Oberhausen die 90iger live Part 2

So while we were waiting it rained and stopped again and rained again. The show was delayed half an hour or more when I suddenly spotted someone on the stage that looked familiar. I first saw the jacked and thought 'could that be Jakob?'. No, that was impossibe, Jenny had said 2 weeks earlier that he had a show the next day in Sweden so it seemed impossible that it was him. But the more I looked at him the more he looked like Jakob.

I asked Stefan and he confirmed what I saw. So I tried to text Anja and the others to tell them the news. But since there was not net I couldn't get the message through. Since I thought the schedule may have changed and Jenny would perform before East 17 I went to the press area just in front of the stage. But it wasn't like that and soon after that East 17 went on stage. I tried to snap some pictures to test the lights and how close I could get.

When East 17 was over a girl came along the stage and said that the press call is in about 5 minutes. Whatever a press call is, I thought. I didn't want to leave my spot knowing that Jenny would be on stage next but on the other hand I was currious what would happen during that press call so I followed the others. We were going backstage and to the stage. I saw the guys from East 17 coming down the stage while all the other photographers were going on stage ... so I simply followed them.

And so I went up on stage and guess my surprise when I arrived upstairs and Jakob was standing right in fron of me with his guitar. He was looking at me, smiled, gave me a big hug and said: "What are you doing up here." I didn't know what I was doing so I told him I have no clue.

I turned around and there was Jenny with her girls. I had the impression that she didn't realize who I was since she didn't expect me there. I wanted to snap a picture and she got her background girls next beside her. She was so concentrated being 5 minutes before the show that she didn't show any reaction. So I went to all the other photographers to the front of the stage. I was overwhelmed, there were 30,000 people just in front of me. What a view It was stunning. I saw my Acer friends right in front of the stage. They were starring at me like: "What the hell are you doig up there?" then they started waving an cheering. It was awesome, Words can't describe it. I made some moves to tell Anja that I just met Jakob and she was smiling big at me when she got my charade.

We had to go off the stage short after on the other side that we had come, going down again. I ran the whole way, when I heard that Jenny was announced and I was in front of the stage just in time.

The show was great as always. I love the energy when Jakob is on stage together with Jenny and the girls. The crowd was awesome too. It was my fave live experience from this year definitely.

After Jenny left the stage I went back to Stefan. we left he crowd and took a seat aside to the VIP area to watch some more of the upcoming acts and to wait for the others to arrive. We tried to send messages where to meet but didn't succeed. While I was on stage I had shown Anja that we were on the other side, so I was hoping they got that they have to come to the other side where we could get Rinad and her friend and go to the radio statio to wait for Jenny.

So we waited and waited and waited some more. Since no one was in sight I had the idea that we could go back to the press area to go to the other side of the stage to see if they were still there. So we did, but no one was left and we went back to our spot and waited another 30 minutes. When still no one showed up we decided to go to the radio station anyway. Micha knew where it is situated so they would find their way. They also knew the time of the meet & greet.

We went to the VIP tent to get Rinat and Hannah but the entrance was restriced. I told one of the security that I had to get my blind friends so he went of and asked someone for permission until he allowed me to go inside and get the girls. I had to look for them but found them some time later. From that spot I had a look at the backstage area and saw Jenny and the other acts giving interviews.

Together with Rinat and Hannah I went back out of the VIP area were we met Stefan and made our way to the radio station. When we were out of the venue we finally had our mobile connection back and the first messages from the others arrived. We told them to come to the radio station and that we have the 2 Girls with us....

So that was the story being the second time on stage together with Jenny ;)

Oberhausen die 90iger live Part 1

It's been a while .... about 4 years to be exact but I was asked to write blogs again, just to keep alive the experience I make while doing all the stuff around the Jenny Source so here I go ... telling my story around the meeting with Jenny in Oberhausen....

We were waiting for this performance for about 1 year ... in the beginning it wasn't clear if this was real ... we asked Jenny several times. It seemed that this wasn't happening but then in the beginning of 2017 we suddenly got the info that this was actually happening. I was happy. Oberhausen has a special place in my heart with good and bad memories, but I was looking forward to going there again...

One of my first real Ace of Base live experience happened there back in 1998 at the The Dome 6 and 7... (after the EMAs 1994, but that doesn't really count). So I booked the hotel and my flights in February and was looking forward to it with all my heart. I would meet a lot of Acer friends again, I would get to listen to Jenny again and if things work out we would do a meet and greet afterwards.

I had written to the press office and they had aggreed that I could be in the front taking pictures for the website if Jenny gave her ok. I got it during our trip to Madrid, so everything was set for this adventure.

Weeks before already I got messages from Acers how excited they were ... around 20 people from different parts of Europe / the world were coming. Friends I haven't met for ages and others I didn't even know. As usual I gathered all the information who is going to come so that we knew how many to expect, to see what location we need to arrange.

On Friday the 4th it was time. I left work around 4 pm and went to the airport. I spent quite a while there since the fligt was delayed. In between I coordinated with Jenny's staff that we would be around 20-23 people, prepared the list and sent it over, updated my pages, read the messages of everyone in the WhatsApp group I had created to spread the info. People where so excited that I was so looking forward to the next day.

Finally I made it into the plane and to Düsseldorf. When I arrived there, my train to Oberhausen was of course long gone, the one which would come next had a delay of 15 minutes. So at the end I arrived in Oberhausen with a big delay. Anja had checked in hours ago, but I was happy to be there.

Next day we had agreed to meet up with the others, have lunch together and then head to the venue, which is very close to a big mall. Rocco from Italy was in our hotel but since it was quite late when I arrived we didn't get to meet him in the evening.

So when I woke up in the morning we had a quick shower and when we wrote in the group chat that we are awake we got to know that Lily and Danny were almost in the city. It was raining, perfect weather for an open air festival.

Suddenly we got the message from Lily and Danny that they could pick us up at the hotel so that we, Rocco and they could go together to the big mall Centro to have breakfast together, the 5 of us. They would be at the hotel in about 5 minutes, so we just got our stuff together and ran down to the lobby. We hadn't seen these 2 in about 3,5 years so guess if this was a nice reunion.

It was raining cats and dogs when we left the hotel and we were hoping the weather will change since there was not much time left until the doors of the festival would open. But first we had a huge breakfast, did some chatting about the past years since we met the last time. After the breakfast Lily, Danny and Rocco explored the mall while Anja and I got back to the Hotel, to get our stuff together and get ready for the festival. Stefan and Micha were so nice to pick us up at the hotel to get us back to the mall.

The plan was to meet everyone at 1pm in the entrance, but since we didn't know all of them that was easier planned than done. When the four of us arrived we saw Rocco, Lily, Danny, Linda, Daisy and her husband already standing there, but we were still waiting for more people, 2 from Belgium, 2 from the Netherlands, 5 more from Germany. Eventually the 2 missing Dutch Acers Corinne and her husband arrived some time later, and Rinat and Hannah were still on their way while 2 from Belgium were lost and didn't show up and the other 3 German were stuck in the traffic jam.

Since time was running out we went to the food court to get some food. This one was crowded so we split up to catch some food. Anja and I went with Micha and Stefan to get something at Starbucks. Just when I wanted to order I got a message from Rinat that they had arrived but couldn't find us. Since Rinat and her girldfriend are blind and had trouble to find us, I went to get them. We found out that the Centro has 3 Starbucks and several information points so while I was trying to find them, they had made their way to the Acer crowd while I was still running from one information point to the other looking for them.

Meanwhile it had stopped raining and we even got some sunbeams, perfect weather for an open air festival.

So after most of us had arrived we decided to go to the venue. In between I had contact with team Jenny to inform them how many we were and that 2 people are blind. I asked them to find a place that is calm so that everyone could get the most out of the meet & greet. Stefan offered that we could use a room in the radio station he is working at and which is only 5 minutes away from the venue. They wanted to check and come back to us, to confirm time and place.

Stefan and I had press tickets we had to part from the others. I had convinced Stefan to stay with me so that I wouldn't have to be there all alone while the others were having fun together. 

When Stefan and I came into that place we realized that we would have the chance to stay with the others until it was time for Jenny then we could easily go into the press area take the pictures and get out again. Also where we were standing on the left of the stage it was still pretty empty and close to the stange as well as close to the VIP tents, which Rinat and her girlfriend had tickets for. Since it was more convinient for them to stay there than in the crowd.

So I tried to send a message to the others. I found out that they were somewhere at the balloons so I left Stefan there and pushed myself through the crowd. When I arrived at the balloons I saw another bunch of balloons close to the right side of the stage and got a message at the same time that they were close to the stage but on the right side, while we were on the opposite. I wasn't able to make my way through the crowd and started to pannic because there were so many people that I decided to go back. It took me quite long but I finally made it and while the festival had started already I found my way back and joined Stefan again.

By that time I also got feedback from team Jenny who wrote that the M&G would happen around 9pm at the radio station. so that was good news.

Short after the festival started I think it was the 2nd act, it started to rain again. I had a poncho, so I wrapped myself in that poncho while the rain got worse. When Mister President went on stage it was raining so bad that I was praying that it would stop until Jenny would climb on stage. We still had some hours to go, so there was hope.

2nd concert this weekend - Terese Fredenwall in Halle

I just returned from Today's concert of Terese Fredenwall, Simon Petrén and Tobias Jonasson at "The Irish Fiddler" in Halle and I'm pretty exhausted. I guess so are the others that were actually working but they are currently on the road again to get to Jüterbog while Anja is already asleep and I'm sitting in the strange bed of the even stranger youth hostel and check the internet and apparently write this posting.

Before we left Leipzig we made some sight seeing until lunch time. The weather was beautiful like the whole weekend already and we made like hundreds of pictures of the very old buildings, were in the Thomaschurch where they were rehearsing for monday's concert. 

After that we went to Halle, which is pretty nice also, but the streets suck I can tell. We did even the sightseeing here today, a lot of other very old buildings followed.

In the evening Terese was playing. She did 3 sets of songs and the place was so crowded that you couldn't move. Anja and I had some exclusive seats and took again hundreds of pictures. Terese played almost all our favorites and a lot more. Also some great cover versions of well known songs.

In the breaks between the sets Anja and I sold her CDs and had a lot of fun promoting her. 

Pictures will come later. But I'm off for bed now, because it's soooo early already ;)

hugs

Terese Fredenwall in Leipzig and a day off

This week was pretty full of dates, monday I was at Roxette's concert in Berlin, which was pretty awesome, Tuesday I was so tired but worked long, Wednesday school and yesterday it was NRW time from 4:25 in the morning to 23:00 in the night. The good thing is that I was off today and will be off on monday as well. 

We went to Leipzig today in the afternoon. Even though I was off from work today it wasn't really my day. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong today, talking about how to get winter tires on my car and not having the right screws, being late almost the whole day (I hadn't even packed my suitcase 2 hours before the trip and was recharging cameras in a hurry), being in the never ending traffic jam that is happening in Berlin every day but especially on Fridays when the whole city is getting somewhere else. So we had a big delay of almost 1 hour when we arrived in Leipzig. The last I had eaten were 2 toast around lunch time so we were starving (I don't even know what Anja had for lunch). We arrived at the hostel 6:15 pm and the concert was to start in about 1:45 hour. We just got changed, prepared the room and off we went. We thought that we would find something to eat on the way there.... but nope. So we went around in Leipzig trying to find something to eat with the HUGE bag packs we have. But nothing. I wasn't able to carry on going or to think. 

So we went to that English Room Terese would play at. When we stepped in the lady at the counter told us in ENGLISH that we could leave our coats in another room and pay afterwords. I was looking at her and thought she thought we must be from abroad having so much stuff with us, while Terese is still pretty unknown here in Germany. So I told her that we do understand German and she was giving me a not understanding look. SO did Anja. When we went into the room where we would leave our jackets she told me if I wouldn't think that there is a connection between the ENGLISH ROOM and English speaking people. I was looking at Anja then, thinking about what she said. In the same moment we started laughing soooooo bad. This coincidence became the running gag of today's evening. 

The concert was cool and so was the location. It was like sitting in someone else's living room. Very familiar and intimate. 

We got to chat with someone from Australia, who was funny and interesting and had some good laughs  with Terese, Simon, Bengt and Tobias. 

Pictures are going to be uploaded very soon I guess. Tomorrow we will have some sight seeing and then we are going to Halle in the afternoon. Tomorrow is the second concert - this time in an Irish Pub - but now I'm prepared, no more German if another nationality is involved in the name of the location ;)

Sleep tight;)

Concert Terese Fredenwall in Oehna (Flugplatz)

Yesterday was the second concert of our little concert weekend. The gig took place in Oehna, in the middle of nowhere in Brandenburg. It was so hidden that even our GPS didn't find it.


When we arrived the band was already rehearsing and we were starving. The original plan was to get something to eat before the arrival. McDonald's was the word, which we didn't find in the nowhere we were :) So the little snackshop next to the hangars was ok, we would have eaten whatever actually.
When we had finished our french fries we didn't have to wait that long before we could enter the location. It was beautiful with all those small airplanes and hangars. I have never been so close to aircrafts on a field lol. Bengt and Simon arrived at the same time as we and Bengt showed us his plane and we talked about it and that it was pretty old. The engine is from the 50's and he is able to fix everything on his own. We looked into his plane and as much as I trust Bengt, I don't think I would ever get into this aircraft...


The concert was supposed to start at 4 p.m. but when only 5 people arrived 3:50 pm I was a bit worried that maybe no one would come to see the concert and this beautiful location. Even a small pre-act was there so I was hoping they would pull some people there since they seemed to be from the surrounding.
But then people came. It were about 50, which was unexpected. The concert started and was as nice as the day before but totally different with this unique location. Terese had asked me the night before if I would do the translation for the audience, so I did it. I rather sucked since I was standing between her and the speaker and didn't hear part of the things she said. I tried lipreading which worked well at the end :)) Anyway I had fun.


When the concert was over we learned that the group was going to Regensburg the same evening. What a ride. We took some pictures from the whole bunch in front of the WOP airplane. While they were still packing their stuff we had to leave to head home.


Thanks again to Terese Fredenwall, Simon Petrén, Elin Sydhage, Emil Sydhage, Marcus Johansson and Tobias Jonasson for those incredible memories and the great music. We already made plans to visit their next concerts in Leipzig and Halle at the end of October. Looking forward.

day 7 - Sunday - time for more music in Tranemo & a Deja Vu

Sunday was relaxing again ... can't remember when I was relaxing so much the last time. We went to Tranemo this day since Terese Fredenwall and Simon Petrén were playing there. Again we had to drive through Borås and reached Tranemo after a 1,5 hours drive.

We did a walk through the city, which is rather small. The first service started at 3 p.m. so we went to that Church in the middle of nowhere. The Church was really pretty inside with a lot of sculptures and colours. Very beautiful.

Anja and I were sitting on a bench when Terese and Simon arrived. Now that was a surprise for them as Terese told me immediately. They went inside the Church and so did we. The Service started short after.

Terese started her program with one of my favorite songs from her album "Närmare Mig" called Daniels sång. She told that this was about a boy who didn't have a father since his first father didn't want to see him and his second father didn't want to adopt him. At the end he realized that he had a father in God. You could see that Terese was still touched by this memory when she told the audience about it.

When the service was over we went to the big Church in the centre of Tranemo since there was another service with them at 5 p.m. When we had taken our seats, Terese and Simon were already rehearsing, a woman walked up to me and asked me if I was singing too. I told her I wasn't ... did wonder a bit what that was all about but it wasn't the first time I got that question in Sweden, so I didn't really think about that anymore.

Also this service was very nice with a lot of good music. They even sang a song which I sang years ago in Church and had totally forgotten about. Isn't it always strange when I hear a certain song and although you have forgotten about it you can still remember the lyrics and the melody? That's music, you just gotta love that ;)

After the service we packed our mini studios together. People were going to Terese and Simon to wish them well, another women walked up to me, looking at me, saying. "Is it you that is Jenny?" I must have looked like a cow when the thunderstorm comes - as we say in German lol - I was like: "No, I'm Jessica."

"Oh, she said I thought you were Jenny, but you are a part of the Petrén family?" - I told her being a friend...

Now that was weird. Anja was just laughing saying, now you know why they wanted you to sing.

Anyway we gathered with Terese and Simon and had some nice chat before we were heading home again...

day 4 my birthday and a concert in Fristad

I went running again and ended up at Stigbergs torget this time. It's interesting to discover a city while running and exhausting. When I was back home Anja was awake already singing Happy Birthday for me. We were relaxing in Slottskogen's park, walking through Linnéstan. In the afternoon we went to Fristad.

The concert wouldn't start before 8 p.m. so we had enough time for some ice cream and to discover the surrounding. We had just checked around the Church and found some nice place to sit when we heard 2 motorcycles. While the first one was passing us I said to Anja that it would be fun if that were the guys... the 2nd one passing us and waving. In that moment I realized that the first motorcyclist had a violin on his back. They were turning around at the end of the street and driving towards us. Jakob lifted his helmet and said "See you inside!". Both were driving back to the Church then.

Anja and I enjoyed the sun a little more. Soon we got ready to go back to the car. The guys had parked their motorcycles in front of the Church and it looked awesome when we passed that place.

We got ready in the car, grabbed our stuff and went inside the Church. Jakob and Greger were rehearsing around the organ and we took our seats. We were checking the lights and the angles while Jakob and Greger came downstairs t rehearse on the piano as well. We learned that one of the strings was just broken and Greger had just renewed it so they needed some extra practice...

The concert was great. Nice instrumental songs incl. one I knew from the Aurum Trio album, then my all time favorite "Var morgon ny" (also from this album), some baptism and confirmation song that Greger had written for his Godson and one that Jakob had written for his. And so much more which I don't remember right now.

After the concert was over Jakob came over and told us that this was the first concert with this program and about his future plans with music. Someone told us then that we had to leave the Church. So Anja and I went outside while Jakob and Greger changed clothes for their way back on the motorcycles. So while they were packing their machines we got to chat a little bit more.

We said our goodbyes and got a hug from both each and drove back.

When we had passed Borås suddenly someone was driving behind us. The light was so intense and we saw that it was Jakob on his motorcycle. He passed us after some seconds and drove into the night...

"And I..." Part II

The single of "And I" is now available as a download on www.bigbenexclusive.com !

Nightmove - The Album

It's finally there the 4th studio album from Big Ben is available now. Soundsclips can be listened to on www.bigbenexclusive.com in the Nightmove section. There you can also purchase the album :)))

She did great ... but she didn't make it

Jenny Berggren was participating in the Danish pre-finals for the ESC in Düsseldorf with the smash hit "Let Your Heart Be Mine" a very cool and very ESC song, that is getting right into the brain. I had just listened to the song one time before, since I had to be informed what was going on lol. I didn't have had time though last week to get deeper into this song unfortunately nr to upload it in my iPod but I didn't have to since it was stuck in my head from this one time listening. No doubt that Jenny has a great taste ... music, husband, friends lol ... aaaanyway.

I had rehearsals yesterday so I didn't have had the time to follow the show. Too bad, but on my way home in the middle of the night I was checking the results. I was down when I read that Jenny did a great performance but wasn't chosen as the winner. Somehow I was sure she was gonna make it to the finals. So I won't go to Düsseldorf with Anja May 14th instead of that we will take part in the Avon women run against breast cancer. Another great opportunity to spend the day, eventhough I would have loved to see Jenny in the ESC :(

It's been a while...

again :) I know I had so many ambitions to keep this blog alive, but I just have not enough time. A lot has happened that would be worth writing about, but time just seems to get by faster and faster every day. I for example passed my driving test, which means I'm able to finally drive cars. Now that's good news, huh? lol still I'm not able to drive rented cars for another year, so Anja is still on her own driving through Sweden with me, which is actually where we are now.

We went to Stockholm yesterday for a concert of Jenny Berggren... again. It was great. Well you didn't really expect me to write something different, did you? Anyway, she was doing a performance with Terese Fredenwall and Simon Petrén at Enebykyrkan, somewhere in the outskirts of Stockholm. This place must be brand new, since our GPS didn't find it. So we ended up driving around for a long time again to find the church. But in the end we arrived. We had just hung our coats when we saw Jenny waiting outside in the cold, since the door was locked. We let her in and she wasn't really surprised seeing us being there long before time. We went in with her talked about how we had been, received a warm hug from her and Terese. Then they had to prepare themselves and do the soundcheck, so we also found a seat in the front row and got our equipment prepared.

The concert/lecture started at 7 p.m. and was simply great as usual. Perfect to just sit there and forget about your everyday life which is waiting for us back in Germany filled with stress and huge amounts of work. The setlist was as follows:

Moonshadow

Let My People Go

No More Nights

Give Me The Faith

Ravine

Encore by Terese:

To You

I will continue the list as soon I can think of more.

The people were very eager to listen to the presentation of the book and didn't really want her to stop talking :)

When everything was over, Jenny and Terese sold her albums and the new paperback book, while we ran around, taking pictures and also having a snack which they offered. We accompanied Louiza and her friend who were there as well. Short after that Jenny joined us sitting around the table. She asked us about the great news that she is going to Denmark to perform at the ESC election there and we agreed that this was great news. So we chatted a bit about that and also about the upcoming concert in Russia next week. We agreed that the competition in Denmark would be a great boost for her album and even book but that she has to see how it works.

Even though she said in the beginning that she had to leave very soon we spent quite a long time with her and even Terese. We went home 10:30 p.m. after a long exciting day :)

Breakfast with the homeless ... or if you travel a lot, you travel a lot

This week I have 2 days off to meet up with a friend called Terese and one to finally do the driving theory exam .... step one of finally getting my dl. But today was the fun day.

I got up at 8:00 am since I had to be at Berlin's Gedächtniskirche at 10.00 am. I read that Terese and her friend Bengt (a man who is raising money for streetkids) are going to perform at the foyer of the Church. I have to admit that I have never been to this Church before. As being one of the sights of Berlin I passed it maybe a million times but I never went inside.

So I arrived half an hour too early. I had just recovered from last weeks cold, which kept me in bed the whole weekend and made me feel terrible the first 2 days of the week I went to work. The day was grey with a lot of rain. When I entered the Church and what I thought was the foyer I got a stone and a program. I asked the priest if he knew if Terese and her friend had arrived, but I didn't know anything about her. I asked someone else about the foyer and this man sent me around the Church where some breakfast was supposed to take place. So I went around the Church and asked another man about Terese but he told me he didn't know about this and there would only a breakfast take place.

I went back to the original Church again ... in between I doubted if I had come right .... is it possible that they have 2 Gedächtniskirchen in Berlin? You never know. I tried to reach Terese, but no chance. As if someone was touching me I went around the Church again and finally saw what I was looking for without knowing - a car with a Swedish sign. So I had come right! Yeah!

I had to wait some more time. People arrived and I realised that all of them were either homeless or very poor. I read that the breakfast was only 0,50 €. And I seemed to be the youngest one. They all seemed to know each other. Some where chatting very loud, some seemed to be uncomfortable that they have to go there to get food.

At 10.00 the gates were opened. I paid for the breakfast and followed downstairs. When I came into the small room filled with people Terese jumped off her chair to welcome me. I was presented to Bengt Fiske, who hasn't only lived with streetkids and punks in the streets of Berlin but also helped them a lot - he even wrote a book about that and Terese's boyfriend Markus. Terese told me that she was happy that there was finally someone else who she could talk to since the older people in Germany don't speak that much English and no one speaks Swedish. Markus had learned German in just one day. It was really funny. I was translating and talking and having so much fun.

Since I had eaten at home - I didn't know that this would become a breakfast I gave my food to the man sitting next to me and he thankfully ate even my portion of cheese, meat and egg. When the breakfast noises were almost over Bengt told the people what he had been up to since he was there the last time. He presented Terese, who sang the first song, which was U2s "One Love"...



Terese sang another 2 songs, one of them is her current single "To You" which you can download for free from her website www.teresefredenwall.com



Also Terese's boyfriend Markus who is studying theologie and spent some time in Africa helping African children contrubuted a hearwarming story about one of the kids in Africa.

After the breakfast was over we went into the actual Church since their car had to be released from cars parking in front of them. We had a look at the new and the old Church. Terese and I were chatting about candy and chocolate she has to taste while in Germany and we found out that we both and equal crazy about sweets.

All 3 told me that they haven't done any sightseeing yet so we went together to Alexanderplats to check this place out. We passed Potsdamer Platz and all the big houses. After lunch at the Alexa Bengt had to leave to go back to the hotel. So the rest of us took a tour through the mall. Afterwards we went outside having a look at the old buildings.

I had a great and interesting day, never though that much about my mothertongue ;) it was a pleasure experiencing Berlin with you guys, big thanks to Terese and her friends :)

busy day for Jenny while we had fun

And there was my problem again .... smalltalk ... it was so calm in that cab that you could hear every single noise. Sara did seem not to know what to say either ... and I had still no clue. Jenny was humming ... singing along with Alicia Keys. While I tried to get a clue of where we came from and where we are going. Jenny apologized again for the fact that she had so much to do that she simply had forgotten to tell people to let us see the recording. She told us about the interviews she is gonna do.

Then finally Sara was back. She asked about Jenny's restaurant recommendations, about places in general she could recommend and so we ended up in a guided Stockholm tour with Jenny. She suggested that we could take a look at the city while she was being interviewed.

Then we arrived. We got off the cab. Jenny said something like which floor she was on and in which building. She said that she has to arrange to get us there. She repeated the floor and the building and while she was going to the entrance she said .... "or you just follow me up". So we did. When we came in we saw an old elevator, which looked tiny from the outside. So I thought that we won't fit in all. So I said I'm gonna take the stairs since I'm living on the 7th floor and used to walk those just for fun after long days sitting at the office. When I was running upstairs I realized that someone was behind me .... it took me sort of 1 floor to really get that also Sara and Anja were taking the stairs. But in that moment I arrived already ... just in time to open the elevator for Jenny with her suitcase.

The office we went to looked like a normal apartment from the outside but behind those doors was a huge office. We were led directly into something like a break room with a kitchen, behind that was sort of a conference room where 2 journalists were already impatiently waiting. So Jenny got in there quick.

The interview lasted about 30 minutes. I felt myself like a small child who came with her mom to the job .... I was wondering were my painting book and my crayons were while Sara and Anja were reading papers. I watched the interview .... well I couldn't hear anything but it was still interesting to see the expressions of the faces and Jenny moving ... showing something with her hands etc. While we were waiting some more journalists came along .... the ones for the next interview. They had to wait outside. After quite some time Jenny and the 2 journalists from the current interview came out to go out with her to take pictures. I have no idea how long it took. It felt like 15 minutes but it can also have been 5 only...

Then Jenny came back. She asked us if we wanted to drink something and started to prepare a coffee. I told her I would love to have a coffee. She tried to get the machine work, when one of her advisor women came with the next interviewer. Jenny went out for the next photo session while that woman continued the coffee which ended up at the journalist who was waiting at the other table.

Jenny showed up right after that. This time we could really follow the interview. At least the 2 of us who know Swedish :) It was really interesting. But Jenny did well I think ... now we just have to wait and see what they make out of it since the critics are not too good so far. But it seems to be some kind of sports to write negative about anything that has to do with Ace of Base.

The interview lasted another 30 minutes and when it was done Jenny grabbed a chair and took a seat between Anja and me. Along with herself she brought a huge sandwich and a kiwi fruit. She said that it is impossible for her to eat it all on her own and asked if we were hungry. Since I just had eaten breakfast I realized in that moment how hungry I actually was. And so were the others. Even if we weren't we really hadn't much of a choice. Because suddenly Jenny was standing with a huge knife next to me .... no one would have dared to disagree.

And suddenly again I had that song in my head .... it was humming "Let us break bread together on our knees .... let us break bread together on our knees ... when I fall down on my knees with my face to the rising sun .... oh Lord have mercy on me". I told Jenny that I had to think of that already the last time they were sharing their sandwiches with us in Götene.

So we ate our food and were talking about all and nothing. I love sitting there and talking relaxed. I told Jenny that besides the fact I gotta work on Monday again that I joined a Church choir some months back and that we are gonna perform a musical with another choir and stuff like that. When we had finished our eating we did a videoclip for Sara's blog and Jenny showed us a game with toothpicks that she was actually playing with Savage Garden once. So we had our fun until Jenny had to do another interview for a radio channel.

When she had finished that she came out of the room again and told us that the office was about to close and that we had to leave. We were standing in front of the elevator which still was so tiny from the outside and Jenny jumped in. Sara took the stairs and then I realized that Anja was already in the elevator. I took a look inside and it was huge. So even I with my big back pack would fit in. Anja was responsible for the buttons this time .... but she failed and so we ended up on the wrong floor again, meeting Sara on her way downstairs.

Jenny was about to wait for the car that was gonna pick her up. When we said good bye she was excusing again for the mess at Expressen. I asked her where it is possible to buy the album when she pulled out 3 copies and gave them to us. That made us very happy. Another hug from her and we were on our way back to our hostel.

On the way back Anja checked the booklet for pictures and found surprisingly our names on the thank list. That is the best thing Jenny could ever do to us. She is great we love her and her craziness that can cheer one up, even if life hurts :)

btw. our car was still there and we didn't get a parking fine so good ending of this day at least :)

Jenny Berggren - Gotta Go - New Single

Jenny Berggren released her next single this week. You have the possibility to download this awesome track on iTunes :)

day 13 - service at Gullbrannagården

weather: sunny and a bit cloudy; +20°C

location: Gullbrannagården, near Halmstad

feeling: sad, since this great time is about to end

Since I have had coffee in the late evening I wasn't able to get asleep, when we were back in our room. I had no book with me so I took one of the books I had bought from Jenny and started to read a bit in it ... I was looking for my fave parts ..

. read them ... scanned the whole book basically. I was looking for the parts that would mirror my sadness, my sort of lost feeling I had. I felt strange ... not sure if it was because of the fact that the coming day the last occasion would be, if it was another thing I kept thinki

ng about. I just felt strange. I stopped reading at 2:30 am I think, since I wanted to get A more chance to rest. So I was laying there ... thought about everything that just jumped into my mind. And that was a lot. I checked the clock again, went to the bathroom, tried to sleep, checked the clock again as if I was waiting for the net day to arrive.

The last time I checked the clock it was 3:30 am and then I somehow was falling asleep. I dreamt some stupid things and woke up again. I was awake, this is useless, I thought so I got up at 6:10 am. A was still asleep, of course, since that is

what people should do at that time during their vacations, right? I got dressed and left the room. I was walking around on the site, discovered the rest o

f the territory in the early hours. There was a rabbit hopping along my way, it was so cute so I followed him.

A tiny frog on my way to the beach :)

The beach in the early morning hours!

When I was done with the site I decided to go to the beach. The sun was about to finally shine when I arrived there and it was just beautiful. Like a small piece of heaven. I was the only one there - of course - and I was just going there thinking. People tell me I think too much though ... but how can you stop that lol.

Anyway when I came back from my trip - I had taken so many nice pictures - I got to wake A up. We went to have breakfast, when that was done we had to get our stuff together to return the room. We had no clue that we were having that much with us. I was looking for the additional people who were hidden somewhere since all those bags and stuff could all belong to us. But it did.

Since there was a burglary on the site a day before and a lot of technical stuff got stolen we had to take our equipment with us the whole day. We went back to the beach and walked a bit, but when it got to heavy we had to go to the site again. And because it was lunch time, this was the perfect moment anyway.

Nice pic from a castle made of sand :)

We stayed there the whole day basically, since the bags were just too heavy. Half an hour before the service we went to the location. We got unpacked again, the same questions as every time - "Are you from the press?" - My answer: "We we are recording for Jenny's site - The Jenny Source." Then you either get a "Ok, I just had to ask." or a "Well that's a good one." lol It's really amazing how many people actually know that site when they research about her :)

Jenny and Jakob came along smiling kindly as always. They did a fast funny soundcheck and we were laughing so much, since they were improvising just singing what came into their mind.

The service was opened with "Aldrig Ensam". I just love that song, it's so deep and full of meaning :) It was a great service and very moving. Jenny and Jakob played some of the old songs, they haven't performed for a long time (at least not when we were around).

The tracklist:

Aldrig Ensam

Tvivel

Look At The Cross

Välsignelsen

and some Swedish psalms, which were really nice esp. when the whole Church sang

A funny occasion was when the sacrament was done the Church sang "Let Us Break Bread Together" but in Swedish. I had to laugh because I had thins song in my head since we had sandwiches with Jenny & Co. in the dressing room after the concert in Götene. Since they just had 6 sandwiches and we were 7 A and I had to break ours and in that very moment the song was in my head. I haven't sung it for more than 10 years, so this felt magic in that very moment.

After the service Jenny was signing books and Jakob came to us. We talked about his current job in Karlstad and that we really want to see that. He said that it is in Swedish and therefore hard to understand for A. "But on the other hand I'm playing an old man that had swallowed a sword and crossed my vocal chords, so you will understand as much as the Swedish audience." Jakob is a really nice guy I have to tell you. He is so warm and openminded and soooo funny. He told us that the e-piano he played on sucked and that he was fighting so hard. I told him, we could see that. He was laughing and said: "I hope you could only see it in my eyes." I told him "No, in your whole face." He made a funny face and said: "I hope Jenny won't get to know."

We got our stuff together and went to the back where Jenny was still signing books. When she was finished she was talking with us a bit. The woman who was leading the women's night and also part of the service asked her for a picture for her blog, so we said, that we would also love to have pictures. The woman took some of Jenny and Jakob, then Jenny came and said to me, wanna have one with me or also with the Hooligan, since Jakob has very short her now due to the wig he has to have in his show. I told her that I want also the Hooligan to be on that pic. I haven't seen the pictures so far. A got also some of course and then also the woman wanted to have one of them, so I took also pictures of the 3 together.

Jenny told us that she has to get all the stuff together, since they have a long way home and they want to leave asap. She thanked us for being with them. We told her it was our pleasure and we really experienced more that we had ever imagined and that we are looking forward to the next time. I wanted to say so much more, but due to the fact that I had only 2,5 hours of sleep I just wasn't able to lol. We got another warm hug from Jenny and Jakob and went back to our car.

Late in the night we arrived in Gothenburg, where it was raining so bad.

So that was our summer tour with Jenny :) Hope you enjoyed my thoughts and captions around this.

Hugs

/J.

day 12 - next lecture in Gullbrannagården

weather: beautiful +21 °C and sun

location: west-coast from Gothenburg to Halmstad

feeling: stray :P

Back on the road and off to Gullbrannagården, where another lecture . women's night, would be this evening. The weather

was beautiful. Before we got on the road we stopped in the city center of Gothenburg to buy the "Here I Am" sin

gle. Jenny said that it should be available at the central station. The first obstacle was the parking fee we needed to pay, since we both were out of coins. I went to the first store and they actually wanted to have money from me if they exchange the money ... no way! I finally found a supermarket and got coins there.

Anyway, it was impossible for us to find that single so we got back in the car and drove down to that beautiful place I'm right now. This seems to be paradise lol: really nice nature, a beautiful beach (in

fact the first long sand beach I ever experienced in Sweden) and very nice people.

Image from the beautiful beach.

After we checked in we conquered our room and got prepared, we had still a lot of time ahead. So first thing we did was searching the beach and having a look at the whole place. This was just beautiful. Then we

decided to lay on the grass and take it easy. We had to relax since the trip the day before was still in our bones somehow :)

In the late afternoon we were starving and got a Pizza in the café that is on the site. We were just waiting for the food when Jenny and Jakob walked along waving at us. When the pizza was ready and I got it Jakob was passing me and told me it looks delicious. And it really was. We enjoyed our meal and went to the small shop afterwards to get something to drink. When we came back Jenny walked up to us with a cup of coffee and asked us if we wanna join. So we did. Suddenly Jenny was laying her phone in front of us and said: "Would you do me a favor and write something on my FaceBook?". A wasn't really sure what to write ... so it was my turn and I just wrote what I felt in this very moment:

"Spending a fantastic time with jenny at a beautiful place called gullbrannagården in southern Sweden. feeling blessed to collect so many great memories. Jessi & Anja"

After that was done we went outside since Jakob was doing the soundcheck of his equipment. We got to sit in the grass and told Jenny that we couldn't find the single anywhere etc. Then Jenny had to do her soundcheck and we got in our room again to change and grab all our stuff.

Me, waiting for the lecture to start.

had to wait another hour, but then it was finally time to go to the entrance. We didn't expect that so many women would come and also standing in line half an hour before the lecture. So we took our place in the line. We were waiting some time and then we saw Jenny walking to the end of the line. She was talking to some people, presenting herself. Then she came along that line. She smiled when she saw us with our equipment. "Are those heavy?", she asked pointing at A.'s backpack. Before we really could answer she tried to lift it and then she lifted mine. She said we should follow her to bring in inside and to pick a seat .... so we did.

We arranged our equipment and while we did that all the other women came inside. We had some salad and then it was finally Jenny's turn. She started with "Bridge Over Troubled Water" again then she talked about her book. I don't remember if I already wrote that in another blog, but I love that Jenny is giving new details in every lecture .... e.g. sometimes she is just naming a song ... another time singing it. She gives also more information about several things in the book etc. So at the end I saw so many lectures already and I still learn something new every time :)

Of course she did great and we all gave her a big applaud at the end, when she and Jakob ended the lecture with "Give Me The Faith". After that it was signing session again. I got 2 books for 2 fans who wanted to have them and Jenny signed them. When she was done with the signing she came over to us. All guests had been gone by that time. We talked a bit about several things and then I gave Jenny 2 presents her fans had sent to me. One was just written in an Email with a short note for me in the beginning so she was laughing a lot while reading that in German.

After that she chose the Remix-Contest-Winner, for the contest we were running on The Jenny Source the past weeks ... more about that when we are back.

Anyway it was around 1 am when we got out of the building and we all needed some sleep :)

day 8 - having a blast :) part 2 - Götene Adventure Park

weather: rain and sun; +22°C

location: Götene

feeling: happy and lucky

We were wondering how Jenny would make it to the lecture in time since we were arriving quite late for that lecture and Jenny needed to go home first. We went into the park and it was a real adventure land. I told A that I would love to try all those things, they had pirate boats and boats on the water, floats, jumping pillows every thing you would imagine on an adventure playground. Too bad I'm too old for that I thought.

We were walking around in that park, looking for the little stage. We were not sure if we had come right or if we hadn't mixed up something, since Jenny was not in sight, another band was on that little stage and this didn't seem the right place for a lecture. I was asking for a sign if we had come right and in that minute they made the announcement that Jenny would start half an hour later on that little stage. So we went there to get some seats and getting our equipment prepared.

This lecture was quite short compared to the others we had been to and Jenny was accompanied by the soundcheck of her band in the back, which was funny.

After the lecture we went to the arena they had where the big stage was arranged. We watched the soundcheck and had a little talk with Staffan and Terese afterwards until they had to get ready for their concert.

The sky was getting cloudy by the time the band which was playing before Jenny & Co. had their performance. But then it was time and Jenny and her Band (Staffan Birgersson, Terese Fredenwall & Simon Petrén) entered the stage. It was a nice feeling being on that event. Even if it started raining and I was sitting there with an umbrella to cover the cameras and a rain jacket some part of the show we were very much enjoying ourselves.

By that time I had forgotten all I was thinking of the whole day since Jenny gave me that riddle :) When she suddenly was looking at me. She said that there was a woman in the audience sitting in the front row, who just filled 30-years this week and that she want me to stand up. She was laughing. So I stood up. She said I should come in front of the stage and on stage. My brain stopped thinking at that time. I just realized that she was introducing our website and then I was somehow on stage. She said that everyone had to sing "Happy Birthday" for me so the audience had to, she even made them stand up all-together. When they were finished (I'm not sure if it was by that time or if she said that or before they sang "Happy Birthday" she said that the next song is "Bless The Broken Road" and that I was supposed to sing it with them. I told her I would, which was more a simple "Ja!" or something in between a "Ja!" and a noise lol

Terese was also smiling big at me and said welcome to the band lol. I was laughing, this was the most amazing thing I had ever done. So we did that song, the only song I didn't know by heart - ain't that funny?! When we were done Jenny came over to me whispering to me "that was good, wanna stay here for "Here I Am" as well". And I was like "sure". So "Here I Am" was being played and it was so cool. I have no idea how Jenny guessed one of my inner dreams :) I guess she is just gifted :)

The tracklist was basically (not in the right order for sure)

Jesus Take The Wheel

The Sky Proclaims Your Glory

Ravine

Beautiful Life

Lucky Love

Bless The Broken Road

Säg Bara Mor

Moonshadow

encore: No More Nights

I will have to think if I missed something.

When the concert was over we were waiting for the others, Jenny was signing books and the band was packing their stuff together. Terese came down and we talked a bit about how I liked being on stage with them, Staffan joined us too and we were talking a bit. I had asked Terese to bring her album for us, since this is so beautiful and of course we wanted a copy. So she went off to get it for us. When Jenny had finished her signing she was going backstage when she suddenly turned around looking at me. Then she was coming over to us giving me a big hug telling me that it sounded good. We were talking about how we liked the show and how I experienced my being part of it. She said if we caught that on camera and I told her that my camera must have gone off while I was on stage. She said: "Oh no, I will ask Simon to get a copy for you from the footage they shot." So Simon had to go there and ask for a tape. Jenny asked if we were hungry and that she had sandwiches so we should follow her. We ended up in their dressing room having sandwiches and cakes, laughing and talking about all and everything. Also Jenny's sister in law Johanna was there, a very nice girl, as nice as the others.

The boys discovered a stage in the back of that room, which was the little stage from the afternoon where Jenny was holding her lecture while we were still sitting there talking we could hear them making some noise. Terese and Johanna followed. After 10 minutes Johanna came in and said: "Wanna come and play? We have the whole park for us." We 3 were jumping up, of course we wanted. So A. and I were running outside, searching for the others. I realized that I had a white jacked that I better took off so I went back to leave it. When I came back to the playground the others were already on the adventure trip of the pirate ships, which was something like an obstacle run :) When we had finished Jenny suddenly came running out of the building to join us. We went into another funny "building" with a lot of holes ... something like a labyrinth, which is esp. funny when you are grown up and hit your head or your back all the time and when it's dark outside. After that we tried the floats, Terese, Johanna and I against A. and Simon. Each of us won one time. Then it was Jenny against Staffan... Guess who won.

When that was done we tried the boats. I've never rowed before, so this was really an adventure for A. and I was just laughing so bad. In the end we tried this huge jumping pillow and were having so mach fun. We were jumping altogether like crazy, got kicked off one by one, landed in the sand, laughed, got on again.

Totally exhausted we were getting inside again to pack our stuff and get out of the park. Jenny and her staff had to take another way out, since they had their car inside the park. Jenny hugged us again and told us what a great day she had.

When we arrived at the access it was closed. We had to go back until we found a guy who said that he didn't have keys but he knows another one if we would follow him. So we did. Meanwhile I was thinking that this was against everything I would normally do ... go not with strangers in the dark through en empty territory lol was in my mind all the time. But when we had gone quite a while talking about the show we met a woman that knew how to open the access for us again. So we went back again. But it showed that she didn't have the right code, so she got the alarm activated .... I thought we would be trapped there forever.

But at the end we got out. It was 11 pm by that time and we were happy to sit in the car again on our way home.

I had such a great day .... words can't describe

Hugs

/J.

day 8 - having a blast :) part 1 - lecture with Jenny in the morning

weather: rain and sun; +19°C

location: Donsö

feeling: happy and lucky

Yesterday we had a long awesome day. We got up at 6:00 am since we had to catch a ferry boat to Donsö at 8:00 am already to see Jenny holding a lecture on that little island. Shortly after we arrived, also Jenny arrived waving at us, while parking the car. She was taking the same ferry, since there are just going once an hour. While waiting we talked about how we have been, how it is to drive manual lol and that we all didn't have a long night to get some rest. On the ferry boat Jenny had to prepare for that lecture, so we were sitting for ourselves. I have to add that I love going by boat. I love everything that is connected with water :)

Arriving at Donsö Jenny was collected by an employer of the Church so we just followed her through that island. At Church we still had a lot of time left until the lecture would start. Around 10 am a lot of people came, since the lecture was part of a big event going on for 3 days I think. The whole island seemed to be in that place this morning. So we were having breakfast. When I went to the buffet a woman before me turned around and said: "Oh I haven't met you yet". I replyed: "Well, I'm here with Jenny." She looked at me and said: "Are you a friend or family. It's nice that she brought people." I said we were friends. She gave me a big smile and said: "I thought you were family, you look very similar." I smiled friendly back thinking in my head, oh not that again lol.

Anway. The lecture was so much fun and will be up on www.jennyberggren.net / The Jenny Source asap. I find it interesting that Jenny is still always telling something new, although I can't count how many times I saw her lectures already. She was playing role games again with some people from the audience and we all very laughing so bad.

When the lecture was over a lot of people walked up to her and thanked her for coming and presenting her book. I'm convinced that every family at least will buy it.

We caught the ferry at 12:50 pm. The man who led us to the Church asked if we would find the way. We said we would. Jenny was smiling and said: "Yes my little doves will find the way back." What I didn't know at this point is that there is one street getting in circles, so in the end it was Jenny who brought the 3 of us back to the boat in time :) There we were talking about my b-day and how happy I was to not have had a party. Jenny said that she had planned something for my b-day to make it special, but that she didn't have had time for that.

When we got off the ferry, Jenny asked if we were prepared for this evening. I told her "I guess so." She was smiling her little secret smile and said: "I think you aren't". All I could think was, what is that supposed to mean lol, making a funny face. She was laughing.

On the way back to our cars she asked me what songs I know that she is performing. I started to name the ones that popped into my mind. I didn't come this long and asked A for help. She was smiling her secret smile again and said: "What about 'Bless The Broken Road'? You know that song." I told her that I knew that song but not that much since I haven't listened to it that many times so far. Then she said: "What about 'Give Me The Faith'?" I replied yes GMTF I know lol. Then I asked her she was asking. "You will see", she said.

By that time we had arrived at our cars. Before Jenny was getting into hers she said: "Have a look at the lyrics" singing that line to me. I was again looking at her like she was one of the 7 wonders of the world, thinking that we are going directly to Götene how should I have a chance to have a look on those lyrics and what for... Again Jenny gave me a big smile and drove away :)

I went to our car where A was and said to her: "What did you tell Jenny?". A didn't get a thing. lol I told her the whole situation. When I stopped we both were like: "No, she wouldn't do that ... Well, this is impossible .... No ... Well ... hahaaaa".

And so we went up to Götene for Jenny's next lecture and the concert in the evening :)

Jenny Berggren - Here I Am - The Video

It's in the middle of the night ... 2am to be exact and I just wanted to let you know that I love the new video of Jenny Berggren :) I just returned form a day trip in Hamburg and on the way back I got an email from A. that the video is online. What else should happen when I am one day off and no internet in sight?

Anyway, lay back and watch the video of Here I Am :)

Here I Am video

Hugs

/J.

The Winner Takes It All ...

Yesterday evening we went to a live karaoke party near my home. The theme was "Baby one more time" which means Pop music :) They played mostly music from the late 80s and 90s and it was great. The first ones were Mary, Anja and I - we sang Gimme, Gimme, Gimme by ABBA. We had a blast, singing with a live band is so much fun. Ben sang "The Great Commandment" and Matt and I tried the choreo on that one since we had performed the song live in our own Big Ben program 2 years ago. Other than that we sang "This Is The Life" by Amy McDonald and "I Will Survive"... Pretty interesting huhu ? :)

The funniest thing was that we actually won the 1st set with Gimme, Gimme, Gimme lol So we got a VIP Card which means 5 months free entry at the Pop live karaoke parties :)


hugs
/J.