Author: Jernej Vene
Location: Orpheum Graz
Concert date: 02.04.2003
Attendance: 0
For the first time in this hall, we got to see the kind of stage the bigger stars get. No amps or mic stands anywhere, everything was cleared away to give the quintet more room. White drums and a white piano, a scene straight out of some Las Vegas hotel. But looks can deceive! Over twenty-two songs we heard hard-hitting hard rock anthems and a few heartfelt ballads. If we say the Swiss are famous for chocolate and watches, I can say much the same about Gotthard’s performance. Precise, gleaming and at times a touch sugary, because you’ve got to know how to handle a rowdy crowd in a packed hall. Singer Steve Lee is a master at it, having clearly studied the whole palette of famous stars’ performances. He also showed off some enviable harmonica playing in the intro to Sister moon. The two guitarists are very solid, we heard slide guitar and acoustic sounds, and the extra keyboardist pitched in wherever needed. The rhythm section rolls along and at times erupts with ferocious energy. But Steve Lee is in a class of his own: he handles every required note technically without breaking a sweat, commands the stage with total confidence, and puts way more than just a sliver of heart and soul into his performance. The songs were picked from all seven records, and in the two-hour set they treated us to three rock classics: Hush, Mighty Quinn and the Zeppelin classic Rock ‘n’ roll. We got a punchy, energetic show that proved the Swiss can play some seriously decent rock music. They dedicated One life, one soul to everyone suffering in Iraq.
Setlist
01 Human Zoo
02 Top of the world
03 Come along
04 Vision
05 Have a little faith
06 You
07 Sister moon
08 Still I belong to you
09 What I like
10 Hush
11 Mountain mama
12 In the name (acoustic version, Steve Lee + Leo Leoni)
13 One life, one soul
14 Janie’s not alone
15 Long way down
16 Movin’ on
17 Homerun
—
18 Heaven
19 Firedance
20 Mighty quinn
