Gron Concert, Naestved, Denmark, Saturday the 23rd of July 2005
"Naestved...Thy name is Peter!!"

Today it was "on tour with the crowd" since we were accompanied by Bente´s mum Lisbeth and Nickie´s boyfriend Jacob, and meeting up with Winnie and Sonja at the entrance + Agneta and Uffe, coming all the way from Sweden to check out Safri Duo.
Winnie and Sonja arrived first (we suspect them of actually having arrived the day before), but we found them, ready to take our new-found tactic into action yet again.

The festival ground was sort of "L"-shaped, which made the distance to the main stage seem that much longer. Nothing to do, but to make a run for it, Bente conquering the title of "First on the Festival Ground" for the 2nd time. Winnie, who normally speeds to the 1st row like a gazelle on the plains, was feeling ill, so poor Sonja had to fill in. But she did a terrific job, taking up positions next to Bente.
Then we waited for the crazy Swedes, who were making the journey from Copenhagen.
Jacob decided to go and check out Peter Sommer, which we of course couldn't do, since we were defending the front line with our lives. All is fair in love and music.

But where were the Swedes? Sent them a message on the cell phone and they told us, that they had arrived.
But they were no where to be spotted. Sent them another message.
The reply:

"We have made a stop in one of the shops to get a bite to eat"

A-wha? A-wha-wha-what? Made a STOP towards the front row? A s-t-o-p? They had made a stop...thereby letting other people pass them? Putting food before Safri? As they already expected we sent them a good scolding, and they arrived shortly after.

And so did Safri Duo, bringing with them a blast of a show with excellent sound, which the Swedes described as being just a bit loud. Guess they weren't in training!

Morten had on grey pants and grey sleeveless shirt and a black jacket. Uffe was wearing the flag pants, a white t-shirt and a white shirt.

Because the end of Groen Concerts is drawing near, it's custom for the crew to have a bit of fun with the artists. And of course Safri is no exception. So during the intro to "Rise-Leave me Alone", 2 girls in bikinis suddenly appeared from under the stage on the lift Uffe and Morten uses to enter the stage. Yiiihaaaar....undressed girlies.

Just when we thought there would be no eye candy for the females in the audience, it was time for Mads´ solo, and down comes Morten, once again, sliding on his knees to the edge of the stage. We'll take that over a bikini any day!

During "Played-a-Live" the confetti was blasted over the crowd and in the next song, the Safri crew decided to do a bit of early cleaning, so two of them started sweeping the stage during the show. Little rascals.....

After the show we had a chat with Summer and afterwards we met up with Uffe and Morten to ask a few questions and have a big group shot of the Danes, the Swedes, the fans, the idols, the moms, the boyfriends.....-You name it...it's on the picture!

The Swedes wanted to have a listen to Sanne Salomonsen (and they ended up eating during her show also...), shortly after saying our sad goodbyes as they left for Sweden. Winnie and Sonja also decided to leave since Winnie wasn't feeling all that peachy.
For the rest of us, it was a good long, cozy, music loving day. All though, at 7pm it was getting rather cold, so we headed for the bar.
Coffee-bar, that is.


Groen Concert, Valby, Denmark, Sunday the 24th of July 2005
"Jeff Goldblum, I presume?"

This was the last of a series of fantastic Groen Concerts and as always this last show took place in Valby, Copenhagen, so off we went.
We had been told, that it would be fairly difficult to find a parking spot, so we parked the Safrizone Mobile by the McDonald's near the station and walked through the park to the arena. And what did we see, when we arrived: Aisles of free parking spots right next to the entrance. Bugger that!!!

Winnie and Sonja, who had driven from the show in Naestved to a Bed&Breakfast in Valby was already present. (Actually WE think, that they just spent the night in front of the entrance, but they deny that.)
Winnie was feeling better and was now ready to join Bente in the long, long Copenhagen run to the main stage.
So off we went, Bente placing herself in front, Winnie right behind her. Halfway there Winnie was taken down by a fly! Bente could hear her gagging and assumed that she had tripped, but poor Winnie had in fact swallowed a fly. Eeeeeeeeeew………..

Even with a full stomach both Winnie and Bente made it, some what, safely to the front row, once again securing a nice view for our team of Safri fans.

A few minutes before the show was about to start Thomas Webmaster came out to say hi. Congratulations to him on becoming a father for the 3rd time. He looked like a proud daddy!
We had a small chat before he speeded off to get a good spot for the Safri show.

Coming up through the floor, Uffe was wearing the flag pants, a white t-shirt and a white shirt. Morten had on grey pants and a shirt with a square pattern.

Mads.
Mads Storm. The confidence he shows when he comes to the edge of the stage is just down-right funky! We just had to take a picture, we simply had to. It's divine! Total rock star-attitude, we love it!

A final show which totally rocked, and just as last time Safri played the Groen Concerts, the crew was ready with a series of buckets for Uffe to play on, which he did when he came down to the front row to clap a few hands.

We had planned to have a bite to eat with Winnie and Sonja after the show.
Since none of us really know our way around Valby, we decided to play it safe and go back to the McDonalds next to our car. Lucky for us, Sonja offered to give us a ride, which made Winnie run like mad to the car, because she wanted to tidy up the mess she had made on the backseat of the car, haha,….we felt very honored, but she really didn't have to, since our car looks like the entire field at the Roskilde Festival on the final day!!! Nice to know we are not the only ones with a ”tour-car”!

Even though Winnie had already had a ”MacFly” earlier that day ;-) , she was up for a McFeast with the rest of us. While we ate, a poor employee had a hard time sweeping endless amounts of confetti off the floor, which the people from The Groen Concerts kept bringing with them in bags and pockets. Wonder who had been using confetti at their show, eh Mr. Savery and Mr. Friis?......Guess that poor boy isn't a Safri-fan now….?
And of course…when he was done and had silently admired his job, Sonja just had to shake her jacket inside, thereby discovering that her hood was filled with confetti. Could someone fetch a broom, please?


Silkeborg, Denmark, Saturday the 6th of August 2005
"Sticks and fire."

Every 4 years the town of Silkeborg has a huge party where people listen to excellent music, enjoy good food and beverages and gaze at the impressive frigates on display at this event. This time around Silkeborg had really outdone themselves since Safri Duo was the closing act of the entire event. Scrumptious!

Age has kicked in for us, since we discovered that a nap was actually needed halfway to our destination! So nothing to do but to find a quiet spot and doze off for the next hour. Of course we were making good time, so there was time for this, apparently, required nap!

We arrived two hours before the show and who had been standing by the stage since early afternoon: Yes, the fans from Funen with the most amazing patience: Winnie and Sonja, today accompanied by Swedish fan My, who also was present at our Summer Party last year.
Lone also arrived this time bringing her folks for their FIRST ever Safri show. So she was totally hype!

Nothing to do but wait and curse the fact, that we didn't bring an umbrella to shield us from the endless cascades of water coming from the sky.

”Stjerne for en Aften”-winner Gudrun from the Faeroe Islands performed before Safri, with an acoustic set. Afterwards Safri came on stage with the show from the previous tour opening with ”Prelude”, but without the striptease. Bugger that! But it was nice to hear, and see, the guys performing "Agogo Mosse" again!!

Uffe was wearing his flag pants, a sleeveless shirt and white shirt. Morten had on dark green pants and a white shirt.

After the 2nd number, we just knew we were in for a GOOD one. Oh, the sweet feeling of a tingling in your ears and the sensation of being inside the turbine of a Boing 737 heading for Rio……..it was LOOOUUUUD and sweet!!!! –And everyone on stage was smoking!! In fact the whole vibe of the evening was just amazing. Worth mentioning that it actually stopped raining just before the show began……lovely.

After Safri Duo it was time for fireworks and silly us for thinking that we were able to exit Silkeborg during this. Oh no no no, there was NO way out!!! People everywhere, cramped against each other, leaving no space to move.
So we got to see the fireworks, which was absolutely amazing. When this was over, we figured that people would start to clear out, but now the little beer shops and tents opened again, so no-one was moving. It was terrible! Children crying…people pushing….we were starting to feel like we did back at the Jean Michel Jarre concert, when 39.000 people wanted to leave at the same time, through the endless mud. A bit panicky.
After a bit of intelligent and not quite legal maneuvering we managed to walk out of the center of the town. Thank God.

It was a long drive home, so halfway we simply had to stop for a wee nap. Again.
We reached our drive way at 5am, ready to continue the nap in more comfortable surroundings.



Viborg, Denmark, Saturday the 20th of August 2005
”Top of the morning!”

Now it was time for the last concert of the Danish Summer tour and it was taking place in Jutland on the same day as Nickie´s mum Jonna was going to a family party ”over there” so she tagged along in the Safrizone Mobile.
We had to ”deliver” her in the town Gram. Gram is a place where they sure know how to make a Bacardi Lemon. We fondly look back at a Safri show we attended "back when" in the company of Nickie´s cousin Bjarke. Aaaaaah, memory bliss…….

It proved to be really, really difficult finding Gram and the little town Tiset, where Jonna´s sister lives. We spent a good hour ”sightseeing” the towns close by without actually finding the correct direction.
Finally we pulled into someone's driveway and pleaded for help. The nice man proclaimed, that it was really easy finding Gram to which we strongly objected!
Turned out he was right….but it's always easy finding the way…if you know which way to drive…obviously!

Then it was off to Viborg and Bruunshaab, at the Bed and Breakfast, where we stayed when we attended the Groen Concert in Aalborg last month.

We had a speedy change of clothes before driving towards the show. And that wasn't all that easy to find either, since we didn't have an address. Instead of driving pointlessly around we drove into Viborg and asked for directions. And then all Hell broke lose! We had to ask 3 people before even getting in the right direction!!! They had us driving all over town!!
We know we were a bit sad about not seeing Viborg the last time we were there, but this was ridiculous!
Finally we found the spot and got in.

Sadly we had missed Nik and Jay performing…..oh.darn……

Winnie, Sonja and Lone were present, so we all chatted while waiting for Safri Duo. Lone told us, that her parents had been absolutely blown away by the fantastic show in Silkeborg. Also at the show were a couple of fans, we have chatted with a few times out on the road. We still didn't get their names, but nice to see some familiar faces.

Before Safri the Danish band Shu-bi-dua performed, getting people in the mood for some rhythm!

After a short break it was time for Safri Duo and apparently they had also dusted the speakers at this show, because it was another show which blasted into the warm August night. You know,...when you are partly deaf after a concert….it's been a good one.

”Rise” was absolutely amazing and was performed with such energy, that it was almost impossible not to yell out a song of praise. Still, no need to spoil the fantastic atmosphere, so we all simply clapped and cheered the performers on.

Uffe had on the flag pants and a patterned shirt and Morten was wearing grey pants, a white shirt and a black jacket with vertical stripes.

Safri Duo has several times said, that when the crowd is cooking, it gives them extra energy which was evident at this show. Both Safri boys jumped from stage to clap the hands of the audience and they were absolutely glowing on the stage. It was a brilliant last show of the Summer tour. A perfect ending.

After the show, we met up with Safri and band in the catering room for some fan site business concerning our 2005 competition, which comes to a conclusion in late December…oh, some cool stuff to win…..Hell, WE want to win!

While waiting for Safri, we were entertained by Clark, who juuuust thought he would mess with our heads by calling up his personal friend and sexy, sexy actor Jeremy Renner (S.W.A.T), whom he knows we totally adore!!! Bad, bad Clark….!!...how freakish was that saying hi to him, oh my GAWD!!
Next time we have to persuade him to call up Colin Farrell, whom he also knows….not jealous at all!!

When Safri appeared, we had flowers to hand out to all of them.
Clark got a ”delayed birthday bouquet”, Morten a ”Happy Birthday tomorrow bouquet” and Uffe a ”very, very delayed birthday bouquet" since Safri never tours on his birthday.
We also gave them all roses from Winnie, which they all appreciated very much.

During the signing of some Safri pics, Morten decided that it was time for a music break and started a beat on a Safri instrument. Uffe, always up for a happening started pounding on the table.
Now….we were sitting right there in the middle of this ”Safri moment”, apparently looking like we were having a slight meltdown, because after looking at us, Uffe stopped playing, grabbed his pen, smiled wide and said: ”Oh well, continuing with the signing….”
Lord have mercy…….

Uffe and Morten told us a bit about the Night of the Proms Tour, which they look so much forward to, Morten mentioning that they will be performing with the likes of Seal and Roger Daltrey of The Who! They also told us, that they will perform approx. 30 minutes at each show and they will be playing with an orchestra, so no Safri band and no Mr. Anderson this time around.
We also talked to Mikkel about filling out a Crew File, which he agreed to, especially after Peter grinned and told us to simply write ”Mikkel Benn” Safri drummer with NO talent what so ever.”
After wishing them the best of luck at Night of the Proms, Bente speeded back to the festival to have a few glimpse of Morten Woods playing in the Sanne Salomonsen show.
Then we found our car and drove back to our B&B, where we had a red wine toast for another awesome concert and Danish tour.
Only 30 shows away from reaching 100!

We finished off the evening with having a total fit of laughter, which resulted in terrible headaches the following morning.
It was not the result of the red wine…nay, we tell ya….it was the laughter.

Night of the Proms, Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany Sunday the 18th of December 2005
"Roger Daltrey."
"Who?....."
"Yes!"

Today The Safri Zone went international, since we were going on tour outside Denmark for the first time. But what could we do…Safri was in Germany, playing with a symphonic orchestra, a choir and a lot of other brilliant artists. We just couldn't let that slip us by!

It's not all that easy leaving Denmark by car…we had to get a lot of papers in order, book a Bed&Breakfast, get an international drivers license, have the car insurance changed etc etc.
So after a lot of preparations, and running around in circles, collecting everything we needed to drive outside Denmark, checking again that we DID in fact have everything with us, we were ready to roll. –after having checked everything juuust one more time.
Still we made good time and actually arrived at the ferry in Puttgarden to catch an earlier departure!!!!

No problem finding Hamburg…we just speeded down the motorway. It proved a bit more difficult finding the Bed&Breakfast "Hadley´s" since our map couldn't possibly have known there would be a huge construction site in the middle of the road, forcing us to be redirected and thereby knocking us off course! Just our bad luck!

Nothing to do, but park the car and ask some friendly Germans for help in a very interesting mishmash of German and English.
Sadly Hamburg is a big city because no-one really knew where the B&B was! They took a guess on the direction and then we had to ask again.
After about an hour we just happened to pass the road ”Beim Schlump” where the B&B was at!!! Just our good luck!!!

In spite of our little detour we were still early so our room wasn't quite ready. To pass the time we went to a café and had a latté, and then returned to a great room. Still, yes STILL, making good time, we actually had time for a wee nap, so we passed out for the next hour….and then it was time to get ready for the Event of the Night!

Our sweet landlady gave us directions to the Color Line Arena, and it proved not too difficult to find. The show would begin at 6pm and we arrived at 5.30pm

Right when we had parked the car by the H-U-G-E arena and were getting ready to get out, Bente´s phone rang. And we were like….Who would be calling us now….30 minutes before the show began?….it could only be Bente´s mum reminding us to wish Safri a great Christmas….Picked up the phone……
It was Uffe.
Yes, he wanted to touch base on how we could get hold of our entrance badges and VIP passes. He asked us where we were, which we did not quite know, so he got a security guy to call us up and meet us outside the arena so we could get the passes.

We had some difficulties finding each other since he was walking around the Color Line Arena and we were, in fact , speeding around the AOL Arena, just next to it. When we realized the mistake, we had no problems finding the guy. We are not famous for our direction skills, that's for sure!

We were let in through the VIP area and were welcomed in by a running security guard, thinking that we were lost and in the wrong place.
Well, for once we weren't lost and after having our presence cleared we were escorted to the wardrobes and shown around the quite big backstage area. Because the show was about to start all the other VIPs were already in the arena, so we had a look around the fantastic room.

We opened the door to the arena and an amazing sight met us. Thousands and thousands of people everywhere. On the floor…on grandstands in different levels….all waving a little flashlight as a way of being part of the enormous show. We looked left and there, only 10 meters away, Uffe and Morten appeared on the gigantic stage where IL NOVECENTO the symphonic orchestra with 72 musicians and Fine Fleur, the 50 person choir, were ready to support our favorite percussionists.

It was……indescribable. We couldn't talk…we almost couldn't breathe…we just simply enjoyed every second of it. So unbelievable. And the crowd was on it's feet, dancing and cheering. Safri played an intro followed by "The Bongo Song" and they left the stage with a roar of applause.

The German singer Nubya had opened the show and after Safri Duo, Midge Ure did a fantastic perfomance..what a voice. In between the different rock and pop artists IL NOVECENTO played wonderful classical pieces and the choir sang some haunting and beautiful compositions by known composers. Then Mannfred Mann and Chris Thomson did a smoking set of 5-6 funky songs, they left the crowd on fire!

Then it was time for the break and refreshments were served at the VIP area, so of course we had some champagne. Uffe sent us a text message wanting to make sure, we had a blast, to which we could reassure him, that we were on cloud 9!!!!!

Nubya also opened the 2nd act followed by…aaaah yes…Safri Duo.

With the marimbas and drums they did another fantastic set, sending shivers down a lot of spines we are sure! The crowd really seemed to be taken by Uffe and Morten and it was a pleasure to see the fantastic response from people perhaps seeing Safri Duo for the first time.

Then John Miles played a few songs and Midge Ure returned followed by Roger Daltrey from The Who. Pretty funky seeing him!

The show ended with all the performers returning to stage for flowers and applause and the orchestra played ”All you need is Love”.
Then we returned to the VIP Area, which was filled with waiters walking around making sure that all the guests were comfortable. There was food everywhere, and the arrangements of food were really artistically arranged. There was also an area with huge soft pillows where you could get a massage, and you could also get a haircut in a saloon put up for this event.

15 minutes later Uffe found us, and escorted us over to Morten. We gave them the Christmas greetings from the newsletter members and had some stuff for them to sign. We talked about the fantastic show and Uffe said that they felt greatly inspired. They also told us, that they will not be touring next summer as they will be concentrating on their next cd.

The waiters there were highly effective and fast on their feet. They made sure, that no used plates or glasses were left unattended. Basically…if you moved away from your plate for just a few seconds you could pretty much be sure it was gone, when you returned. We lost a few glasses of wine this evening!

When Safri left to go on the tour bus to Bremen they encouraged us to hang around the after party and have some fun. –Which we did. We stayed ´till the lights were turned on!


AWD Dome, Bremen, Germany, Monday the 19th of December 2005
"Trainspotting"

The next day we woke up in our lovely room at the B&B to the sweet sight of snow. Outside, of course.
It was really beautiful and very Christmassy. After a nice breakfast we said goodbye and headed for Bremen which was about 130 kilometers south of Hamburg.

We got there fast enough and also found the AWD Dome pretty fast….so we were ready outside the Dome at 4pm. Sadly we shortly after discovered, that tonight the show would begin 2 hours later, at 8pm, so we were 2 hours early to be let in.
So we had a sightseeing tour around the train station in Bremen. Pretty big and lively.

At about 5pm we went to the ticket office at the Dome, where we had been told to collect our tickets and VIP passes. Turned out they were a little late, so we ended up waiting 90 minutes in the company of some NDR winners, who were supposed to have gotten their passes through mail, but they never showed up. So everything was a little stressful.

When we got in, we discovered that we could also get a haircut in this VIP area. We had thought about it last night, but never got in line for it.
So we decided to try our luck tonight.

This night we were seated on one of the grandstands and had a fantastic view to the stage.
Once again it was amazing being witness to Safri Duo and the reaction from the audience. The impact their music and performance has on people is just fascinating!

The sound was exceptional also this night and it was fabulous seeing the other performers again as well.

Halfway through Roger Daltrey´s performance, we decided to tiptoe out and start a line by the hairdresser. Luckily no-one had the same idea, so we were the first ones in the chairs this evening. Really cool…too bad Bremen is so far away, because we really like our new hairstyles.
We also got to try out some very interesting food, like the Pumpkin Soup served as a Latté Macchiato...........made most of the guest look like James in "Dinner with One", when he accidentally drinks the flower water. (Eeerrv, I´ll kill that cat!!)

We stayed a while, but had to drive home to Denmark since we had to be back at work early the next morning.
Speeding (within the limit!) up the motorway towards Puttgarden we were suddenly overtook by a police car telling us to follow them. So we were escorted to the nearest exit, where 2, fairly big policemen got out of the car and went to us. We suddenly felt very guilty. Bente suddenly felt the urge to confess to stealing an apple at her aunts house back in 1986.
It was the custom police wanting to check our car for drugs and alcohol. They even searched under the car.
Of course they found nothing…..well, a good thing they didn't look under….-NO, just kidding!!

We got back in the car and continued our journey home, which ended at 5.30 am. 1 hour before Bente had to be at work! Nice timing, girls!



Gilleleje Bakkefest, Saturday the 11th of july, 2009
“Is it Poul Thomsen?”
“Yes.”

Oh the joy of not knowing there is a Safri show and finding out just a few days before by a coincidence!

We were simply going about our business, enjoying our Summer break when suddenly a text popped up on Bente´s mobile from a friend saying…I am sure you already know, that Safri is playing in 5 days in the North of Sealand? From the huge scream of joy suddenly heard over the island of Moen it is safe to say, that…: we didn´t know.

So instead of attending an outdoor cocktail party at the local harbor which was our original plan for Saturday, we started up The Safri Mobile (yes, it is still alive and kicking having 326.000 km under the hood) and scooted off towards Gilleleje, with a coffee and bun pit stop at our friends´ Anja and Kenneth´s place, also being entertained by their little son William.

We were in a fairly good mood, not having been at a Safri show for 2 and a half years, so our Safri concert no 75 had been eagerly awaited. We arrived in time to see Alien Beat Club perform before Safri was due on stage so we checked them out. When they left stage, we took up positions at our usual spot in the front row just a tad to the left.
We had a chat with another Safri fan, who was at her first Safri show. She asked us if we had seen them before, to which we replied: “yes, a few times.

Just like the good old days Uffe and Morten came out to check out their drums and gear before the show, which they haven´t done since The Mad Drums Tour, and it was a delight being back on tour with Safri.

We also found time to play our classic waiting game “Guess the celebrity” and just as it was getting boring, Safri appeared on stage and kicked off the show.
And now for the Safrizone classic: We know you have been waiting for it! (Drumm roll please):
Uffe was wearing dark blue jeans and a white shirt and Morten had on black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt.
Safri was vocally accompanied by Danish singer Bobo Moreno, putting up a good fight, just being booked for the show a few days in advance.
The 4th fella on stage was our favorite DJ in the whole world Michael Parsberg, being in charge of sound and music. This was a new constellation Safri was trying out, previously having a 3rd drummer (Mikkel Benn) with them on stage and Mads Storm and Peter Buch on bass and keyboard. Little did we know that we would see Peter “Petski” Buch live later in the evening playing with the fairly decent looking Brinck.

We were wondering if they had plans to play stuff from the new “Origins” CD, but they stuck to tracks from Episode 2 and 3.0/3.5.

After the show, we checked out the fairground while waiting for Brinck, who was very late due to a cancellation of a ferry, transporting all his equipment. Just when we started talking about heading home, he jumped on stage, looking ruggedly handsome and giving us a passionate performance. And it was also a delight seeing “Petski”, kicking butt on stage again

During our trip home we talked about how wonderful it had been seeing Safri again and now we were even more looking forward to our Safri trip to Bornholm the upcoming week!!! Yay Safri!!!

Fair Trade, Hammershus, Bornholm, Denmark, Friday the 17th of July 2009
"Foster´s...Australian for beer..."

This was our first “flying-to-see-Safri”-trip. We had booked a room at a Bed and Breakfast in the capitol of Bornholm, with a direct view to the harbor from our balcony. Sweet……….

We arrived very early a day before the festival because we wanted some time to check out Roenne and enjoy some vacation time. Booking a taxi from the airport, we started talking and quickly discovered that the taxi-driver had an uncle on Moen, where we live! Isn´t it a small world?? The taxi-driver also shared some stories from his days as a roadie for the band Smokey and told us that he had jammed with them, as he was also a drummer.
After kicking off our luggage at our cool room and saying hi to our landlord Mr. Norby, we went on a walk through Roenne city, seeing some beautiful scenery and houses. Getting closer to the town square we thought we heard some familiar sounds and it turned out that uncrowned Kings of Pan Flute Street Music in Copenhagen had followed us to Bornholm: Urubamba was in town!! Oh the adventures we have had in the past with Urubamba, including a dark blue van, a Peruvian without a driver´s license, a lovesick Ukulele-player and a candy-jar filled with coins! The stories we could tell you!!.....but we won´t.

After a pit stop at a café, we went back to our B&B to enjoy some fun in the sun on our balcony. It turned out to become some naptime in the sun, due to some lukewarm white-wine to celebrate our vacation overseas. Oh the joy of Summertime on beautiful Bornholm!

We enjoyed a quiet evening with thai-food and “Harbours Island” on the telly before turning in. Oh yeah…and more lukewarm white wine. Life is a fiest!

Our service minded landlord had provided a luscious breakfast, with homemade whitebread, rough bread and jam. Softboiled eggs were waiting for us alongside cheeses, different meats, honey and herring. Hot damn, that´s what we call a Bed and Breakfast! During our breakfast embrace Mr. Norby kept us company minding us to be aware of boys and dark alleys. When we kindly told him, that we had 75 Safri concerts of experience behind us, he lit up, his niece being Cecilie Norby, who has played with Safri in the past and his brother having lectured at the conservatorium. Isn´t it a small world????

Leaving to go catch a bus to Hammerhus we were in a fairly good mood, because having back stage passes meant not only smoozing with our favourite duo in the world, but Nickie was pretty excited by being on the same ground as Thomas Helmig, who she thinks is just a tad nice, and Bente scheming to take some paparazzi pics of her 2nd favorite musicians Carpark North.
The bus company on Bornholm just happened to go bankrupt that week so pretty much no busses were to be found anywhere. The festival had provided transportation but not nearly as many as needed, so we were pretty much packed like sardines, or as they would say on the island we were visiting: packed like herring!

As always it was a colorful experience getting our backstage passes. It took 3 festival workers to finally get the right passes, even though there was an envelope saying “To Nickie and Bente” in the check-in van where we started off. But all the people we met in our quest to get in were very nice and finally we were able to enter the right area.

Backstage we found a table and it wasn´t long before we spotted Uffe in the dining tent.
We said hi and made arrangements for a short interview and merchandise signing half an hour later. As always it was pleasant speaking with Uffe and Morten. They told us about their work on “Origins” and their plans for the future. They also answered some questions from the Safri Zone Newsletter members and we took some pics. They also told us that they were doing a Meet `n`Greet after the show with fans from Australia and the UK. Knowing that the UK fan was a member of the newsletter Matthew Hope, we asked if we could come back and take some shots of the meeting, which was ok.
Then it was time to get ready for the show and we scooted off towards the front row, where we immediately spotted Matthew also in the front row, off course, since he had arrived at the venue very early in the morning.
It was a fantastic Safri show, with the same playlist as in Gilleleje, with Michael Parsberg on stage and Bobo Moreno doing the vocals.
Morten was the man in black and Uffe also had on black pants, but with a white sleeveless shirt.

It was fun taking part in the Meet `n`Greet seeing fans from abroad meeting Safri for the first time. Uffe and Morten always take their time talking to fans whenever it´s possible, so the fans had a long chat and a lot of pictures taken. –And finally Bente got her paparazzi picture of Carpark North while she was hiding behind Uffe.

When Safri left for another photo session we raced off to see Carpark North followed by Thomas Helmig accompanied by one heck of a rain shower, leaving us soaked in the matter of minutes. We decided to try to catch a bus home, and to our luck some busses just happened to arrive at the parking lot! How lucky were we, having read at the bus station that we would be picked up at 1 am and the time only being 11 pm! Not to our luck we soon discovered that the busses had arrived early, but not letting anyone in and not leaving before 1 am. DOU!!!!
After 90 minutes we were so wet and tired that we didn´t even feel like playing our favorite waiting game “Guess the Celebrity” but then our empathic bus driver decided to let us in half an hour early!

When we reached our Bed and Breakfast we celebrated our fun Safri day, with heaps of chocolate, soda and the rest of the now very lukewarm white wine and passed out. We ended our Bornholm adventure with our new found taxi driver friend and a nice chat with fellow fan Matthew Hope who was going on the same flight as us, on a bench outside the airport, due to the airport not being open yet. We couldn´t even get a coffee!! Argh!
Now you might ask yourself…”what? Didn´t they even get lost once on this long trip?”….and indeed, yes, we did. We got lost at Copenhagen Airport in the company of Matthew, trying to find the luggage reclaim for domestic travelers. As Matthew is not here to defend himself…we blame it all on him ;-)

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