Karmøygeddon metal festival, Norway
Went up at 5am to have breakfast and a shower. Got picked up at 7am by David and Andre and went to the airport. We all knew we had a terrible long day ahead of us so we tried to get into good-mood already in the morning to make it through the day. We met the rest of the gang at Arlanda and it was raining like hell, typical Sweden in April. After a morning drink in the bar we boarded the plane to Oslo. We had a few beers at the flight and then arrived in Oslo around 11am. There we had over 3 hours to kill until the next flight to Haugesund. So we found a place with enough place for all of us, and had pizza and beers. We also met the guys from Vader at the airport who were waiting for the same flight.
Finally in Haugesund we went straight to soundcheck followed by dinner, then straight to the hotel for a couple of hours of sleep. We needed that for sure. Haugesund is a really beautiful litte town, located at the west coast of Norway. I was watching the beautiful view from my hotel window and saw that Doro and her band were having a photosession by the harbour below - good idea!
Finally in Haugesund we went straight to soundcheck followed by dinner, then straight to the hotel for a couple of hours of sleep. We needed that for sure. Haugesund is a really beautiful litte town, located at the west coast of Norway. I was watching the beautiful view from my hotel window and saw that Doro and her band were having a photosession by the harbour below - good idea!
The show went incredibly well, and i said to myself several times during the show: "we have to come back to Norway more often!" The crowd was very loud and crazy, which became very inspiring for all of us. It felt good to be in this positive environment and also knowing we had so many friends around us. Doro Pesch was standing at the side of the stage watching a few songs as well, giving me the thumbs up when i saw her behind the smoke. Tomas from Hypocrisy and Marcus from Evergrey was in the crowd as well (Marcus filled in for me in Pain on a few occacions back in 2007-2008, but he was in Royal Hunt by then). Then also our own Sean from France and Elsa from Italy, both in first row as usual. I am proud every time i see these painheads on a show, even though i feel a bit embarrassed by the fact that they spend so much time, efforts and money to travel around the world to see us in all these crazy places. I guess my full respect is not enough.
After the show we had a afterparty with loads of people backstage including Vader and Evergrey. At this point we were beyond the point "tired" after a very long day...
Went up the next morning at 5am (again!) to get hotel breakfast (you probably know by now that i am a total sucker for breakfast and cannot miss it), then left Haugesund with Andre and David to the airport around 6am, and so did Vader and Doro. We had a terrible long trip back home to stockholm due to bad connections in Norway, with another 4 hour to kill in Oslo which made our trip about 7 hours in total before i was back home again... Finally back home i crashed at the couch and slept for 3 hours. Another show is over and my neck hurts...
Now i can rest and relax, and build up some enegry until next trip which is the sounth American tour.
Waiting to be picked up, 7am
Arlanda airport 9am. Breakfast beers
On our way in the plane to Oslo
David having breakfast in the plane
Pizza and beers in Oslo airport.
Arrived in Haugesund airport, the home of the Vikings?
The heart of the sound (as always) Eleven Rack and Sennheiser wireless
Backstage fridge
Having a walk in beautiful Haugesund
Nice welcome sign in the hotel...
Wonderful view of Haugesund from my hotel window
Backstage before the show
One of my favourite bands had been here earlier!
The day after, in the morning at Haugesund airport...
After the show we had a afterparty with loads of people backstage including Vader and Evergrey. At this point we were beyond the point "tired" after a very long day...
Went up the next morning at 5am (again!) to get hotel breakfast (you probably know by now that i am a total sucker for breakfast and cannot miss it), then left Haugesund with Andre and David to the airport around 6am, and so did Vader and Doro. We had a terrible long trip back home to stockholm due to bad connections in Norway, with another 4 hour to kill in Oslo which made our trip about 7 hours in total before i was back home again... Finally back home i crashed at the couch and slept for 3 hours. Another show is over and my neck hurts...
Now i can rest and relax, and build up some enegry until next trip which is the sounth American tour.
Waiting to be picked up, 7am
Arlanda airport 9am. Breakfast beers
On our way in the plane to Oslo
David having breakfast in the plane
Pizza and beers in Oslo airport.
Arrived in Haugesund airport, the home of the Vikings?
The heart of the sound (as always) Eleven Rack and Sennheiser wireless
Backstage fridge
Having a walk in beautiful Haugesund
Nice welcome sign in the hotel...
Wonderful view of Haugesund from my hotel window
Backstage before the show
One of my favourite bands had been here earlier!
The day after, in the morning at Haugesund airport...
Norway here we come!
We haven't played in Norway since 2008. At that point we played the Norway Rock Festival in Kvinesdal and we had a great time. I remember Ronny Le Tekro and his band was at stage before us and he also saw our show. Ronny and TNT is one of those guys i really respect, so it was cool to see this, especially in Norway! Helloween and Alice Cooper was also on stage after us that night and i remember we had a really good time backstage with some of the guys. Especially Markus from Helloween who we talked into trying Swedish Snus... do i have to say he didn't like it? Hehe... Alice Coopers guitarplayer came up to us at the brekfast in the hotel the next day and just said "you guys are fucking crazy" then he just walked away again.
Norweigan Painheads - see ya on friday!
2012-04-20 Karmøygeddon metal festival – Haugesund – Norway
2012-05-11 Vorterix Theatre (Teatro de Colegiales) – Buenos Aires – Argentina
2012-05-12 Blackmore Rockbar – Sao Paolo – Brazil
2012-05-15 TBC – TBC – Bolivia
2012-05-17 Teatro Metro – Bogota – Colombia
2012-05-19 Pepper Club – San José – Costa Rica
2012-05-20 Circo Volador – Mexico City – Mexico
2012-07-12 Rockharz – Ballenstedt – Germany
2012-07-13 Masters of rock – Plzen – Czech Republic
2012-07-14 Bang Your Head – Balingen – Germany
Anyway, it is 2012 and we are heading back to Norway again. On Friday we will travel to Haugesund to play the Karmöygeddon Festival, our first festival this year. I am really looking forward to this show! After this one we will start preparing for our South American tour in May!
Norweigan Painheads - see ya on friday!
2012-04-20 Karmøygeddon metal festival – Haugesund – Norway
2012-05-11 Vorterix Theatre (Teatro de Colegiales) – Buenos Aires – Argentina
2012-05-12 Blackmore Rockbar – Sao Paolo – Brazil
2012-05-15 TBC – TBC – Bolivia
2012-05-17 Teatro Metro – Bogota – Colombia
2012-05-19 Pepper Club – San José – Costa Rica
2012-05-20 Circo Volador – Mexico City – Mexico
2012-07-12 Rockharz – Ballenstedt – Germany
2012-07-13 Masters of rock – Plzen – Czech Republic
2012-07-14 Bang Your Head – Balingen – Germany
2012-07-20 Zwarte Cross Festival – Netherlands
2012-07-21 Queens Of Metal – Steinbach – Germany
2012-08-10 Metalcamp – Tolmin – Slovenia
Norway this upcoming weekend!
2012-07-21 Queens Of Metal – Steinbach – Germany
2012-08-10 Metalcamp – Tolmin – Slovenia
Norway this upcoming weekend!
Live in Västerås, Sweden
Live in Västerås, Sweden
First show 2012 - Västerås, Sweden
Okay, none of us had played a song since November last year when we ended the 2011 tour in Stockholm. You feel a but rusty and get that feeling that it was a couple of years ago since you were on stage - it was not, we are only talking about 4,5 months... :-)
It was really good to meet the gang again! Everybody was happy and eager to get going. Peter, David and Andre (Johan couldn't make it this time) were all talking about the song structures and we had to practice during soundcheck, hahaha.. Hede, Macke, Emanuel and Jonas were just professionals as always. I have realized that it is only the crew that are true professionals in this gang, not the musicians, hehe..
Anyway, Västerås is only 100km west from Stockholm so this was a very easy and soft start of the 2012 touring. I could just pack my bags and jump into my Mustang and had a nice ride to Västerås for about one hour. As most of us were driving and/or had other early obligations the next day, it was a calm and easy evening with no party. We played in a small club called "SG25" which served a nice atmosphere to it. The audience was good and the show itself went really good if you ask me. We didn't do any major mistakes and i would say we performed well considering the circumstances. My new Jackson guitar performed flawless and as i changed guitar in the end of the show i realised it had way better feeling than the Tuck guitar - i wonder if i have found a new favourite!?
I thought i couldn't be more surprised when it comes to our fans, the Painheads, but now i was wrong again. The Italian girl that saw so many of our shows last year in both Italy, Spain and Sweden, was in the front row in Västerås as well. Same thing with Sean from France who starts to be as common sight as a backdrop on stage, he was also there. I guess there is no way for me to express how i feel about these deditacted Painheads, but i guess you can imagine. Respect is the only word.
I got back home around 4am, driving carefully in my Mustang in a minor snowstorm... Now relaxing in a cold and snowy Stockholm, next show is Norway in about 3 weeks. We have not played in Norway since 2008 so this is something i am looking forward to a lot. On a sidenote, it is now also officially confirmed that we will go on a South American tour in May! See you all Painheads in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico!
2012-04-20 Karmøygeddon metal festival – Haugesund – Norway
2012-05-11 Vorterix Theatre (Teatro de Colegiales) – Buenos Aires – Argentina
2012-05-12 Blackmore Rockbar – Sao Paolo – Brazil
2012-05-15 TBC – TBC – Bolivia
2012-05-17 Teatro Metro – Bogota – Colombia
2012-05-19 Pepper Club – San José – Costa Rica
2012-05-20 Circo Volador – Mexico City – Mexico
2012-07-12 Rockharz – Ballenstedt – Germany
2012-07-13 Masters of rock – Plzen – Czech Republic
2012-07-14 Bang Your Head – Balingen – Germany
2012-07-21 Queens Of Metal – Steinbach – Germany
2012-08-10 Metalcamp – Tolmin – Slovenia
I thought i couldn't be more surprised when it comes to our fans, the Painheads, but now i was wrong again. The Italian girl that saw so many of our shows last year in both Italy, Spain and Sweden, was in the front row in Västerås as well. Same thing with Sean from France who starts to be as common sight as a backdrop on stage, he was also there. I guess there is no way for me to express how i feel about these deditacted Painheads, but i guess you can imagine. Respect is the only word.
I got back home around 4am, driving carefully in my Mustang in a minor snowstorm... Now relaxing in a cold and snowy Stockholm, next show is Norway in about 3 weeks. We have not played in Norway since 2008 so this is something i am looking forward to a lot. On a sidenote, it is now also officially confirmed that we will go on a South American tour in May! See you all Painheads in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico!
2012-04-20 Karmøygeddon metal festival – Haugesund – Norway
2012-05-11 Vorterix Theatre (Teatro de Colegiales) – Buenos Aires – Argentina
2012-05-12 Blackmore Rockbar – Sao Paolo – Brazil
2012-05-15 TBC – TBC – Bolivia
2012-05-17 Teatro Metro – Bogota – Colombia
2012-05-19 Pepper Club – San José – Costa Rica
2012-05-20 Circo Volador – Mexico City – Mexico
2012-07-12 Rockharz – Ballenstedt – Germany
2012-07-13 Masters of rock – Plzen – Czech Republic
2012-07-14 Bang Your Head – Balingen – Germany
2012-07-21 Queens Of Metal – Steinbach – Germany
2012-08-10 Metalcamp – Tolmin – Slovenia
Andre and Peter backstage a few minutes before the show in Västerås
Icey grille on the Mustang, damn i have to admit it is not summer yet..
