Europe gig no.5 - May 18th 2007 - Sandnes

These are taken from the forum at www.europetheband.com

by ToneIrene » Sat May 19, 2007 2:43 am

"I'm standing in the lobby in the hotel, gig is ended, and John Levén is somewhere behind me, 
so, naturally, this is all for now  I'll update tomorrow or sunday "

 » Sat May 19, 2007 10:22 pm: Have you ever been in the presence of another Europefan, having attended a gig? Have you been with that fan at the time when all the things that has happened to her starts to sink in? Remember the giggling, the lost eyes, and a bit more giggling, without a conversation going on? 

Cloud nine is wonderful, folks... more will come, I am starting to write my review as soon as I've finished my lasagne and are no longer so busy on msn 

We start this encounter once again, (for you who have read my previous tour reports) with the journey. We're at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and I'm sitting there, reading my incredibly exciting novel. Half an hour before the time of the flight, I am looking up at my surroundings, the not that crowded airport (I kinda feel at home here, normally having to fly to get from my parents in Oslo, to my residence in Tromsø). My surroundings is very nice. A couple of plants here and there, some stores, an escalator that doesn't escalate... 

There is a man at the airport, with long hair, with the back towards me... My imagination is, well, it's lively. Cause I am thinking; could this be Europe? Is that man Mic? 

Well, to face the real world, I have a closer look and.. hey! It IS Mic.. and John L. Ian strikes past me, to get some refreshments or something. I am experiencing that feeling of warmth and cold at the same time, rising from my toes upwards, leaving me kind of dizzy... I don't remember who I talked to first. I said hello to them, I know, but can't remember very much else (this blackout sensation has a tendency of occuring in the presence of band members...) 

Ok, so I'm gonna fly with Europe. I asked Mic.. or someone else. - Is there gonna be a soundcheck? I ask, and John N (where did he come from?) says yeah, if we get there in time... 

Then there is a delay in the flight schedule!! 

Did I mention I am at the airport by myself, with 4 of my heroes, and some of the crew? Well, I just had to go in circles around myself, and send a few texts (to my friends), and ask (band members) if I could sit by their table and stuff, I am a opportunity-seizer, although not a very gracious one, I never know what to say, and I babble... 

But I had a nice chat with John N, he told me he'd celebrated May 17th (Norwegian National day) and stuff  I got to see the set list (only thing I remember is that they start with Love is not the enemy, and finish with Final countdown) 

Ok, now we fly. Didn't totally hazzle them on the plane, just sitting by myself grinning (sometimes not, cause even if 4 precious guys were on the plane, I couldn't be quite sure the plane wouldn't crash)  [Commenting 2013: I was still, at this point, scared of flying, although ore used to it than before]

Picking up luggage, getting on a bus to the hotel, then taxi to the venue (without checking in, wouldn't wanna miss my very first soundcheck) 

Walking in the rain back to the hotel.... 

Soaked, in the rain, dragging my suitcase... for 20 minutes, then finding the hotel (in a straight line from the venue, it seems). 

Room is really nice, leave my stuff there and go find my roomies. (Three roomies, flying with three different flights with the airline SAS from Oslo to Stavanger, what's happened to the world?) 

Second roomie arrives, we hang around and wait for the third roomie. Third roomie comes, we go change, we go to eat, then to find more fans (there are some in Norway as well!) (did I mention I love parantheses?) 
Go to a room, have a few ciders, and listening to Europe, talking about everything and nada. 
More make up and changing and fitting clothes to bodies, then off to the venue (in festival buses, 10NOK, much better than walking in the rain).

First row, together with AtleMiguel. The venue is outdoors, and Europe's the last band on stage (I only saw the last songs of the band before, and I won't bother writing about it, cause I have so much else to tell. They were good, but there is a time for every tale) 

Love is not the enemy, Always the pretenders, Supersitious. The good things keeps on coming. It was the good old setlist (I haven't paid much attention, but this I know), minus a few. There is a rule you're supposed to stop at midnight, and Europe started at 11, so, there wasn't time for every song. Did miss Flames, Secret Society and Cherokee... 

The gig was FANTASTIC. You all know this, even if you weren't there. The rain did NOT pour down, only 10 drops occasionally, no worries! And I don't think the norwegian fans were cold (we're used to a bit of weather) 

It was windy, and Joey's hair was blowing in the wind, and his voice carried around the venue (I think, seeing as I were on front row) 

We sang, and jumped, and danced and screamed, and they sang, and played and jumped and turned and beat those naughtly drums... 

It was awesome. I don't know what more to say! I occasionally felt orgasms spreading through the crowd (or was it just me?), just provocated by the music. 

The people loved them!

Ok, gig ended with a countdown, then Atle took some of us in his car, to the hotel. 4 Europe fans in a car with Europe music in the CD player? He said it was a first time experience for him that someone in the car actually sang along to Europe-songs, except for him   

Then we arrived at the hotel, changed, and went down to the bar, were we joined a couple of other fans, mostly italian, and had some drinks. 

Europe in the lobby. Talked to Mic (and finally I didn't feel 10 years old when talking to him), saw the guys go out, headed up to sleep.

[Edit november 2013....can't believe this wasn't mentioned in the forum post. I had some pictures with Mic. A fellow fan took the picture with my camera phone. I watched it to approve, but Mic's face wasn't visible, so I deleted the picture and asked if I could have another picture. The reason however, that his face wasn't visible on the picture was because he was kissing me on the top of my head. Yes really. And I deleted the picture. It's nothing but a memory now. But it sticks!] 

Oh, what a beautiful morning! Passing out in bed at 3.30, up at 8 (no alarms ringing, just waking up) removing make-up, putting on new make-up, putting clothes on. (The state I am in right now, I don't recall if I slept with my clothes on or removed them, blackout again, and it's still not due to alcohol! 

I was alone arriving in the restaurant, and I sat beside an english-speaking group of men, finding out they were probably a band. So I asked, and yes, they had played the night before, but long before I got there. They were nice, but I guess some of them could've been my grandfather, at least one... or maybe just a father-and-a-half... 

Wonderful breakfast; oranges, pineapple, watermelon, bread, and a dash of Joey Tempest.. 

He just stood in the lobby, with his suitcase, so I thought "oh, now he's leaving". But he had breakfast there (or, I don't know, he might just have talked to a few guys, I didn't turn around too much) 

Then he talked to a guy in front of my table. And oh, this is frozen into my mind. 

Joey tuuurns around, looks at me. Reaches out to shake my hand, after saying "Hey darling" (I am nearly positive about this, although my hearing were kinda waking to life at this point). 

And some other phrases, like "Take care", me saying "safe journey" (in norwegian), and him: "det samma" ("same to you")... 

Him leaving, rest of band leaving, one of the guys in the other band trying to get me to his room (I was kinda flattered by this, even though the guy was much older than me)

-Do you like Solo?* 
-Yeah? 
-Wanna go for a Solo? 
-ehm... no? 
-whisky? 

The story about this trip ends with us fans going for dinner (later that day) in Stavanger, then Atle drove me to the airport, then I flew from Stavanger to Oslo, and from Oslo to Tromsø

Added in 2013: Reading this now... I have to add a few things. I see the day I wrote it is the same day I came back from Sandnes. I had a school paper that was due two days later, that I had been working on, very poorly, instead of celebrating May 17th. Or, that was the intention. I didn't get much done. So, when I came back home on May 19th, and the paper was due in two days, I was probably shock-full of adrenaline from the flights, the concert, the interaction with friends, meeting the band-members, this time NOT planned, AND stressed because of that paper. So I had to just write my head off, so I could focus on that paper. I think it went quite well anyway.

One thing I also remember, that I forgot to mention, was that at one point, John Levén was getting in the elevator at the same time I was. What an incredible normal thing for someone to do. Getting into an elevator in order to go up to the floor one's staying in. And we happened to be doing that at the same time. 

Europe gig no.4 - November 14th 2006 - Rockefeller, Oslo.

Written and last edited on November 17th, 3 days after the gig. I'm 20 years old, studying at the university college in Tromsø. This review was written directly into the Europe forum, by the means of severals posts. The people mentioned are Iren, a good friend and fan from Holmestrand, Atle, a fan I met on my last gig, and Thomas (how I met him, I have explained in the text)

"I have just come back to Tromsø. It's been 26-27 hours since I last slept, so I will probably

edit some of this blabbering tomorrow. I am still numb. Overexcitement hasn't found it's way into my body yet, I am so full of impressions.

First: Fan meet-up at Hard Rock Café, with 6-7 Norwegian fans, all lucky winners of

backstage passes to the gig. While there, someone in our group requested Europe to the DJ, so we got to hear: In the future to come, Open your heart, Rock the night, Carrie and Prisoners in paradise in that order (5 songs from 4 albums, not bad...) We didn't leave at the same time, some of us were a bit more eager than the others of getting in the line

But still, I think most of us ended up in or near first row, or at least decent spots.

I was benched at the same place as the last Rockefeller gig, in front of John Levén, he gave the press a real treat by standing there posing and looking gorgeous.

I was standing on front row with Thomas, Sara (Italy) and Alessia (Italy)

Oh, rushing now, first, Stereolith! They played.

Now then: Europe.

Still no dangerous amount of pressure, no more so the ENTIRE gig (at least for me, I cannotsay much for the others) There was just one moment where a really drunk guy came up to me and jumped up and down thinking he was best friends with everyone (sounds familiar, ey?) But the guards where pro and sent him away.

The guards were also really nice. Didn't say anything about the cameras that was brought in after the purse-check (how come they missed mine??) So, a little amount of pictures taken. One or two of John Norum, a few of Mic, some of Joey, and lots of John Levén (it must have been the posing...) Ian was a bit hidden, as always. But he played great  

I am not sure what you want to know about the setlist? Well, here goes,

in the order of the albums they originate from:

Seven Doors Hotel, Wings of tomorrow, Carrie, Rock the night, Cherokee, TFC,

Sign of the times, Superstitious, Let the good times rock, Yesterdays News,

Girl from Lebanon, Flames, Gotta have faith, Start from the dark, Getaway Plan, Secret Society, Always the pretenders, Love is not the enemy, Let the Children Play, Bass solo, Guitar solo, and Keyboard solo/intro.

You can count for yourselves, I have tried really hard for an amount of time, but I just can't

manage to count them.

Meet and greet: all got their VIP-passes, waiting, waiting, and then some more waiting,

then suddenly Mic was there. I was really surprised, he just mixed in with the crowd

(9 Europemania-Norway winners, creating maximum of maybe 20 VIPs)

STILL GOT THE PASS INTACT!

Then we met, and greeted, and took pictures and had hugs and signatures. I can tell you more about some of the stupid things I said some other day.. or maybe I wont...

I LOVED IT, simply. And by the way; yes, the guys were great  

Now my bed is calling for me... I think... My senses aren't working properly, after

spending the night with Thomas, one of the Norwegian backstagers, and a new friend since Sunday //the concert was on a Tuesday, after that Sunday// (that's when I first met him, but we've been speaking on msn for a long time, thanks to... yes..this vandervool forum), and then having breakfast with Atle at the airport and talking about the gig and meet and everything.

More impressions, added later on:

a few things I managed to say

- I asked John Norum if he practised scales and technique studies or just songs, he answered it was just songs

- I asked Mic if he could be my keyboard teacher, cause that would be my dream, dunno if

he catched it, cause then another thought hit me, being that I wanted to tell him I played the saxophone. It was just.. that I wanted to ask them all at once, but hadn't prepared (even though I had promised Iren I would...)

- Asked John Levén if they needed a sax, and he joked it away (which he was supposed to, of course, I didn't mean it seriously), but he toldl me he DID like saxophone sound, and something about listening to it when he was younger.

- Scared away Joey, I think, by being so wanna-talk-and-wanna-do-it-now-with-my-way-too-intense-expression (or so I can imagine). Later on I apologized. And in the end I asked for (yes, asked for it...) a hug, and when we hugged I said to him that he was my biggest hero ever!

-Think I told all the guys to come to Tromsø (thank you Stein, for reminding me )

-Mic remembered my name (Tone Iren, at least ) and was really nice patting me on the

shoulder, hugging me (didn't ask for it.. at least not the first time, I think I'd forgotten that I had

already got one earlier, mind not working properly)

- Videotaped Ian while he talked to a friend of mine about drum stuff.. paparazzi, I know.. but I am just so taken aback by these five guys, I adore them.. and just standing there looking at them talking just put me in

euphoria, so figured I would tape it with my cellphone...)

- Snuck in on Thomas' picture with Mic, which I deeeeeply regret, since I ruined Thomas' pic completely, by looking like an ***...

One more thing: I am sober, have been for weeks. So, no blaming all this babbling on my

drunkeness!)  (December 21st 2012: I meant here that I hadn't been partying or

drinking alcohol for weeks, I did NOT mean for it to sound like I was a 20 year old girl in need of rehab)

(Picture link) http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/A ... er%202006/

Europe gig no.3 - June 18th 2005 - Vestlandshallen, Bergen

I remember writing this very shortly after the concert, I'm 19 1/2. 

1 year and 7 days since my very first Europe concert.
I`m in front row, right in front of Joey, in the protecting arms of my girlfriend.
I had low expectations, because one week earlier I had attended Nightwish and Mötley Crüe in Oslo, and even though my high heeled shoes were killing me, they didn't help me see nothing! In the middle of the crowd I couldn't see a thing, other than backs, asses, heads, hair and waving arms. (imagine when everyone jumps up and down and the feeling and fear of being crushed!)
I'm not telling you about the trip, the most beautiful landscape of Norway (high mountains and great lakes), I'm not even telling you about the support act (local band doing 80's cover hits).

First let me take you to outside the entrance of the big, big arena that is Vestlandshallen. Me and my girlfriend arrives around half past 6. Not many people there, but the few there are hard core fans. I don't need to say my name, cause they recognize me from the Europetheband forum. One of them asks me if I'm to stay behind to try and meet the guys afterwards. I had no intensions of doing it, because I felt I couldn't ask that of my girlfriend. She, on the other hand, is more than willing to let my inner dreams come true! Can you imagine my happiness?

It turns out that we're in the wrong line. We're in the line where you can buy tickets. We all have baught our tickets beforehand. But security is really lovely (well, no wonder, some of the fans among us have been standing there since 11 that morning...), they are going to let us in first, so we'll have the apportunity of finding first row spaces. They even gives goblets of Pepsi to those who has been there since noon. Half past 7 we are being followed by nice security men to the front row.

Now we`ll have to skip two-three hours. Support act... (doing Kiss and Van Halen among others). After support act is finished, (also known as the half hour with tuning Europe's instruments and setting it all in perfect conditione for the perfect band), one of my front row fan friends asks the very nice security guy to take a picture of her and her friend. (Oh no, she is showing him the camera!) And she asked if we were allowed to take pictures. He gives us the thumbs up, we're ALLOWED! And I have been bringing my camera IN! Great! (really a progress from my first gig, when I left it in the car, with the window open...)

In the newspaper the next day, it said that Europe was on stage precisely 10.13 p.m. I would not know, but around that time Europe shows up, and blasting us with "Got to have faith"! It's magic, once again. Europe really does a PERFECT gig (not that big shock, is it?). One song after the other is played, and we take pictures! My girlfriend, Stine protected me from the 1200 people crowd the entire concert, having to stand the hits of elbows and shouting... just gotta say: I LOVE THIS GIRL! Europe really makes the crowd rock.

 The set list is the same as last time, with new guitar solo, and new keyboard solo. My heroes play perfectly!
The set list goes as follows, though not in the right order...
Got to have faith
Superstitious
Carrie
Cherokee
Wings of tomorrow
Flames
Hero
Wake up call
Start from the dark
Yesterday news
Rock the night
Sign of the times
Girl from Lebanon
America
Ready or not
Guitar solo
Key solo
Seven doors hotel
The final countdown

After the gig: Behind lattice fences in front of the hall's exit, facing the back of the tour bus... 10-15 people is standing with us, waiting to catch a glimpse of a bass player,a singer GOD, or to get an autograph. After half an hour John L is standing in front of me. I can TOUCH him! (I know, cause I actually did it, I touched him!) I'm calling a fan friend of mine on the cell phone, and makes John say "HI" to her. I think she'll be remembering that one for some time... John is funny, saying he feels trapped like a monkey behind bars. He's making fun of the Norwegian language, (in Swedish), and suddenly takes my hat (he used my hat, he has used my hat!) He is signing our tickets, and I make him sign my left shoulder! He is a great guy!

Next comes JOEY! It's really funny, he is talking to my girlfriend, she told him that she thinks he is a music genious! And suddenly he points at me and asks: "You know eachother quite well, huh?" "Did you see us from the stage?" my girl replies. Joey smiles and nods. Spelled out, this means that Joey has seen us making out! OMG! I'm screaming, running around in circles, this is amazingly funny, same time brilliant! Joey signs my ticket and right shoulder right after Mic has done the same thing. Joey also leaves a message on my phone, I've recorded him saying "Hello darling". Mic has also touched my phone, i made him listen to a Mic-solo from 1986...
Mic: Cool, who is that?
Me: It`s you!
Mic: Really?

I shook his hand and Ian's hand. He was heading straight for the bus, but I made him join us by the fence. Only one I haven't met now is Norum. Too bad. I could have a ticket signed by all 5. But 4 is more than I ever expected. Silly me with the low expectations, used all my pictures at the concert. But I guess I don't need pics. I have live memories!
Do i have to tell you this was my best concert EVER

The next day, several friends told me they had seen me in the local paper. I'm the girl looking petrified on the right... 

Europe gig no.2 - October 19th 2004 Rockefeller, Oslo

Note: This is not the typical blog about how the music sounded, how the band looked or played. What is worth remembering equally is the feeling. So as I post here my old tour reviews, I try to change as little as possible from the original.
At the time I wrote this, I was 19 years old.

Oslo, October 19th 2004

My second gig is so far the last and absolute best Europe gig I've ever been to.
I had just started school (which started the same day Europe was in Drammen, my home town.. I chose to be at the beginning of school) well, where was I? yes.. I had just started school, and was in front of the computer when an old class mate of mine says "you know Europe is playing at Rockefeller?" I did a bit of research, and he was right!! So I made a friend of mine come, not a fan, (well, NOW she is) but a good friend. She looked forward to it. I started to chat with a Europe fan on the web at the same time, without knowing where he lived. And he says "Hey, I see you're from Hamar, maybe we should drive together?" And risky though it was, driving with a guy we'd never met,  we joined him and his friends in the 2 hour drive to Oslo October 19th.
We arrived several hours before the concert, to avoid rush traffic. So we went for a pizza. Then we looked in a few record shops, with no Europe items at all, before we had a few drinks at a pub nearby the Rockefeller arena. Of course, it was only coke for me that day as well, music is my drug! I had problems sitting still with the rest, so I got outside and joined the line outside the entrance. I could see several 80s inspired people. And the people I talked to really understood that I wasn't there by coincidence. I met a girl, whose friend had told me was a real fan, and I could clearly see. Her hair was...80s!! I thought she was 25! But she was one year younger than me. Also at this concert I met Stein Vidar, who had come once again all the way from Båtsfjord, in the Northernmost county in Norway.
My heart almost stopped when they opened the doors, and the guards denied Stein-Vidar entrance, cause he had no ID on. That had been my nightmare thoughts all day, that I wouldn't get in. You had to be 18, cause there was alcohol sales there. Stein Vidar was 21 years old. (born at August 19, Joey's birthday!) So I tried to argue with the lady who stood guard at the door, but she was pretty hard on me. We had to pass to let people in, but later, the lady guard came to the stage to ask me how old he was, and I said 21, and his birth date. She said she would let him in, but on the condition that he would not touch alcohol. He, like me, wouldn't need it, I said.

The arena was a little and cozy one, and me and Ingri found our spot right in front of the stage, a little to the left. That, it occured, was the spot right in front of John Levèn. But first came the warm up band. They were called Hellfueled. Nothing very impressing, just long haired, black clothed, playing and screaming and really making a fuzz out of having long hair, so that they nodded and had hair in the face on the riffs :/
But you can't have luck all the time, in finding good warm up bands. But after tree quarters of their hair touching the floor, it was time for....

Rearranging instruments on stage. You know how it is, the crowd getting even tighter behind you, and your high heels starting to nag your feet. Some of the best things with this concert was that there was extraordinary little activity from the wanna-be-fans-with-too-much-beer-consumed trying to come to stage and jumping up and down and pushing aside every true fan in their attempts to do so, and smashing fists and stuff into other crowdmembers. We had them this time too, but only once. And this concert we didn`t get our tummys, heads and other parts of the body pressed into the fence by the crowd. We kept our place at the fence the whole concert! The crowd was actually polite and mature.

Well, after an hour of waiting, our men finally hit the stage, and I really felt.. HOME.. this was my crowd, an extension of me rocking in my room, but with more intensity, and of course, LIVE Europe. I don't remember the set list, I just remember I was totally satisfied with everything they did, and when one hour had passed, I had not thought ONCE "are they gonna play The Final Countdown?". I had no worries about that matter whatsoever. 5 months before I would have died if they had not played their major hit, but if they didn`t this time, I would have been just as happy, I'm sure of it. But hey, concert review is not finished yet...
They had amazing surprises for us, like Carrie acoustic version, where you could hear the crowd singing louder than Joey, and lifting the spirit up to another level. And Joey did this (usual) call and response-thingy with his audience during Rock the night (I've seen it on videos), and you could hear his voice was beyond good, it was... oh, heavenly (and that goes for Carrie acoustic as well)!! They did Got to have faith, Start from the dark, Flames, Hero and Spirit of the underdog from the new album, and I don't think there was much difference between their old songs and their new songs. They had a whole new touch to their old songs, making them just as melodic, but a bit harder and more rock-like! But I would have liked everything they did (except rap...)

I should maybe remember during what song this happened, but I don't, and it's a real pity.. But during one song, Joey bent his upper body to touch the waving hands of the fans first in line at the fence, and I was really close to being touched by him. But then he touched Ingri instead. I was so dissapointed, I had been THAT close to touch my nr.1 Hero. I forgot it pretty quickly, I was still having my best time ever by being there. It's just that a touch of his hand would have made the little extra for me.. And so it did, when, during another song (Carrie? Rock the night? or even TFC?) He had his hands in the crowd's reach again, and touched my right hand! I was in the seventh heaven. Oh, I almost forgot, that Levèn smiled at me. Looked me in the eyes and smiled at me! :D
Something I forgot? Hmm.. well.. After an hour and tree quarters (or nearly so), they did play The Final Countdown. And this time, no one touched my boobies, like happened the last time. And... woow... Orgasmic sensation. They really make people happy...

I thought, during the entire concert: "why isn't my stomach turning and twisting with joy?" Well, after the concert, it certainly did. I jumped up and down, I talked to everybody, I gave some money to a streetwalker, I jumped some more, and was totally happy. This guy comes to me and shows me his T-shirt, and it's the same one I'm wearing. That would not have been strange, if it had been a Europe T-shirt. But it wasn't. It was the T-shirt with the tiger on (look at the Vallset gig). Of course, his shirt shoulders were intact... And I met the girl with the 80s hair again, she had gotten Joey's water bottle. I wasn't all that jealous, I had been touched by him!
Well, I had a coke (probably my 5th that day) and my last cigarettes (probably nr 30), and went with Ingri and Per Erik and his fellows back to Hamar, the next day I stopped smoking and drinking coke, just like that. And I'm still not smoking (except New Year's Eve)!! (this last sentence is probably added a little while later)

Europe gig no.1. June 11th 2004 - Festplassen. Vallset

This was written when I was 18 1/2, in my final year at high school. Europe announced their reunion in 2003, and this is the first ever concert they did after the reunion

June 11th, 2004.

Now the day is finally here. I've been waiting for over a month. Actually, I bought the ticket at the release date, I think it was in April. Thinking that I had to get one before they were sold out. They never were, though... I made my sister and a friend come. Not against their will off course, my sister listens to the same music as me, and Svein, my friend, also had shown a bit more than polite interest in the band. This was in the middle of final exams, the risk of getting an exam at that date was high, I had been thinking what-if-thoughts for the last couple of weeks. "What if they cancel" was the most frightening. But they didn`t.

It was a sunny day, I didn`t get an exam that day. I had the whole day off. I had borrowed the car from my dad, I was to drive, not drink (and even if I wasn't going to drive, I wouldn't have had anything to drink. It was Europe, much more important than anything. You don`t want to drug your senses or emotions on the biggest event of the year!!) At that point, the car still had a cassette player, so I had recorded a number of songs for the 3 hours long drive to Vallset, outside Hamar. On the tapes were Bon Jovi, Nightwish, Wig wam, (warm up band for Europe this day), and lots of other 80s bands. I picked up my sister at her house, she was dressed in mini skirt, a revealing top and a leather jacket. Nice. My sister is 8 years older than me, but still too young to have attended a Europe-concert in the past. We then went to pick up Svein, in the middle of nowhere, it took about an hour. Then the journey could begin.

 I`m not going to lie to you, I was not driving nicely. Only 4 months with my drivers licence, with music in the car, people to talk to, and the thought of finally, after not daring to dream about a reunion, I was finally going to see my absolute no.1 favorite band.... This caused me to almost collide a zillion times. Okay, maybe not a zillion, but at least three! That`s one what-if reason I had already thought of (what if I never make it there) but well...

Anyway, it was a really hot day, driving through Oslo in rush traffic, windows open with music on loud and booming, oh heaven! After leaving the capital of Norway, we just drove straight forwards. This was my till then longest jorney with my certificate, but on a motorway I had no worries, just fun. We stopped a couple of times, for smoking, buying food and beer, but after a couple of hours after Oslo, we could see the sign: Tangen - Vallset. By that time the tape had played a couple of Europe songs, recorded from Rock the night-double CD, and I pressed the Forward-button. And you know what`s coming..... the end of "Time has come" tuning out from the CD player, an empty road, windows wide open, turning up the sound and listening to the first notes of "The Final Countdown". The feeling was indescribable. Just, you know, FREEDOM! Getting there at last.

With an hour left or more to the beginning of the concert, we arrived in Vallset, the size of a village, but we still couldn`t see where to go. We asked a fellow at the gas station, and he pointed the direction. We followed the direction and pretty soon we found a lawn the size of a fottball field, which was clearly the parking lot. Guards were there to direct us, and we put the car there. Started to walk a dusty road, but I forgot my camera, so I went to get it. My head was not really on, you know. We walked a couple of hundred meters before realizing something was oddly wrong. Cars driving past us with only 40-50-60-year old folks in it. We got back to the parking lot, talking to the guard. Yep, we had parked at the wrong concert. But what were the chances? Two equally sized concerts on a middle of nowhere-village at the same bloody day. What was worse, we couldn`t get the car out, cars had been put closely to it, on both sides... But a guard offered to drive us. We had taken the right direction, but the wrong road...

Finally at the place where the concert should be, about half an hour before they let us in, we met lots of people. Some of them were swedish, even though Europe were to play at Sweden Rock Festival the next day. A bloke in a car with open windows played the Prisoners-album, and around us we could see people all ages. Finally, at the place where the concert was to be held, there was a stage in the bottom of a downhill tribune, with an open field in the middle. Up the hill, beside the tribune,  were a restaurant where you could sit and at the same time see the concert. Svein and Kathrine sat there to have a beer, but silly me had to stand in front, so I occupied a spot at the very beginning. Before the show I also met Stein Vidar, from cold North in Norway, a 21 year old guy I'd bought a couple of Europe videos from. He'd come with plane and taxi to see the concert, not very cheap. He brought a friend, which took a picture of us.

After a really lame first warm-up band, came Wig Wam, you can check their image on www.wigwam.no . I once met the singer, he's really nice. They gave a hell of a gig. They usually do some of their own songs, and a bit of covers. Normally, they do The Final Countdown (and well, too) but not tonight, they didn't. The heat was rising, even though it was pretty cold, cause they made the crowd rock, you know. The crowd started pushing and pressing, and it was really a hell, using my effort to keep myself from getting pressed into the fence.

So after their half an hour gig, and after half an hour waiting for Europe to get to stage, I had to face defeat. So I retreated to the spot where Svein and Kathrine sat and had beer. After another ten minutes, things finally started to happen. I don't remember everything clearly, cause my mind just seemed to work in short flashes.

Setlist: Seven Doors Hotel, Wings of tomorrow, Superstitios, Time has come, Ready or not, Heart of stone, The king will return, Scream of anger, Sign of the times, guitarsolo, Stormwind, Open your heart, drum solo, Let the good times rock, Yesterdays News, Cherokee, Rock the night, Start from the dark. Then the concert was over.

Nah, just kidding. Of course they also played the big finish. Don't quite remember what it'ss called.. oh, yeah.. The Final Countdown. And you know what happened? I stood on a rock to see better, cause I couldn't just stand behind the crowd, I'm 5 feet tall, that's  153cm. .In my most extatic moment a guy touched my boobs. what the f...? Of course he was drunk, but hey.... He could just have waited 3 minutes longer! I couldn't hear the beginning of the song because of the crowd cheering so loudly, but that was not really a down side. It was really the biG bIG BIG final!

We bought t-shirts, and took of the high heeled shoes, to walk a kilometer to the car, then I found a car left with one window open!!! (My bad) nothing wrecked or stolen, Stein Vidar and his friend joined us for the long drive to Oslo, and at 4 am I drove past this Speed Check and got my self a speed ticket??? And arrived home at 6 am..... Thinking that I had had the best time of the year.... 

Then came Rockefeller....