Konzertjunkie

Godwin's law is well-known.

Can we please introduce a law that says that a discussion about something an artist does ends right at the moment when somebody says "well, you are a fan, of course you like it"?

Don't worry, I'm sane enough to judge things and decide for myself whether I like them or not. And no, I don't love everything just because it's my favorite band that does it.

But: My favorite band happens to do things once in a while that I love. And I want to be able to say so, without anybody telling me that well, I can't judge anyway, because I'm a fan and fans love everything.

How about... Susi's law?


Oh, and by the way - THIS is what I love:


And I love it because it brings back the memories of a fantastic tour. Not because the video was perfect, not because it's Kaizers.

But this video really sums up the tour perfectly - you have this little band from Bryne that is NEVER gonna make it. No way. Anyway, they have their dreams about how they will make it, how they will become BIG, everything's just a little piece of the process, a little step forward. They sing about it.

Ten years later, they play a tour. The tour is nothing but a triumph, from the first to the last concert. Everywhere, people go crazy, sing along every word, and the song they celebrate most is the one about the little band and their dream of making it. And yes, they made it.

You can see all that in the video. And: It shows WHY they were able to make it.
Enkelte reagerer, andre applauderer - og det er sånne som oss!

Prolog: OK, it's no news that I am a weird kind of fan. Somehow, I always want to be around "my" bands - well, that of course is not the weird part. But generally, I'm very reluctant to talk to them, unless I've really got something to talk about. Otherwise, it's just awkward. So basically, seeing them around is great, going by and saying hi would be great (if I knew I could leave again right away and would thus dare), really getting into a conversation would be fantastic (and utopic, given my small talk skills ), starting to talk to them and not having anything to talk about is a desaster.

So, back to Månefestivalen. The Saturday started out very nice. I went by the literature scene, understood pretty much, actually, and it was quite fun. But: It was raining, so my mood was way down, of course.

I had planned to go over to Fredrikstad to find something to eat there (the choice of food on the festival ground was pretty limited), but after strolling around a bit and walking over to the supermarket and back to the hotel, it was already quite late, and I wasn't too fond of getting on the ferry, running around desparately looking for Kebap places and jumping right back onto the ferry to go back. Plus - there might be some rockstars walking around that you might or might not want to talk to, you know...?

So I spent some more time around the festival (it wasn't even raining anymore), discovering a great impro theater group (that I saw a few more times that weekend, they were really funny!). Then at some point in time, I settled in front of the main stage, with my book and a drink, waiting for the band before Skambankt to finish. And of course always being on the lookout for rockstars. *g*

The Skambankt concert was great (check out the report on http://skambankt.konzertjunkie.de, if you like). And this time without tunnel vision. And then it was weird fan girl time! Because by then, Kaizers were "in the house" and walking around, of course. Or well, mostly running around, so there was no way to walk by anyway. Good. *gg* Except for one exception - so I spent the next half hour deciding whether I wanted to go by and say hi or not... You don't want to know how often you can change your mind in half an hour... In the end, I did NOT say hi, but mostly because I was too late and didn't want to ruin the groupie hunt... *cough* Some people COULD do that a bit less obviously, I think. Uhem...

Anyway. Then it was time for Tommy Tokyo, which I enjoyed pretty much. And after that, I bumped into the Skambankt guys and got my questions... well, not really answered, but I could ask them at least. So that was quite nice.

Then a fantastic Kaizers show (http://kaizers.konzertjunkie.de, if you want to know more), and as I didn't spot the people I met throughout the day after the concert, I went home right away. That's something I've learned by now - don't hang around after concerts hoping and waiting for things that are not going to happen. And it IS never going to happen that after a concert, the band comes out, points at you and says "we want to talk to you!"
(And if it WOULD happen, it would probably mean something bad, right? )

So, all in all a great day. I'm used to the fact that at festivals with "my" bands, I'm more busy watching out for the band members than enjoying other concerts. It's stupid, but that's the way I am... and well, this time it was two great concerts, so no reason to complain.

OK, the next day. Yeah, this would be a great day! Sunshine, warm, and no rockstars to watch out for! And especially no pondering about "should I walk up to them", "what should I say", "did I just make a fool out of myself" etc. Just a quiet day, without thoughts that make my head explode...

I actually wanted to see the impro theater again, but obviously they had given a wrong time, at least there was nobody there (I did catch them lateron that day again though, luckily ). The literature scene wouldn't start before two hours later. So I decided to take the ferry over to Fredrikstad, walk around a bit, find something to eat and just relax with my book. I did take the ferry, I walked around a bit, found out there wasn't really anything to see, didn't find a Kebap place and wasn't really hungry anyway, and decided I could relax at the festival site as well, so I went back pretty soon.

Got off the ferry, and... bumped into Terje + wife.

In a way, that made my day. 'Cause that was what had been missing a bit the day before (even though it hadn't really been missing, everybody was so nice the day before as well, but you can never get enough friendly smiles, right? *g*). And at the same time, it ruined it. Why? Well - back to being on the lookout for rockstars. Back to pondering "argh, did I just make a fool out of myself???" - yep, of course I did. But then, it wasn't my fault, it wasn't me who started the small talk. _I_ would have turned around and run away. But that would have looked even more foolish, I guess...

And yes, I AM bad at small talk, and even worse at small talk in Norwegian. And I wasn't prepared. *g* So I spent the rest of the day thinking about how big a fool I had made out of myself, whether it was my fault or not, and what else I could/should have said. *argh* But then, it was so nice! He could have just walked by...

Anyway. I went on to the literature scene, couldn't concentrate, walked on a bit and stumbled onto the impro theater again, yeah! =:-) Then back to the literature scene to some Swedish poet who was performing his poems to music. SO cool! And I could even understand most of it! Well, another Swedish artist...

The rest of the day was rather uneventful - first I spent some hours reading, then it was time for Katzenjammer, who were great again, and the rest of the bands were just annoying and/or boring. Which means that I went back to the hotel after the first two songs of the headliner - but there were hardly any people there anyway.

So that was it - 12 days in Norway! Now I gotta go home again. I don't want to, but I'll be back.

Yep, so I promised to write about my last trip to Norway, right?
Hmm... maybe I shouldn't have done that, because - it was just amazing, no question about it, but somehow I'm not really inspired to write about it.

So this will be rather short here - the trip was great, the concerts were amazing, and it was so wonderful to travel to Norway and meet everybody again. Just walk into a concert place in some town in Norway and meet people you know. So great!

But the best part was actually travelling around with great friends. I mean - I am really not an easy person to travel with. Definitely not. I got my own clear plan on how things should go, sometimes I'm just not in the mood, and most of all, I want to enjoy myself. Stress on "MYself", not like "we should enjoy ourselves"... I know this is bad, but this is the way I am, and this is why I often travel alone.
But this time, it was just different. We were travelling together, we were having a great time together, and we just agreed on what to do without even really having to talk about it. So cool! It was just great to be on the road together, and I hope we can repeat it very very soon!

So, what were the nicest things? For Bergen... hmm. Seeing Lena getting so amazed by flowers - well, it's understandable if you normally don't have spring. Then the hotel right on top of the concert place. The fact that it doesn't only happen to fans that they walk up to their stars without having anything to talk about - which leads to rather awkward conversations, uhem. But yep, it can happen the other way around as well. And then finally a concert that I enjoyed a whole lot even though I didn't really see anything.

Next - Stavanger. Such great hospitality, that was amazing. Seeing a bit more of Stavanger than I had known before. And then this "concert place" - living room would be even more suitable, I think. And lots of nice people all around.

Oslo: The weather. It was SO amazing! Real spring in Norway - and it was so nice to just sit outside, talk, laugh, and have a great time. And then I finally managed to buy my CDs - at a signing session, but without the slightest urge to go and talk to them, guess I'm finally getting away from the fan-girl-thingy. That night, we had the perfect spot during the concert, the concert was different from the others but also very nice in the end, and the night afterwards was also a lot of fun. Even though I got a bit annoyed about some people who just think they are the center of the world, and what does it help that you don't need to worry about anybody stealing your wallet in Norway when instead, they steal your wine? But then, walking home in the middle of the night, singing Under månen, made up for it again.

Then the last stop: Trondheim. Rain, empty stomaches, weird hotel receptionists - but by far the best concert of the tour! And again, lots of people around that I hadn't seen for a while. And the possibility to pass a short "thank you" to the guys, without the feeling "I really need to talk to them now!!!1". Oh, and a VERY nice Helge, as always. I could have done without seeing them at the airport the other morning, though. But then, it could have been worse there.

So, all in all, it was an amazing trip. I was really in doubt before whether I wanted to go and see all concerts - but it was the right decision. Like that, I don't have the feeling that I "missed" anything, and with the great company I had, it was so much fun that I wouldn't want to have missed anything either. Thanks for the great trip!

Because I want to. And because I got the tickets. And because my friends got the tickets and will come along. Jippieh!

I'm confused again.

A while ago, there was a discussion in the forum about how to give out tickets for a club tour of Die Ärzte. Not that anything was planned, but well, Die Ärzte fans like to discuss everything all the time, no matter whether there's a reason or not. Someone posted that everybody should only get one ticket, for one concert, and a lot of people agreed. I didn't chip in, but I thought it was bullshit. Hey, come on, some people like to see more concerts, and they should be allowed to! First come, first served.

Now the Kaizers club tour has been announced. And yes, I so want to go to all of the concerts - won't be possible, too hard to get there and so on, but at least Oslo and Trondheim should be feasible, plus maybe Stavanger. But: I feel bad about it. These clubs are tiny, and there are so many people who want to go there. If I go to several shows, other people won't get in. And I'm really annoyed by everybody (no, wait, not everybody - only the people I'm not friends with ) who says they want to see all the shows, because I find it is unfair with respect to everybody else. Everybody should see only one show.

So, can anybody tell me what the difference is here?! Why is it okay for Die Ärzte, but not for Kaizers? It's exactly the same, after all...