She's Every Woman!

The Aschaffenburg concert was the first time I saw Whitney live on stage and is was probably the most powerful event of that kind in my life! I can still feel the thrill and excitement when the band finally started the show and we could hear Whitney commencing with "I'm Every Woman", but she remained out of sight until the beat came and made people go crazy. She then went on with a really rocky "So emotional" which heated up the athomsphere to an unknown level. Then she talked about the puropse of the concert: UNICEF and the motherless children. Whitney: "I am a mother", and the people screamed, "and I wwas blessed to have a mother", she said. Great applause for Cissy who was sitting at the side. A collection of her top love songs (ATMTIN, SAMLFY, DWAHIA, WDBHG, NLMLYO) made us realize that Whitney is the greatest singer of all and can manage a show and those songs although she had difficulties with her vorice. Inbetween she presented a beautiful version of "I wanna dance with somebody", very up-to-date and amazing indeed. I hope to find this new version on her Greatest Hits album which is about to come. Drinking a cup of tea she performed "Queen of the night" and then went off stage to allow herself a shot break.

She returned only little later with a new outfit and a tribute to Dianna Ross. Those songs really heated up the audiance, and the emotional "Endless love" was just perfect.

Then the power went off. That was a pitty indeed, and you could see (as wwe were near to the stage) that she was visiably unhappy about it. But she managed to keep the show going for those difficult 15 minutes, and for us it meant having Whitney 15 minutes longer on stage.

Whitbey thanked the patience of the people with a beautiful, simply amazing and most certainly improvized "You are so beautiful" (Joe Cocker's song)and this was also a special thank to all her fans and, of course, to the Lord who, I am sure, strengthened her through the show. "I love the Lord", I regret, was a bit weak, I found, but the following "I believe in you and me" was the most beautiful of all and made up for all the things that in some eyes might not have been perfect. Staring with "I will always love you", she really manoevered herself into an emotional crisis, crying on stage and thanking the many people arround her. She said she was thinking about stopping singing and performing on stage, and you could tell that this was coming from her heart. She couldn't even finish the song, that touched she was, so Cissy jumped in. Still the song was, although she talked a lot inbetween, a thing that real fans should be glad to have experienced live and together with Whitney.

At the end, let me say this: it is one thing to sing the songs the way the people expect it with a voice that people are used to. Is is another to make a performance, to make a show under difficult condition that carries a message, that includes the people, the sends love and inspiration and that makes you feel that it was worth everything to come and see Whitney there in Aschaffenburg, at the assumingly the last event in Europe for a long time.

With lovee, Gary.