One should know before reading this: This was the eve of my birthday. And I had some friends from far away visiting. (To protect privacy, I won't mention any names here, the folks I'll be talking about *know* who I mean.) Anyway, I knew that somebody had planned something very special for my b-day, but I didn't know what it was going to be.

So I was trying to play it easy, pretending it was just another DP gig we're going to, and wait and see. Our ride from where I live to Mosbach was easy. Just later I heard that other fans had a hard time getting to the venue because of the traffic. My tip: leave earlier, Folks !!!

It was still raining cats and dogs outside and we got wet to the bones before we arrived at the park. But, sure enough ("I told you!") it stopped raining by the time we got there. We picked up passes and went through the gate, where we met the nicest security personnel (did Ian Gillan's influence work for us here?) Anyway, one of us was carrying a backpack full of "not allowed" stuff, namely a huge bottle of booze, a present for the band though, and other things. The security asked if we were carrying professional cameras (of course not), glass bottles (no way :-)), weapons (only sometimes) and when we answered: "no, just drugs", they smiled and let us in....

The venue was a nice park and the whole atmosphere was family-like. Everybody was very relaxed, lots of stands, all kinds of food, even sweets for the kids, and gazillions of drink stands. No lines at all, never seen that at a Rock gig before. Hell-o-oo Dresden! (There we spent 45 minutes in line waiting for our pint.) Not here though. Perfect logistics, and all that in a little town like Mosbach! My respect. Speaking of, I've never seen such a great guiding system before. Posters all over the place, signs every 200 meters, unbelievable. These promoters/organizers, whoever they were, deserve a medal. Best ever!  

I said I wanted to be short this time, but now I find myself rambling again... sorry!

So, about the gig: in Mosbach we got *two* support acts. First was AprilDAZE, a young newcomer band, which we were going to see again later on the tour. They were supporting several gigs. (Not sure if they were also in Dresden, as we missed the support act there). I must say, they impressed me with their variety, a really good singer and good writing in their songs. Guess I will check them out in the future. Definitely one of the best (unknown) DP supports I've seen over here (which, of course, doesn't include bands like Heep in 93/94). Next on the bill was nobody less than Roger Chapman. "Wow", I think, "didn't know he was still touring" and, since I never saw him live before, I was anxious to see what he was all about. Short and sweet: he gave us a good show, one could see that he was a long-time pro.

Outstanding was the guitar/fiddle/mandoline-player/singer, who even managed to "survive" situations when his mix was down to almost zero (while he was playing the acoustic guitar). Well, the keyboarder saved his butt there, as a matter of fact.... Overall, a good show.

Anyway, we were pretty "warmed up" after that and I was still in the middle of the crowd, about third row or so, when somebody was pulling my shirt.... It was my lovely wife Brenda, whom I hadn't seen since the beginning of the show, nor my friends, but I knew they were working on "something", so I stayed out of their way. "C'mon, quick!" my wife said, and, ehh, you better don't argue there, so I followed her. She dragged me out of the crowd and there were my friends again, too. "Follow us!" was the order, so I did. To make a long story short, next thing I know, I find myself on-stage with Purple, left side, right next to Don and Steve.

"Sooooo, *that* was the birthday surprise....".  I cannot put in words how thrilled I was about this experience, and I can't thank enough the people involved in that. I *wish* I could give them the credit here and name them (I know who did it) but there's a small line and I'd rather protect their privacy, otherwise other fans might harrass them for the same. But still, you guys be assured that I'll never, ever forget what you did to make this birthday the best day of my life. Thank you!

I have a feeling that nobody else but us, the ones involved, wants to hear all that, so I better end here and give the rest of the world the pix....

Please realize, they are taken from the backside of the stage, under different light circumstances, with a goof proof camera without a flash. (I don't think it would have been a good idea to bother the guys with a flash and being kicked off immediately, don't you agree :-)) Also, from being sooooo excited, I was shaking through most of the takes. Which means, the result is rather weak, but I decided to publish them anyways, just to share that different view with the visitors of my page.