I've just returned from a short 3 day break to Berlin with Dan and his fiancee Jane. We were attending the opening of the new European Blue Man Group show. This is the show that Dan audtioned for as a guitarist, so the trip was tinged with "it could have been you" moments. Also around were Vera (who used to translate the Wrox books into German), her husband Karsten and friend Carolin. Karsten's sister joined us for the performance.
We arrived in Berlin on Sunday morning after a ridiculous 3:30am start (2 hour drive to the airport for the first flight out), and discovered that there was a gala premier. So, evening plans changed to include a trip to see what was happening at the gala. We crossed the road to the groovy and hip Sony centre to see a huge wooden horse and posters for Troy everywhere. We assumed perhaps the opening night, or maybe some kind of European premier.
After finding the hotel and a short nap, we headed for the theatre to watch the celebs arrive. It's easy to tell the famous people because the TV crews and photographers hounded them; everyone else they ignored. It seems most of them were German soap stars. The blue men were also about, herding people into the theatre; there were some very confused people about. No one really knew who they were as the Blue Men are almost unheard of in Europe, although the German TV has been advertising the new show.
Once the performance had started we wandered over to the Sony centre to realise it was actually the world premier. Hence the thousands of people, which from the noise seem to consist mainly of women screaming at/for Brad Pitt. I could just about see the back of his head, although they did have a huge TV screen for the lesser mortals to watch. This puts into light the level of celebrities attending the Blue Man gala.
Monday was spend exploring, with Karsten (who studied in Berlin) acting as our guide. We must have walked around 10 miles. It's an interesting city; lots of great architecture, both new and old. It's clear to see it's not a city standing still. Also some interesting differences between what was East berlin and West Berlin; little things such as the shape of the images on the pedestrian corssings (red man, green man) which differ. They can be different on opposite sides of the road if the wall ran through the middle of the road. Berlin is also a cheap city. Transport is plentiful and well priced (2 Euros to get to the city centre from the airport), and food and drink are excellent value.
On Monday night was the big show, and I was really exited. Out of our group I was the only one who had seen them before, although Dan has The Complex DVD, so knew what to expect. Well, most of it. The show was, of course, fantastic. It's impossible to describe - an audio-visual comedy experience is the nearest you can get. Great music and hilarious. If you like rock music (with an emphasis on rythmic drumming) and have an off-the-wall sense of humour, then you'll love it. My jaws were hurting at the end because of the constand laughter.
Tuesday was relax day, and the trip home. Tonight is Bill Bailey so my jaws are in for it again.