I was too tired to sleep properly and I woke up feeling a little bit slow this
morning. So I went down to breakfast and met Glenn Hughes who was this
year’s special guest for the Summer Party.
Glenn and I have done shows on the same bill
and spent time together in the studio but this will be the first time we have
shared a stage and I had to learn some Deep Purple songs which wasn’t easy!
But the guys in the band know them inside out so it will be really cool.
Magne met me at the hotel and, after a little
lunch by the river, we went to Gressvik where the party always takes place.
Fredrikstad is a really a quite beautiful city and the river is the centre of
recreation which makes it unique and very special. It seems that everyone
has a boat and the summer weekends are made for families to just put around on
the river. There’s a good, friendly vibe here which makes it a pleasure to
come back to every year.
The stage was set and we spent a little time
rehearsing the songs that Glenn was going to do. Then it was dinner (I
know… it sounds like we eat a lot but we don’t… we just eat when we can!) and
the real sound check for us and with Glenn. It all went well and at 7pm
they opened the gates.
For the first time in its short, four-year
history, our little festival was totally sold out and the atmosphere was
fantastic even before we went on stage so when we finally got there it felt
great and it just kept getting better.
To top it off, Jorn Lande joined us for
“Burn” at the end of Glenn’s set and we finished with “Easy Living” and “Lady in
Black” before returning for “Gypsy” to end an incredible evening.
Glenn and I signed a bottle of red wine which
was auctioned for our foundation and, thanks to Sven Roar Johansen, it raised
400 Euros.
I have to say that the success of this event is
down to the hard work of a lot of people and I can’t thank them enough for
making this so special for me.
