Sweden Day Seven

Well, yesterday was, without a doubt, the most incredible day of my whole life. Sure I'm tired and sore, but who cares? As I keep telling Bobby, when will we ever have this opportunity again? We press on. I'm proud to say we made it to every single act we wanted to yesterday, except for the two club performances. There were some minor hiccups at the beginning. They wouldn't let us in with our water bottles, so I had to go back through security and check them for the day for 40kr (about 6 bucks). Bobby got bad information about the photo pit for Ed Sharpe, but we got some pictures from a distance. They were great, but we had to head over to a different stage at the halfway point to catch Christian Kjellvander. Here I am waiting for his set to begin. I was in the front, so I got to be on the Jumbotron. Whee!



Leaving early became the theme of the day. Mr. Kjellvander and his band were enthralling, and Bobby liked them too. However, he had to leave early to line up for the Avett Brothers photo pit. The Avett Brothers were unbelievable, but we had to leave after three songs in order to rest a few minutes before Janelle Monae. Of course, she was amazing too. Once her set ended, we got our first real break. We ate some mediocre festival food (I was drawn in by the sign) and drank wine in the swanky VIP/Press area.



We found Anna and Dennis, and later, Madeleine.



After about an hour, the madness began again. Fleet Foxes were next on the schedule, and Bobby disappeared into the photo pit. I was tired, so I decided to avoid the crowd and enjoy their performance from the Jumbotron while sitting on the ground.



Bobby came to join me and review his photos:



Shortly after he arrived, two ladies from Ed Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes sat next to us. We left them alone, but a fan came and asked for one of their autographs. He had neither pen nor paper, so I tore a sheet from my notebook and handed it over. The guy seemed grateful.



Robyn followed Fleet Foxes. The thing with Robyn is that in the US, she might sell out a 500 to 700 person venue. Here in Sweden, she sells out sports arenas. Once I got into this crowd, there was no getting out. For that reason, hers is the only set I saw from start to finish. You're looking at a sea of thousands of people, all singing along to "Dancing on My Own." It was quite something.



I was pretty near the front, and as close as I felt comfortable. Any nearer to the stage and I worried I'd be crushed to death by screaming fans, so I kept a reasonable distance. Obviously Bobby's photos will be much better than this. He actually scored the best spot for Robyn, so the shots are fantastic.



Once Robyn's set ended, I made my way through the mob to find Bobby at our arranged meeting place. We went to the smallest stage to see IAMAMIWHOAMI, but were underwhelmed to say the least. Headed back to the VIP area and found Anna and Madeleine, who were waiting for Dennis so they could go see Prince. We left without them to get a good spot, and saw this:



It basically says "No cameras are allowed at Prince. Respect that." We knew already, of course, and it was kind of nice to watch a show together. If the crowd at Robyn was bad, the one for Prince was 100 times worse. We were jam-packed with nearly every festival attendee. After a few songs, we moved back quite a bit, but there was no relief to be found. I'm sorry to say we only lasted an hour at Prince, though I hear he played for several. Later, he showed up at a club at 3:00am for one of his famed after-shows. I gotta hand it to him, the guy is twice my age and has more stamina than I do. Then again, he didn't spend 12 hours covering concerts and traipsing all over a giant park. We dragged our weary bodies back to the hotel and collapsed.

Today's agenda: Twin Shadow, The Tallest Man on Earth, Jayhawks, Noah and the Whale, Wiz Khalifa, Pulp, and Kanye West. We might not make it to everything, but I can tell you I will fight my way to the front of the crowd for Pulp, and will wear out my voice singing along with the Common People.