2 July 2009, Thursday.
It's 5 am and my alarm clock rings in a hostel room full of sleeping people. I silently apologize to my fellow guests as I crawl out of bed and begin to quietly pack my suitcase. I have somewhere to be in a few hours. As the others snooze, I head out the door, definitely ready to begin my journey. I find myself walking down Upplandsgatan in the warm sunshine admiring the stillness that is Stockholm at this hour.
I make my way to the train station in silence. The tranquility is broken as I arrive at the central station. Even though it's early, commuters are rushing around trying to get where they need to be.
The departure board shows train on track 12 is headed to Sundsvall, so I make my way there. Boarding begins just after I arrive and we start heading north to Sundsvall right at 6 am. I know I won't get much sleep in the next 48 hours, so I try to sleep on the train. I manage to get a little rest, even with the sunshine streaming through the windows.
The train arrives at the Sundsvall station around 10 am. The sky is light blue with a few clouds and a slight breeze. The temperature is unsually high, hovering around 28 C. I drag my suitcase behind me and it ticks loudly as I walk along the cobbled streets.
I am supposed to meet several Acers this morning, Jessi and Anja from Germany and Anna and Andi from Hungary. I don't know where they are right now, so I take the time to eat something and get a sneak peek at the stage where the band will play in about 12 hours. I find a bench in the center of the town square, just a few feet away from the stage, and begin eating the sandwich I picked up on the walk over.
The stage early in the morning:
As I am eating, I hear a familiar sound, "for the people, for the good, for mankind, brotherhood..." I fumble around as I try to find my phone in my backpack. Jessi says hello to me on the other end of the line, then asks me if I know where the bus station is. I do, in fact. I've been to Sundsvall before a few years back and know the city isn't that big. It will take about three minutes to walk from the city center to the bus station. I finish the last few bites and walk the short distance.
Anna, Andi, Jessi and Anja greet me and we hop in Anna's car. We take a tour of the town from the highest point in the city to the harbor below.
Anna explains to us that the houses are made mostly from stone because a fire decimated the town in 1888 and it's one of the few cities in Sweden built in stone. The view from the top of the city is clean, clear, and calm.
We swing by a gift shop on the way back down, then take a rest at a playground. The entire city seems to promote the Skvadern. It's a local legend about a half bird half rabbit that was supposedly shot by a local hunter. There is even a Skvadern slide at the playground. Children can climb to the top of the bird-rabbit and slide out its backside. Oh, Sundsvall.
After visiting this unique area, we decide to head down to the harbor. We spend time feeding some ducks and sharing some thoughts on AOB.
Andi and Anna take the car back home and decide to meet up with us later. Jessi, Anja and I find something to eat around 4 pm and take it to the concert area. We think there may be a sound check, so we get there early to make sure we won't miss it. We start eating and shortly thereafter, we see Susanna Säfsund pass by. I interpret this to mean a sound check can't be far off.
After we finish eating, we launch into a discussion of the band and its future. About 10 minutes into our conversation, I see a woman who looks like Jenny walking through the crowd. A man who looks like the band's tour manager walks beside her. I'm in the middle of a sentence when I see them, "Well, I hope the band will...Is that Jenny?" Jessi and Anja turn their heads to the left and confirm what I already suspect with a nod of the head. "Yes, it's Jenny". As Jessi says this, both Jenny and Bengan turn in our direction. We get up from the ground to meet the two of them as they approach. They greet us and ask us if we're hungry. We just ate, so we tell them this. They ask if we have tickets to all the concerts. (I don't really remember this part but will be reminded of it later).
Jenny says she's glad to see us there and asks Jessi for her contact info so she can contact her and Anja later regarding an interview for their website. (They own aceisland.de / jennyberggren.net if you're not aware). Jessi works on getting that info to her. Jessi then asks about a sound check, but Jenny informs us there is no sound check since it's a festival. Jenny then says she wishes there was a sound check but unfortunately there isn't one. Jenny again says she's happy we're there, then both her and Bengan head out to get ready for the concert later in the evening.
We continue to sit at the front gate and around 5:30 pm, we are joined by another Acer named David. He's there from France with a friend. We chat a little bit and they decide to take in some of the festival until it's time for the concert. The rest of us wait at the gate until 6 pm, when we are ushered out of the area by the guards. They're clearing the area of people and will only open the gates again when everyone is out. We head out, grab our tickets and wait to be let back in again.
Everyone gets back in relatively easily, though I have a little trouble. I bought my ticket online and the concert organizers decide people with online tickets need to go to another area to have their tickets verified. I keep thinking the front row will be taken up in a very short amount of time, so I'm a little anxious to get in. I walk down a few blocks to the e-ticket area and join the line. My watch says 6:10. People start complaining. We hear a rumour about a technical issue. It's now 6:20 and I'm hoping the other Acers got great spots up front and maybe even saved a little space for me too. Five minutes later, the gates open. I finally trade my ticket for a concert armband and begin to run back to the main stage. Just as I start my run, a guard stops me and wants to see my bag. Sure! I show it to him and he checks only one of five pockets. He sees some airplane itinerary papers and lets me go. Great security. Oh, Sundsvall.
I join everyone at the front gate around 6:30, and as I had hoped, they have a little spot for me. Thank you! The first act, EMD, will play at 7 pm. EMD is a popular Swedish boy band and we're soon surrounded by a young audience. We joke about being the oldest ones in the front row, as it's evident we're at least a decade older than the majority of the EMD fans standing around us. The concert rolls around and we listen to the band as the girls scream and cry for their beloved boys. One girl has such a piercing scream, we have to cover our ears to avoid the pain. EMD gives a decent performance and the fans disband from center stage. We're left to choose any place we want along the stage line. We take the center, naturally.
A little white later, we see an advertisement on the main screen where you can text in a message and have it shown on the screen during the festival. We send a text about Jessi and Anja's website, thinking it won't be shown because it's advertising, but surprise! It pops up for all to see and Jessi runs to catch a shot of it on her camera.
This is what you see when you look from the side of the stage to the audience:
It's about 9:30 pm and we're left to wait out that last bit. We use it to prepare for the show. Batteries? Check. Memory cards? Yes. Camera? Right here. We have so much recording equipment between us, we could have pooled everything together and created a new TV station.
Excitement shows in our faces as the hour approaches. A company sponsor walks down the front row handing out earplugs (as they do before every concert starts). Anna lets them know they're crazy and tells them we intend to hear the music at a music festival. She rejects the earplugs and I do too, but I change my mind after Anja says something about using them for the airplane ride tomorrow. I pack a set in my bag to use later.
The tour crew has been up on stage for a while moving equipment around, hooking up mics, pushing equipment around, putting everything in just the right spot. Drums have been set up. Keyboards are being rolled out. Guitars are in the right places. They tape off reference points on the floor for the dancers. One guy is standing in front of us taping down the set-list. All of this activity is taking place behind a milky-white curtain with the text "Sundsvalls Gatufest" printed on it. The curtain seems to be completely white from a distance away. Since we're so close, we can almost see through it.
Two festival crew members are re-setting a broken electrical line running from the stage to the sound booth in the middle of the square. They look stressed, yet still manage to fix it in a few minutes. People begin appearing around us about 10 minutes before the show is set to start.
There aren't a mass of people there yet, though more arrive as time ticks by. The front row is taken up by this point and the next couple of rows are filling in. Five minutes until 10 and the spaces around us are closing up. Jakob appears at the left hand side of the stage. We know we're close. Concert time rolls around and the front 1/3 of the square is full.
lol this is so much fun reading lol
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