WEDNESDAY, JULY 8TH – THURSDAY, JULY 9TH – NASHVILLE TO SANDANE, NORWAY:
My first flight since the horrible accidents! I am very apprehensive about flying but really need to be at this festival. I have Frankie Ballard, Alana Springsteen, Joshua Ray Walker and Alex Miller performing at the Norsk Country Treff this weekend. Alex and his group have never traveled internationally so I want to be with them. They are all really nice guys.
Left for the airport at 7:30 am and met everyone outside at the Delta check-in counter at 8:00 am. My buddy Charles – the skycap – was working today. So great to see him. He took good care of us so no problem checking in. I opted not to have the wheelchair and walked to the gate. They started boarding about 15 minutes early and I was the first one on the plane. I texted the guys and told them to come to the gate and they all made it in plenty of time.
My foot was really hurting about 30 minutes into the flight. I took some Advil and took the brace off and rubbed it with Australian Dream. Also went into the toilet and did 3 sets of 10 squats. I am drinking 8 ounces of water at least once an hour, no caffeine, foot and leg exercises in my seat and wearing compression socks. Hoping to avoid a blood clot.
Flight was uneventful otherwise and we landed on time. Guys went to find something to eat and I went to the Lounge. Again, I opted not to use the wheelchair. Need the exercise before the long flight! Grabbed a salad in the Lounge and started working. We have a long layover here – 5 hours! About two hours before flight time, we got a notice that our flight from JFK to Amsterdam is delayed by 50 minutes. Means we will misconnect for the flight to Bergen. I tried to reach the travel agent but also called the Delta 360 line and they were trying to get us all moved to a later flight out of Amsterdam. It’s actually what I wanted anyway because we were landing Bergen at 11:15 am and the bus to take all the groups to Sandane wasn’t leaving to take us there until 5:00 pm because the last group doesn’t arrive until then! The travel agent was finally able to get my flight changed and I had it reissued and a boarding pass issued easily in the Lounge. The travel agent was able to change all the guys while I was taking care of that but we all had to meet at the gate to get Alex’s group reissued and secure new boarding passes. The gate agents kept trying to make us wait until we arrived Amsterdam and said it was impossible for them to help us. I showed them my new boarding pass and suddenly, they could help us. Still a two hour process though.
We actually departed an hour and 40 minutes late. The pilots finally admitted the delay was caused by a mechanical issue. The airlines never like to admit that because then they are responsible for providing lodge, transportation and meals to everyone who misses their connection. We finally took off and the 8 hour flight was easy except for my aching foot! No turbulence which was really surprising.
When we landed Amsterdam, we had to go through Passport Control but for the first time, they had the kiosks open for people from the USA. Made everything so much quicker. But I kept warning them to stay together until we were all on the other side and clear to walk to the gate. Everyone was in one line and I was waiting for them to all come through but one guy had disappeared. We knew he was behind us in line. Evidently, Security pulled him aside and questioned him. They wouldn’t let me go back inside to stay with him. Took about 10 minutes for them to release him and we still don’t know why it happened.
KLM flight from Amsterdam to Bergen was on time and only 1 hour and 50 minutes. Landed on time to the good news that the bus driver was already at the airport and waiting for us. We were able to load our luggage and go back inside for a “pizza lunch” provided by the festival. I didn’t realize it but Davy – the tour manager for Frankie – was on our flight! When we had to change our original flight, I never noticed that he was on that one. He didn’t realize it either.
Frankie’s group arrived right after ours. So great to see him and his and Alana’s agent Brian again. They really saved the day for the festival. We had 3 headliners cancel this year – two because they got offered to tour with another artist and one who had passport issues at the last minute as in a month prior to the festival. Frankie saved the day on that one. Then, when Norway won the soccer game and got into the Semi-finals, it caused yet another problem. The game is going to be telecast at 11 pm Norway time on Saturday night – just as Frankie was supposed to start performing. We would have lost half the audience ad all the volunteers working the event because of that conflict. Alex agreed to move his show to accommodate and Frankie agreed to so on stage at 1 am (or later) but best of all, the festival got permission to “live stream” the soccer match on the big screens so the thousands and thousands of people can watch from the festival site!
Alana was the last group to arrive and every group got all their checked items – which is always questionable. Another group from the U.S. was riding the bus with us which was fine but meant not everyone got two seats for themselves. I hated making some of the group sit shoulder to shoulder for 5 hours. About 1 ½ hours into the drive, we were at the ferry crossing. A lot of people walked off the bus and when the line started moving for the vehicles to drive on, they were a long way from the bus. We lost our spot in line waiting for them but fortunately they made it before the ferry filled up. Otherwise we would have had to wait another 30 minutes for the next ferry. Everyone went into the little cafeteria and got hot dogs, sandwiches, Lefsa, Waffles and snacks for “dinner”. We had another 3 ½ hours left to drive and we made one more stop as we got near the hotel so they could buy snacks for their rooms.
The hotel had all the keys ready for us and we put the pretty big amount of equipment in their storage room. The Bluegrass Band was outside “rehearing” when we arrived and Alex immediately joined them. He was still out there at midnight “pickin’” with them. And he only got about an hour sleep since his departure from Nashville.
Cor and his wife Joke had already arrived and it was great to see them for a few minutes. Will spend more time with them on Friday and Saturday. Joshua Ray Walker’s group is at another hotel and he and his manager arrived at around 5:30 pm and the hotel had their keys ready. He is using Norwegian musicians to back him and they are all staying at that hotel.
I worked for several hours, the showered and fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow!
Jude
FRIDAY, JULY 10TH – ALANA AND JOSHUA RAY WALKER PERFORMANCE AT NORSK COUNTRY TREFF:
As usual, it was a short night as far as sleep was concerned. I stopped in the restaurant and had some eggs before meeting Alana’s group for the 9:30 am lobby call to go to the venue for sound check. We needed two passenger vans and a cargo van for transport and the Production company was set up and ready for the group when they arrived. I didn’t realize how “challenging” mobility was going to be backstage. But the nice thing is when they renovated the stage after last years festival, instead of stairs up to the stage, it is a wooded ramp. I thanked them for building a handicap ramp just for me. LOL
Sound check went quicker than expected and we were able to leave for the waterfall. It’s fairly steep incline to the path that leads to the waterfall, so I opted to stay in the parking area and take photos from there. We arrived back at the hotel in time to give our vans to Alex’s and Frankie’s groups so they could go see the waterfall. Their drivers also took them to a second waterfall that had an observation deck. I walked across the street to the two grocery stores to buy the usual “goodies” that I take home to friends and family – Lefsa, Marzipan Chocolate Bars, and the little miracle tablets – Curamed – that knock out a cold in one day. I didn’t realize how hard that walk was going to be especially carrying back my purchases. Fortunately I had enough time to put the Castor Oil patches on my foot before leaving for the festival site.
Joshua Ray Walker is performing on the side stage tonight. It is the first time I have met him and his wife – Sheridan –and they are so wonderful. He has been on tour in Europe for more than a week and will be over here for another month. He is just performing acoustically – him and his guitar. He hired a Norwegian band to back him at this event and they were all great musicians. He had a really great show and I got to talk to his wife quite a while before his set. They drive to Bergen tomorrow for a day off and then he performs at a club there on Sunday night. All 3 of my groups will go into Bergen on Sunday afternoon/evening so might stop in and see him…especially Alex!
Alana’s group arrived and she did a quick Meet and Greet with some contest winners. She is so nice to everyone and very accommodating when they ask for a photo with her or an autograph. She had an amazing high energy set and both she and Joshua Ray had huge crowds watching their performances. The festival added 3 more video screens this year and those are awesome.
The hardest part this year and not being able to walk back and forth between the two stages like I could last year. It’s just too risky to walk through the crowd and too treacherous to walk along the side path. But I got some good photos of the side stage from the main stage.
I got to talk to my friends Cor and Joke for a few minutes. Seems our schedules are such that I am leaving just as he is arriving a location. Hope to have some time tomorrow.
We all took the 11:30 pm shuttle bus from the venue back to the hotel. I was so tired I didn’t even attempt answering any emails or writing this Road Report. Just passed out for 4 hours of sleep.
Jude
