept on texting while standing in front of a bunch of screaming fans.

Do you remember the concert in Amsterdam, 2010? At some point Flo asked: ‘Can you HOWL?’, then let out something between a squeal and a vibrating shout, which fans had to repeat. I was blown away when she did it again there, in Berlin. Except ‘howling’ Flo twitted a few more times, where every single one was different, what we needed to repeat again. It was wonderful to watch her being moved, it made such an incredible effect.

I will never, ever forget the moment, when after ending ‘Sweet Nothing’ Flo walked to the edge and held out her hand to the flag, and then she spread it over her head. It was such an intensive and stunning feeling, that it’s just to beggar belief. Basically, I didn’t quite realise what was going on and I recall the details by watching the videos from the concert. I won’t even mention the few seconds, when we wanted to throw our flag at the stage and she ran to us shouting: ‘I’LL GET THERE, I PROMISE, I’LL GET THERE’. Never.

It all overlapped each other – at first, Flo took the flag, then the lungs-necklace and she hung it on the microphone and finally, a little bit later, she stopped while running around the stage during ‘Spectrum’ to catch our T-shirt – that it made everything around explode. Total loss of control. And of awareness, by the way.

We left the place we’ll remember for the rest of our lives with the happy tears and glitter on our faces, Chris’ drumstick and setlist.

After leaving an arena, we stumbled on one more adventure. While standing by the gate we noticed the tour bus of Florence + the Machine leaving and Rob, Mark and Sam sitting by the window. Let me skip the description of our behavior…nevertheless it was the reason that the bus didn’t stop. (but when I think about it now – who knows? ;))