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Title: Kris Kristofferson live in Graz - Darby's Castle - 4.11.09 View count: 425 Rating: 5.0 (2 ratings) Description: As the audience is clapping, Kris mentions :"THIS way, I remember Graz!" Many people are wondering, why Kris comes pretty often to Austria, especially to Graz. I think there is one special reason,(maybe more than one!), but I can tell you the following. In the eighties Kris made a tour through Europe, with all his political stuff from the Album third world war in his luggage. But it turned out, that the tour through norway was more or less desastrous. One gig he played in front of 6 (!) people. ( I actually can`t believe this, but Kris told this in Graz!) Kris himself recalls this time as he told us in Graz a few days ago: Before singing Sunday morning coming down, he said: ------------------ "I tell you, why Graz has got a special place in my heart. Maybe 20 years ago, I did a gig in Norway where the promotor was actually the opening act and there where 6 people in the audience (!) and one of them was a critical who hated it. And the next show was in Graz and I was ready to retire from showbusiness and it was a crowd like this tonight and for better or worse it brought me back into business! ------------------------ So there was a concert in Graz, which took part in the decision of Kris, to stay "on the road "! I was also there at this legendary summer evening at the open air stage of the Kassemattenbühne in Graz back in 1987 (27. August) and there are still some memories in my brain, I will never forget. They are shining bright like stars And it seems as it was yesterday, even it is more than 20 years back now. I will share these precious moments with you now: Kris were on stage with his borderlords. I remember Billy Swan, who opened the concert with some songs of himself like "I can help" or "Lover please" and then he announced Mr. Kris Kristofferson! At these times, Kris opened his concerts always with "The eagle and the bear"! After the first words of this song " I would fight and I would die for freedom... " the audience was captived. When he sang El Gavilan ("probably one of the best love songs Ive ever written" - Kris told us), the full moon rose behind the stage. (Try to imagine these scene ...running for glory, freedom to fly....) He introduced his band, there were Billy Swan, Sammy Creason, Tommy Mc Clure and about Glen Clark I think he said: "He sings like an angel, he plays like the devil, he hates to loose!" (Now Stephen Bruton, another member of this legendary band is singing WITH the angels...So long, Stephen) About himself, Kris only said: "And I come from Brownesville, Texas!" - and immediately after this sentence, there came the first lines of the song "Mean old man"! "Darby's Castle" and "Me and Bobby Mc Gee" he sang more or less together with the audience, I have still the choir of thousand people in my ears (freedom is just another word...., oh, it took 300 days...) Then he nailed his pain about the situation in southamerica in our hearts: "Aguila del norte", "Third world war", "The hero", "Don't let the bastars get you down" "Love of money " - he introduced this song with: "This is one you can teach your children!" .... all those angry songs! Then: "The silver tongued devil and I": There he interrupted the song and told a little story, like he always does. He told us "that many things have changed now", "but the most important different is that we are clean and sober now ...the silver tongued devil and I!" At the end of the show, Kris looked down into the audience and said: I know we sing a lot of things not everyone over the stage does agreee with; But I never looked down to so many kindred spirits. We appreciate vour courage to listen and the courage to respond with your hearts. God bless you for that." (And he put his hand to his heart and finished): "I' ll never forget this night!" -------------------- Kris, and neither do we! ----------------------------------- In some ways this reminds me on this old nordic mythologies, where the giants only got unvincible strength by touching mother earth. And maybe the giant from Brownsville (with nordic roots) has to touch some very special stages from time to time... ----------------------------------------- And in the end a nice story of nowadays: My younger son, who is now 9 years old, is sometimes listening to me, when I am playing Kris songs on the guitar at home. And he once said to me" I like these songs" and I asked him "Why?" and he answered "Because you always are singing about 'Frieden' ". The german word "Frieden" (= engl: peace) sounds a bit like the english word "freedom", which Kris uses in every second song (or maybe in every). Tags: kris, kristofferson, graz, live, darby's, castle, orpheum, 2009, Author: pilgrimchapter |
