Europe gig no.8 - October 4th 2008 - Kopervik

Kopervik is situated at the island Karmøy, outside Haugesund, a small and not very pretty town... 
It's at the east-west-coast of Norway, and the weather there in fall is NOT NICE... It was raining sideways, as the regular bus took both citizens of Karmøy and other attendants to Oktoberrock to the destination of the concert. I met Atle Miguel there (at the bus, yes), and some friends of him. I had gotten to the island with plane, this time together with Nemi. 

After a long and winding journey with the bus, we had to get out into the rain and the wind, without any umbrellas... or some had them, and some didn't, but there wasn't enough for everyone to be comfy. I had already managed to make a huge hole in my wannabe-converse shoes, so I tried avoiding the water. 

So, we lined up in the cue outside the big circus tent that was the concert arena, in the end people with umbrellas started to cooperate and raise their umbrellas up and over, so that those without could breathe a bit more easily, and dryly for a moment.

So, we found our way to the front row, as usual. I was standing near Nemi, and Atle was a a few spots away. It was 7.30, and there was a local (?) guy playing acoustic guitar and singing. And you know what? His fans was already drunk...way to go, people. Kept yelling "Summer of 69" real loud. RUDE! 

anyway. First band, Ingenting (means Nothing in Norwegian) were pretty good, but I kept looking around me, to avoid the elbows of the hardcore-fan of Ingenting, a guy in his 20s, with a beer in each hand (and yep, he spilled half, jumping up and down, but managed to get more and more drunk anyway) 
Hardcore fans are nice... but not when they're loaded with beer, and armed (sorry for the pun) with fists and elbows.... 

So there was a bit of a yelling fight there, part to him, and part to the guard that just STOOD there...

forgot to write that inside the circus tent it started raining, too...a flap in the ceiling flew some way away, and the cold and wet audience had to get even colder and wetter. 


Nazareth arrived, and the crowd got crowdier. (I'm sorry, I've had 3 hours sleep for the last 3 nights, so my english isn't all that good, and the puns come out even when they're not meant to) 

They 

were

awesome! 

I was really loving their guitarist. He looked like... 😅... he was funny looking, but he played soooo good.. and of course on a Gibson. 

The drunk guy finally got so drunk he had to leave ( 😋) and then a new drunk guy took his place, but he wasn't as rude. The rain stopped, and I could enjoy the gig without even have to waste my energy on standing up. I could just place my feet on the ground, and lean back, and the crowd would be there to support me. It as that tight... But the good effects of that is that you don't feel how cold the rain is making you feel... cause when so many people stand together, they lend warmth to one another. 

The fence was really to high up, so I did have to be a bit cautious, so that my mouth wouldn't smash into it and break all the teeth. 

Then Nazareth was done (some of the guitar solos where just AWESOME, just had to say that once again), and they started readying the stage for Europe. 

The crowd didn't loose up, so I guess there must have been a fellow understanding of "let's stick together so tight, so that we won't have a cold tomorrow" (yes, I'm joking)... 

EUROPE! 

Set list: same as in Lakselv, but Prisoners in paradise replaced Open your heart. 
Yes, they played Prisoners in Paradise. They've never played that one after the reunion. Until now. It was Joey with an acoustic guitar, so I figured I could try to film Carrie on my camera phone. Cause when there's not too much bass, the sound doesn't get too distorted. And then it wasn't Carrie!

The gig was PERFECT. 

And John Levén standing there with a broken foot, and his jeans with tape all over it (looked a bit like "what-would-Macgyver-do"-thinking 😏

No seriously, he was still funny and charming to look at...He pulled out his leg when Joey was intending to go over to Mic 😋 I really love the energy between the guys on stage! 

Yesterdays news didn't include the Joey/Norum-duet, but I never get tired of hearing it anyway! 

Ian was really energetic, beat his slaves - the fellow band members - further, and making less space between the songs, but that was the thing that separated Europe from the others.. The usual ENERGY !

Mic stood a bit too himself, maybe because the stage was too small??? it did look quite normal sized, but it looked like he was a bit on his own. 

The audience could've been better... the drunks aside, people were kind of... failing to respond to the guys on stage. I would have expected more jumping... but after standing and taking it easy for the two first bands, at last I was jumping and dancing and trying to get my hair bigger again (totally wet and deflated by the previous rain) 

The lighting was brilliant, as usual! 
Sound was very good, too! I love being able to hear the nuances in the music! 

Oh yeah, and on rock the night, Joey sang "from my head, down to my toes"... Well, THAT would've been the perfect moment for John L to put his toes up on the monitor, like he'd been doing a minute before

I briefly met the guys at the hotel. Got to show them my tattoo, in a kind of childish "look-at-me-I-want-your-attention" kind of manner, but lack of social skills aside: they (Joey and John L) did look at it! Yay. And also said I should show it to Ian (who has a similar tattoo, but he wasn't around, so I didn't meet him)

Also, I had signs of recognitions from 4 of the band members.. that was so cool. 

John Norum quote:
"I recognise you!" (as the first thing he said when he saw me) (thankfully it was with a smile, not with a "oh...she again" -tone)
I responded with "oh yeah? from the audience, then?"
"No, we've met before... Was it Rockefeller?"


Mic Michaeli quote:
Tone Irén! (followed by a hug) 

Joey Tempest quote, when I asked if I could have a picture with him:
But you already have one? (Well yes I do, it was taken in 2006, two years before this...)


So I got another picture...

John Levén quote:
Nemi said: "You should write something about his broken leg in the forum"
And then he filled in with: "Yeah, you're the only one in the forum these days!" 
Guess they know who is who.


Thanks guys, you really made my day and night! 
The final countdown ended at around 1.20 a.m, so I guess it was a 1h 50min gig