Ok…it is 2am in the morning and i am in Oslo, Norway. Just finished a nice pint of beer at TEDDY’s, which is sort of a rock-a-billy club/bar. I was invited by 2 very cool LOVE fans, Silje and Martevelde. They dug the show and we all decided to walk a few blocks for a pint. they were very nice and i want to say thanks to them. The show in Oslo was great…easily the best show of the Europe continent, so far. The show sold out and the crowd was PACKED to the rafters! Arthur was in classic form and we played our hearts out. The fans were very supportive, singing along and exchanging funny, light-hearted stage banter with Arthur. One guy even brought presents for Arthur! we must have played for an hour and a half (the norm, it seems) and the place erupted with every song. the people who ran the club were the best and everything about the show was, in my opinion, awesome.

Just this morning, i was up at 5am and getting ready to catch a train to Oslo from my hotel in Stockholm. The Stockholm show featured strings and Horns and it was absolutely incredible, in my humble opinion! My only criticism (and who am i to criticize?) was that the audience seemed a tad bit too conservative and there were a few journalists scribbling in the front row. but by the end of the show, they were all standing and shouting and having fun, which is what Arthur wants! The ensemble was un-friggin-believeable…every note perfect…bringing to life that beautiful record from ’66. the horns on “You set the Scene” had people weeping.

after the show, we all headed back to the bar that sits atop our hotel, along with our friends who we hung out with in ’96…Oscar, Anna, Louise and Mikael. The bar started to close down but somehow Mikael squeezed more drinks out of the stingy bartender! It was a great night of music and LOVE with friends and fans and Stockholm was so beautiful as usual…there seemed like no better place to play music of this type.

I don’t think i went to sleep until 4am and the 5am wake up call had me screaming…but i took it out on the cab driver who said, ” i don’t think i can take all this stuff!” I said to him,” i don’t have time for this bullshit!!!”…also, i’d like to say hello to the guys at the bar in Oslo who came to the show in 96, the guy who bought me a beer and the people who were so nice and especially the ones who say they are dedicated to the diary and Ed’s site! Tak so Mychet!!!!!

Well, we live for Goteberg tomorrow after noon and then we play Malmø after that and then we’re finished with Scandanavia. Althought the oslo crowd still wasn’t “on” the Knitting factory crowd, the are holding the crown for the Euro continent. The shows are selling out fast and it’sallso very very exciting! I’m very lucky and i guess i want to say thank you to eeryone who comes up to me and says hello. I suppose one can never have too many friends, huh? Thanks to the nice guy in Oslo who shook my hand from the stage and special thanks to Oscar…when he gets his visa bill…

Mike Randle