Nov 18th Ludwigsburg, Germany & Prattlen, Switzerland Nov 19th:
WELCOME TO MY JORN-IVERSE!!

My Jorn Lande obsession started when a good friend of mine about 4 years ago burned me a cd with 16 of Jorn’s best from his solo stuff to Masterplan and Millenium. He tells me that this guy Jorn Lande, is one of the most amazing singers out there and his music is just incredible!! I take a listen and from the first notes of “Crystal Night”, I am just hooked…then I hear The “Voice”!! He sounds like a cross between Coverdale and Dio that exhibits passion and soul like not many singers have these days. I was completely blown away!Every song ,one after another unfolded and was more intense then the last. I had no idea these were differnt songs from differnt bands that he has been in.I thought it was all just his solo stuff. As I became more familar with Jorn I started to collect his cds everywhere I could and became obsessed with finding them all. He has been in many band incarnations including the biggest, Masterplan,Beyond Twilight,Millenium,Yngwie Malmsteen, ARK, Vagabond,Mundanus Imperium,The Snakes,his solo band that he has 5 cds with now and then he has done stuff with Russell Allen from Symphony X called Allen/Lande. There are 2 cds with that project and one more is to come that I know of. Then there was the last Avantasia Cd called The Scarecrow with Tobias Sammet from Edguy that was followed up with an acclaimed tour and a show at Wacken this year. He also sang on the new Ayreon cd this last year. Jorn is a busy man and he keeps us fans in new music all the time. Jorn has toured America only a few times with Ark at PP 2 and anYngwie tour and then at PP 7 he headlined the fest and kicked everyones ass in the process! That show spawned a live cd and now a new DVD that is coming out as I write this. I got to preview the DVD and its killer!
The story of my trip to Europe to see this incredible singer started with my good friend in Germany ,Carola, telling me that Jorn and Pagans Mind was going to be Playing within a day of each other like a few hours from her home close to Frankfurt. I was so stoked and thought on it a week and took the time off and bought me a round trip ticket to Germany for a whole 3 days. It would be two days of travel, 22 hours and 9 hours of driving to see two shows. Everyone I know thought I was crazy to fly to Europe to see two bands in two days but who the fuck cares, right???
I traveled a whole day and got to Germany to see my smiling bestest girlfriend awaiting me at the airport! Carola looked good being as she just went through some serious health issues not long before. I was just so happy to see her again!! We get to her house and Bernt, her hubby has some cold ass beir awaiting my consumption and it was dark so we went to the Aldi and got some cristal( a lighter beir)…woot! He is such a sweet man! We go have some great German dinner and I have my fave Spatzle and Snitzle and another wonderous Bier. It was so good to be back!!
We get up early and I couldnt sleep for shite and Tore calls us and tells us they are in the venue called the Rofrabrik ( Rock Factory) and he is anxiously waiting our arrival. I am getting really excited at this point and we get on the Audobahn and zip on down to Ludwigsburg and get there about 5pm. I havnt seen my best friend Tore in a year and a half and am missing him terribly and cant wait to see his grinning face once again! He spent some time hanging with me in Vegas after seeing my message on Jorn’s MS page. He told me he was coming here and he would like to meet up with me…that spurrned a long and wonderful friendship between Jorn’s guitarist and I that will last a lifetime.
We get to the Rock Factory and we walk up to the bar and there was Tore grinnin like a maniac at me from ear to ear! If you know Tore,this is a sight to behold. He has a smile that lights up a room and the charisma of a true rock star without the “ego”. I have never met anyone like him because he is so unique. Then I see Jorn out of the corner of my eye, and I just bury my face in Tore’s Chest during our long hug and whisper” I just cant…I am going to cry” Tore was like”Just go over and say hi!” So I peel myself off Tore and walk over to this smiling Nordic man and as he reached out his hand and said ” Nice to finally meet you, I have heard all about you”, and then there was this huge hug from this man that I have been crazy about for a few years.

I say with glee, damn you smell good”, and to my amusement, he sez” It’s my bamboo shampoo!”I about burst out in tears, but I remained dignified and we just started chatting. It was like two old friends meeting again. The smile and the hug was so worth the flight!! I was the happiest I think I have ever been and it just kept getting better and better!! There was meeting the other band members Tor,Nic, and Wild Willy.

They were all just so nice and happy to see me! I got all my stuff and friends stuff autographed, got to hang for soundcheck, got lots of photos and got to just laugh and drink beer and chat with all the guys.

We also watched some crazy tour videos!! I about died laughing at some of these!
We hung at the bar for it seemed like hours then went onto the double decker tourbus and got all cozy on the huge couch and settled in with some beers to do my interview. All present were Tore, Carola,Bernt,Jorn and Alex Kueher the famous photog!! Jorn says he has the DVD that is almost done from PP 7 and if we would like to see it?Me and Carola looked at each other and were like “YES!” This thing was outstanding!!!

We both felt so priveledged to see this long awaited DVD. We were like ,”We are sitting on the tourbus with Jorn watching Jorn on the TV…Screammmmm!!” Lol! So we get to the interview and its like over an hour that we are talking about life and music and the world. Tore told me that Jorn doesnt usually open up to people so easily, so I am feeling pretty amazing about now. Its the coolest interview for me ever!

 

After all of this we get to see the magic happen finally when Jorn hits the stage and we get to see him LIVE!! The club is small but loaded with people, me and Carola have our cameras and Video cameras in tow, and we get right up to the front and when the music to ” Soul of the Wind” starts, I get chills! I am actually finally getting to see the “Voice” live and in your face…I mean he was right in our faces the whole night, singing to us and pointing at us and just posing for all the best photos ever!

 

 

 

The band sounded awesome and tight as hell! You wouldnt have believed that Tor hasnt been in the band very long because he was kicking so much ass.

It was also great to see Tore in his element being the true rock star that I know he is!

 

I am getting drunk on music and german bier and thinking ” I have died and landed smack into rock n roll Heaven!!” The set list included Shadow People, We brought the Angels Down,Stormcrow,Man of the Dark,The Inner Road,Tungur Knivur,Blacksong,Are U Ready,Duke of Love,one of my faves of all time, Out to Every Nation,Strormbringer and it ended with War of the World. This was in insane set because it was mostly his stuff and not many covers! I was floored and so was Carola!! After they were done Jorn came over to the front of the stage where we were and gave both of us sweaty hugs!! Lol! We didnt mind a bit!!!

We get to hang for a while longer with the guys and they are all telling us to come see them at a bigger gig in Switzerland!! Even Jorn was telling us to come and see him again. I was like Carola needs to make the decision because she is doing all the driving and I was supposed to see Pagans Mind the next night. We head home and get there at 5 am in time for her to send the kids off to school in a few hours so she got like no sleep. When she does crawl outta bed at 1pm I ask her…..what do you want to do tonight…Jorn or Pagans Mind?…and she sez all exhausted…” I want to see Jorn again”…decision made. It is a three hour drive to Switzerland but I guess thats where we were going. On to see Jorn again!! Woot! I felt really bad about missing Pagans Mind, but I know I will see them again next year!! Who knows when I will get to see Jorn again. ( Unless I get them to America!!)
So off we go again onto the Audobahn for a three hour journey to see my fave singer again. By 7:30 we arrive across the Swiss border in Prattlen and find this dark warehouse and realise we are there!! Tore is on the bus awaiting our return and we watch the video that Carola filmed the night before.

He and Tor agree that is it an ass kicker and we should show Jorn. He is busy and may be getting a bit of a cold( I am sure due to doing my station ID’s in the cold and sleet before we left last nite) so we go in and check out Trio-Sphere and they are cool but I want to see My Jorn! Tore and I have some strong Swiss Beir and watch this killer female fronted band that does a wicked WASP medley. He loves these guys and their guitar player come running out into the crowd and finds Tore and jams to him with his guitar!! It is a total Metal Moment and we enjoyed it very much!! Whoohoo!!

Then it is time for Tore to get ready to go onstage and he hooks me up with getting in the photo pit the entire show and Carola gets to plug her video camera into the soundboard and film the ENTIRE Jorn show!! That is a bootleggers dream I tell ya,but it will be for just us and the band.
The band comes out to a much larger crowd, has some sweet ass lighting for me(Woot!) and sounds just explosive! You can tell the band is having a blast and so is the crowd!! It was a better show but with the same setlist, and I am just in awe of this singer that has inspired me for so long now! He just has presence…or should I say he is Presence!! A Voice to behold all voices!!!

I had to stop shooting a few times and just take in the moment! This was a special moment for me and I felt so absolutely satisfied and happy! It was a fantastic show!!

After the show me and Carola are feeing the effects of hours me flying and her driving for hours and hours. We wait a bit to see Jorn again and he comes over to look at some of my photos on the camera and loves what he sees. He said he wanted shots for his new and improved website and I told him I would be honored! We have some laughs and say our goodbyes with hugs and kisses from my two fave men, and I look into this mans eyes and realise he is just a human being doing the best that he can to bring his message to the world. The message of love and hope and kindness and peace. He is an amazing person and I feel love for the guy and am sad we have to leave him and Tore behind. This man’s music speaks to my heart and soul and now I can call him a friend…how cool is that?? I am happy and sad all at once trying not to show my emotion when we say our goodbyes. Tore walks us to the car and we hug like forever and I am in tears. I will miss this man so much because there is a bond between us that will never be broken. I at least have the wonderful memories of that last two crazy days. As we leave I get really a deep lonliness inside and realise that Lonely Are The brave and that I must be brave.

My lovely Carola drives us home for three hours again and I wake up near the end and we get entirley too silly and laugh til we are in tears the rest of the way to her home. We almost had to pull over a few times as she was crying through the laughter and that just made it funnier and funnier!!Its was Jorn this and Jorn that and it was one of the most hilarious moments of my life! It was so good to laugh togther like that because we would have to part ways again for God knows how long. She is such a wonderful friend that has done so much for me. But we had the time of our lives!!!!
I have been home a few days now and I feel loney and sad and miss my friends but I live in the memories and think of my Carola and Jorn and Tore often and that makes me smile. I havnt slept much in over a week due to all the excitement but I am sure I will relax sometime next year! Lol!

I am truley blessed and I think often…now that I realised my biggest dream…what next?? How does it get any better than this??? I dont know but I am ready to find out…..

I WOULD GIVE THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE A COVETED \M/\M/\M/\M/\M/ HORNS WAAAAY UP!!

YOU CAN FIND MORE ON JORN AT:
http://www.myspace.com/realjorn
http://www.jornlande.comhttp//www.jornlande–

GREAT CZECH FAN-SITE WITH JORN’S WHOLE BIO!!!

http://www.jornlande-fansite.wz.cz/eng/main_eng.html

 

3 comments:

Neil said…

Kick Ass report Leah and killer that you got to meet and hang with Jorn and Tore for 2 whole days. Love the pics as well, your a fantastic photog! :)P.C Can NOT wait for the Live dvd to be released.

November 26, 2008 at 5:45 AM

Leah Burlington said…

Thanks for reading!!! Glad you like everything! YOu get your package yet??

November 26, 2008 at 1:09 PM

Neil said…

Not yet and i checked my mailbox twice today for it. DAMM postal service. If i didn’t work for em i would curse em,lol. Probably arrive friday i hope.

November 26, 2008 at 4:28 PM