MONDAY AND TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH AND 9TH, BELLAMY BROTHERS 9 SHOW TOUR TO NORWAY:
Left today for two weeks in Norway with The Bellamy Brothers. Nine shows and travel and perform every day except for one day. Pretty challenging so my road reports will be SHORT!
We were meeting at the Nashville Airport at 3:30 pm, I got a phone call from David saying their pedal steel player was I the Emergency Room with a kidney stone. Obviously, there was no way he could go on the tour. I had to notify the travel agency and “quickly” get forms from the Hospital stating he could not fly. Also called and woke the promoter up in Norway to let him know to cancel the room for Tuesday night. We’re all very hopeful that once he passes the stone, he’ll be able to fly over and join the tour with us.
No problems checking in at the Nashville Airport other than a ticket agent who was rude because she didn’t want to check us in. Had a few minutes in the Lounge and then boarded the flight to Denver. We landed early and had a couple of hours in the Lounge. Our flight to Amsterdam was on time and it was a better plane than we had on the Zurich flight in June but still not really “great”. I watched a movie while dinner was being served and then planned to sleep. That’s when my panic attack happened. In all the decades I’ve been traveling, I’ve never forgotten my “sleep guard” mouthpiece….until today. I cannot sleep well without it. Hopefully Jim can bring it to me in a day or so.
Again we landed early and had about 2 hours in the Lounge before flying to Bergen. That plane departed over 30 minutes late ad landed that late as well. The airport had made a mistake and we had to take a bus from the terminal to the aircraft. I had a really nice man sitting beside me who had retired from the Coast Guard and was working as a DJ and a Fitness Instructor in New Orleans. He was going on a cruise from Bergen to Barcelona. But the ship changed their schedule today and they did not have any time at all to sightsee in Bergen. Such a shame. He was a fan of the Bellamys so they took a photo with him once we got off the flight.
Our bags took forever to come out. They first were coming out on Belt #3 and then after a few minutes, they started coming out on Belt #1. We split up so we could watch both belts and finally received everything.
“Funny” is our driver and Production Manager. I worked with him several years ago in Norway and he’s the best! He was waiting for us and we drove the 15 minutes into Bergen to our hotel. Most of the hotels are the same ones we had on the February, 2023 tour. But it’s a LOT warmer here this time!!!
The hotel had been partially renovated and our promoter made sure we had rooms in the “new” section. Got everyone checked in and I walked across the street to a shopping mall to find food for dinner. It’s 1:00 am now and I want to jog tomorrow morning if isn’t raining too hard. Weather forecast is for rain every day we’re in Norway.
Jude
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH – FIRST PERFORMANCE OF THE TOUR IN BERGEN, NORWAY:
Got up at 7 am with the intention of getting in one of the few jogs I’ll have time for on this trip. Opened the drapes (and realized my room overlooks a very spooky cemetery!) only to see it’s still raining! I decided to go to the Fitness room in the hotel instead. It’s small and there were two other people working out but I was still able to get in a decent workout.
Have struggled with this “smart” TV since arrival. It only has about 4 local networks and only one of those in English. Supposed to be able to log into other networks on the apps. Doesn’t work. For about 5 minutes last night I got one news channel in English to work. Then it disappeared. I stopped at the front desk and asked for help. A lady came to my room but had no clue how to use the TV! Very frustrating….
Met in the lobby to go to the Fish Market for lunch. We’re meeting our good friends David and Anette Genius there. David and I were the only two who made it. We arrived before David and Anette and walked around looking at all the options. I purchased some brown cheese and David bought “reindeer”! We had a fantastic lunch of fresh grilled salmon with a salad and boiled potatoes. The “Davids” add fresh grilled King Crab to theirs. Stopped and bought Cloudberry Jam on the way out. When we got back to the hotel, my room key would not work. Throughout the day, everyone in our group had to go get a new key from the front desk.
Met the guys in the lobby at 2:45 to walk over to the venue for sound check. Things were moving pretty slowly when we arrived because it’s the first day of working with the backline equipment and production. But Chris is doing a great job and of course, Funny is Fantastic!
Kjell had arrived while we were at the Fish Market and walked over to the venue with us. I definitely remember the venue from our previous performances here. Even before we ever performed here, a sound engineer for one of the artists on the festival I book in Breim, Norway had a friend working at the venue. We were staying at the airport hotel and came down on a Sunday afternoon and got the “backstage tour”. It’s a beautiful venue.
Elizabeth – the lady taking care of us again at the venue – told me there was a 13 year old boy who had been standing outside for hours waiting for the Bellamys to come to sound check. He had a stack of LP’s he wanted autographed for his 89 year old grandfather who had been instrumental in introducing him to the Bellamys music. Sadly, the Bellamys never participate in sound checks. I told her to go get the things he wanted autographed and I would have them sign them before the show. Then I told her to invite both the 13 year boy and his grandfather to the Meet and Greet so they could have a photo taken with them. They were thrilled.
Sound check ran almost up until doors opened and some the guys didn’t even get to go back to the hotel and change clothes for the performance. I rode over with Howard and David and they took photos with the staff and David Genius’s son and Kjell’s daughter in the backstage area. Then we brought in the “official M&G participants” for photos.
The show started at exactly 7:00 pm and the venue was full except for a couple of rows way up in the nosebleed section. The sound was awesome too. It was so sad not to have their amazing pedal steel player in the “mix” but the show was still just as fantastic from the fan’s point of view. One of our musicians told him to drink 6 beers and stand on his head and the stone would pass. I told his wife to film him if he does. HA!
Show was over at 8:30 pm and we were back at the hotel by 9 pm. We have an 8:30 lobby call, so I’m shutting down even though I still have about 100 emails to respond too. Will work on those on the 3 hour drive to the next city – Haugesund – tomorrow.
Jude
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH – PERFORMANCE IN HAUGESUND, NORWAY:
Ever had one of those days when once something goes wrong, there is a domino effect? That was my day.
Up at 5:30 am and I was packed and downstairs at 8 am for the 8:30 lobby call. Went into the restaurant and ate breakfast with Kjell. I had planned to get caught up on some work on the 3 hour drive. God had other plans. The first document I tried to open in my One Drive gave me an error message saying I could not access my files and that my sign-in was successful but did not meet the criteria to access the resources! So, for 3 hours, I had Chris and Collin trying to help me get this fixed.
I finally remembered that there had been a Windows Update last night, so I started “googling” that and quickly found the most recent update was the problem. I figured out how to “uninstall” the update and once we got to the hotel, I was able to log right in and see all my documents. Talk about a major panic attack. It would not have been pretty if I had to stay in Norway with no access to my “work files”! I’ll bet Windows/Microsoft One Drive is getting bombarded with complaints…if that is possible. It’s sure not possible to reach anyone there by phone or live chat. All you get is useless AI!!! When Lindsey got to work this morning, she had to deal with the same thing. We set our computers to not allow ANY updates for the next 5 weeks. When that expires, I’ll reset it to 5 more weeks if Microsoft hasn’t gotten it corrected by then.
The hotel had our rooms ready for us and we had about 1 hour before walking to the venue for sound check. The hotel offers a free dinner from 6-8 pm but we all had to depart to the venue at 6 pm. I asked if they could start the dinner at 5:30 pm and they agreed. Then when I got back from sound check, they told me that only Chili Con Carne and Rice would be served. I told them not to open early for us. Most of the group went next door to the Indian Restaurant. When I came down for lobby call at 5:45 pm, I noticed several of our group were in there eating. And it wasn’t just Chili and Rice. There was a HUGE spread of different kinds of salads.
Sound check went much quicker today. Funny switched out the van for a large tour bus. Strangest bus I’ve seen. The back half has a lift gate and huge cargo area (which we need for all out bags/equipment). Then there is bus seating with tables and chairs in the front half. Much more room for the rest of the drives. Our contact at the venue is Christian and I remember him from last year. Such a nice man. Nina was supposed to be our contact but I only saw her for about 5 minutes. Very sweet lady but Christian took great care of us.
The Meet and Greet was people we knew here in Haugesund from prior visits. One of the men worked at the venue but had a really bad stroke a year ago. He was walking with canes and has short term memory loss. Such a sweet man and I hope he’ll fully recover!
The show was sold out and the crowd tonight was “livelier” than last night. They gave the Bellamys a standing ovation, too. It was still raining when it was time to go back to the show so we all packed into a taxi. We were back by 9 pm again. I had forgotten that Haugesund is one of my favorite cities and hotels. Great shopping right outside the door and the hotel is located right on the waterfront. So many memories from visits here.
Tomorrow is Stavanger which is also a great city.
Jude
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH, PERFORMANCE IN STAVANGER, NORWAY:
We departed the hotel at 10:30 am in our “bus”. It was great to have so much room to spread out and a really nice “ride”. There was a 30 minute ferry ride and I got off to go to the toilet during that crossing. Big mistake. The water was really rough with big waves. We were “rockin’ and rollin’” the entire 30 minutes.
The hotel is one that we all remember. I remember because there was no desk or table in my room. Our promoter got word to them that I needed a room with those amenities and they listened. We had about one hour before walking over to the venue. It had been raining all morning but was clear when we left the hotel. Only a few yards from the hotel, two of the “younger” members of the group decided to rent a scooter. They went zipping past us and 5 seconds later, we heard a police siren and the cops had pulled over one of them. Fortunately, they just gave him a warning about his reckless behavior. But Kjell really laid into him because he could have hurt himself or caused an accident with the vehicles. Needless to say, I don’t think they will be hotdogging on any scooters in the future. LOL.
We walked along the waterfront and there was a huge Disney Fantasy ship docked there. Reminded me of all the cruises I took with Zac, Zoe and Lindsey when they were younger.
The venue is really nice and The Bellamys have performed there several times. I remember the backstage manager – Kjell – from our previous visits. Really nice man and very helpful.
Sound check went way longer than it should have and I need to find out why tomorrow. Funny has everything set up and ready when the band walks in and we have the same backline and consoles at every show. It should only take an hour — not 2 ½ to 3 hours. I left them today before they finished because I had other things to take care of.
I hurriedly walked into the City Center to get some meds for this terrible cold I developed overnight. I have not had a cold in over two years and wouldn’t have one now if Zicam had not pulled their swabs off the market. And, no idea when they might be available again! I swear it’s just big Pharma going after them because they work. Can you imagine how much money bit Pharma would lose if no one got a cold anymore?
Found what I needed pretty quickly and stopped at Joe The Juice for my favorite – Energy Boost Macha with Oat Milk, Bananas, and Dates. Only had a few minutes to change for the show. We have a van picking everyone up because it’s a much longer walk than we realized it would be.
Once again the show is almost sold out except for the very top rows and a few seats along the outer edges. The Bellamys finished their set and was walking back on for an encore when this chick jumped up on the stage with them. They just kept walking because she was holding out a piece of paper and pen to get an autograph – right in the middle of the show. The Security stopped her from jumping back on stage after they finished the encore.
The venue provided pizza for everyone after the show which was greatly appreciated! I had ordered a Caprese Salad for the hotel restaurant because I knew they would be closed by the time we got back. They were but had my salad waiting for me. It was incredible, too. Fresh Mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, pistachios, rocket, and great vinegar and balsamic dressing.
Have to get up at 6:30 am for a 9:30 departure. It’s after 12:30 am now, so signing off.
Jude
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH – PERFORMANCE IN KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY:
The days have definitely started blurring together. I had no idea today was Saturday!
We left Stavanger for Kristiansand at 9:30 am and it was definitely a 3 ½ hour drive. But the scenery was beautiful except for the rain. All the rooms were not available when we checked in so some of the guys had to store their luggage and go grab lunch. One of the guys was in the elevator with Howard and David and another man. Howard asked David what his room number was and when David told him, the stranger in the elevator said that was his room number, too! Reminds me of my surprise visit into an occupied room at JFK.
I didn’t have time for lunch as we were leaving for sound check at 2:15 pm. We walked over and it was misting rain the entire way. Of course, I had forgotten to bring my umbrella with me! I remember the venue and the really sweet man who takes such great care of us.
Sound check went a lot faster today with less issues. We were back at the hotel at 4:30 pm and I checked with the hotel restaurant to see if I could order the Caprese salad to have it ready when I returned to the hotel. They said “someone” had “left the mozzarella out and it was ruined. The couldn’t make the Caprese salad or the pizza!
I rushed out to a pharmacy to pick up something. Barely had time to change for the 6:00 pm departure to the venue when I returned. There is going to be a lot of guests tonight for the Meet & Greet. One of them is George – the Bellamys sound engineer from years ago. He met the company here in Kristiansand that offered him a job and he moved to Norway. Of course, being in love with a local Norwegian female also tipped the scales for him to move here. It was so good to see him.
The boss of the man I work with in Breim and his wife were here. Such sweet, sweet folks Then Anette (the lady we had lunch with at the Fish Market) was also there tonight.
Show started on time and once again, the Bellamys got a standing ovation. The venue was full except for the last 2 rows in the balcony! We had a taxi waiting for us after the show and Stepanie, Randy and I dropped bags and headed for a sushi place where they had eaten lunch. I have to say, I’ve become a “sushi snob” because I get to eat it fairly often in Japan! But the roll we got was great – Temper shrimp, Salmon, Avocado and not sure what else!
Have a 10 am lobby call tomorrow and it’s almost 1 am now. Going to sleep for a few hours and get up and work for awhile tomorrow morning and on the drive to Skien.
Jude
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH – PERFORMANCE IN SKIEN, NORWAY:
Five shows in Five Days. Seven Travel Days in 7 Days. Pretty challenging itinerary. With the show tonight in Skien, we will officially have passed the halfway mark. Good thing. I’m getting so tired of my clothes. I’d go shopping but I don’t have any room to add anything to my bags!
We departed at 10 am and drove for 2 ½ hours from Kristiansand to Skien. Stephanie and I were talking about the last tour and how we had time to go shopping. I don’t know what was routed differently but this tour is just non-stop!
When we arrived at the hotel, the entire street beside the street looked like it had been bombed! There was nowhere for the bus to pull up and let us out. He just had to park at what would have been the entrance to the street and quickly unload the bags. There was nothing but steep steps leading into the hotel and it mean maneuvering around big piles of debris to access them. I carefully navigated around the mess and ran in to ask the front desk if there was another entrance with a ramp for the suitcases. There was and everyone had to go through the hotel restaurant.
Every door in the hotel seems to need a key card just to open the door. We can’t go from the lobby to the elevator without a key. To open the main door to go outside, we need a key. When I got in my room, there was a huge shower and only about 4 inches between the shower glass and the bathroom sink. There was no way I would have been able to use the sink. There are no phones in hotel rooms in Norway so I had to call them on my cell phone. They said they would move me to another room, so I was going to walk down and get a new key. Only I was locked in my room. There is a huge black “box” just above the doorknob. I tried scanning my key and pushing the button on it but it wouldn’t move. I had to call the front desk to come open the door for me. When I asked “how” to open it, he said you just have to put all your weight behind it and actually did a little leap into the air to put all his weight behind the door handle to make it move. For such a safe country, it makes me wonder what’s up with all the security doors.
By the time I got everything moved, it was time to go to sound check. It was raining so I had the venue call us a taxi. They told the taxi driver to drop us off at the “staff entrance” but of course, they didn’t. We got inside but then couldn’t figure out how to get into the backstage area. I walked around the building, found our bus, and called the group to come down the outside stairs.
Funny had things set up again and I met our POC for the venue who is a really nice man named Espen who we worked with last visit. Oh..I forgot..Kjell bailed out on us today. He flew home and will come back on Wednesday for the performance in Trondheim.
Sound check went quickly and I got all the details worked out for the Meet & Greet tonight. There was a man standing right outside the backstage door with an umbrella and just starring inside. Randy talked to him and he said he wanted to talk to the Bellamy’s manager. I went out and talked to him and he said he wanted to “make a presentation” to the Bellamys. I told him that they were not there as they don’t participate in sound checks. He said that he has tickets and will be at the concert at 9:00 tonight. I reminded him that the concert starts at 7:00 pm. He asked if I would give the “presentation” to the Bellamys for him and I promised him I would. He told me to “wait” a few minutes and left. When he came back, he had two plastic bags from The New Yorker clothing store (one of my favorite stores which is located in Skien but closed on Sunday!). I thanked him and told him I would definitely make sure they received it.
I looked in the bags and in one was a large black sweatshirt that said “Los Angeles” on it. Then there was a pair of men’s socks, a Norwegian flag and a can of beer. In the other one, there was a black long sleeve “baseball style” shirt that said Los Angeles Raiders, 4 pairs of men’s socks and a can or beer! There were several notes with the man’s name and telephone number on it. I asked him for his email address but he said he doesn’t have one. Odd encounter but I gave David the bags.
We grabbed a taxi back to the hotel. Some of the group stayed because they were using the venue’s washers and dryers to clean their clothes. Self-service Laundry doesn’t exist in Norway except at campgrounds!
Not enough time to walk into the town and “explore” plus it was still raining off and on. We left for the show at 6 pm. The Meet & Greet was with my friend Lise Minge and her guests and 4 other people. It was over quickly and then it was show time. Another great show and good crowd.
The taxi they sent to pick up 9 people only had 7 seats and actually only 5 people could fit in it. I stayed behind with 2 of the guys and the driver came back to pick us up.
We depart the hotel at 10:30 am tomorrow for the airport. Funny is dropping us off and then he will drive 9 hours with the equipment and arrive in Trondheim at around 9 pm that same night. We are going to be able to leave any luggage we don’t need on the bus and retrieve it when he arrives tomorrow night. We have to fly on a small Wideroe Prop Plane tomorrow. They are very safe but still scares me with only two propellors! At least the flight is only 1 hour and 10 minutes long.
Jude
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH – TRAVEL FROM SKIEN, NORWAY TO TRONDHEIM, NORWAY:
Lobby call at 10:30 am for the drive with Funny for the 40 minute drive from Skien to Sandefjord Airport. Been a long time since I have flown out of that little airport. It was raining extremely hard and the plane we take is a twin prop plane. Not looking forward to that!!!
I sent my big suitcase on the bus with Funny and only brought a duffle bag with essentials. Most of the group sent their bags ahead as well.
Everything was “automated” at the ticket counter and thankfully it all worked for us to get check it. Flight departed on time and it was pretty turbulent on take off and until we got above the clouds. Landed early only to learn there was a mix-up in the pick up time. We landed at 2:25 pm and the taxi wasn’t scheduled to pick us up until 3:15 pm. It didn’t take but a few minutes to collect our bags and then we had to sit and wait for the taxi for 30 minutes. Good thing we didn’t bring add the bags with us because they would not have fit in the van they send to meet us!
It was about a 40 minute drive from the airport to the hotel. We all remembered this hotel as soon as we saw it. The venue is connected to the hotel which makes it really convenient. Our rooms are nice and we were surprised to learn that there is a free “washer and dryer” on the 5th floor. I had called the hotel before we left and they told me there was not a self-serve laundry in their hotel!
I walked into town with Stephanie, Randy and DeWayne. We all had specific things we were looking for but only a couple of us succeeded. We did get some great photos of the very old churches.
The hotel offers a “free” dinner from 6-8 pm, so we all took advantage of that. The salads were great but the “entrée”…not so much. DeWayne started a load of clothes and I put mine in the washer as soon as he was finished. Neither one of us had a clue how to operate them so we just “guessed”. The washer was not as challenging as the dryer. The dryer had 16 “photos” on the control panel and we were expected to select one for the cycle. The one we selected was definitely NOT the correct one. It kept putting “water” into the dryer and then spinning the clothes around. DeWayne finally gave up and I tried another setting and got my clothes “pretty” dry. I happened to be talking to my son while I was going through the stress of figuring out the correct button to push. He had me send him a photo of the control panel and then called and said, “Whatever you do, do not select the one that looks like a ceiling fan. That is the one to “clean” the dryer”. It was after 2 am before we finished “drying” the clothes and then we had to hang them everywhere in our rooms so they would hopefully dry before we leave here on Wednesday. I had things hanging from the lamps, tv, photos, door knobs, shower…you name it. It definitely looked like “The Beverly Hillbillies” had moved in!
Finally got in bed at 3:30 am and going to get up and go for a jog tomorrow if it isn’t raining. So NICE to have a day off so I can get caught up on “work”!
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH – DAY OFF IN TRONDHEIM:
Sun was shining when I woke up so got dressed to go for a jog. It was the perfect weather for it and I ran 3.36 miles. Stopped by a store on the way back to replenish my water. Not sure “why” I keep buying water when the water in the taps in Norway is much fresher than anything for sale!
Took a quick shower and had two messages from Kjell when I finished. He said that Chris had left a “cable” in his hotel room in Skien and wanted to know if he needed it for the show on Wednesday. I messaged Chris and he confirmed that it was not critical. That is when I noticed that the WiFi was no longer working in the hotel!
There are no phones in the rooms in any of the hotels in Norway. And every attempt to call the front desk took me to the Corporate Office number. I went down to discuss the WiFi situation and they had no clue it was out! Said they would report it and make sure they got it fixed.
Two hours later, the WiFi was still out. I went back downstairs again and this time was told by the desk clerk that the manager said the Wi-Fi was out in the entire city. I found that VERY hard to believe so I called the venue which is in the hotel. They said their WiFi was working just fine. I relayed that message to the hotel and then they back-tracked and said it was just “spotty”!
I gave it another hour and then headed back down again. This time I asked to see the manager. She was all of 20 years old! She said that they had made “special arrangements” with the Comfort Hotel for us to go sit in their lobby and use their WiFi. I explained that I would work until 3 am and that was not practical. She kept insisting that the hotel is not the only place the WiFi is out and again, I knew she was not telling the truth. I asked her for the name of the company who provides the internet service to the hotel. She flat out said she would not tell me!
So, I’ve been working off my T-Mobile Hot Spot all day! At least I can get online.
I noticed last night when I tried to turn off the big light in the entry foyer, it also shut off the power to the entire right side of my room….where I had my computer and fan plugged in. Since I really needed the fan, I left the light on and slept with a sleep eye mask. I asked the front desk today if I could have an extension cord. They offered me a really short on and I explained that I was going to have to plug in items on the opposite side of the room. I saw a “reel” of cord in the floor and I asked for it instead. Looks good with my “Beverly Hillbillies Motif”!!!
We all met in the lobby at 5:45 pm to walk over to “Brasilia” – a highly recommended restaurant which is like a Brazilian Steak House in the UA. We were celebrating David’s birthday. The food was great…especially the salad bar and veggies. The meat was good, too, but I don’t eat a lot of meat. When it was time for dessert, I brought out a rainbow colored cowboy hat for David and the restaurant added a headpiece of pink feathers and a tiara. We brought a special candle and they put it in his dessert. The candle said “Fuck I’m Old”. LOL. I also gave him a pair of “stress boobs”. You’ll have to look at my FB page to see those! I had sent him an Amazon Gift Card earlier in the day. I think he really liked the food and enjoyed his birthday party in Norway!
Back at the hotel to work all night with no internet. Sure hope they get it up and running tomorrow. That won’t stop me from leaving a negative review on Trip Advisor though.
J
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17TH – PERFORMANCE IN TRONDHEIM, NORWAY:
Got up early to get in another jog but the weather forecast said “rain”. I did my stretching and checked outside my window and it seemed pretty “clear” to me. I got about a mile and a half from the hotel and it started raining. But it was a light rain and not “cold” so I finished my 3 miles.
The hotel staff has an entirely different set of excuses today about the Wifi outage. Today it was the fact that the “workers” had cut a fiber cable but only the one that comes to the hotel guest rooms! There is definitely construction outside the hotel but I have not seen anyone working there since we arrived. I finally had “enough” and called the Corporate Offices of “Strawberry” – the chain the hotel belongs too. The person I reached could not believe the excuses the staff was giving. He called the General Manager and she asked me to come down and talk to her.
I went down to talk to her right before sound check. She said she had arranged for me to have an “office” in the venue where I could work. I told her I already have an “office space” there because I’m going over for sound check. And I told her I was NOT going to sit in an empty office from 9 pm until 3 am working on the venue WiFi. I have written this off and have now spent an additional $75 with T-Mobile using my Personal WiFi hotspot.
After jogging and showering, really didn’t have time to do anything other than work as best I could using my T-Mobile Hot Spot. Have no idea what is happening in the world because the TV has no English speaking news channel and I can’t stream without internet.
Sound check started late because the venue had the symphony orchestra rehearsing in the same room we will use. We already had to start the sound check later than we would have liked. But, the guys got it knocked out and still had time to change for the show. I had the venue staff show me the “back” way to take Howard and David into the venue.
There were 3 guys who had driven 27 hours from Sweden to see the Bellamys perform. We brought them in for a quick Meet and Greet right before the show started. Show was great and the audience asked for two encores tonight. The venue bought David a birthday cake and presented it to him on stage.
Most of us put our big suitcases on the bus for Funny to transport overnight. So far I haven’t found anything crucial missing that I sent with him. Going to shut down with tons of emails that still need to be answered. But I have to get up in 4 hours for a 7 am departure to the airport!
Jude
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH – PERFORMANCE IN BODO, NORWAY:
Everyone was in the lobby by 6:30-6:45 to have breakfast before making the 40 minute drive to the Trondheim airport. It wasn’t crowded but once again we had to check in on the kiosk, print our boarding passes and then take it to bag drop, scan our bag tag and check it for the flight. All “self-service”!
Flight left on time and it was another propellor plane on Wideroe Airlines. I hate flying prop planes. We landed on time and our taxi driver was waiting for us. He had a large van with a trailer attached and even with the reduced pieces of luggage, we needed it. Short drive to the hotel. This is definitely not where we stayed last time. We are one street off the main shopping street and right on the water. Beautiful view!!! The front desk clerk was able to find enough rooms that had been cleaned and let us check in as soon as we arrived. I hiked down the shopping mall to grab something for lunch and that “something” turned out to be a “soft ice” ice cream cone.
We walked over to the venue at 12:50 p.m. for sound check. I definitely remember the venue. The audience seating is in a square and has 3 levels. Really beautiful! We had a couple of hours free after sound check and then walked back over for the show. The venue is sold out except for about 60 seats in the very top of the hall. Very enthusiastic audience and another great show.
We came back to the hotel while Funny was loading the truck and then he came by and picked up our suitcases again. Short fight tomorrow from Bodo to Tromso. Can’t believe there’s only 2 shows left until we go home!
Jude
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH – PERFORMANCE IN TROMSO, NORWAY:
Everyone had a quick breakfast before departing at 8 am for the airport. Check in was easy and the flight was on time. This time it is an SAS flight with jet engines instead of the Wideroe turboprops! It was only a 50 minute flight and there were lots of empty seats.
Landed on time, all the bags came and our taxi van was there waiting on us. We have never stayed at this hotel – The Clarion Hotel Edge – and it was packed. We arrived at 11:30 am and there were no rooms ready for check in…not even for David and Howard. We walked to a little Pasta Restaurant near the hotel and had a quick lunch. Howard’s and David’s rooms were ready by the time we got back and they also found rooms for me and Stepanie. We dropped bags and walked to the venue for sound check. We are sold out tonight.
I left the venue early and went to the hotel to get the room keys. I had told the desk clerk to go ahead and pull them and have them ready and of course, she didn’t.
My room was unbearably hot so I walked downstairs and asked for a fan and they told me it was no problem and would send it right up. There’s no phones in any hotel rooms in Norway, so it means a hike to the lobby every time here something is needed. Forty-five minutes later, still no fan. This time I called the front desk this time and they apologized and said it would be sent right up. Thirty minutes later, still no fan. Called again and this time they brought it after about 20 minutes! Then Howard called and said he did not have any towels! He had taken a shower and had to dry off with a pillow case. I called the front desk and this time they said they would send some right away. This time, they actually did!
This is another beautiful town and the hotel is right on the water. We seem to be performing at all the cruise ship destinations.
Jan – the man Lindsey dated for years – is at the show tonight. It was so great to see him and he looks good. Haven’t seen him since before COVID!
Tonight’s show was really great. The audience was so enthusiastic and asked for two encores!
We have a 7:30 am lobby call tomorrow so I am going to “try” and shut down early!
Jude
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH – FINAL PERFORMANCE IN NORWAY AT HARDSTAD:
Lobby call was at 7:30 am to walk across the street to the Ferry. It’s the “hydrofoil” so travels very fast and seems to just hover on top of the water. When we took it last year, Norway was expecting it’s first ever hurricane and once we docked, they closed down the ferry for the rest of the day. Thankfully today was a beautiful day and the ride was really smooth. I actually got a lot of work down on the 3 hour trip.
Our van was there to meet us and drive us about 5 minutes to the other side of the small town. We stayed at this same hotel in 2023 and the venue is connected to the hotel. Very convenient. We arrived at 11:30 am and of course our rooms were not ready for check in. They did have Howard’s and David’s ready which was the important part. Several of us walked down to a local restaurant and had lunch while we waited for our rooms. Sadly, it took until 3 pm for several of the rooms to become available.
Funny was running late arriving at Harsted with the equipment and luggage. Evidently someone unplugged the power to the bus overnight so he was late leaving. Everything worked out and sound check finished before the doors opened.
Reidar from the Lofoten Festival came to see the show and meet with Kjell. It was great to see him again. He said the Bellamy’s show was still great and he really enjoyed seeing them perform.
There was a complimentary dinner at the hotel but not really worth eating – except for the salad and soup. Tonight was another sold out event except for a few seats in the very top balcony. And it was a “lively” crowd! Again, the Bellamys were brought back for two encores. It was definitely the perfect ending to a great tour of Norway.
Tomorrow we fly back to Bergen to spend the night and fly home on Monday. It isn’t possible to fly all the way home from Harstad so we have to stay another night near a major airport.
Jude
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST, 2025 – TRAVEL FROM HARSTAD TO BERGIN, NORWAY:
Had a very quick breakfast with some of the group and we all met at 11:15 for the drive to the nearest tiny airport 40 minutes away. It was raining again and windy – not good flying weather especially in a small aircraft. I’m not sure if it is a prop plane or a small jet but I’m sure it is on Wideroe Airways.
Big bus arrived early and we completely filled the bus bays with luggage and equipment. We had to check in at the counter because of all the equipment but it went quickly with no issues. We had an hour flight from Harstad-Narvik airport to Trondheim. Twenty minute stop in Trondheim to let passergers off and take on more and then another 1 hour flight to Bergen.
It took forever for the luggage to arrive on the belt in Bergen and when it did, everything was soaking wet from obviously being left out in the rain for so long! It stopped raining long enough for us to take the short walk from the terminal to the Clarion Hotel. But it was really windy!
Rooms were ready and we dropped bags and most of us ate in the Hotel Restaurant. Weather is just too nasty to go into Bergen and walk around. I was so looking forward to their Caprese Salad again but they were out of it!
I walked over to the terminal after dinner to see if I could check in everyone for the flights tomorrow. No luck! Not sure why we can’t check in but I’m guessing it’s because our first flight is on KLM and the others are Delta. We fly to Amsterdam and then Minneapolis before reaching Nashville.
Signing off because I have to get up at 5:30 am!
Jude
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND – FLIGHTS HOME:
Little bit late finishing up this road report…..
The airport app suggested arriving 3 hours before flight departure. We arrived 2 hours and 15 minutes before fight time and the counter was closed for check in! There was a lady behind the counter and I was going to ask her if we could check in as a group once the counter opened. But, when I tried, she was so rude that I just gave up. I was thankful we got a different agent once the counter opened…well..at least I was for a few minutes.
The agent checked in me, David and Howard first and as she handed me back mine and David’s boarding pass, I realized she only had us booked to Amsterdam and had tagged our luggage to be picked up in Amsterdam. She insisted our reservation ended in Amsterda. I called my travel agent and she confirmed that she could see the flights Bergen to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Minneapolis and Minneapolis to Nashville. I also called the Delta Global line and they said they could see it as well. We finally had to have Delta reissue mine, Howard’s and David’s flights. Then I had to get one of the guys to go down to baggage claim and bring our bags back upstairs to be “re-tagged” correctly. There was no problem with the musicians/crew flights. By the time we finally got checked in, we had been there one hour and 30 minutes.
Flight from Bergen was delayed leaving but our flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis was delayed as well. Once the landed, the line to go through Passport Control wasn’t very long. However, DeWayne got pulled aside for some reason and had to be “hand-processed” instead of going through the automated line.
The flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis was uneventful as far as any turbulence but the WiFi did not work the entire flight. I spent a lot of time with the flight attendant trying to fix it but never could. Was surprised to learn when we landed that the coach passengers had WiFi all the way.
Flight out of Minneapolis was delayed by about 30 minutes so we landed Nashville about 30 minutes late.
I received a text message today with photos of the Northern Lights which appeared in the last city where we performed. Figures…always happens a few days after I live!
Jude
