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

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....