This Norwegian guy doesn\u2019t look like a rock\u2019n roll fan at all: his hair is short, and he\u2019s dressed like any other tourist. However, for the last 21 years he\u2019s been the soul of \u201cIt\u2019s only rock and roll\u201d (IORR) – the biggest and most popular Rolling Stones fan website in the world, with 1 to 2 million visits per year.<\/p>\n
He takes care of most of the content: set lists, pictures, news about each concert\u2026 Of course there are contributors who send him reviews of gigs, fan forums, and links to similar websites, but he does most of the work by himself.<\/p>\n
I discovered the website a few years ago. I wrote him an email, he replied, and we exchanged a few more emails after that\u2026 until now that I heard that he would be travelling to Havana, and that we\u2019d have the chance to meet in person.<\/p>\n
Everything started in 1971, when Bjornulf bought a copy of Sticky fingers<\/em>. He played it once. He played it again, and again, and again\u2026 He played it so many times, alone and for his friends, that it got scratched and he had to buy a new copy.<\/p>\n Two years later, he travelled to Gotemburg, in Sweden, to attend his first Rolling Stones concert. Not many people in Norway did that, just under the necessary amount to fill three buses, and the Norwegian press made fun of those weird guys who were travelling to the neighbour country to listen to that noisy music.<\/p>\n Almost a decade later, in 1982, Bjornulf returned to Gotemburg to attend a new concert of the Stones, but this time Norwegian attendees filled 60 buses and thousands of cars. From there, he went to Wembley, in London, where he realized that he knew more about the band than most British fans.<\/p>\n He decided to create a fanzine that he mimeographed, stapled and sent to friends. It was a homemade publication featuring set lists, exchange ads\u2026 In 1995 he created a website. The internet was still slow \u2013yet faster than what we have in Cuba today, I guess\u2026 anything should be faster than this- but Bjornulf worked as a website analyst, so he soon had an attractive and reliable website for himself. In IORR you can find reviews of every concert of the Stones since 1995.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t get any financial benefit from the website,\u201d he said, \u201con the contrary, it generates expenses. But the job I do to make a living I can do it in any hotel room, as long as I have a laptop at hand. The rest of the time I devote it almost completely to IORR.\u201d<\/p>\n Talking about expenses, he and his wife have attended all the concerts in this Latin American tour of the Stones. All of them, starting on January 28, in Chile -where he got a press pass and was able to attend the rehearsals-, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, Mexico\u2026 In his opinion, the best concert so far was the one at Mexico City, the moment when the brilliance of their majesties reached its peak.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the Stones are on stage, there\u2019s magic,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the chemistry amongst them. It\u2019s like an atomic bomb: put together two pieces that would be harmless on their own, and there will be an explosion. Put the four Stones together, and it\u2019s like a nuclear reaction. Mick is crazy, and his craziness is contagious for Keith, then Keith goes nuts too and plays those wonderful solos, and Ronnie smiles, and Charlie sets the rhythm, and everything happens. The Stones are one of a kind.\u201d<\/p>\n When I asked how special this concert in Havana can be, he replied that it will open Cuba to the world. He thinks this can bring Cuba closer to the world and, among other things, contribute to lifting the embargo that the United States have imposed on Cuba for so many years.<\/p>\n I also asked him what songs will the Rolling Stones play in Cuba. Here\u2019s his prediction:<\/p>\n They\u2019ll open with Start me up<\/em> or Jumpin\u00b4 jack flash<\/em><\/p>\n It\u00b4s only rock and roll<\/em><\/p>\n Tumbling dice<\/em><\/p>\n Paint it black<\/em><\/p>\n Then they play songs that vary from place to place, but that normally include Wild horses <\/em>or Angie<\/em><\/p>\n Honky tonk women<\/em><\/p>\n Then, two songs sang by Keith, generally Happy<\/em> plus another one (Before they make me run, Slipping away\u2026<\/em>)<\/p>\n Midnight rambler<\/em><\/p>\n Miss you<\/em><\/p>\n Gimme shelter<\/em><\/p>\n Sympathy for the devil<\/em><\/p>\n Brown sugar<\/em><\/p>\n Start me up\/Jumpin\u00b4jack flash<\/em> (obviously, the one that they didn\u2019t play at the beginning)<\/p>\n Then, the encores: You can\u00b4t always get what you want<\/em> and an extra-long version of around 15 minutes of (I can\u2019t get no) Satisfaction<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Although his passion is the Rolling Stones, this Norwegian also listens to Genesis, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Marc Bolan & T Rex, David Bowie, Queen, REM, Coldplay\u2026 and, noblesse oblige, he likes A HA (who doesn\u2019t remember Take on me?) He has also attended solo concerts of all the Stones but \u00a0Keith.<\/p>\n My last question is if he has ever had the chance to talk to one of the Stones.<\/p>\n Never, he said smiling.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This Norwegian guy doesn\u2019t look like a rock\u2019n roll fan at all: his hair is short, and he\u2019s dressed like any other tourist. However, for the last 21 years he\u2019s been the soul of \u201cIt\u2019s only rock and roll\u201d (IORR) – the biggest and most popular Rolling Stones fan website in the world, with 1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3195,"featured_media":65633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13930],"tags":[9722,12795,12793,12725],"ppma_author":[33894,11383],"class_list":["post-65630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technologies-of-communication-and-media","tag-concert","tag-iorr","tag-its-only-rock-and-roll","tag-rolling-stones-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n