Getting back on track

Will be finishing up the last posts on this blog in the next few months. Finally!

Tiny Töreboda

We feeling a little hungry, so we strike out to find some grub. We see a grocery store adjacent to the stage. The store is called ICA. We decide it's as good a place as any to get some chow. We're walking through the aisles trying to find something tasty for breakfast when I happen upon something that makes me giggle with glee.

I can't resist this. I have to to get it. It's just too good to pass up.

Manna.

Yes, that's right. Here in tiny Töreboda at the local ICA I find Manna. So, that's what I pick.

Manna. For breakfast. From, uh, ICA.




As we're waiting to check out, we take a peek at the day's headlines:



Everyone picks up a copy of GT and we head back outside.

We find a park bench and dig into our breakfast. I pop the lid open on the Risifrutti concoction and think to myself "what is it?", which coincidentally, is exactly what the Hebrews said when they found the stuff in the desert. I finish off just one, seeing as how buying and saving a second one would have been too much. And it would have spoiled before the next day anyway...

And strangely enough, we spend the next hour or so wandering around in the desert-like heat. The sun finds us wherever we go. It's hot, Sinai hot.

We stop at the concert headquarters to trade our tickets for our yellow bracelets. The radio is playing All That She Wants when we step inside. One of the guys asks us where we're from and he seems oddly impressed when we tell him where we live. He says he likes Ace of Base and thinks they're cool.

Quick! Someone grab some cold water in case I faint! A native Swede just admitted he liked Ace of Base. He thinks they're cool. Somebody call GT! They're not going to believe this! All joking aside, it's nice to hear someone from Sweden say they like the band too. It's not that unusual actually. There are several Swedish Acers, so it's not statistically impossible. It's just improbable.

We pick a small grassy area far back from the stage and get some rest. I fall into a deep sleep. Jessi wakes me up after about an hour and I am thankful for that because she sees I'm not in the shade anymore and could cook myself red if I don't scoot back into the shade.


View from our shady spot.

We get bored and decide to wander around a bit. We hit up ICA again for some lunch and head back to our shady spot. We discuss Jenny's plans for a solo album over lunch.

Afterwards, we head back to the car to refill our water bottles and freshen up a bit. I stop by a store to get more airtime for my phone. We're about to head back to our grassy oasis when Jessi remembers she left her camera in the car. That's a mighty important piece of equipment, so we sit on a park bench while she runs back for it.

Anja and I hang out in the meantime. We're watching people and traffic rush by us near the train depot. Nothing out of the ordinary. We see a large white bus pass in front of us. Someone waves at us from the front seat of the bus. That's a little odd, considering we don't know anybody in this town. We both take a second look as the bus turns a corner, then we realize we do recognize someone on that bus. It's Jenny. I shake my head in disbelief. First because she recognizes us. Second because she's waving so enthusiasically. And third because this town really is so small.

Jessi arrives back with her camera and we tell her about Jenny waiving from the bus. She already knows about it though. The bus passed her when she was heading back and Jenny waved at her too. I spend a few minutes sending this amusing little anecdote to Twitter while Anja and Jessi lightheartedly snicker at me for doing so.

Onward to Töreboda

We arrive at Landvetter around 8 am. It takes about 20 minutes to get our luggage and walk out to the rental car place. We get to the counter and find our reservation is in the system and our car is ready to pick up. Finally something that makes sense.

Anja and I will take turns driving and we've picked out an Altea as our car of choice. Anja is used to driving small cars and I'm used to driving bigger cars, so this one was a sort of compromise between us.

Picture from topspeed.com

We leave the rental counter and Jessi suddenly stops. Something isn't right. She doesn't hear a clicking sound. She looks at me and says "I think you left your luggage behind." And, of course, she's right. I left it at the rental counter, so I sheepishly slink back in to retrieve it. This doesn't bode well for my driving.



Even with that silly mistake, Anja and Jessi trust me enough to take the wheel first. They hand over the keys and I unlock our grey Altea. We all buckle up as I adjust the seat and mirrors. I slowly pull the car out of the tight parking space, careful not to bump the cars parked just behind us. It's a tight squeeze in a small space, but I manage. These aren't Texas-sized parking spaces.

Jessi sits in the passenger seat with directions, telling me where to go. We should get to Töreboda around 11 am.

I'm honestly a little nervous about driving in Europe. I understand most of the signs and the speed limit doesn't have to be converted, since both the car and the signs run in kilometers. I'm just a little weary about those unwritten rules.

I quickly become more comfortable and fall in love with the drive from the airport to the main road. It has a lot of nifty twists and curves, all nestled between large granite outcroppings on either side. I look at these winding roads and think to myself, I'd love to take a motorcycle trip out here!

From wikipedia.org

A little while later, I look in my mirror and see a police officer driving in the lane beside us. The road signs direct me to the lane where the officer is. Small beads of sweat break out on my forehead. I'm trying to do everything right. Signal. Get enough space between us and him. Slide over. Say thank you.

After I get in the proper lane, I try to find a speed limit sign but I don't see one anywhere. "What's the speed limit? What if I'm speeding? Are Swedish cops as lenient as those back home? Can I speed a little bit over the limit without a problem?"



All my silent fears are for naught because the officer doesn't even give us a second glance. We take the highway from a roundabout and the officer takes an exit a little further down the way.



I become more comfortable with every passing minute. Jessi decides to find a decent radio station but doesn't come up with any. We're driving between cities and the stations are fading in and out. So she pops in a CD by Big Ben, aka Benjamin Gross. Jessi works together with him on his music projects. We listen and jam along to the music to pass the time.

The plan is for me to drive as Anja gets some rest. Then, when I feel tired, Anja will drive while I rest. The plan works perfectly. I drive for about an hour, then we switch. Even though we've been up for quite some time, it's not difficult to stay awake while driving. The trip goes smoothly and Anja pulls the Altea into Töreboda sometime around 11:00 in the morning.

We park the car on a side street and walk into town, which takes about five minutes. Approximately 4,000 people live in town. Around 9,000 live in the surrounding municipality. It's not hard to find the main stage where AOB will play later in the evening. It's the biggest structure in town.

After the Sundsvall concert

The crowd slowly disburses and we scramble to the left hand side of the stage. The entire stage is blocked off by massive metal gates and is watched over by several guards.

We arrive at the left gate and can see the band leaving the stage. The guards are eyeing us and quickly tell us to back up. We try to convince them not to shoo us away but they don't want to hear it. We see Jenny and Jakob exit the stage. They see us and wave, but the guards push us away and make us leave the area.

Original photo from st.se

We walk away mildly disappointed, yet we still have hope. We spend the next half hour chatting about the concert; the best parts of each song, the best moments, what footage we got. We sit there waiting for some signal from the band. Maybe they'll come out to greet us. Maybe Jenny will send a text to Jessi's phone because Jessi gave her the number before the concert. We wait patiently.

Twenty more minutes pass by and nothing. We still wait patiently. Jerry Williams is up on stage singing country rock. I'm actually enjoying the atmosphere. It's a beautiful night. I just heard an AOB concert and could possibly meet the band. I dance away to the music, as do a few others in the crowd.

Anna tries to convince the guards to let us backstage but it doesn't work. Thirty minutes, forty minutes pass by. We're thinking this probably isn't going to happen. We spot Susanna and Linnéa in a window to the right hand side of the stage. The building directly behind the stage, Stadshuset, is being used to house the artists. The band obviously has a room there and they're using it to relax after the concert.

Photo from stadshusetsundsvall.se

Screenshot from www.aceofbase.pl

Anna keeps asking the guards to let us go in the back, or even give the band a message. She tries everything she knows. It doesn't work. The guards don't pay attention to anything she says. This frustrates her to no end.

More time passes. We see AOB in the windows. We're pretty sure they see us. It's not so difficult to spot us in the crowd. We're standing off to the side with cameras in hand, looking up at them. Jonas sits reading a newspaper. Jenny looks out at the crowd every now and then, wine glass in hand. We see Ulf walking back and forth between windows. We even get more glimpses of Anna, Susanna, Linnéa and Jakob. I even think I see Rickard Engfors up there.

Anna finally gets fed up after waiting for a few hours. She and Andi go home, as do David and his friend. Jessi, Anja and I sit around a little longer, giving up only after we see the band pack up and the lights go out.

We spend the rest of the evening talking about the history of AOB, about the good times and bad times. We talk about our disappointment over not meeting the band when we thought the interview would happen that night. We try to rationalize out the reasons why it didn't happen.

Jessi and I discuss our experiences of Swedish culture, society and cultural expectations. We wonder why so many people here make promises and then don't follow up. We have both encountered this phenomenon during our time working and studying in the country.

We also talk about acquaintances versus friends in Sweden. How it's easy to talk with someone, yet it's near impossible to have deeper friendships. We spend a good amount of time talking about living abroad, about German culture, about American culture and the comparisons to Swedish culture.

We also talk about Sundsvall, what we liked, what we didn't. The evening passes, becoming progressively colder. Darkness never really descends though. It's more of a dusky look and it lasts only a few hours, then the sun is back up again.

Five in the morning and it's finally time to go to the airport. We grab a taxi with a crazy driver who thinks he belongs in a Formula 1 race. When we get to the airport, we discover it isn't open yet. It doesn't open for another hour.

Picture from of lfv.se

It's really cold outside and nothing makes sense to us. Ace of Base, the Swedes, Sundsvall. We vent our frustrations by making jokes. Jokes about ourselves, our lack of sleep, our situation as fans.. We're tired, cold and ready to get out of Sundsvall.

This trip has suddenly become a roller coaster ride. From a concert high to a promise-breaking low in only a few hours, something only an Acer can fully grasp.

Jessi, Anja, and I decide right then to re-define the word Sundsvall. Since arriving, nothing had really made much sense to us. The direction of the band, the transportation difficulties in the city, the cold reception from people, the band's reaction after the concert. The expensive and crazy taxi ride. The locked and deserted airport an hour before our flight. Nothing is logical. So the name of the city itself becomes a word for something that doesn't make sense, something that is utterly illogical.

One woman finally opens the airport doors for us at 6 am, then she disappears into a back office. We're the only ones in the entire airport. We begin to wonder if we're even in the right place. No one is there at the ticket counters. No one is at the coffee shop. No one but three tired Acers waiting to leave this place. The soles of our shoes echo off the tile flooring with each step until we find a few seats to collapse into. It's all so Sundsvall.

A few people slowly trickle into the airport. A woman finally appears at a ticket counter and takes our bags. Security personnel show up. A few more passengers arrive too. We go through security, which takes all of three minutes and are ushered out to our plane sitting on the tarmac. We've bought our tickets from Skyways but the plane is a loaner from a Scottish airline called ScotAirways. Even the crew is Scottish and they welcome us in English as we board.

The plane is incredibly small. It's a turboprop charter plane. I note the name of the plane, a Dornier 328, because my brother is interested in all things aviation and I'm expected to give a full report upon my return home.



I plop down in my seat and it's the last thing I remember until we touch down in Gothenburg barely an hour later. I've managed to sleep the entire way and I'm grateful for it. I've now had 1 hour of sleep in 26 hours and I'll need that little boost to help with driving to Töreboda.

The Sign @ Gatufesten

The big projection screen pops on, the first few beats sound, and the crowd understands that the encore is nothing less than The Sign. Jonas walks back to his keyboard, which still has the little car toy on it. The blue lights and smoke appear once again.



Anna, Susanna and Linnéa run back onstage to sing the first few lines. They encourage us to sing along. Ulf joins them and points the mic toward the crowd.





Jenny arrives onstage once again and steps onto the lower platform as she sings her first lines, adding more vocal flourishes to the song.





She walks toward Jonas, nearly tripping on part of the stage as she steps up to meet him. She uses him to break her fall but manages to keep singing, laughing through some of the vocals. Jakob is grinning and Jonas just shrugs it off.




Jenny gets back to center stage, pointing to everyone in the crowd as she sings the stars line. Shen then asks us to sing along and we do just that, "Oooohh ooohh ooohh oooh oooh! Is enough, enough?"







Ulf and Jenny sing together, then Jonas and Jenny sing a line together. Jenny adds a few vocal pieces here and there throughout the instrumental before the bridge begins.





We're told "Everyone, sing along!" No problem. "I SAW THE SIGN!" We dance to the beat and sing as loudly as possible as the song lyrics fly by on the projection screen.



The three ladies join Jenny at the front. Ulf joins them as well and waives his hands in the air along with Jenny, getting the crowd involved once again. Jonas also joins their effort to get the crowd into it. It works and a large portion of the people are swaying their hands to the beat.







The song nears the end and they finish up their last lines. They stand and recieve recognition from the crowd. We whistle, clap, cheer, yell, scream, stamp our feet - make whatever noise we can to let them know we appreciate the performance. The three band members stand and smile.





The crowd is still cheering as Jenny begins to sing the final, slower TS vocals. This point signals the end of the concert and I think to myself, "It's over already? It just started!"

But then, I realize this concert is one of three. "I get to do this two more times!", I think to myself and laugh. I feel extremely thankful to be able to take part in experiences like this.

The band members triumphantly raise their hands as the last notes fade. They motion to Linnéa, Susanna, Anna and Jakob to come to the front and receive the credit they are due for a great performance. Ulf says something, which no one can hear because we're all screaming too loudly to hear anything. Everyone takes a bow twice then they all exit offstage.





Jenny gives a final wave as they all disappear offstage.

Beautiful Life! @ Gatufesten

Jenny challenges everyone to put their hands up in the air for this, the last song of the evening.




Jonas and Jakob play those first few telltale notes from the song and the place turns into a madhouse when the audience recognizes what song they are being treated to.

People are screaming and jumping up and down, hands are waving in the air, everyone is singing along, smoke curls into the first few rows, the projector is flashing new pictures every few seconds, and Jenny and Ulf are running all over the stage.













It's an overload on the senses, a trip to chaos land. But it's a good overload and a good chaos. It's the chaos that means you don't have to care about how silly you look as you clap your hands and join the chorus. It's not about being proper, it's about enjoying the moment. That's the good chaos. And everyone seems to be caught up in it.

Jenny steps down a level to a secondary stage as she sings. The crowd joins in with her and it's hard to hear what she's singing at first. She sits down right in front of us again. Cool.





Someone from the crowd throws a stuffed toy onto the stage as Jenny stands back up. It looks like a toy from the Cars movie. She picks it up, waves it around and finally places it on Jonas' keyboard.



Ulf and Jenny walk across the stage with their "push and pull" routine, harking back to WOF at the beginning of the concert. They meet in the middle of the stage where Jenny leans on Ulf like he's a chair.







And just like WOF, I don't know who to focus on. I need more cameras! Ulf and Jenny are moving, jumping, and pacing back and forth so quickly. I would need at least four or even five cameras to get it all. I want to film everything even though it's just not possible.











I hear the the sound of the strings from the synths just before the "different ways" lyrics. I admire the contrast contained in that sound. The violin sound is both moving and haunting. It's the music you'd hear in a silent film when something bittersweet happens. The sound fits the song perfectly.





All three Aces finally meet up and walk to the front of the stage together. I give a silent little cheer because it means I can now focus on all three at the same time. Only one camera needed.



(At this point, I make a mistake only a fan can really regret. I push stop instead of zoom-in and my BL Sundsvall recording stops. So, sadly, that is where the video ends.)

The music starts to slow and the song nears the end, or so the audience believes. We know better. The three walk to the back of the stage. Everyone hollers and whoops, riding on a high from the energy the performance has created. The crowd thinks it's over. The chaos begins to subside and the crowd begins to slowly calm down as Jakob plays a fairy-tale like melody to end BL. The band has another plan in mind, however. They begin to walk toward the front of the stage. Jenny asks "are you with us?" and suddenly the crazy chaos that is BL starts all over again.



The crowd jumps back into a frenzy, crazier than they were before. We all sing along a second time, happy that it's not over just yet. We clap, sing, cheer and bask in the happiness of the moment.

Jonas, Jenny and Ulf stand together one last time at the front of the stage and thank the audience for coming out. The band and backing singers exit the stage, and before they've even left, the crowd is cheering for more.

It doesn't take long until Jakob runs back out on stage. He looks at the crowd and puts his hand to his ear. We yell but it's not enough. He shakes his head no then runs to the right side of the stage, putting his hand to his ear again. We yell even louder but we still get a negative head shake. He stands in the middle of the stage and tries it a third time. We yell with everything we've got and he finally shakes his head yes. A good way to charge up the crowd for one last song.

He takes his place behind the keyboard and the intro music to the encore begins.