Warning: A bit lengthy, containing errors and not always on topic. =)
Birmingham:
Looked so much forward to going to this first ever BIT Live. Got THC Flatline to tag along, and he enjoyed as much as I did. Even more so when he got to borrow his idol's shirt (Galway, who else =)... Met the HUGE Jogeir Liljedahl for the first time. Nice bloke, that!
Enjoyed a few long talks with Rob Hubbard and Matt Gray. Just meeting these guys for the first time blew my mind. They've been my heroes for so long!
Had a long chat with Waz about SID and music in general, and later on in the evening, Andreas Wallström asked if I could host a project he's been working on, namely
http://www.c64hq.com ...
Got asked for my autograph for the first time in my life, and grabbed at a later point for a photo shoot. That was a new experience, and very fun. =)
Nagged at Geggin/Censor to tag along, which he really wanted to do, but somehow failed.
Gossips, London:
Very hot. Air conditioner was broken. It was dripping water all over Chris's Karma on the stage. I didn't mind the heat though. People who know me will know that for a fact. Had a really good chat with Machinae Supremacy after their brilliant gig!
Later on in the evening, I bumped into Richard Joseph outside the venue, and we ended up chatting about Sweden, midsummer and air conditioning, of all things. =)
Nagged at Geggin/Censor again... Couldn't make it this time either...
Brighton:
Started off with a few rounds of beer at the nearby Walkabout thingy. Offered Kwed a snus, which he accepted. He went for the milder version that Makke used instead of mine, which was a very good thing since even that made him so ill that he had to go back to his hotel and sleep it off. =)
When returning to the venue from the Walkabout doodah, a camera was shoved in my face by the lovely daughter of Matt Gray, Alex. Still being in my pub mode, I didn't exactly come across very intelligent, but then again, when do I ever?
Getting told off by Mr. Abbott not to be in the way of the video cameras while playing the designated photographer for SID80s during their set. There was something wrong with my camera skills, or the settings on the camera, or the camera itself, because almost all pictures were more or less just total darkness. :/
During Rob Hubbard's set, the thing I remember most is the guy sitting in the front row with his arm in the air all through the set!
By this time, both me and Makke were kinda drunk, and thought it was a pity that everybody was sitting down instead of dancing around, so we got onto the dance floor to set an example. It must have worked, because after a while we were joined by a bunch of others.
And yes, we did look like a couple of twats. No wonder, because that's what we are.
Oh, and the most embarassing thing ever happened after we left the venue - Me, Andreas Wallström and Reyn Ouwehand went for a bite to eat. I was pretty drunk and very tired, so by the time our food arrived, I fell asleep... Didn't wake up until it was time to leave, by which time I learned that Reyn had picked up my tab. Gnf. Erm... Oops. Still owe you a dinner, Reyn. =)
The morning after was a very pleasent one, except for the fact that I was still very tired. Marcus Schneider didn't look too hot either. A lot of people, including me, had bought him beer after beer in the bar after the gig. =)
Can't really remember if it was on the first day, or the last day, that me, Andreas Wallström, Makke, Kwed, Ziphoid, Pex and Melina went for a walk, but it was really nice just strolling about, snapping the occational photo. Like the one where me and Makke (with his curly hair and all) pose on one of those 1:1 size paintings where there's a hole where you can put your face in instead. Beauty of a picture, which Andreas STILL hasn't published!
The Dynamic Duo was born here. That'll be me and Kwed. We'll leave it at that, shall we? =)
Nagged at... yeah, you guessed it, Geggin/Censor... Guess what? He couldn't make it!
St.Luke's, London:
Shared a room with Visa Röster, Makke, Larsec, Kwed, Andreas Wallström and Max Levin. The Swedish Dorm Room, as it was dubbed by madfiddler. Let's rewind a bit though: I came to the UK earlier in the week, crashing at Boz's place. What do you do when you're in the UK? You drink a shitload of Guinness. One of the evenings we spent out drinking, I had an "incident." Coming out of a club, I turned to this girl that I had talked to a bit inside the club and thought "hey, I recognise her." What do you do when you meet people you know? You say "hi," which I did... The response? A very loud "FUCKOFF!"
Later on in London, we were at another club the day before the event, but not everybody could get in due to some crappy dress code they had, so we had to leave it and try to think of a new place to go to. Standing outside the club, everybody discussing stuff'n'things, I spotted two girls wearing construction helmets, and they had a spare aswell, so I thought "hey, those seem to be going somewhere, maybe they can direct us to a good place?" ... Walked up to them asking "Hello, where are you guys going?" ... Mid-scentence they both turn around, one of them yelling over their shoulder "WHEREVER YOU'RE NOT!"
Oh. Hm. Well. Nice people living in this here country.
Ok, back to the event itself - The first ever broadcast from a live event for SLAY Radio went, well, so-so... Left a lot to be desired. Oh well, we're just doing it because it's fun, and it did give those that couldn't make it to the event a chance to at least listen to it. The live acts were great, as usual!
Guess who couldn't make it? Yep, you guessed right! Mr. Geggin!
Manchester:
Started off nicely when I found out that I was sharing a room with Reyn Ouwehand... The first thing he says when he opens the door (I arrived after him) is "Oh, you look a bit more awake now." Um. Cheers, mate! =)
Chilled for a little while and then me and Reyn went up to fetch Andreas Wallström and his wife Alex, so we could go for a few beers and some food at the local restaurant.
Once there, we were joined by various people. We ended up filling almost half the restaurant.
Wasn't quite enough of booze, apparently, because I ended up in John Hare and Jeremy Longley's hotel room, together with Mark Knight, Reyn Ouwehand and Rob Hubbard. Mark and Rob were intensly discussing various aspects of the gaming industry, while Reyn, Jeremy and John were rehersing.
At around 5am I gave up and staggered back to my hotel room. Before I did that, I managed to snap a picture of Mark & Rob:
As always, the live bands were brilliant! Well, I didn't enjoy the first band at all (the hey, hey 16k guys)... They arrived late, practicly had to reherse with the audience already in the room, and the levels were just so off it hurt my ears!
The SID80s rehersals were fun to listen to. Ran back and forth between the BIT Live area and the RV6 area, and bumped into Amy (thing on a spring)... I got hit on by her. Sorry, I mean punched in the stomach... Apparently that's how she says hi to people.
After SID80s rehersals, I was once again asked by Andreas Wallström to be the designated photographer, which I accepted to after a while, having the mishap from Brighton still fresh in my memory.
Had a good photo session with the band in the hallway between the BIT Live and RV6 area. A few good shots from there, one of which was used in Super PLAY (image here:
viewtopic.php?p=39383)
Sitting in the same car for 9 hours with Marcel Donné makes you open the windows quite a few times due to some strange green mist, I discovered.
I don't think I even bothered to nag at Geggin this time. =)
All of the above mainly thanks to Chris.
Thank you!
I would also like to thank all of the people I've met over the years, both through these events and through my work on SLAY Radio/c64.org. You have all made it so much easier to maintain the c64 related stuff, largely because it has become so much of a joy to do it!
So, thank you for taking the time to chat with me, donating time to do various things towards helping SLAY Radio and c64.org, and just generally being good people:
(mostly in random order)
Boz, Skitz, Kenz, Chris Abbott, Makke, fnord, Andreas Wallström, Marcel, Kwed, Tas, LMan, Larsec, Ziphoid, DHS, Sonic Wanderer, o2, Trace, jgb, THC Flatline, Lisa, Alice, Mahoney, Hanna Kappelin, Karin Öjehagen, Sofia Åberg, Elsa Persson, Johannes Lindén, all the PPoT guys, Reyn, Rob, Ben, Mark, Dan, Tomsk, Ming, merman, Juha Kaunisto, Yodelking, Jeff, Bog, wobbler, bamsefar, Tripnet etc etc...
Oh, thanks to mom aswell, because she gave birth to me...
And my sister...
And the internet for providing means to broadcast...
And of course all the listeners!
I should stop now, shouldn't I?
Anyway, I'm sure I've forgotten SOO many people that has helped me through the years. Please don't be angry with me... My memory is just so bad. =)
sounds scarry... almost like "Jimmy Riddle".
nicer attitude too. There are tricks too, how to get them, to chase You 