As usual Axel Rudi Pell and his band tour in April / May and the tour always ends in Bochum. This time they sold out the Zeche 3 days in a row! They are supported by Mad Max at the whole tour, but for the Bochum shows Axel invited Bochum-based band The Desert Company. I can't tell you much about The Desert Company, the five piece presented a kind of heavy arena rock.... Wouldn't mind to see them again.
A quick change over and then Mad Max entered the stage. With Another Night Of Passion they just released a cool 80's hard rock album which should please their old and new fans. They kicked off with Burning The Stage and they obviously enjoyed playing live. For a trip down memory lane started. After the opener frontman Michael Voss commented "Great backing vocals! No idea what happened, simply awesome!" Then the charismatic singer told us "Tomorrow we all go home and so I, we want to thank everybody for a great time... the crew and Axel Rudi Pell and his band! We had a blast the last 16 days!" and they headed into Welcome To Rock Bottom. "Do you want to sing?" Michael Voss asked the people and some surely did and joined in at Metal Edge, another song from their latest album. Whenever Michael Voss didn't need to sing, he moved over to one of his mates and they were joking, having good time. Bassist Roland Bergmann did backing vocals and added a few lead vocals, too - and it sounded good. "Let's go back in time! It's 1987... we were young, these days Botox make us look young..." Michael said, then stopped as drummer Axel Kruse through in his 2 cent which made Voss laugh and state "Everybody band should have an Axel in their ranks! Hair color fits and the size, we can work on that for the next tour." Wait For The Night was next in line. Half way through the set it was time for a guitar solo by Michael Voss which he dedicated to Gary Moore. After the band joined in for Falling From Grace the stage they got a surprising guest - Johnny Gioeli walked on stage like a waiter at a restaurant and served everybody a glass of whatever. Then ARP bass player Volker placed an ironing-board on stage and pretended to iron a tour shirt. Keyboarder Ferdy started wiping the stage. Axel Rudi Pell looked like a crazy M.D., like sprung out of a horror movie. Last but not least drummer Mike Terrana walked on stage in a funny outfit. It was the last night of the tour, so it was time to play a joke on the other band. Mad Max had a tough time to keep playing, but after all those years they are pros. "Back to 1985! This is Lonely Is The Hunter!" Obviously quite a few knew the song off Stormchild and sang along. "Bochum, the end is getting near... We would like to thank SPV for the great support, especially for bringing us on tour. When Olly Hahn asked us 'Can you do another album like that?' We said 'Yes, we can!' This is Night Of Passion!" Another classic Mad Max tune and off their most successful album. Some might remember seeing them supporting Pretty Maids and Stryper back in the days.... But they also shared the stage with Steeler a few times. "I forgot one! Leo, is our backliner." Michael Voss introduced the band and to close the chapter they played their current single - Fever Of Love -, a Sweet cover. For me it was over too soon and so I hope that Mad Max will hit the stage soon! Later I talked to some fans of Axel Rudi Pell and it turned out that many didn't knew Mad Max til seeing them on stage - but were quite impressed.
After the break The Guillotine Suite kicked off the show, the band walked on stage and headed into Ghost In The Black. With Strong As A Rock they continued and animated the fans to sing along. "Vielen Dank! Thank you and welcome, it's great to see everybody here tonight - again and again and again. These three guys from Bulgarian are here the last days. Since this is the last night of the tour I want to thank our crew!" Johnny Gioeli said - and thanked the light tech for the cool and evil lights, and the red lights were evil, at least for photographers - before it was time for Before I Die. Everybody on stage was enjoying the show, keyboarder Ferdy Doernberg was smiling all the time and moved his keyboard around as much as he could or the cables allowed. The medley began with The Masquerade Ball and now it was time for Mad Max to enter the stage with wigs and whatever they could make noise with.... The Masquerade Ball led over into Casbah and then Dreaming Dead - but was spiced up with a passage of Whole Lotta Love. Time for the guys to take a break while Mike Terrana showed his skills. Mr. Terrana is one of the few drummers where fans would demand a drum solo loudly and so the fan reaction to his presentation. After a traditional drum solo he played along Jacques Offenbach's Can-can off Orpheus In The Underworld. As it was the last show they had a surprise for the man with the Mohawk... Two topless dancers! No surprise the band made some jokes about it when returning. There was a lot of joking during this show which just showed how well the guys get along. At Mystica the blonde guitarist once more showed his love for Ritchie Blackmore and so they embedded Deep Purple's Mistreated on this one. "We have a brand-new records, it's called Circle Of The Oath!" Johnny Gioeli announced the title track and so only 2 tracks off their current album made it onto the set list. "Lots of crazy shit is going on - you can read about it tomorrow..." Mr. Gioeli added before they headed into Circle Of The Oath. "Back to 1998 when our skin was tender and young... I want to sing it with you!" Time for more classic ARP tunes... Oceans Of Time and Fool Fool. The house was on fire. Then it was time for Ferdy Doernberg to shine, the keyboard solo was followed by Carousel. And that was it, well... An encore should follow, but first some guy walked on stage and introduced himself: "My name is Olly Hahn. First of all I want to thank you all for making this the most successful album of Axel Rudi Pell in years! They are successful in many countries, but there is one where they are even more successful... Would the band please come onto the stage!" Olly Hahn asked. And they came. "I'm happy that at the last day of this tour we can do this, they sold more then 10,000 copies of Run With The Wind in Sweden!" Every band member got a framed copy of the single. Olly Hahn gave the microphone to somebody else and someone took the awards away which made the band joke about it. "I'm Thomas from Continental Concerts. Not just the album was very successful, also the tour. Tonight we want to give the Sold-Out Award for 3 sold-out shows at Bochum Zeche to the band!" And the band members got another frame, this time the Sold-Out Award - which soon was taken away from them, coz it was time to play a few more tracks. Axel Rudi Pell asked the audience "Do you want some more?" And the loud response made him smile. For the encore they chose Tear Down The Walls and Nasty Reputation. If they stayed on stage or left for a moment I can't tell, coz I had to catch a train and so heard them close this chapter with Rock The Nation when I walked out of the venue.
The fans of the blonde guitarist got an energetic show with a lot highlights, a very professional performance, but one which also showed that they enjoy playing live. Personally I hoped for a few surprises, but well... It was great to see Mad Max alive and kickin', and I really hope to see them again soon. Fans of Axel Rudi Pell who live in the North of Germany - or Denmark - might mark June 10th in their calendars - and get their tickets now! - as Axel Rudi Pell is playing in Hamburg!