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The Rolling Stones concert in Bergen was in jeopardy several times. Among other things, the organizer had to raise NOK 15 million in cash in a few hours. Then Keith Richards fell out of a palm tree.
On September 1, 2006, the all-time Bergen concert was held in Koengen, according to BT readers. 20,000 people and the Statsraad Lehmkuhl were in place. Photo: Lars HK Kristiansen
– When the band was confirmed, Rune Lem, who has been hosting Stones concerts in Norway since the 80s, said he would be ten years older at this concert. It was a real “crash course” in putting together a big concert, says Bergen Live general manager Frank Nes.
After much deliberation, the Rolling Stones arrived in Bergen. The moment when Mick Jagger and company. He took the stage and started with “Jumpin ‘Jack Flash”, he describes Frank Nes as very special. Photo: Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Due to the corona pandemic, this has been a summer without big concerts and festivals. Therefore, BT found that the summer of 2020 was a good time to remember a little, a good time to remember what has been.
BT decided, together with the readers, to name the Bergen concert of all time.
15 memorable concerts were nominated and now readers have voted.
Among the concerts that have received the most votes are Nick Cave at Bergenfest in 2018, Prince at Vestlandshallen in 2010, Rihanna at Koengen in 2011 and John Nilsen & Gjengen at Sandgotnabane in Loddefjord in 2009.
First I said no to the Stones
However, the winner was pretty clear: the Rolling Stones concert in Koengen in 2006.
But the “Bergen concert of the time” may have failed on several occasions.
When Frank Nes and Bergen Live were asked in the summer of 2005 if they would host a concert with The Rolling Stones the following year, they first said no.
– So we hadn’t started with big concerts yet and I thought this was too big. Organizing a concert in Koengen with the Stones seemed crazy, we didn’t have the resources for that. But then we argued a bit internally, I had a slightly friendly mouth, and we decided to let it go, says Nes.
20,000 were in Koengen when The Rolling Stones took the stage. Profile of NRK Bård Ose was at the Golden Circle, where, among other things, a fight broke out when the band played “Midnight Rambler”. Photo: Lars HK Kristiansen
No, it turned out to be, but then it was a long time before Frank Nes heard anything.
Then, in late November 2005, The Rolling Stones held a live press conference in Dallas.
Help, we’re in the concert business!
A journalist from Swedish television 4 asked the band if they were going to Bergen.
“We’re longing for the fjords,” says Keith Richards.
“We are yearning for the fjords,” Keith Richards said at the press conference, confirming that the Rolling Stones were heading to Bergen. A little later he climbed a palm tree, fell and the whole concert was in danger. Here we see Richards in action at Koengen. Photo: Anne-Stine Johsbråten
Bergen Live was one step closer to a concert with one of the rock bands of all time, but new songs kept popping up.
Two weeks after Keith Richards said he was going to the fjords, just before the tickets went on sale, it turned out that lawyers for the Rolling Stones in New York did not accept Bergen Live’s bank guarantee.
City has “cash”.
– I was on a birthday visit with my father when suddenly I received a phone call. We had to raise NOK 15 million in cash before the ticket sales started, otherwise there would be no concert, says Frank Nes.
also read
Congratulations on a new concert hall, Bergen!
Frank Nes really didn’t know where they would get 15 million each day. But he started calling and in just over 24 hours he managed to get the money.
According to the book «Bergen Rock City. Adventurous Concert Experiences Among the Seven Mountains ”, written by Espen Børhaug and Frank Johnsen, Espen Galtung Døsvig and Berge Gerdt Larsen were among those who contributed.
Palmen and Fiji
On June 6, 2006, or 06.06.06, the Rolling Stones would take control of Koengen to play what would be Bergen Live’s first major outdoor concert.
David Bowie, Elton John and Black Sabbath were among the artists who had played Koengen before, but then Frank Nes and company. organizers.
But when the two Stones guitarists, Keith Richards and Ron Wood, took a vacation to Fiji in April 2006, a new problem arose.
Among the things that happen on the vacation trip to Fiji are the following: Keith Richards climbs a palm tree. Keith Richards falls from a palm tree.
Here, Bergen Live is setting the stage for The Rolling Stones, a few months late. Photo: Håkon Eikesdal
Keith Richards has a brain hemorrhage and needs surgery. The next European tour will be canceled or moved, and for a month Frank Nes doesn’t know if there will be a Stones concert.
– The good thing about the postponement of the concert is that we had time to rehearse. In July, we organized a concert with Sting in Koengen, with around 10,000 spectators; it was our first outdoor concert. So when we were going to receive 20,000 in Koengen two months later, we were better prepared, says Frank Nes.
Stones before fire
One of the big Rolling Stones fans in town is NRK’s profile and Rolling Clones frontman Bård Ose. He’d made a bet with some friends on what would happen first: the Stones concert in Bergen or the show’s gold for Brann.
– The Branns series gold came the following year, so I won as far as it went, says Ose.
He even played three gigs at Ricks in connection with the Stones’ visit.
Here we see Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts surrounded by fans in Bryggen. Photo: Joakim S. Enger
– From the concert itself, I remember better that they played favorite songs that I didn’t expect to hear, like “Midnight Rambler”. During this song, a fight broke out right next to where he was standing, but that’s another matter, says Ose laughing.
For Frank Nes, it started with a phone call in the summer of 2005.
At first they said no, but then they decided to bet. And despite a troublesome encounter with the Stones ‘lawyers and a fall from a palm tree in Fiji, the Rolling Stones took the stage in Koengen on September 1, 2006 and began the concert with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
– It was a very special moment, recalls Frank Nes.
