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That gig didn’t go too well
Sitting at Gatwick airport, killing time… I wish I could say that the Thunder/Whitesnake/Journey gig yesterday was as great as the previous one, but the day was somehow cursed and there were plenty of reasons why I wasn’t in the right state of mind for the gig.
It started raining when I arrived at Wembley Park station, and when I was about to check in, the guy went: “Ah yes, miss P, you booked two rooms”. What? No, I didn’t book TWO rooms?!
Turns out that the cancellation I made through Booking.com never went through and with their rates being as much as my monthly rent, I saw money flying out the window for nothing. I already had to pay in full for another hotel that I cancelled too late. Long story, some other time…. The manager saved me though, said he would call booking.com and cancel my second reservation. Thank god, it was expensive as it was….
Felt tired and feverish, fell asleep and slept so deep that I almost wanted to just stay in bed all evening but of course I couldn’t.
Then at the show, I was showed my seat, everything good – or so I thought… until it started filling up in my row and it turned out that I had been seated in the wrong row – but Thunder had already started playing by then so I had two fat, drunk brits in front of my face waving their beers, stepping on my toes and my things.
I couldnt enjoy Thunder, which I had been looking forward to. They WERE brilliant though, I noticed that much.
So, when they were done, I nicely asked the girl behind me to move as it was in fact my seat. But when Whitesnake went on it was like being in a cafe – people kept walking in and out, back and forth, getting their fucking beer, going to the toilet, getting food…. Jesus christ, is it a rock concert or a restaurant?!
I just couldnt get in the right mood. Probably because it was seated and I was way in the back – I mean, I could see everything okay, but when that eye-contact isn’t there, it’s like watching a DVD, just not the same. Not for me anyway.
I felt pretty low when I left Wembley, cause I had been looking forward to the show but I didn’t get that kick this time. It wasn’t the band, it was just the circumstances and sometimes that can be enough to just throw you out of gear so to speak…
I went back to the hotel and went straight to bed. Got 4 hours of sleep and now I’m at the busy Gatwick airport waiting for my flight home.
Will be incredibly stressful the next few weeks. All reviews from Sweden Rock must be handed in before I go on vacation, and I know how I usually feel after the festival – like I’ve been run over by a truck.
I’m just grumpy right now, hopefully I’ll find my way back to a smile pretty soon…
Euro(ck)vision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 is being held in my home town Malmö, Sweden – and there’s no way you can miss it! There are giant mirror balls and purple spotlights at the train station, there are stages and official ESC-merch in the heart of Malmö, people walking around with t-shirts and bags with the slogan on them: “We are one”.…
I used to watch this so called “music contest” when I was little, it was a family thing. But back then there were only 12 countries, maybe up to 20 tops, butnow it feels like every little godforsaken mini-country wants to be a part of it, and even countries that aren’t actually in Europe. It’s lost its appeal – it did years ago.
But this year, there’s a bit of rock’n’roll involved, which makes it slightly more interesting! :)
Two Black Sabbath-guys involved in one way or another.
Ex-Sabbath singer Tony Martin shared this pic earlier this morning:
His caption: I’m gonna be supporting my friend Bonnie Tyler In her Eurovision attempt this weekend. Wish ya the best of luck Bonnie … Go get em!!!!! .. Love ya!!!
Bonnie Tyler’s song is written by no other than Desmond Child (does he even need an introduction???) and produced by David Huff – known from the 80’s hard rock band, Giant (I loved their “I’ll See You In My Dreams” and “Believer“).
Competing for Armenia is the band Dorians, with a song written by no other than the mighty Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath).
The Dutch rock-chick Anouk is competing for Netherlands of course, with her song “Birds“. We all remember her for THIS mega-hit:
And Iceland is sending Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson who’ll be singing “Ég á líf” (I am alive). He’s a singer in an Icelandic progressive rock supergroup called Todmobile.
So – on stage or behind the scenes, there are rockers everywhere, even in the seemingly dorky Eurovision Song Contest.
Maybe gives it at least a little bit of cred…! :)
The Man On The Silver Mountain….
Ronnie Dio is probably one of those people who’s been in most rockers’ lives since the word go. He left this life 3 years ago, but rock’n’roll heroes never really “die”.
I remember Ronnie as being a very kind and polite man with a great sense of humor.
[Ronnie, press conference at Sweden Rock Festival 2005]
He was just one of those people who always had TIME for everybody. I never saw him brush off people without a very good reason (I never saw him do that at all, but I would imagine that if he ever did, there would have had to be a reason).
Many years ago we had an interview scheduled with Ronnie in Malmo and the band was late. When they showed up at KB, there wasn’t even time for a proper sound check, and we had almost given up on the idea of getting an interview.
I was convinced that we could just forget about it. Ronnie walked over with a smile, said that it was very tight with his time, but if we thought we would be able to do it in 5-10 minutes, then he would be happy to do it. And then he apologized over and over again for the situation being what it was.
He left his contact e-mail and offered to answer any questions that we still might have at a better time. He kept his promise.
Most artists would have told us that they couldn’t do it, and left it at that. Ronnie chose to find a solution, eventhough he really didn’t have to.
Years before that, I was at SAS Radisson Hotel in Malmö with some friends, and Ronnie came out of the elevator. I guess we all must have looked like a swarm of flies when we all tried to get an autograph before he left. He smiled, didn’t act stressed or annoyed at all, he just enjoyed meeting people. Always time for a kind word and for a photo or whatever it was people wanted.
Nobody is perfect and I’m sure that Ronnie wasn’t a ”perfect” person either, but I’ve only ever seen him as a kind and very professional man. On stage he always blew me away. He made everything look so easy. When he moved, it was as if he was walking on little clouds or something, he was just a very unique artist in every sense of the word.
I remember the day he passed, I was in Croatia and had very limited access to the Internet, and it was too expensive to call somebody in Sweden.
It was such a shock when I got the news, felt like a family member was gone. I couldn’t believe it, was so low all day and the worst part was that I had nobody to talk to about it.
My dad is great, but he knows nothing about music and you can’t explain to someone who’s not a part of this whole rock’n’roll lifestyle how it feels and why. To him, it would just be ”some artist” so why would that affect me at all. Basically, I couldn’t vent it anywhere. I got a text from a friend over in the States, I remember that much. It just said something like ”I’m so sad”, he felt the same way – as did the whole heavy metal community all over the planet.
It was a sad day. The King of Rock’n’Roll, The Man On The Silver Mountain, lost his battle against ”the dragon” – cancer.
But people like Ronnie never really cease to exist. They live on in the hearts of millions of people all over the world. I’m sure he’s up there having a great time with all the other greats who left us to join the band in the sky….
Where on earth….??
Not that it’s a big deal maybe – but how – and WHY – are all the “likes” and tweets and Google+-shares GONE on every post, all of a sudden?!
These blog-platforms are great in many ways, but it’s horribly frustrating when things dont work the way they’re supposed to. :-((
Just live it
Was thinking about a friend’s reaction the other day when we were talking about concerts and how many times we’ve seen certain bands. My record so far is without a doubt the Firewind-shows. Somehow those added up to about 36 in two years – all over the globe. He shook his head saying I was nuts.
I guess it has to do with perspective and how we all choose to view things.
Imagine that someone told you that you had a deadly disease with only one month left to live. What would be more crazy – sitting in front of the TV or doing the things you truly love to do and get your kicks from -while you still could? I guess that in THAT perspective maybe more people would understand.
We all tend to assume that our last day on earth is somewhere far in the future. We think that there’s plenty of time to do stuff “someday“. Guess what – there is no day in the calendar called “Someday“!
There is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Pick one of those.
Cause the truth is that you never really know if that last day is 50 years from now or next week. Life is so unpredictable and anything could happen.
The way I look at it is that if I got hit by a truck tomorrow, I would have no regrets and I would move on to the afterlife with a smile. Cause I lived my life the way I wanted, the way that was right for me and the way that made me happy. Nothing else matters. Ever.
I’ve seen people close to me give up on their dreams, and I don’t want to be another one in that “club”.
My aunt loved cooking, she dreamed of becoming a professional chef and wanted to work in a restaurant. But back in those days, in the 40’s, women’s place was at home. So, she got marred, had kids and became a housewife. When I talked with her a few years ago, she still had little stars in her eyes when she talked about and remembered that dream she once had.
My dad wanted to become a captain on a ship, he always wanted to be at sea and dreamed about maybe having his own boat. Well, he moved to Sweden as a young man, met my mother, they had me and….well, life changed. He worked his whole life as a sheet-metal worker for a shipping company, a really tough job. It was only to provide for the family. But he never got a boat and he never became a captain. I think that deep inside he still wishes that life had turned out differently.
My childhood friend was born a week after me, she was a very smart girl, adventurous, driven, full of dreams and expectations. At the age of 30 she was hit by leucemia and died within a few months of her diagnose. She never got to fulfil any of her dreams either.
So – the term “crazy” means different things to different people I guess.
Money, time, normality… none of that matters. Just do whatever you need to do to feel content and to get your kicks. If that means painting or bungy jumping or riding horses or whatever the hell rocks your boat – go for it!
I love the road, and I love rock’n’roll. I’m not gonna live forever. So I’m living it NOW. In my world that’s pretty damn “un-crazy” …….. :)
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 