Bergen, Norway - July 12, 2013

My little tell-tale, of the third 12th July-concert

July 12th 2008, I was in Lakselv, being eaten by gigantic mosquitos, and during Start from the dark, the sun shone down on the 4000-people crowd.

12th July 2012, I was in Langesund, completely on the other side of the country, and watching Europe playing Riches to Rags, Not supposed to sing the blues, firebox and Demon Head for the first me (I mean it was my first time seeing these songs live, not the first time Europe played them)

12th July 2013, I was travelling with Atle, Stein-Vidar and Atle's girlfriend Christine. I had been a guest at Atles place for 2 days already, and we'd watched Imaginaerum, the music video movie by Nightwish, and Live from the dark, and also, in the car on our way to the festival, we listened to a lot of Europe music. Me and Stein-Vidar sitting in the back seat, backing Ian up with some very expert drumming (drumming with our hands on our thighs).
We had quite a curvy road to travel before coming to Våge, in Tysnes. But the landscape was beautiful. As it always is. There are FEW Europeconcerts I have travelled to in Norway that hasn't been framed in by some beautiful nature.

Tysnesfest is a family festival, and that became very clear when we got there. People in all ages, dress styles (or lack of), popcorn and sugar cone booths, a small amusement park section with different rides and booths, lots of volunteers. This was NOT sweden rock festival, that's for sure!

There were two or three stages. We only arrived 3-4 hours before Europe came on stage, so me and Stein-Vidar headed for the main stage, where we met Michaela and Valeria from Italy. Shortly after we arrived, Morten Abel, a norwegian singer, came on stage with his band. I saw him in Mo i Rana in 2007, where I also was to see Europe. He was okay, fun to watch, but although the music was nice, it wasn't as catchy as the acts I go to shows to see.

Waiting for Europe today wasn't boring. I don't know, maybe it was cause I hadn't slept all that much the night before, maybe it was because Sirkus Eliassen played on the smaller stage when the crew were on stage getting it ready for Europe... it is sort of a haze, but it didn't feel very long. 30 minutes before Europe came on stage people started to form a crowd in front of the main stage. Not kids, but almost all ages from 16 upwards. Us front rowers prepared to be pushed, cause this was a crowd with drunken people, too enthusiastic people, too enthusiastic drunken people, and ... Maybe 10 diehard fans. At the most. The two ladies from Italy, me, Stein-Vidar, Atle, Atle's friend, plus maybe a few I didn't know.

This time my strategy for front row survival was this: Get to know the people on the row behind you BEFORE the show starts, and try to befriend them, and/or convince them to not squash you or pour their beers on you, accidentally. Do a bit of teaching. How NOT to hold your beerglass when you are singing along enthusiastically to a song. It looked promising, I had a 24-year old good looking, not-too-tipsy girl behind me, with some experience, and she was gonna be my buffer (see, if her hands were on the fence on each side of me, I couldn't get pushed as much.

Worked for a while, until the girl went (during the concert), to get more beer...)

Anyway, lets write a bit about Europe, shall we?

It became apparent, very early, that Europe was on great form! Joey's voice was uneffortlessly flowing out to us, improvising a bit here and there, always singing the correct lyrics (yes, really... as far as I can tell). First came Riches to Rags, then Firebox (as we have just discovered in the music section, these two are favorites among fans, and they're really good strong songs). Although it was just over a month since my last Europe concert, I had no problem getting all too enthusiastic hearing them live again this evening.

Then came Superstitious... I am a bit bored of this song, so it allowed me to relax a bit, not jump all the much, and just watch the band. I don't remember during which song this was, but it was one of the golden oldies, like this, I did a sort of funny dance (on the spot), catching John Levéns eyes, he definitely broke a smile.

The best thing to be said about the songs I have heard 20 times before is that they let you relax. They don't make you overexcited, screaming, moaning, jumping uncontrollably. All of this can be saved for unexpected songs like Ready or not. When I saw Joey come on stage with his white guitar, I thought maybe for half a second Ready or Not. Then I thought of No Stone Unturned (which I absolutely love!). when he said that they were gonna do a song from "Out of this world", I just screamed like an idiot; "Ready or not!", not daring to believe I was actually right, trying to strain my brain to find out which OTHER song from OOTW this could be.

So when Joey announced the title, I was just going into overdrive. Catching Atle's eyes (because Stein-Vidar was too busy filming), we both showed each other some REALLY happy faces.

That would have been a bad time to be hit by almost an entire glass of beer. It WAS a bad time to be hit by almost an entire glass of beer. In the middle of the second verse, I got hit, and had beer dripping from my hair, it also landed on the front of my shirt... I used the sleeves of my tennis jacket on the fence in front of me to try and mop myself dry. I also had to tell myself to not get annoyed. Just try and relax. Luckily the energy of this concert had me jumping like a wild one a couple of songs later.

It has to be said that I hate it when girls scream like they're being murdered during gigs. This didn't happen when Europe was playing, I think, just when Morten Abel played. But I'm a bit embarrassed to say that my woo's and hoo's (not planned ones) aren't that much better. I apologize to my friends on front row. I just loose it completely, every now and then. I always think I'm gonna grow up, and put that sort of screaming behind me. But it's hard to control Sometimes they're followed by "Jaaaaaaaaa!!!!" (That's yes in norwegian), and giddy laughter. Cherokee brought it all to life. Woo's, hoo's, jaaaa's and giggles. And the dmile that's so wide, and so persistent it's more of a grimace. It's kind of euphoria, I think. As usual, I hadn't been drinking any alcohol. It's just the euphoria you get when you get your fix of Europe, and some songs you REALLY like but haven't heard in a while. Seven Doors Hotel brought the same euphoria. And some jumps that really didn't always go in time with the music. Oh well

When the bass before Final Countdown came, however, I was almost overwhelmed by tears. Childish, I know. It's a long time 'till I'll see them again, but I know it will happen. And it's not sad. I actually need a break, to gather my economy. Two John Norum shows, and to Europe shows in 2 months isn't cheap. But I still don't like a show to end. Hopefully next time I see them, they will have some new and exciting songs for us