Hi there to you all!
Sorry I've been missing for a long time, but you know, sometimes life takes you somewhere else. Anyway, every now and then I come in and take a look to the posts, see some familiar faces (hi Ingrid! Hi Pottel!) and some new faces, which is good.
First of all, I'm Italian and I'm always very saddened from what I read from people coming from other countries, most of all because I know in my heart that almost everything it's true, and I realize how much we are "used" to the way things are going around here. We are not able to react, it seems.
In 1996 MK didn't even play one single show in Italy, and that was so bad for us all, that when it's time for a tour, we always fear that Italy won't be on the list. I think that we are saved from some of our astonishing venues (like Taormina) and from the food. I wonder how long these things will be enough for the band to decide to go on playing here. Anyway a few comments I read here and there, not specifically in this forum, but around the net, were so bad that I asked myself how much was true and how much was just prejudice... Anyway.
I've seen MK 12 times in my life, since 1992. I'm grateful for every show. As a Queen fan, I'm aware that a fan could never ever have the chance to see his hero on a stage. I'll never see Freddie playing live, and that's more painful than listening to the same set list on every tour, IMHO. He still wants to go on stage, and that's enough for me. He even didn't stop the tour in 2010 when he had backpain, which is awesome.
This year, to me, was an improvement as MK actually played more different songs than ever, has dropped some milestones like SOS, and listening to the Taormina show, I think we all could agree that this was a good decision.
About the fact that it was often remarked that it was "their setlist", well, it must be unpleasant, but I think it's true. You could see it from another point of view. I'm Artist "X" and I'm so bored to go on tour that I don't even want to write a setlist, so I'll ask my fans and play what they want *yaaawn* I don't care at all, I just grab the money and they will be happy.
Maybe MK instead still WANTS to play his own things, maybe he loves just those 10 songs and hates the others, who knows, but the fact is that he has the right to do this, and when you go and see an artist performance (musician, opera singer, painter, whatever), you go to see HIS work. You could like it or not, you could say that he's right or wrong, but he'll do what HE WANTS to do. Art is that, IMHO, showing outside what you have inside, not doing what people outside would like. And if MK's aim is to bore us all to death because he's part of an Illuminati plan
, well, that's it.
I'd loved to listen to something from Communique, or to Hand in hand or Monteleone. It didn't happen. But I had the chance to listen MK playing, and I think I should be grateful about that.
About Guy's diary, maybe he's bored, maybe he's changed, he's writing diaries since 2001 and tours were different, with different logistics, the internet has become a huge part of our lives, and what in 2005 seemed amazing, now could seem boring... our life has changed a lot since then so who knows, maybe it's just him or maybe we are gettin' used to that. I 've always found the tech stuff boring, and loved the cities pictures. I love cooking so I'm happy with the food-experience too.
Well, sorry for the lenght of my post, but I had to write it.
Thank you for your patience reading my English, and thanks to MK for being here.