First and foremost a thank you very much to all those who sent in their contributions and photos. You know who you are and you all deserve my deepest gratitude. In addition to what you mailed me directly I was allowed to use Colin Baker’s review, Bob Wyper’s review, John Gray’s review from his blog. Also I used Dave Edwards review from his blog; I know it is too late to ask permission now, so I ask forgiveness…it was really good and blended so fine with all the other stuff. I also used some favorouable postings from SMILER about the album from the Message Board. These however were not credited. Also of course I had my own try on saying something meaningful about the album.
All in all after my amateurish editing it actually became a book with mostly text and also some photos. When I worked in the editing programme it seemed very colourful and glossy on my computer screen. I was afraid it would turn out too childish, but when the book returned the result was quite good. Also we all know Rod is not opposed to colours!
Full of optimism I contacted the festival production leaders and told them enthusiastically about the book. They were most uninterested and unhelpful in helping me hand the book over to Rod. Then I contacted Universal’s Norwegian branch. They seemed genuinely interested in helping out, but in the end there were no results. Seemed my fantastic plan A did not work.
Then I had to launch my plan B; sneak backstage without credentials and find Rod myself. With my ninja abilities being close to zero this is no easy task. However I found a gruesome orange coloured nylon vest spelling out “Security” on the front and back. Dressed in this and arriving early I entered the festival ground. It was very easy to move around. Nobody seemed to pay much attention to me, and also I would help out with some loading and other duties. Rod’s people believed I belonged to the festival staff and the festival staff believed I belonged to Rod’s crew.
This of course was no comfortable situation for me. Also I felt a bit bad maybe someone would be blamed for not doing their job if I suddenly approached Rod without the proper credentials. The people I talked to who worked for Rod were all very friendly, no one would however lead me to Rod. They said they could pass the book on to his assistant. I was not to happy with this arrangement, I didn’t want to let the book of out of my sight.
To cut a long story short we found a compromise; right before the concert I was at the back of the stage. One kind guy lead me to J’anna Jacoby as the show was about to start. I had taken some photos of her friends and her Mother on an earlier occasion and had the best one enlarged and framed. She seemed genuinely thankful for the framed picture. I also used this opportunity to show her the book and tell her about it. She took the book and promised she would deliver it to Rod. By now the show start was really coming near and I had to get off the stage. All in all it was not a bad result! J’anna seems very sincere and I am sure she kept her promise and has passed the book on to Rod.
Photographs by Jan Kittelsen