So, there was a fanclubparty where fans of Thomas Anders and Modern Talking got to mingle, and then of course, my night wasn’t quite finished …
Saturday, 6 January 2001: THE D DAY (the TA day, the MT day)
PART 2 – THE DINNER AT FAUSTUSGuido and the others collected the merchandising in boxes, and we went out to Guido’s Mercedes. I was told to sit in the front (the back seat and boot were full of boxes), and I sat there, waiting for them to get ready. I looked at the CDs I was holding (they were lying in the seat, so I had to move them in order to sit down, so I held them in my hand): some Modern Talking albums, some Thomas Anders solo, and some others. I remembered a little promise I had made to Franzi, so I quickly sent her a message, and had it sent and erased just when Guido sat down. Then we drove off towards Eltzerhofstrasse.
It was a little surprising, because everyone who had mentioned Guido Karp has said that he is such a complete egocentric a**hole, but he turned out to be a really great guy. I like him. Others might not, but I do. The fans truly DON’T understand him (we did some talking in the car on the way to Altstadt).
We arrived at Faustus, and I had said earlier “We’re going to Faustus?! I was there the other day!” when I was told that’s where we were going, so now I got to see the inside of the place and not just the outside. I was warned that there might be people standing outside taking photos and filming and things like that, because the fans know there’s a big chance of seeing Thomas there. I didn’t see anyone with cameras outside, or video equipment, so maybe we were lucky that night. Guido also told me that some fans always come to Faustus after the fanclubparties, just to see if Thomas comes. This night he definitely would!
When we got in, not so many people were there. Angie & Joey (IT-Girls), Rosmarie (?) Karp, Guido Karp, and I think there were a couple more I don’t think I talked to. I was placed next to the IT-Girls (with Joey on my left side), who I talked to (they’re great girls, by the way, I like them). To my right was an empty chair, which I was going to sit on first, but they put me on the one to the left of it, because Thomas would sit on that chair. He didn’t, but that comes later. :c)
This seat, to my right, was soon occupied by a man (me and names… arghhh I can’t remember his!) who was (had been?) the manager of Touché. “Do you know Touché? Dieter’s–” – “Boy-band. Of course”. The IT-Girls have two managers, and the other one sat face-to-face with Angie. Face-to-face across the table from me was Christian Geller of KA.G.B. and his girlfriend (yet again I can’t remember the name. Please give me a big slap in the face next year!). To Christian’s left (my right) was Rosie Karp (Guido’s mother), and then the table turned. It was like a 90-degree angle. Where the table had turned, sat Thomas and then Claudia, and some people I was never introduced to. It felt a little silly having to ask, “Who are those people? And who are you?”, but that’s the only way to get answers.
We sat there, talking, and drinking whatever we had ordered (I had an Orangina, because I know what that was). If I talked to Angie & Joey more before people came, then now I talked to Christian Geller and his girlfriend. As it turned out, because I had no idea who they were before I asked, Christian is the one who works on the Fanclub-CD, and he’s also one of the owners of KA.G.B. (Karp, Anders, Geller, Brückner), and works with Thomas writing songs and producing. Don’t ask me what we spent all that time talking about, because I can’t remember (I didn’t exactly have a notepad with me and took notes), BUT we discussed Modern Talking and their fans, music, and various things.
I had said hello to Thomas & Claudia when they had sat down, and maybe said something short, but not really talked. After that, I had looked their way occasionally and smiled a little nervously, basically because I had NO idea what the hell to do or how the hell to act. They smiled back.
When Touché’s manager had moved somewhere, I went over (ooh one chair! *sarcastic*) and gave Thomas a CD-R I had brought with me – “Shaire: The Greatest Mixes”. I said “I want you to have this.” – “What is it?” – “It’s a CD with remixes (or whatever) that I’ve done myself.” He said thank you very much, and looked at what tracks were on, a couple of times giving off surprised sounds. :c) Claudia leaned over to see too, and she saw one track and exclaimed, surprised, “Claudia 4ever!”. What could I say? I just smiled. Thomas said it was going to be interesting to listen to, and Claudia agreed.
I was going back to my chair, when Thomas asked why I didn’t sit on the other chair (the one left by Touché’s manager), and I saw no reason why not, so I did. One seat closer to the Weidungs! …And also Quichi, their über-cute Malteser dog, who was walking between Rosie and Thomas and Claudia. She even licked my hand! Quichi, I mean, not Claudia! *LOL*
I had not prepared a thing to say, but thankfully, Yuri (TAML/DBP) had given me some questions he thought I should ask. But I started off with “Stockholm Marathon”, and asked about the making of the movie. And I asked some of the things I remembered from Yuri’s email, and when I had talked mostly to Thomas for I while, I focused on talking to Claudia for a while. I hardly spoke to Rosie, but this was just because she didn’t know any English, and I knew very little German. Before I go down there again, I must study German for real so I can understand more!
“So who’s your Modern Talking favourite? Dieter or Thomas?” asked Christian at one time. I said it was Thomas. “Do you mean it, or is it just because you’re at the same table as him? Would you have said the same if Dieter was here too?” Yes, I would. I explained that once upon a time, I wasn’t too fussed. Dieter, Thomas, whatever. But after all the stories in the newspapers about Dieter and all his affairs, I have come to like Thomas a whole lot more.
When I said I preferred Thomas and not Dieter, that proved Christian’s point perfectly: male fans like Dieter the macho man who treats women like crap, and female fans like Thomas the handsome romantic man. So at concerts, you hear the guys shouting “DIETER, DIETER!” and the girls sigh “Ooooh Thoooomaaaas!”. :c) And also, maybe Dieter has all these affairs with women just to prove to everyone that he’s not gay, because that’s what a lot of people thought when Modern Talking first appeared.
I’m not following my notes in the notebook now, I’m writing from memory now! Anyway. All of a sudden, a group of people walked in to Faustus, and I recognised them. “I’m NOT surprised to see her here!”, I told Christian and his girlfriend, and he said “Neither are we”. It was Birgit and some of her friends. They didn’t come to the table, though, they went to the bar. Later, I saw two girls walk in, and I recognised them, so I waved at them. Franzi came over and talked to me, and made me promise to tell everything later. Is now late enough? ;c)
During all of the above, we managed to order some food as well. I had no idea what to order, and the menu was in German, but Christian and Girlfriend (I remember what you look like, but your name has escaped completely… if you ever told me your name… In fact, I think you just said “His girlfriend” when I asked who you were) translated for me, so I ended up with fish and rice. We waited for food to be brought out, and got some bread to eat in the meantime.
Then, dinner was carried out, and I have to say… if you’re going to Koblenz, go to Faustus and eat… at least once… Lovely food, and so far away from McDonald’s food as you could possibly get! Poor Stephanie, though, she didn’t get her food until everyone else had finished eating… :c( Pfantastisch food, though!
At 23:10, I told Guido I should be getting back to the Jugendherberge, because they have a curfew thing going on, and you have to be back at 23:30, because that’s when they lock the door. He ordered a taxi for me, and I said goodbye to Thomas. Christian and Girlfriend had left before that. I thanked Thomas very much for the evening, the dinner, and everything, and said it had been really nice (we were at Faustus for around 3 hours, and possibly longer if I didn’t have the curfew to think about), and I asked “Can I give you a hug?”, which he agreed to, so I hugged him, and then he said “Again!”, so we hugged again. :c)
Then, goodbye… Or actually, auf Wiedersehen! See you next year! …I hope I can come then… Claudia was sitting somewhere else, talking with some friends, so I said thank you and goodbye to her as well, and then I left the building.
Before I tell you about the taxi ride, let me just write down what I haven’t written yet. At the youth hostel, the same morning, I got Libby to sign my “guestbook”, and she wrote a little note to Thomas in the end, and wanted me to show it to him, so I did. I explained what kind of book it was (“It’s a book that my friends and people I meet when I travel can sign and leave a message”), and asked if he wanted to write in it as well, perhaps? He did! :c) But, because the book is mine, and not for public eye, I will not scan it in and let the world see. Stefanie and Nadinè wrote on the next page, and were quite excited about writing on the same paper as half of Modern Talking. ;c)
While we were talking, Christian said he could give me a tour of the KA.G.B. studios, but since I had little time that night, it would have to be the next day, so I was to call him between 10 and 12, and then he would pick me up at the youth hostel, show me the studios, and then take me to the train station. I’ll get back on this subject later, because it concerns January 7, and not January 6.
OK, taxi. It wasn’t Welsch this time, it was another company. The fare would be around 20 DM, so Guido gave me 20 DM for the taxi and I was OK with paying myself if it exceeded 20 DM. I said thanks to Guido, and goodbye. I told the cabdriver that I needed to get to the youth hostel before 23:30, so if we could please hurry. Jawohl.
We reached Ehrenbreitstein, and he didn’t take the way up the hill that the other taxi had taken downhill, we went up Neudorf Bergstrasse, but not the way I had walked the first day. I was sitting there thinking, “OK… where the hell are we going? We didn’t go that way, and not that way either… uhhh…?” He took a longer way up the mountain. Maybe because it was no passing through the first way between 18:30 and 06:00, and the other way was in between houses, or maybe it was just so he’d get more money. What do I know?
The total cost was 24.60 DM, so I paid 30, and got some change back. I told him I didn’t need to get all money back, because you’re supposed to give them a tip and things like that, so I got 5 DM back, and got out of the car. “See, before 23:30!” he said with a smile.
At 23:26, I rushed in to the building, and walked quickly (occasionally running) to the room. I opened the door and said “HELLO!” and started talking. Stefanie & Nadinè asked me questions and I told them everything about the dinner. Where we were, what I ate, etc. etc. Rita was half-asleep, but she asked me some questions too, and we were all a bit worked up. But it was fun!
I will end the report from January 6 with what I wrote in the diary: “Now I must sleep, I have a day tomorrow (today), and a train to catch, so… Bis bald mal wieder!”
Oh my gosh, certainly had a flare for the melodramatic back then, didn’t I? o.O Anyway, If memory serves me correctly, the diary wraps up with the next entry, so see you next Sunday for that!
