Frida in Concert - Elmar's Report

just came back from Cologne and instead of going to sleep I just had to write my report...

Being eager not to miss any chance of meeting Frida I arrived at the concert hall at 11.15 on Tuesday morning already. I think I was the first fan who turned up there. By and by more fans appeared on the scene and throughout the day and evening I got to talk to a lot of them. My impression was that the majority of the audience were actually ABBA fans. It wasn’t that difficult to tell them apart from the Deep Purple fans :-). Funny to see two so completely different groups of fans encountering each other. You’ll be relieved to learn there were no fights or dramas between the two camps ;-). Three fans were happy to report that they had been at the concert hall on Monday ­ just in case. And yes, Frida was there doing rehearsals and she actually spent 15 minutes talking with these 3 fans. Lucky them. I was flabbergasted when I heard that, especially since I had been in Cologne on Monday already, but never even considered going to the concert hall. Well, at least they could confirm that Frida would do another rehearsal on Tuesday, so our hopes of meeting her were rising.

At 3.30 pm she eventually arrived together with Jon Lord and was faced with not more than two dozens of fans ­ Frida and Jon Lord fans combined ­ who came rushing at her, but respectfully stopped several meters away from her, when a staff member signalled us to stop. And then... Frida said „I’m sorry, I don’t have any time right now“ and disappeared over a steel staircase. Some lucky fans now have pictures of her from behind walking up that staircase :-).

There was no way they would let us into the hall to watch the rehearsals, but we could actually see what was happening inside through the windows! So of course we all kept waiting for Frida. And even though she was supposedly in such a hurry she appeared on stage only after two hours. And while she rehearsed her song all the fans were gazing (and listening) through the windows ­ much to the amusement of the staff inside :-). Of course we all were very excited and happy to see her ­ for me this was the first time ever! But at the same time people started looking at each other in disbelief. „That’s playback!“ „She’s not singing live!“ From this moment on it was the main topic of discussion: She can’t possibly lip-synch in a live concert, can she... But maybe if she feels insecure after all these years... But she wouldn’t need to rehearse on two days for a performance that is lip-synched and almost motionless... And wouldn‘t playback be even more embarrassing than a not quite perfect live performance...

The start of the concert drew closer and only now did I slowly start to realize what a historic moment this was going to be. Frida on stage. In a concert. And me on a third row seat! Unfortunately I didn’t get to talk to any ABBAMAILER. I didn’t even know Rob was there. I didn’t see Bonnie. I did see Paul and actually stood quite close to him, but as the celebrity that he is he was always surrounded by people and I was too shy to introduce myself. That’s me... Maybe making an appointment before would have been a good idea... Where was everyone else? All my fellow ABBAMAILers...Erik? Jürgen? Samia? The venue was quite small, btw. There surely weren’t more than 1000 people in there. It’s an old factory hall that was turned into a concert venue only recently it seems. Nice atmosphere and a nice stage background: a bare red brick wall with two old windows.

Finally the concert started. And I must say I was quite pleasantly surprised. Not just because of Frida and not just because Jon Lord is really like a nice odd fellow, very charming and warm hearted. I didn’t like his CD, but then the CD is only a faint hint of what was performed on stage. I was glad he did not torture us with any of those bombastic hard rock type ballads with an orchestra arrangement that have become so popular with aging hard rockers. Even though he did play some Deep Purple songs. And there were only a few pretty boring and pointless compositions. In fact, quite a lot of the compositions were quite intricate and thrilling, with surprising melody lines and rhythm patterns. There were some really good moments. Sam Brown was really, really great. She was on stage most of the time, doing some lead vocals plus backing vocals on some other songs. What a singer! And what a shame she only had those five minutes of fame back in the eighties! Apart from her the line-up consisted of singer Miller Anderson, two background singers, a complete rock band with Jon on piano plus the orchestra.

At one point a guest musician from Norway joined the orchestra with a traditional instrument called a key harp or something like that. Contrary to what the name suggests you don’t pick the strings, but play them with something like a fiddle stick. Anyway, they played a song that was a mixture of an old Norwegian folk song and some classical composition, that, according to Jon Lord, „starts in the 15th century and ends tomorrow morning “. For me this was actually the musical highlight of the evening ­ with Frida’s song not even coming second. I simply love Scandinavian folk music in general...

After that Jon Lord explained that the next song also had a northern connection ­ and without further ado announced Frida. And there she was, looking serious and calm. She didn’t seem nervous to me. In fact, she radiated her usual dignity and did a great performance. As for the live/not live debate: I thought that her voice was a bit shaky on the very first notes, which led me to believe she actually sang live. After that her singing was absolutely perfect, which is a bit suspicious of course :-). As it seems, the majority of people there thought it was NOT live. I’m still not sure... After her performance there was ecstatic cheering of course, but only some people got up for a standing ovation. She then thanked the orchestra and Jon Lord and also Jon’s wife Vicky, who „helped me over a lot of hurdles“ and apparently can take some credit for Frida being „were I am today“. After her performance I think there were one or two more songs and then a few encores. At the end ­ after three and a half hours, including a break ­ Frida joined the other musicians on stage and seemed to be having quite a good time.

After the concert a crowd of fans gathered at the stage entrance hoping to get to meet her. After a while she did turn up, coming down that steel staircase waving at us. Unfortunately (and obviously) she didn’t seem too pleased at our requests to come over and after initially turning away from us she said „If you wait another ten minutes I’ll come and sign things for you“. Then she disappeared in a building opposite of the concert hall. Alright, everyone was pleased, confirming each other that usually if she gives a promise like this she keeps it. After a while the security guys told us she’d be signing things from her car. Well, she didn’t. She left us waiting there in the rain (!) and only when the security guys left did we realize we’d been waiting in vain. No one had seen her leaving, though. Everyone was pretty pissed off. And I was really disappointed now, especially since everybody seems to keep telling stories of how generously she’s always taking her time for her fans. I had no chance in Berlin and I had no chance in Cologne. Anyway, I did get to see her performing on stage, which is a historical event after all, isn’t it? Not many people have had the pleasure in the past 20 years. So I guess I have reason to be quite happy. And I am :-)

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Elmar Winterberg, Berlin, Germany