Found this story from September 22, 1999 that was originally on my old website. Thought it would be cool to dust it off a little as it’s time for Maiden again next year. This was also during a time when I was collecting autographs – I don’t do that anymore. But it’s a nice memory. Here it is:

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Janet and I went to Stockholm just for the fun of it really. She was on vacation and I thought it would be fun to meet Iron Maiden’s tourmanager (who I thought would be the same guy who handled the W.A.S.P-tour – he said he’d come back in the fall with Maiden. Looks like he had a change of plans).

We went to the hotel and saw a bunch of young guys with Iron Maiden t-shirts outside. We went to the hotel bar and ordered tea, so we could sit there and relax, while we studied the activity in the lobby.

Yes, tea, because you get a whole pot which is cheap and gives you all the time in the world to just sit there. (Comment: This was during a time when hotel staff used to throw out people who were not guests..)

The first one I saw was Dave Ellefson (Megadeth), one of my teenage-crushes. Now he has short hair and looks like any guy off the street, but he still looks good. 

Dave Mustaine walked out right behind him. If I had been ten years younger, I would have rushed out with the Megadeth CD-cover and asked him to sign it. But now it just didn’t seem like the right time or place for something like that. He looked like he was going someplace and I didn’t want to stall him.

Janet said that Marty Friedman was talking to the people in the reception, and Marty is one of the people I was looking forward to meeting, cause I remember him very well from an interview that I did with him and Nick Menza back in 1990.

We had a good time, and after the interview I went with him to his room and helped him call Anders Johansson (Yngwie’s former drummer) cause they lost touch and he didn’t have his number anymore. Anders was one of my friends so I just put them back in touch with eachother. Yeah, no weird business when this blonde goes to someone’s hotel room, lol! :) Felt nice to reunite two friends. (Comment: The time before Facebook….)

But anyway, I figured he wouldn’t remember me after ten years, so I didn’t even want to embarrass myself by asking.

But Janet and I needed a map anyway, so we could find Globen (where Megadeth and Maiden were playing, a huge arena) so I went to the reception and of course, ended up right behind Marty. I didn’t say anything, I just waited for my turn. Then suddenly, somebody from the “musician-party” (the way he looked and talked, I’d say he was the tour manager…) turned around and asked me, in a pretty loud voice:

– What does it say on your t-shirt?! (I had a black t-shirt that said in big, white capital letters: NEW YORK FUCKIN’ CITY)

I opened my blazer-jacket a little so he could see, and in that moment, Marty turned around. And the next thing I heard was:

– Hey! I know you!!

– Yes you do. I never thought you’d remember, I said, and still couldn’t believe that he remembered me. I looked different back then, and we’re talking about TEN long years!

– Yeah, I do..! You did an interview or something, right?

– Yes..! Wow, you REMEMBER that??

– Sure! And you know what? I remember more than that! It was a small hotel in Copenhagen or something, like the Tivoli or something and… (and then he started to describe the place).

I couldn’t believe my ears. After ten years he could even describe details – I don’t even remember people I met last week!

– So, what are you doing here? he asked.

I didn’t know what to say, because I wasn’t sure myself what I was doing there. It was just one of those things… a good band comes to town, and you can’t just sit at home and ignore it, that’s all.

So I just said that I was looking forward to seeing a good show. How the hell I was going to get in was a completely different story. It had been sold out for months, and I didn’t even have a ticket…

– Well, good to see you, I’ll see you at the show tonight then?!

– Sure, I said and wondered why I said that. I had no idea if we would get in. Globen, a huge arena, Iron Maiden, the biggest metal-attraction since Metallica, except that this was BIGGER, and I didn’t have a ticket or anyone I knew who could help me pull some strings. The way things looked, Janet and I would spend the rest of out evening in the hotel-bar waiting for something to happen.

Then the Maiden-guys started walking in and out of the elevators, and I was still wondering if I would be a pain in the butt if I just jumped out from out of nowhere and asked for an autograph, but I really WANTED their signatures! So I walked over to Steve Harris with my leather jacket and silver marker and asked him to sign it. He was waiting for his cab, so I knew it was not a good time to start a conversation.

He signed it, smiled and was very polite, I just said thanks and went back to the bar. Jannick Gers ran past us so quickly that he dropped his cap – I guess it was because the lobby was full of fans with their records and as he was in a hurry, he probably didn’t want to start signing anything and then not be able to finish – and maybe disappoint a few fans.

But now Janet and I realized that this was our last chance to try to ask somebody to help us out. When Dave Murray came out of the elevator, I asked him to sign my jacket which he did with a smile. I remember Dave as the smiling man from Donington too (except for with the incident with the Cameraman from Hell, which I’ll tell someday…). He’s easy to like, a down to earth man who seems to love his life!

Janet just walked up to him and said that the show was sold out, we didn’t have tickets and that we would have asked that other guy (W.A.S.P‘s tour manager who said he was going out with Maiden and then didn’t) but as he wasn’t there….

– I think it’s in the last minute, but I’ll try. Give me your name and I’ll see what I can do, Dave said.

She gave him our names and he left – the others in the band were already waiting for him.

And that was it… The show was about to begin, and we both thought that Dave had said “I’ll see what I can do” just to get rid of us. Most people would have done that. So we almost didn’t go. Why waste time and gas for nothing? Our plan B was to stick around till Megadeth came back to the hotel and see if we could persuade them to go out to a rock-club or something.

– But we can do both…! We can go to Globen, know for SURE that we AREN’T on the guestlist and then come back here and wait for Megadeth, I said. Janet agreed and we left.

When we came to the security-gate at Globen arena, Janet said that we were supposed to be on the guest list, and the security-guy just smiled, gave her an envelope.

– Yes! Here it is!

She looked as surprised as I did- we went to the side and opened it. There were two tickets!! DAVE, WE LOVE YOU!!! :-)

I managed to see Megadeth’s two last songs, and I love them. Had been looking forward to seeing them, but two songs were better than nothing.

When Iron Maiden walked up on stage, it was like a huge triumph-comeback! They have the best fans in the world! I looked around, and saw thousands and thousands of happy, crazy, screaming, headbanging Maiden-fans! They were in total ecstasy, and it was almost more entertaing watching the crowd than what was going on on stage! Almost… The last time I saw Iron Maiden was Donington 1992, but they were back to rock harder than ever! They were so good that I dropped my jaw. Holy shit.

Three guitars, the typical Maiden bass-sound and an absolutely fantastic Bruce! He has one hell of a set of lungs!! I even wondered if this was live or pre-recorded, but I saw it wasn’t fake. He really is one of the best vocalists around. He’s in great shape too, runs around the stage, jumps over amps like a rubberball, and owns the stage! 

I got to hear some of my favorites: Phantom of the opera, Fear of the dark, Run to the hills and of course Number of the beast. It was a good mix actually, a little bit of everything from Maiden’s long musical history. 

After the show, we drove back to the hotel just to leave a THANK YOU-note for Dave in the reception and also a note for Marty. Then we went to Copy, a small pub/club that played clasic heavy metal all night. I had a great time listening to old hits like Electric eye and Panama, but had to leave when the air was unbreathable in there. I can’t stand smoke, and it made me feel really sick. Besides, I was dead tired – I had only slept a few hours and driven all day. I needed rest. (Comment: This was before smoking was forbidden in public places in Sweden).

To make a long story short, I didn’t get much sleep that night for various reasons (we stayed with a friend of Janet’s who has three cats and a parakeet. The cats walked all over me during the morning and the bird screamed for all he was worth, so it was impossible to sleep). I wouldn’t have slept long even IF things had been perfect, because I felt that I had to go back to the hotel and get those missing Maiden-autographs before they left! Janet went back to bed and I drove off to new “adventures” on my own.

I went to the hotel-bar/restaurant and ordered tea. I was so tired that I was dizzy, felt sick and saw red and yellow spots before my eyes. I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything either… But then I recognized the Maiden-crew (I had seen one of them running with a fax-machine under his arm the day before) talking to the reception-ladies, so I quickly found my silver-marker and Iron Maiden promo photo that I got from EMI. Jannick came down first, but he was busy straightening out something at the reception desk, so I waited. The hotel-staff smiled at me, they recognized me from the day before.

When Jannick seemed to have solved whatever it was he had to solve and had a spare second, I asked him if he’d sign my jacket and photo.

– Suure! I’ll sign anything you put in front of me, he said and signed.

Then Dave Murray came out of the elevator with a little suitcase on wheels. He was still smiling! When he had finished talking to “his” people, I approached him, and he went:

– Hello! How are you?

–  I just wanted to say thanks a lot for helping us!

– Yes, well..! It was a bit in the last minute, but it worked out okay! he said while he was signing the photo. 

A guy who was apparently working with the band, walked over to me and asked what it said on my t-shirt (here we go again..!). He wondered what I was doing there (in a polite way). We talked a little, and he asked:

– Are you going to Gothenburg?

– I’m thinking about it, I said.

– Do you want me to put you on the guestlist?

– Would you..?? I asked.

– Suuure, sure! he said. Dave Murray overheard and said with a smile:

– I put her on the guest list last night..!

I wondered if that meant that I had used up my quota or something, but apparently not – the guy (let’s call him, say, Will) asked me to put down my name on a piece of paper, and I did. He asked if it was only me or if I had a friend who wanted to go. But Janet was staying in Stockholm for another day, and I didn’t know anyone in Gothenburg…

He told me that I could just relax and go get some rest or something, cause I would get all the autographs I wanted in Gothenburg. So they left with the words “see you in Gothenburg, then!” and I went to the garage to get my car. I had a long trip ahead of me to Gothenburg.

The drive to Gothenburg was a drag. I only made one stop just to be sure I’d make it to the show on time. I was tired and tried really hard to stay awake. When I finally arrived in Gothenburg, I spent the next ten minutes looking for a parking-spot. There were Iron Maiden-fans everywhere, I felt like I had just stepped out of a time-machine that had taken me back to my own “glory days” in 1983!

Now it was all happening once again, like a rerun of a popular tv-show! I envied the young, enthusiastic kids, cause I know how much THIS particular time in their lives will mean to them when they get older. Metal was everything to me when I was 14 years old! If there was a God, his name was Rob Halford, you know? I still love heavy metal, but that special “teenage feeling” is gone, naturally. Now it’s a different kind of dedication.

– Apparently they’re already in there… If you’re lucky you’ll catch them before you all have to leave, cause the backstage area needs to be cleared before Iron Maiden goes onstage.

It was a madhouse back there, people everywhere, and I didn’t really have the strength (too darn tired!) to push my way in. I never managed to get to Marty.
Then Will (the guy who had helped me out all day with tickets and passes) grabbed me and went:

– Come on in! They won’t bite you! Hahaha!

First person I saw when I walked in was Adrian who was busy signing stuff, and Will just shouted:

– ADRIAN! Hey! Listen, can you stop that for a second, this girl has been waiting for two days!

I turned around to say that I hadn’t exactly been waiting for two days, but Will just smiled and put his finger over his lips as to say “ssshhhh!”.

Adrian stopped what he was doing and turned around. Will took my camera and took a photo of us, and more of less shoved everybody else out of the way so I could have my photo signed. Some things just never cease to amaze me…

Nicko made a typical Nicko-entrance, with a BIG smile and a loud voice:

– HIYA PEOPLE! HOWYADOIN´?!

…and went right to work signing autographs. Once again, I didn’t feel like being pushed and shoved, I just figured I’d wait until he was done, and THEN ask him to sign the photo. But once again, Will came to my rescue. He shouted:

– NICKO! This girl wants a photo, come on, get over here!

I felt a little bit embarrassed, cause I was being treated like a real VIP-person, while the others had to do what I always to – struggle! They were probably wondering why I got all that attention. Well, it still beats ME..! 

Suddenly people started leaving. I asked one of the guys where everybody was going, and he just said that it’s SHOWTIME!

I rushed out, back to the arena and to my original spot in the front row. The Maiden-fan looked at me, but didn’t say anything. I wonder what he was thinking…! I thought to myself that if he was such a Maiden-fan, I could have gotten him autographs (I know that I would have appreciated that if I hadn’t had a pass myself) but he never said a word to me, and I thought it’d be stupid to just suggest that out of the blue, so I didn’t bother and decided to concentrate on the show.

But I was about to go backstage once again.

I had to leave the concert for a few minutes, cause I was so hungry and thirsty that I couldn’t stand it anymore – not to mention how dead TIRED I was, and it wasn’t going to get any better…

While I was up there, getting a hot dog, somebody shouted my name:

– Daniela!! How are you?

It was one of the regulars at my rock-club Hard Break. I told him that the next band playing at Hard Break was actually an Iron Maiden cover-band called The Eddies, and he knew who they were. When he left I ate the hot dog as quickly as I could not to miss too much of the show, and headed back to the concert. On my way back, people commented on my pass – some things just never change… A girl with a pass can only mean one thing, right? :-( What a drag.

The show was amazing, really. It was heavy metal true Maiden style, performed with all the energy and enthusiasm a crazy metalhead-audience could dream of! I just wished I had more strength to jump around like the others, but I was so tired, I thought I wouldn’t make it through the show, but I had to. 

When the show ended, I waited a little before I started walking towards the backstage area. I didn’t want to look like one of those who walks around like in “Wayne’s World”, you know...”look! I’ve got a pass!”.

When I first began doing this backstage-going thing, I always placed my pass somewhere visible. Nowadays I hide it if I can. It’s embarrassing, I mean, it looks like I’m showing off and people can be pretty cruel sometimes. So I waited until the arena was almost empty, then I joined the others on the stairs where we waited to be let back in to the band.