Monday, 22 October: Me and a friend of mine (user/PapaDoom) are all set in a hotel in Oslo for 'the concert of the century'. I brought my laptop - we bought some speakers for it - and had it all rigged up in the hotel room to play some songs while sipping to white wine and talking with friends of ours that had taken their time to visit us in Oslo.

After some chit chat and alchohol we walk up to the concert venue, Rockefeller. Probably the best concert venue in Norway. Perfect size, nice sound and well placed; it was the perfect location for 'the concert of the century'. Naturally I was pretty psyched. So was my friend. Last concert we'd been to here in Oslo was Kamelot, which was one heck of an experience for both of us. And now we're back for another huge concert!

We enter the venue and go to the shop - still it's the first warm up band on the stage. We thought we'd pick up the tour shirt, but the sight in the shop surprised us quite a bit. Of course we'd guess they had many different types of shirts, but every single one of them looked so fucking awesome. I guess you can guess what the outcome was, but I can just as well tell you that I bought all 5 of them. 2 long sleeves and 3 t-shirts. Hahaha. Cost me 850 kr - about 145 dollars. ;)

We met up with a random guy there who had come to see Iced Earth as well. He had just bought a shirt, and we told him we were going to go down on the hotel with the merch and he asked if he could tag along. Of course! After unloading our gear and back up at the venue the second warm up band had already come on stage. The random guy was a huge fan of theirs and went straight for the fence, but we rather went to the bar to get some drinks and stayed in the background while they finished up.

The warm ups were done *finally*. We went for the kill and took place at the front at the second line, as the fence was occupied already. Hehe. We were right in the front of the spot of Jon and Tim - perfect. The clock ticked down ... more and more people took place. Suddenly we hear the Overture play, the guys come on stage and they kick off with Something Wicked (Part 1) - a perfect start for a perfect concert.

- About 90 minutes later -
They finish of their last song. They toss out some stuff - picks and sticks. Didn't get Jon's pick, but I got Brent's drum stick! Our shoulders are all fucked up from the hails, taking picture and filming. We're as happy as happy can be, and we meet up with the random fellow on the way out. He says he wants his stuff. Sadly enough for him we're planning on camping out outside the exit to meet the band. Without any choice he joins us (we had his hat as hostage on the hotel room, hahaha. He got it back, of course!)

We wait, and we wait. They load out alotta stuff. We get to talk with this german guy who most possibly was in their tour crew. After a little while he asks us if we wanted to talk to "Bo". Of course we did! "Bo" came up and we took some pictures and started to chat. I must say; what an awesome fellow. Friendly, funny and willing to take half an hour of his time to talk with us before he got called in again.

We wait a little more - people go in and out of the exit. Noone of any interest tho. Suddenly I hear my friend say "Isn't that Tim?" - Tim didn't react to his name, so I go "Uuuh, Tim?" - "Yes?" - "Could we take a picture?" - "Yes, of course." A couple of clicks and hand shakes later Troy steps out. He wasn't able to sneak through us like Tim. Hehe. Same deal with him, we took some pictures, shook hands and he went on his way.

And theeeen there was more waiting. The german fellow we talked to said that Jon was always slow, and always last to exit, and sure he was. They were about to close the venue for the night and Jon steps out. Apperantly Brent was with him and he sneaked past us. I didn't see him, but my friend did. We concentrated more on Mr. Schaffer though. Hehe. We shook hands and took pictures, and we started chatting. We talked about the concert, an incident that had happened during the concert, about the tour, about the music, about the next album and the next tour, about a future music dvd, about a lotta things! We talked for probably half and hour with him as well - if not more - before they started up the band bus and said they were going to leave. So we shook hands once again, said good bye, and thanked him for an awesome concert.

So there we were, some happy fellows walking back to the hotel. All agreed that it was an awesome experience, and me more than anyone was sure that this was the greatest day ever. It didn't really hit me on the way back to the hotel, the next morning or anything - but it all hit me on the train back home. I had seen an Iced Earth concert, met my musical hero of all time and even talked to the guy. Dreams actually do come true some day! :)