– I know that rockers are the world’s finest people, so I drove on, says Camilla Gilje Tjetland.
The 37-year-old is in a wheelchair, and needed a companion to join her at Iron Maiden’s concert at Koengen on Wednesday evening.
She was just as happy to try her luck on Facebook. “I can offer a free ticket to someone who can be my companion at Iron Maiden in Bergen!”, she wrote in a post that was further shared in a hard rock group.
– She seemed like a cool person, and it was a free ticket. Then I just thought why not, says Bjarte Malum (43).
Concert friends from now on
Both love Iron Maiden and have been to several concerts separately in the past.
BA meets them in place inside the wheelchair stand, just a few minutes before the legendary band enters the stage.
– I thought it was very sporty of her to post that post. And so far this is going very well, says Malum, who seems delighted to have secured a place at another concert with his favorite band.
Now the fresh-faced duo are talking about going together to the hard rock festival Tons of Rock in Oslo.
– We have already agreed that this will not be the last concert we go to together, says Tjetland, who exclaims in a frenzy of joy:
– I have made a new concert friend in Bergen!
The concert companion is glad that he listened to his own motto:
– You must not be afraid to try new things and get to know new people.
Bruce Dickinson on a mountain trip
About 20,000 had bought tickets for the big concert at Koengen in advance.
In the hours leading up to the slam, downtown filled up with beer-thirsty fans dressed for the occasion.
BA talked to some of them. Most people were looking forward to this particular Iron Maiden concert, because it was already known that the song “Alexander The Great” was played for the first time ever on this tour. As expected, the fan favorite was also played in Bergen.
Iron Maiden started playing just before 2100, after the band The Raven Age had been given the honor of warming up the crowd. However, those present had to wait a little longer to see their heroes, because the first song was performed while the whole band stood behind a curtain.
Eventually they came out on stage – to wild cheers from the sea of people.
Vocalist Bruce Dickinson also had some fresh local history in his luggage. From the stage, he said that he got lost in the city mountains, after a “troll” gave him “wrong directions”.
– I was at Fløyen and said I wanted to go to Ulriken, and asked for directions. They sent me the wrong way, said a frustrated Dickinson.
Furthermore, he revealed that he spent six hours over Vidden before he reached Ulriken. In other words, maybe he wasn’t fooled after all.
– I was about to call a damn helicopter, screamed the frontman to the audience.
– The result was better
The concert lasted two hours.
Before it started, Camilla told Gilje Tjetland that she is a rocker, and that she used to always go to such concerts with her ex-husband.
– But my new boyfriend is not a rocker. So it was good that I found Bjarte, she says.
This was the fourth time Iron Maiden played in Bergen. The last time was in 2014, also then at Koengen.
After the concert, Tjetland gives us the facet of what the concert was like:
– The concert was better in 2014, but the crowd was better than then.
