Slade in Koege, Denmark

On Saturday the 30th of August Slade gave a concert as part of the Koege Festival Week. It was a wonderful, sunshiny day, very different from what we’d been used to, as it had been pouring down with rain most of the week. I met up with Don and Hanne at the town square of Koege at 5 p.m. They had brought Rocky, their dog, and as some of you know Rocky has had an accident so he was still wearing a cast. Five weeks earlier Rocky had been hit by both a car and a trailer and had come out off it very badly. He’d lost his tail and hurt both hind legs, one of them so badly that part of the bone had actually been scraped away. A main artery had burst and it was nothing short of a miracle that he survived, but he did, and after two operations and new ligaments in the one leg, he should be as good as new as soon as the wounds heal.
Anyway, Rocky limped about the backstage area minded by one of Hanne and Don’s friends. I bumped into Heine, a Slade-fan I have known for a couple of years, and we set out to enjoy the day. The rest of the guys turned up shortly after, all in a good mood, kissing and hugging and joking. We had dinner, the guys were signing autographs, doing interviews, greeting the fans etc. etc.
Slade went on stage a little past 8 p.m., this way being the first band to use the lights. The town square was packed, this being a free concert, mind you, and as soon as Don entered stage, the crowd was up and going. I was pretty pleased that I was able to watch the concert from an enclosed area for people with backstage passes, otherwise I’m sure I would have been squashed!
It was a truly magic concert and I’m sure the audience would have liked it to continue, but there were two more names on the bill, so the guys cleared out. Heine headed back home but I spent a couple of hours backstage with Don, Hanne, the band, Tim and Robin and the usual gang. A great night out, to be sure.