(no subject)
Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. It never feels like it's been 2+ weeks but then my mind has been on others things.. FYI, all pics have been resized but are in .bmp form since this old crap computer at the cafe can't do .png.
As you probably have assumed, I made it back to Ireland from AD in one piece. After that I spent a few days in Cork resting up and doing laundry. Then on the 9th I flew into London and stayed the night at Stansted so I could catch my flight to Oslo. At the hotel there I met up with Shiloh, a woman I had met on the festival forum. She and I made plans to go to Bergen, the second largest city in the country. We met Karl at Elm St for dinner before catching our 11 pm train. The ride was over 7 hours long and the seats weren't that comfortable. I did manage to sleep a bit though. So... on the 11th (which happened to be my birthday (omg I turned 21)) we wandered around for awhile until the tourist information center opened. It was pretty cold though and I think we both wished we had brought our coats along. After the random walking + picture taking, we took a bus to see Edvard Grieg's house (I guess he wrote Peer Gynt, which I've always liked) and then the Fantoft Stave Church.
Later we walked around this old part of the city where there had been some sort of explosion in the harbor which caused all the buildings' foundations to shift so all they're all slanted-like. We ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant and the beef + salsa tasted like spaghetti sauce. o.o
We took another night train back to Oslo and I didn't sleep at all. At the hotel, we ate our complementary breakfast before showering for the first time in 3+ days. At 11 we met forum for some adventuring. I think there ended up being 7 of us... Dave, Steven, Madeleine, Eric, David, Shiloh, and myself. We hit the Folk and Viking Ship Museums. The Folk Museum had yet another stave church, which rocked. And the Viking Ship Museum had.... ships. Duh.
Ok so... after that we got exchanged our tickets for wristbands at Body Map and then I think we went to Elm St for lunch and beer, though everyone finally learned how horrid their burgers were. That night we went to the Vreid release party at Rock In (horrid name for a place, don't you think?). The opening bands were semi-crappy and I don't remember much of them. Vreid was good though I wasn't floored by them.
So Thursday was the first day of the festival. I don't remember what we did.. I think we met for breakfast and then hit Sound of Noise before going back to the hotel and drank. I got kinda drunk after mixing myself some strong drinks.. lol. Walking to the venue was fun, as I invented the phrase "involuntary walking" after stumbling. I stupidly left ID at the hotel though so I had to go back to get it. David went with me, which was nice of him. I'm not sure I could've made it on my own (only because I was intoxicated). Yeah so that day, there were some crap/ok bands, just like all the other days. Keep of Kalessin and Carpathian Forest were my favorites. Also bought myself an Emperor shirt that day. I think we left early that night since we weren't very keen on Usurper but it sounds like a lot of people enjoyed them so maybe that wasn't the greatest idea. o.o Once we got back to the hotel, I believe I got drunk the second time and we stayed up talking til 6 am.
The next morning we once again met for breakfast before heading to the "exclusive" listening of the new Gorgoroth album. I'm really surprised they didn't check us for ID. We just kept to ourselves and sat at a table in the corner while drinking free beer. I think we all were very impressed.. especially Shiloh, who was making eyes at King ov Hell the entire time. rofl everyone kept trying to make her go talk to him but she said she respected him too much to bother him. *grins*
I think we stayed there for a few hours and then went straight to Rockefeller (the venue). Then I think we went back to the hotel for something and came back and heard Susperia... I bought another shirt for someone (not saying who) and found that BORKNAGAR DIDN'T BRING ANY SHIRTS TO SELL. Motherfuckers. Yeah I was disappointed, as were several other people. Oh well. Anyway, David and I decided to go down in the pit for Borknagar. For most of the bands, we sat at a table up in the balcony. Anyway, Borknagar rocked everyone's socks. Heh Vintersorg looked kinda amusing in his striped sweater and short hair but he is a kickass vocalist and nailed Garm's and the other guy's (ICS Vortex?) songs.
We decided to go back to the balcony for Emperor just because we knew there'd be crazy Norwegians down in the pit and we didn't want to deal with them. I got really tired during their set and almost fell asleep a couple times. I was so mad at myself.... but I remember that atmosphere in the venue was great and that the band (especially Ihsahn) was enjoying themselves. We went downstairs for the end + the encore, which was good because I definitely was wide awake at that point. Here's the setlist for you fans via the forum:
Intro
Into the infinity of thoughts (+ pyro)
The burning shadows of silence
Cosmic keys...
Thus spake the nightspirit
An elegy of Icarus
Curse you all men!
Wrath of the tyrant (+ pyro)
With strength i burn
Towards the pantheon (acoustic intro)
The majesty of the nightsky (+ pyro)
Loss and curse of reverence
In the wordless chamber
Inno a Satana (+ pyro)
Opus a Satana (part 1, outro)
Encore:
I am the black wizards
Ye entranceimperium
Opus a Satana (part 2, outro)
Saturday was kind of an anticlimactic day, as far as the festival went. At noon, Emperor was signing stuff at Body Map so we all went and got autographs + pictures taken with various members. David had gotten tattooed by Trym earlier in the week and had gotten that signed. Then we went to the National Gallery, which was open despite the holidays and FREE - always a plus. Munch's "The Scream" was there, as well as a self-portrait of Van Gogh's. I liked the collection a lot because the museum also had a number of nice landscapes done by Scandinavian painters. Obviously they found nature inspiring, just as black metal musicians do. *smiles*
After that, Metallion (I think) interviewed Emperor publicly in the hotel lobby. They discussed Emperor's past, present, and future, which was nice. The interview was fairly low-key and was kinda intimate like the band was talking to everyone there (which duh...was the case but they could've been jackasses). They all seemed humbled by their success and their fans' support. I think my eyes watered a couple times when they talked about stuff like doing their own things and not ruining the band and being true to themselves, etc. lol I'm such a girl.
But yeah the bands Saturday were ok. I really wanted to get myself a second shirt and the Witchcraft one looked nice but they were pretty 70ish.. And I thought my dad would like them more than I would. Um... Myrkskog played... I think they were ok. Bolt Thrower was ok, but somewhat boring. I totally passed out during Marduk, which was embarassing but I guess I was really tired. I thought I would like Cathedral better but the vocalist kept annoying me so we left early.
Oh yeah, there were some sculptures on the roof that I thought James and others would like by spacebrain:
That night I told David I'd walk him to the bus station since he said he didn't know how to get there. So I think I slept about 2 hours before waking up to walk him there. On the way back, some African guy followed me and asked me when the tram was going to start running and I found myself telling him that I was going to Ireland that day and stuff. He could've been evil. o.o Anyway, I went back to the hotel and checked email before sleeping for another 1 1/2 hours and then packing and walking to the bus station. Had to take a taxi because it definitely takes 20+ minutes to walk there with luggage.
Grah. Got lots of pictures plus all the ones that everyone else took. I think we plan on sharing. Definitely looking forward to this since I want to print mine out and make a scrapbook. God knows I saved my ticket stubs and stuff. xD
Conclusion: Best trip ever.
As you probably have assumed, I made it back to Ireland from AD in one piece. After that I spent a few days in Cork resting up and doing laundry. Then on the 9th I flew into London and stayed the night at Stansted so I could catch my flight to Oslo. At the hotel there I met up with Shiloh, a woman I had met on the festival forum. She and I made plans to go to Bergen, the second largest city in the country. We met Karl at Elm St for dinner before catching our 11 pm train. The ride was over 7 hours long and the seats weren't that comfortable. I did manage to sleep a bit though. So... on the 11th (which happened to be my birthday (omg I turned 21)) we wandered around for awhile until the tourist information center opened. It was pretty cold though and I think we both wished we had brought our coats along. After the random walking + picture taking, we took a bus to see Edvard Grieg's house (I guess he wrote Peer Gynt, which I've always liked) and then the Fantoft Stave Church.
Later we walked around this old part of the city where there had been some sort of explosion in the harbor which caused all the buildings' foundations to shift so all they're all slanted-like. We ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant and the beef + salsa tasted like spaghetti sauce. o.o
We took another night train back to Oslo and I didn't sleep at all. At the hotel, we ate our complementary breakfast before showering for the first time in 3+ days. At 11 we met forum for some adventuring. I think there ended up being 7 of us... Dave, Steven, Madeleine, Eric, David, Shiloh, and myself. We hit the Folk and Viking Ship Museums. The Folk Museum had yet another stave church, which rocked. And the Viking Ship Museum had.... ships. Duh.
Ok so... after that we got exchanged our tickets for wristbands at Body Map and then I think we went to Elm St for lunch and beer, though everyone finally learned how horrid their burgers were. That night we went to the Vreid release party at Rock In (horrid name for a place, don't you think?). The opening bands were semi-crappy and I don't remember much of them. Vreid was good though I wasn't floored by them.
So Thursday was the first day of the festival. I don't remember what we did.. I think we met for breakfast and then hit Sound of Noise before going back to the hotel and drank. I got kinda drunk after mixing myself some strong drinks.. lol. Walking to the venue was fun, as I invented the phrase "involuntary walking" after stumbling. I stupidly left ID at the hotel though so I had to go back to get it. David went with me, which was nice of him. I'm not sure I could've made it on my own (only because I was intoxicated). Yeah so that day, there were some crap/ok bands, just like all the other days. Keep of Kalessin and Carpathian Forest were my favorites. Also bought myself an Emperor shirt that day. I think we left early that night since we weren't very keen on Usurper but it sounds like a lot of people enjoyed them so maybe that wasn't the greatest idea. o.o Once we got back to the hotel, I believe I got drunk the second time and we stayed up talking til 6 am.
The next morning we once again met for breakfast before heading to the "exclusive" listening of the new Gorgoroth album. I'm really surprised they didn't check us for ID. We just kept to ourselves and sat at a table in the corner while drinking free beer. I think we all were very impressed.. especially Shiloh, who was making eyes at King ov Hell the entire time. rofl everyone kept trying to make her go talk to him but she said she respected him too much to bother him. *grins*
I think we stayed there for a few hours and then went straight to Rockefeller (the venue). Then I think we went back to the hotel for something and came back and heard Susperia... I bought another shirt for someone (not saying who) and found that BORKNAGAR DIDN'T BRING ANY SHIRTS TO SELL. Motherfuckers. Yeah I was disappointed, as were several other people. Oh well. Anyway, David and I decided to go down in the pit for Borknagar. For most of the bands, we sat at a table up in the balcony. Anyway, Borknagar rocked everyone's socks. Heh Vintersorg looked kinda amusing in his striped sweater and short hair but he is a kickass vocalist and nailed Garm's and the other guy's (ICS Vortex?) songs.
We decided to go back to the balcony for Emperor just because we knew there'd be crazy Norwegians down in the pit and we didn't want to deal with them. I got really tired during their set and almost fell asleep a couple times. I was so mad at myself.... but I remember that atmosphere in the venue was great and that the band (especially Ihsahn) was enjoying themselves. We went downstairs for the end + the encore, which was good because I definitely was wide awake at that point. Here's the setlist for you fans via the forum:
Intro
Into the infinity of thoughts (+ pyro)
The burning shadows of silence
Cosmic keys...
Thus spake the nightspirit
An elegy of Icarus
Curse you all men!
Wrath of the tyrant (+ pyro)
With strength i burn
Towards the pantheon (acoustic intro)
The majesty of the nightsky (+ pyro)
Loss and curse of reverence
In the wordless chamber
Inno a Satana (+ pyro)
Opus a Satana (part 1, outro)
Encore:
I am the black wizards
Ye entranceimperium
Opus a Satana (part 2, outro)
Saturday was kind of an anticlimactic day, as far as the festival went. At noon, Emperor was signing stuff at Body Map so we all went and got autographs + pictures taken with various members. David had gotten tattooed by Trym earlier in the week and had gotten that signed. Then we went to the National Gallery, which was open despite the holidays and FREE - always a plus. Munch's "The Scream" was there, as well as a self-portrait of Van Gogh's. I liked the collection a lot because the museum also had a number of nice landscapes done by Scandinavian painters. Obviously they found nature inspiring, just as black metal musicians do. *smiles*
After that, Metallion (I think) interviewed Emperor publicly in the hotel lobby. They discussed Emperor's past, present, and future, which was nice. The interview was fairly low-key and was kinda intimate like the band was talking to everyone there (which duh...was the case but they could've been jackasses). They all seemed humbled by their success and their fans' support. I think my eyes watered a couple times when they talked about stuff like doing their own things and not ruining the band and being true to themselves, etc. lol I'm such a girl.
But yeah the bands Saturday were ok. I really wanted to get myself a second shirt and the Witchcraft one looked nice but they were pretty 70ish.. And I thought my dad would like them more than I would. Um... Myrkskog played... I think they were ok. Bolt Thrower was ok, but somewhat boring. I totally passed out during Marduk, which was embarassing but I guess I was really tired. I thought I would like Cathedral better but the vocalist kept annoying me so we left early.
Oh yeah, there were some sculptures on the roof that I thought James and others would like by spacebrain:
That night I told David I'd walk him to the bus station since he said he didn't know how to get there. So I think I slept about 2 hours before waking up to walk him there. On the way back, some African guy followed me and asked me when the tram was going to start running and I found myself telling him that I was going to Ireland that day and stuff. He could've been evil. o.o Anyway, I went back to the hotel and checked email before sleeping for another 1 1/2 hours and then packing and walking to the bus station. Had to take a taxi because it definitely takes 20+ minutes to walk there with luggage.
Grah. Got lots of pictures plus all the ones that everyone else took. I think we plan on sharing. Definitely looking forward to this since I want to print mine out and make a scrapbook. God knows I saved my ticket stubs and stuff. xD
Conclusion: Best trip ever.