When we first bought our tickets to Norway in January, I remember joking with Mike, asking him what he'd do if he ever had the chance to meet the guys from Turbonegro. 'I think I'd probably run over to Hank and jump in his arms', I remember him saying. Ofcourse, we never thought this opportunity would actually happen.

Never say never! A couple weeks before our departure, our friend Vidar emailed us with news about a potential get together at a place called the Bar Robinet. After arriving to Norway and talking to Vidar, it was official. Turbo would be at Bar Robinet on Tuesday night, after their band practice.

I needed to make some changes fast! I scrambled to alter our trip logistics. There was no way we were going to miss this rendezvous with Turbo. I'd already reserved our train seats to Kristiansand on Tuesday morning (the day of the Quart Fest) and I had made hotel reservations months in advance. You see, as luck would have it, Turbo was only free on the day that we were supposed to be leaving. No worries, though. Changing reservations and missing a day of the Quart was totally worth this opportunity!

Thankfully the hotels and transpo services in Norway were flexible. With the help, once again, of Vidar, I was able to book a room in Oslo, check into our room in Kristiansand a day later and purchase reserved seats on the train for Wednesday morning instead. Everything was set!

We partied with Vidar in Oslo for a couple of nights and soon the day finally came...Tuesday ... Turbo! That afternoon, I slept off a horrendous hangover (my intake of beers at Vidar's house the night before was somewhat of a record breaker), while Vidar and Mike checked out some record shops. Once the boys came back, I called up our friend Joyce (a fellow Turbojugend USA) and we headed out for the night.

As we drank our beers in a small random bar (I can't remember the name of it), I couldn't help but think how excited everyone was, even though nobody was admitting it. I think my giddiness was too much for Mike because he decided to film random street walkers outside the bar while Vidar, Joyce, and I ordered up another round. After realizing we'd let our camera battery die, Mike and I ran back to the hotel and grabbed our charger. When we returned, we decided to leave the bar we were at and hit up the Robinet a little early.

While sitting at the bar, we were immediately greeted by the bartender. Turned out he was the ex-drummer for Glucifer and the current drummer for Euroboys. He seemed like a really nice guy and served us our drinks with a friendly smile. After drinking 3 or 4 rounds of rum and cokes for Mike and beers for the rest of us, we saw Euroboy walk into the bar.

Of course, Mike was the first to notice him, pointing him out all incognito-like. At this point Joyce and I were freaking out! Don't get me wrong. We weren't making a scene or anything. We just did what girls usually do, and looked at eachother with wide eyes and huge grins. It was Euroboy for Christ's sake! I'd only seen him in the Turbo videos and interviews, but just from those clips, he'd become a favorite of mine. There's just something about his style and charisma! I was so excited!

So, I was sitting about 6 feet away from a Knut, who looked a little beat from practice, and I couldn't help but notice how much younger he looked in person. He was busy talking with some friends, so I started taking some random far away shots of him with my camera. As I'm taking these long distance shots, I look up and see Happy Tom walk in!

Man, let me tell you, Tom is the nicest person I've ever met. Walking right up to us, he introduced himself and immediately started telling us how much he enjoyed Mike's website and how excited he was that we all came out for the show. Of course, again, I'm completely star-struck, but I don't want to be too foolish, so I just stand by the bar, next to Vidar, and hang out...you know...keep my cool. A few minutes later, Tom comes by with a bar stool and says 'Here you go Nicole, here's a stool for ya'. Now I know it sounds dumb, but having Happy Tom call me by my first name and hand me a chair was really cool! I think it was at this point when I realized just how nice these guys were. There was no 'rock star status' thing going on. They were just like us; into the same music, all about having a good time, super relaxed, and extraordinarily friendly.

After drinking and talking with Happy Tom for a while, I noticed that the next Turbo member had walked in. Hank was here! Before we left to Norway, Hank was the one person that I was most interested in meeting. In all the videos, interviews, and pictures that I'd seen of him, I must say, not only was I fascinated by him, but I was also a bit intimidated at the prospect of actually meeting him. I soon found out that my intimidation was completely unwarranted. He was pretty quiet at first. Walking straight to the bar, he ordered a strange concoction which looked like a martini. I remember thinking that his drink order was kind of...how should I say...cute. For some reason, I pictured him as a beer guy (I don't know why).

After I downed a few more beers, my tourist tendencies started to take over. Soon I was taking shots with Anders behind the bar and close-up shots of Euroboy. Tom and I took some more pictures together, and as we were reviewing a silly one of me and him posing like a couple (we had a digital camera with us, so we were able to look at the pix as they were being taken) I jokingly turned to him and said 'Look at us. What happened to our relationship? What went wrong?'. He laughed back and said 'I don't know Nicole, look how happy we used to be!'. Now this was just too funny! I mean, sometimes you can't even joke around like that with people that you half-way know, and I was doing it with Tom! And he was joking back! It was fucking awesome.

As I continued taking pictures of Euroboy and Anders acting silly, and Joyce with Tom, and Hank with his drink, Chris walked into the bar. Chris is the coolest guy to hang out with. We had met him a few days earlier at a bar called Last Train. A bit quiet at first, Chris turned out to be a lot of fun and very interesting to talk with. Chris and Mike seemed to get along incredibly well. So well it seemed as if they'd known eachother for years. As a fellow Robinet bartender, Chris soon relieved Anders of his bar duty and took over as the server. Anders proceeded to drink a beverage that was initially meant for me but was 'accidentally' poured wrong (uh huh). I think it was an absolute vodka and soda water with some lemon juice. A very good drink by the way!

As the night went on, the bar became more packed and Rune and Pål Pot (who unfortunately I wasn't able to really talk to that night) had finally joined the group. As they hung out with Mike in the back of the bar by the bathroom (yes...THE bathroom...meaning one!), Hank and I started taking pictures together. 'That picture isn't evil-looking enough' I remember saying, as we reviewed a just-taken 'nice and smiley' shot of me and Hank. We both agreed on this and did our best to look more evil in the next few shots.

After my evil photo session with Hank, I went back to the bar and ordered up another beer and as I turned around, Euroboy came up to me and introduced himself as Knut. 'I know who you are', I replied, with a huge grin on my face (I couldn't believe that Euroboy was introducing himself to me!). We got to talking, and he also told me how thrilled he was that we came all the way from the USA to see them play. Soon Joyce and Knut were chatting and I spotted Hank at the bar with his girlfriend.

I got up the nerve to ask Hank what he was drinking and he told me that it was a special beverage with secret ingredients. Hmmm....it sounded inticing. Ofcourse now I had to order one! Joyce over heard this convo and was also intrigued so she swiftly ordered up a round for the three of us. Man! Rounds with Hank! You couldn't beat that! Hank seemed a lot more relaxed and talkative by now (it was probably those drinks!). As Chris whipped up another batch of yellow-green liquor, Hank also began to extend his gratitude for us coming down to see them. As he spoke, I could tell he was genuinely sincere. I also remember thinking... 'you're grateful? WE'RE grateful for you guys coming down to meet us'. I mean, these guys are pretty busy, especially now! For them to take time out to meet and hang with us, was truly an honor.

The drinks were poured, cheers were made, and it was down the hatch for all of us. The drinks actually tasted like Apple Martinis, with a big kick. After 2 of those babies, I decided to switch back to beer.

I continued taking picture after picture....silly poses, group shots, individual takes, close ups and far-aways. Soon I found myself talking to Euroboy about the leg kicks that he does while playing on stage (don't ask...I don't know how the subject was brought up either...let's just not think about it). After talking for a while, Euroboy announced that he was going home. I remember asking him to do a special kick for me on the night of the Quart (Gay, I know. But what the hell...I was pretty drunk). He said he would (he's so nice for humoring me) and went off into the night.

I talked randomly with Happy Tom, Vidar, Joyce, Mike, Hank, and Hank's girlfriend. Hank's girlfriend was really cool! I remember how patient she was as we clicked away at our cameras and swarmed around Turbo. I even took a couple shots of her with Hank and some with me and her together.

I spotted Mike across the way and waived. I was so happy for him. He looked like he was having the time of his life. I cut through the crowd and made my way over to Mike. At this point, Mike introduced me to Trond who was working on a Turbonegro documentary. Drinks were flowing, conversations were progressing, and pretty soon, I saw that Trond was actually filming and interviewing some of us right in the bar. Everyone was having a great time.

Now, I'm not sure if it was the secret 'Hank' drinks or the 10 beers I had for dinner, but soon I found myself debating with Hank over what the worst movie ever made was. I was adamant that Xanadu was the worst movie ever made. Hank, however, was defending the movie, saying that Xanadu was one of his favorite movies. Pretty soon Marc (a friend of the group), chimed in. He proceeded to tell me that Xanadu could not be put in the worst-movie category because every young boy at one time or another was guilty of having a wet dream about Olivia Newton John. I took this into consideration and as I pondered, Marc came up with a good movie runner-up...The Wiz (good call!). Okay, so not only was my debate completely retarded, but to make things worse, as I turned around I noticed that it was now being filmed for the Turbonegro documentary! I told Trond to rewind and delete, but his response was 'No way, are you kidding?'. I think at this point I finally began to sense how wasted I was.

I don't know where it went, but time had definitely passed me by. It was going on 4:30am! Chris continued being the most attentive and generous bartender I'd ever met (which is what probably contributed to my annihilation) and most of the bar crowd had now gone home. Mike, Tom, Rune, and Vidar continued to talk, and Joyce and I decided to head back to our hotel. After saying our good-byes and giving lot's of hugs (I never thought I'd be hugging the members of Turbo! Classic!), Joyce and I took off, leaving Mike and the others to their own demise.

While walking back to our hotel, Joyce and I were completely giddy! We couldn't stop talking about what a fucking fantastic night we had. She was even more stoked since she got Euroboys digits! After re-hashing the night over and over (and taking pictures of Joyce's little black book as proof...I know...we're silly) we finally decided to call it a night.

In retrospect, I can honestly say that the Tuesday night Turbo meeting was one of the most exciting and memorable nights of my life. Seriously! I mean, meeting the guys was one thing, but talking with them, getting to know them, drinking with them, telling jokes with them... just kickin’ it with them...was incredible. We all got along so well and had so much fun together. I'll never forget it!

As an end, I'd like to thank Tom, Chris, Knut, Hank, Rune, and Pål for making that night (and our trip to Norway) something truly special!

And lastly...I'd like to write a separate extra special thanks to Vidar. Without him, this entire evening wouldn't have taken place. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Nikki Sinn