Before I say anything else let me just state this:

If I could marry Tina Dickow I would. Even if she didn’t love me. If she just needed to get a danish citizenship, I would still marry her. And I would pay her. And she could live in my house while I slept in the back yard.

Tina is a goddess. She is incredibly beautiful, and she seems just as sweet as she ever was. And her music is amazing.

Can you tell I had a good time?

I didn’t.

I had a great time. I had an amazing time. I had one of the best times of my life.

Music is so beautiful. I can’t believe I had to wait this long to actually go to a concert. I am so happy that I have gotten to a point in my life where I can do it. I feel like going to all the concerts in the world.

Tina was great. The music was wonderful. She’s a great songwriter. No wonder she won a grammy for that.

I got there quite early. The concert hall was almost empty. Security guards hanging around. Crew setting up instruments on the stage. People walking in and out.

I took up position at the side of the room. Up against a pillar. I know the best place to be is in the front, but knowing that there would be a lot of people I figured it would be better to stay at the side. To have a safe side. I always do that. When I have to sit down in a room too. I sit in the corner. Then 2 out of 4 sides are safe. No people.

So I stood there and waited. The room slowly began to fill up. And suddenly I spot a familiar face. It was Klaus. A guy from high school. From my class. He had come to see our Tina too. He was with another guy who I felt like I should have recognised from somewhere. But I couldn’t place him. And we didn’t talk. I talked a little to Klaus. He asked if I had had any contact with our old classmates. I said no. He said he hadn’t either. I said I had seen Tina on TV though. Haha, I’m witty. He also asked what I had been doing since school. I said it was a long, complicated story. He said “well we have 20 minutes yet”. I said “Nope, not enough time”. I didn’t really feel like telling a story about attempted suicide, isolation, social phobia and other fun things like that. Not that I don’t want people to know. I thought about telling him to go look at my website if he wanted to get the whole story. But he went outside with his friend and I didn’t see him again so the story was left untold.

Klaus is a nice guy. I liked him when we were in school. A good kid. I was also insanely jealous of him because of a spontaneous body paint incident once. But I’ll tell you about that another time.

Eventually Tina got on stage and said hello. And the magic started. My first concert. The vibrations. The sounds. The colours. The sweeping spotlights. It was beautiful.

For the first couple of songs, however, I probably paid more attention to my camera. Trying to get pictures. Shooting some video clips. It was like I was more focused on documenting that I was in the moment, than actually being in the moment. Does that make sense?

I did give my camera a rest though, and just enjoyed the concert. It was everything I had hoped for. For years I have been imagining how it would be to stand in a crowd and listen to live music. And it completely lived up to all my dreams. It was just as amazing as I had thought it would be. I love music. love music more than ever.

I like what Emily said in her comment to my Utah entry.

this is so cool because i remember when you’d write about someday going to concerts and things, and now you are!

It is so cool! (And I will never stop promoting crack!). Now I am going to concerts. Now I am, finally. I can’t believe how good life feels all of a sudden.

Tina was perfect for the first concert. I wish it could have been one of Billy Corgan’s bands, but since that wasn’t possible then Tina was the best thing. It is just some kind of magic. The past mixing with the present and dreams of the future.

I can’t believe I went to school with her. If only for a year. Imagine if you went to school with… Jesus. That’s how I feel.

So the concert was great. I can’t wait for her new album. I know it will be great.

Let’s get to the best part though. Everybody leaves the room. I do too. Out in the sunshine. And the fresh air. (Why do people have to smoke cigarettes at a concert, can’t you wait just one hour?). I went around the side of the building. Hoping to catch a glimpse of Tina as she leaves.

And there she comes. Along with her band. There’s only a little pavement between the building and then a fenced area where I guess they have a dressing room or something like that.

I want to go up to Tina. To say hi. Something. But she’s walking pretty fast, not looking in my direction. She gets behind the fence and I’m thinking “ah well, it wasn’t meant to be. I’m just glad I got to see her show”. But then a guy beside me calls out her name. And asks Tina if he can take a picture of her. She says yes, and goes up to the fence. He sort of sticks his camera through it to take the picture. And I walk up to the fence too, standing next to the guy.

I had brought a copy of Tina’s album Notes. Thinking it would be great if I could get it signed. Fancy dreams. But they come true. I ask her if she would mind signing it. She says sure. I hand it to her. And a pen. And she looks at me. And says “You’re Lasse, aren’t you?”. Yes. Yes I am. She remembered me! Aw. She says “I thought so”. And proceeds to sign the album. “A huge hello to Lasse”.

And she’s just as I remembered her. Beautiful. Kind. Sweet. Smiling. That pretty, wonderful smile. I dare anyone to look in her eyes while she smiles at you and not fall in love. Okay, maybe it was the natural high of my first concert, and of being recognised. But I really do think she’s gorgeous beyond compare.

I was incredibly happy that I got this moment. I wanted to say more. Tell her that I love her music, that I thought she deserved her success. And so on. But I’m sure she didn’t want a big speech and I’m not good at talking. So all I manage to say is “good concert”. Immediately I had Homer going in my head. “D’oh”. What was that? “Good concert”. It’s not even a sentence! I wanted to say “That was a great show”. Or “I loved the show”. Or something that made more sense and seemed more thrilled. “Good concert” sounds like I’m a better person than she is and that I sort of tolerate the little show she put on. Hah.

But anyway, I inched away and left the place with a giant smile on my face.

I can’t believe she remembered me. Sure, I’d hoped for exactly this to happen. But still. We were only in the same class for one year. And I probably said 4 words that year. And she’s a big, international music star. The fact that she recognised me and remembered my name. That makes me happy.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though. She still stands to me as one of the sweetest persons I remember. Even back then she was gorgeous, she was popular, she was smart. From my point of view she had everything. And she was still nice to me. The weird geek in the corner who never said anything. Easily ignored I was. Easily ridiculed. Nothing to remember.

One of my nicest memories is from a Latin class when I was grouped with her and her boyfriend (I think he was). And she asked him to quiet down so she could hear what I was saying. That amazed me. A girl wanting to hear me.

I don’t blame all the people who ignored me and never knew I existed. Because that was basically what I was asking for. I remember all the people in that class as being nice, good people. I certainly can’t blame them for how my life went. At that point I was the one withdrawing. I wasn’t being excluded. I was the one excluding myself. But the more alone you are, the more it means to you when people offer you kindness and attention.

So the lesson is: be kind to freaks and geeks and losers and weirdos. They will remember it for years.

Or something. The point is: I have always remembered Tina as a special person and I’m really happy for her. For everything she has accomplished.

I hope she’ll come back and play in Århus soon. I definitely want to see more of her shows. As far as I know she’s still living in London.

Ooh, a review of the concert. That was quick! It’s in Danish though. Four stars out of six. I would give it six out of six, but then I have nothing to compare it with of course.

“Sammenfattende fik hjemmebanen Århus dog en glimrende oplevelse, der bestemt skaber forventninger til fremtiden for en af landets bedste sangskrivere. En fremtid der forhåbentligt byder på et fortjent internationalt gennembrud. ”

“The home turf in Århus got an excellent show, that definitely creates expectations for the future of one of the country’s best songwriters. A future that will hopefully include a well deserved international breakthrough”.

They write about the “festival setting” too. I must agree with that. Too much chitchatter in the background. People coming and going. Annoying. A hushed awe would have been more appropriate.

Also, I hate being short! Darn it. Especially when the people in front of you feel the need to constantly lean in close together and talk. Or light up a cigarette. I should have brought a chair to stand on or something. Would have helped my pictures too. Not surprisingly they all turned out like poo. I’m not sure there’s a single one in proper focus. Once all this festival business is done I’ll put some of them up anyway. For now, here is a picture I snapped after the concert:

That’s Tina signing my album. With my pen! I’m never going to wash that pen again!

Err. I mean… I’m never going to start washing it.

I think that’s all for now. Sorry if this entry has been a bit rambling. But I am just psyched and stoked and rimbled and goffled. My first concert. Tina remembering me. Seeing Klaus. It has been a good day. It has been a very good day.

This life thing, you know? I kinda like it. It’s finally my time to come out in the sunshine.

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