Review - Vienna, September 30, 2009

By Mick O'Brien

It's hard to believe that when you are sitting 6 to 8 feet away from Roger Hodgson at his concert that it's anything but a private show …that’s the way it felt to me at the concert I attended in Vienna. It was really easy to forget there were 2 or 3 thousand people behind me at times,  as we made eye contact with one another and got smiles from Roger regularly that night. I was there with friends from the Garden Gate Chatroom .. Claudia and husband Ali ….Elke and her husband and son all from Germany, and Christine, her husband Christian, and her brother Sigi from Austria….All of us in the front row felt the warmth of Roger’s love.

Early planning by Christine meant we had the best seats in the house and definitely the best seats I’ve ever had for any concert in my life and I enjoyed every minute of it. Roger is a master at enthralling the crowds. His music is timeless, and 30 years after hearing his voice for the first time it still sounds exactly the same and means exactly the same to me.

It was a full house at the beautiful venue with beautifully decorative gilded ceilings and beautiful chandeliers, a wonderful venue that added to the rather grand atmosphere that one would expect in Vienna.  

Roger sang the old reliables.  The five hits he had with Supertramp got thunderous applause as expected, and received a more than well deserved standing ovation for Dreamer. It really does seem to be the song that gets the crowd going more than any other song. We clapped and cheered for a full five minutes…. It's Raining Again received the same applause, but at that stage, the whole audience were dancing clapping and enjoying a wonderful finale to a great gig.

Aaron showed how much he has improved, particularly on Child Of Vision when he switched from at least 5 instruments, ending up on grand piano. He is obviously enjoying his time with Roger and they seem to have a great rapport on stage with one another. The two of them play so many instruments constantly changing from one to another that sometimes it's hard to believe there are only 2 people on stage. 

Songs old and new were played …Along Came Mary .. A Soapbox Opera... Fool’s Overture complete with the bells…..

The Logical Song…. Hide in Your Shell… Breakfast in America ….Give a Little Bit ..Take the Long Way Home ….all the classics and a yet to be recorded tune… The Awakening also…. School and Easy Does It are crowd pleasers with audience participation very much expected and welcomed… were there as well… and many more also.

On a personal note, I would like to thank you, Roger, for your personal touch. That wonderful evening was made even more special by your wonderful gesture ..I was deeply humbled and very much appreciated your kind words and song. I know how much you appreciate your fans, which singles you out from every other musician out there in the way you “Give A Little Bit” back to us. So thank you again, sir.