Rocky Votolato @ Rex Cinema, Cologne

Sometimes evenings turn out just the opposite of what you had expected them to be like. Well, this wasn't realy the case for last Tuesday's evening since it wasn't supposed to be bad or anything like it, but in the end I had a lot of fun which I didn't expect when I left the house.
I originally planned to meet up with my sister and two friends before Rocky Votolato was supposed to play in a movie theatre in Cologne. The venue itself was a very special pick because I don't remember that they set up shows there before. So the biggest room in the Cinema was used for a very low key and quiet acoustic show of Mr Votolato. 350 people were lining up before the doors opened leaving the other people who were just passing by with some sort of astonishement on their faces. "Rex Cinema" is usually known as the "One Dollar House" which basically means that they show movies at a very cheap price. They manage to do so because they show old movies. Old in this sense meaning that those movies are already 3-6 months old or even older. So actually it is something like a re-screening. That's a nice idea because the prices for movie thetres went through the roof in the past few years.
Alright, so while we were standing in front of the "Rex" some friends passed by and we were just talking. I was getting ready to leave because I didn't have a ticket and I heard that the show was sold out anyway. So just as I was about to return home I met a former colleague who happened to have a "+1" spot on the guestlist, and the "+1" wasn't able to come around. Lucky me.
The stage was set up very simple, just a few lamps and other stuff, nothing special. But first they were showing trailers for upcoming movies they are showing at "Rex" in the future. This was kind of fun because it was totally like people were going to watch a movie. They were even showing the ice cream comercial which usually ends the commercial part before the movie. Still the choice of the trailers was interesting as well. There is this movie about the Dixie Chicks and their problems with their rather ignorant and conservative fan base ("Shut Up & Sing" - German site. Strangely enough the American one seems to be offline).
So after this Mr Votolato enters the stage and the completely captures the audience. Interestingly enough, as one friend standing at the entrance put it - "the authority of the room" was working very well. People were behaving like they were watching a movie. Which means they weren't talking very loud, they were just listening to the music. It felt kind of relaxing to see that. This must have been one hell of a show but I didn't see that much of it since I preferred to talk to some friends in front of the cinema. But it seems that he played a lot of songs and had a good choice from his repertoire.
When the show was over I was waiting for my sister and she had a surprise for me. I got a Red Sox cap from a friend who went to the States and on this particular evening he gave me the cap before we went to the show. While standing in the movie theatre I put the cap on my sister's head and then she disappeared to the front of the room. So when she came out of the cinema she had this look on her face that she did something bad and the first thing she asks me is "Will you get mad?". So then she presents me with the cap and there's an autograph of Rocky Votolato on it. I couldn't care less about something like this so I was really laughing. Nice way to end the evening.