After taking the last bus to Arendal, I had about four hours to kill before the doors even opened. Therefore I decided to wander around the town (which is SMALL). I spotted Terje, Geir and Tollak doing the same when I got to the town square.
Completely by accident I met Aud. I had to look twice and then I exclaimed “Hey, you are Aud, aren’t you?” She was, and after introducing myself we wandered off together. She was going to wait for a friend (and the friend’s daughter) who were coming with the bus from Oslo. I stayed in their company, and we had something to eat in the last of the sunshine. And later, we had some coffee at Lindvedske. Then we parted and I met up with my sister and her friends in the small cue in front of the venue (Arendal Kulturhus). After a little while it became clear that the cue was in the wrong place, and in the process of moving we got almost in the front. We had just three girls in front of us, and had had about ten. By the time the doors opened, the cue was decidedly longer, stretching from one end of the venue to the other.

We ended up in the first row. I found myself standing almost exactly in front of Janove. I had wanted to stand a bit more to the right in front of Terje, but no such luck. There wasn’t any pushing and we had some space to move in before the concert.
And finally after a lot of waiting, Petur Ben entered the stage. I loved him. I had already listened to some of his music on youtube and myspace, but it was so much more fun live. I can’t wait to see the guy again. He played (only) four songs, including Billy Jean. The audience was very nice with him. Exactly the opposite of what I expected, since the concert was without age limits, and after how Christer Knutsen was treated in 2006 at Heftingsdalen. For the last song, Something Radical, he got Rune on drums by shouting: “Rune…, eh RUNE!” and really rolling his Rs. There and then it was a bit funny actually. Oh, and I love that song. I’ve listened to it far too many times on youtube and know the lyrics =) Also, during his set he asked “Er det stemming?” (If we had a good time?). He said the Kaizers had been drilling him in Norwegian like a parrot. XD

Then it was time for some more waiting. And finally the (perfect) intro tape started, with Tom Waits’ voice introducing the Kaizers. And then, Russian Dance of course. Now people started pushing and it suddenly got a lot warmer. The concert wasn’t sold out, but the upper amphi wasn’t open (it’s not a gallery in Arendal, but two amphis and balconies. The lower amphi can be pushed back to make room for 700 standing people). Therefore it was quite packed, at least in the front.
The Kaizers entered the stage to the loop from Maskineri. And Helge’s playing style on the marimba is almost better than the organ one XD Got to love the guy.

The z-list was:

• Maskineri
• Bastard Sønn
• 9mm
• Ompa til Du Dør
• Container
• Blitzregn Baby
• Volvo i Mexico
• Enden av November
• Apokalyps Meg
• Kontroll på Kontinentet
• Resistansen
• Den andre er meg
• KGB, Maestro

  ————————————————

• Knekker deg til sist
• Bøn fra Helvete
• 170

The concert was great. And I really love the live version of Volvo i Mexico. It’s a really “jumpable” song, and I love jumping. XD Janove used my arm for support when standing on the rail once. Unfortunately it was my left arm and I’m certainly not strong enough to support him (and the angle was all wrong with me on the first row). He ended up crouching on the rail supported by the guards. Thankfully he used someone else the next time.
When it was time for Resistansen, Janove got Rune and Øyvind to start the intro again at least five times. He kept saying it wasn’t good enough for Arendal. And when he was hitting the barrel at the end of 170, the axe handle broke in two. That was a bit funny, since he had made a show out of choosing the right one.

During one of the songs, I think it was Knekker deg til sist, Janove pretended to fall off the stage and into the audience. Hurray, crowd surfing. When he got back, he rolled over and went off again XD. The guards only laughed at him for that.
Shortly after, it may have been the same song, he actually fell of the stage though. And it did look like it hurt. But he kept on singing anyway, he just took some time to get back up on the stage.

There was some talking in between the songs, but not that much really. For example Janove talked about the “dock” in Arendal (while some in the audience kept yelling “Pollen”, the real name. They eventually gave it up though). He said it was so nice in the sunshine, he could write a song about it. He wondered if there already existed songs like that. The answer from the audience was impossible to grasp, so he concluded that yes there is some songs about the “dock” in Arendal, but they are really bad XD Then he asked if we wanted Kaizers to write a song. Then the answer was a clear yes.
He also announced that the show was the 15th in a row. And that that was a new record!

After the show I got an oil barrel and my sister a set list. My sister had managed to lose a part of her camera during the concert, so she and her friends used at least 15 minutes looking for it. They even asked Nils to borrow a pocket light. While I stood waiting for them with my barrel, Rune came by, so I got to say hi to him. When my sister finally gave up looking and went to the merchandise, I saw Aud again briefly and said hi to her too.

My sister had made this incredible funny wooden car which is supposed to be Kaizers’ new nightliner. You can see it here.
We gave it to Tollak asking if he could give to Kaizers from us. Then Petur Ben came over and asked what it was. When Tollak explained, he really found it funny. Especially Berntsen underneath.

Then it was time to go home. We managed to stow me and the barrel into the back of the car with no space to lose. I think my father found me to be mad or silly, or both.
Then off we went home to sleep, before I had to get up early to catch a bus to Stavanger.