Today it is exactly 10 weeks i.e. 70 days until the official "14 on Fire" tour start in Abu Dhabi by Friday Feb. 21.

It is great to see all the local excitement building up, as pre-sales are on. Hopefully we will get the remaining two dates for Asia confirmed soon. Then we will know if they make it to Shanghai and Singapore as originally planned, or if they need to rearrange the schedule slightly.

Bjornulf

We are getting closer to tour start. Today it is 60 days until the first official Rolling Stones 2014 show in Abu Dhabi.

I have been working on the travel schedule for the Far East and Down Under tour. It will be something like 38,000 miles of flights as it seems. The most challenging part is leaving Auckland April 6, with two days and nights of travel back home. Trying to find a nice place to rest for a day between Auckland, LAX/SFO and Europe. Rarotonga and Honoluly are both on the route, at no extra cost, but I would probably the only person who do a stop-over of less than 24 hours on these remote places. Also, I am looking for a stopover between Dubai and Tokyo. Recommendations are welcome.

Still I am working on an open plan of something, everything or nothing, but it is hard to ignore these shows, even if I will be away from home for two months. The upside is all the great shows they will do, the downside is missing family aned friends badly. Good news I am below budget on accomodation some places, Japan is doing great, same with Abu Dhabi, Australia is complicated. May be I can do one more of the seven summits, Kosciuszko at 2228 m.a.s.l. is a joke really but I need to do it hiking not driving, part of the Melbourne travel coming from Sydney I suppose.

While most other people in Norway are spending time on Christmas planning and shopping now, my mind is on "14 on Fire", tourist VISA immigration applications, stopovers and how to save money by stopping all "home activities" for some time. The airliners are putting deadlines on my reservations now so most of the plans should be settled within a week or so.

I ask myself this every day: "Should I go?" My brain says NO but my heart says YES!

Bjornulf



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-23 21:13 by bv.

This is what you need BV





__________________________

Bjornulf, just GO !
Traveling is great, and seeing the Rolling Stones is even greater.
If you have the time and money, just GO !!

Talking about the time and money... I have to wait for concerts in Europe.

I'm wondering if there's any chance they might do European festivals in the summer. Not for money obviously though...

The European Tour this summer will be an easy stroll... Even if I live close to the North Pole as compared to most of my Stones friends who travel, it is just 2-3 hours flying to most of Central Europe for me.

There are rumours about the Rolling Stones at Landgraaf Netherlands, may be Jun 8, as Metallica is the next day, then there are Barcelona rumours too about indoor shows at Palau Sant Jordi. Many rumours but nothing firm and to be trusted yet.

Landgraaf Pink Pop
[www.pinkpop.nl]

Palau Sant Jordi
[en.wikipedia.org]

It is still to early to make any plans for Europe shows, as these are all competing with other sites and venues, but I am sure they will do a few shows in Europe this summer.

Bjornulf

Landgraaf (Megaland) would be great. I live about 20km from de festivalsite. Saw them earlier there in 1995 en 1999. But I doubt of this rumour will be confirmed. Almost every year there are rumours just to speed up the ticketsell. On the other hand, if bv makes notice of this .....???

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skyhawk
Landgraaf (Megaland) would be great. I live about 20km from de festivalsite. Saw them earlier there in 1995 en 1999. But I doubt of this rumour will be confirmed. Almost every year there are rumours just to speed up the ticketsell. On the other hand, if bv makes notice of this .....???

Like you say, if they spread the rumours every year it might be just another rumour, only difference this year they might get the Stones if their bid is right - the Stones will in fact do Europe this summer.

Bjornulf

Thank you BV this is what I need for Christmas.

Quote
bv
We are getting closer to tour start. Today it is 60 days until the first official Rolling Stones 2014 show in Abu Dhabi.

I have been working on the travel schedule for the Far East and Down Under tour. It will be something like 38,000 miles of flights as it seems. The most challenging part is leaving Auckland April 6, with two days and nights of travel back home. Trying to find a nice place to rest for a day between Auckland, LAX/SFO and Europe. Rarotonga and Honoluly are both on the route, at no extra cost, but I would probably the only person who do a stop-over of less than 24 hours on these remote places. Also, I am looking for a stopover between Dubai and Tokyo. Recommendations are welcome.

Still I am working on an open plan of something, everything or nothing, but it is hard to ignore these shows, even if I will be away from home for two months. The upside is all the great shows they will do, the downside is missing family aned friends badly. Good news I am below budget on accomodation some places, Japan is doing great, same with Abu Dhabi, Australia is complicated. May be I can do one more of the seven summits, Kosciuszko at 2228 m.a.s.l. is a joke really but I need to do it hiking not driving, part of the Melbourne travel coming from Sydney I suppose.

While most other people in Norway are spending time on Christmas planning and shopping now, my mind is on "14 on Fire", tourist VISA immigration applications, stopovers and how to save money by stopping all "home activities" for some time. The airliners are putting deadlines on my reservations now so most of the plans should be settled within a week or so.

I ask myself this every day: "Should I go?" My brain says NO but my heart says YES!

Bjornulf, merry Christmas and thanks you so much for the intel and help for travel planning

I thought about your around-the-world ticket tip. Yes, you are right, things have improved, and you can plan it online using the alliance website : Skyteam (not advised for the Pacific), Oneworld, Star Alliance or GlobalOne

As for your itinerary, there is another option, if available, the one you mention before: to stop your itinereary in Auckland, flight back home with whatever extra miles you may have, and restart your journey with your world tour ticket from the Americas.

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The Joker
As for your itinerary, there is another option, if available, the one you mention before: to stop your itinereary in Auckland, flight back home with whatever extra miles you may have, and restart your journey with your world tour ticket from the Americas.

There is an absolute maximum miles limit on most around the world tickets, usually around 39,000 miles. The miles needed on these 14 shows are something like 35,000. So the remaining 4,000 miles would not really be sufficient for going anyway far. New Zeland is as far away on the planet as you can get when you are from Norway, so the only option on this tour is to close the circle.

Bjornulf

Don't forget two shows to be announced, unless you already know and aren't telling?

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drbryant
Don't forget two shows to be announced, unless you already know and aren't telling?

They are all in my list of shows:

[www.iorr.org]

They are still working on the exact dates so I would not lock any travel into dates until they are all officially fixed.

Bjornulf

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bv

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skyhawk
Landgraaf (Megaland) would be great. I live about 20km from de festivalsite. Saw them earlier there in 1995 en 1999. But I doubt of this rumour will be confirmed. Almost every year there are rumours just to speed up the ticketsell. On the other hand, if bv makes notice of this .....???

Like you say, if they spread the rumours every year it might be just another rumour, only difference this year they might get the Stones if their bid is right - the Stones will in fact do Europe this summer.

I did travel from the Netherlands to London in dec. 2012 and july 2013 and had a great time but will not go to Landgraaf again in 2014 if it happens. Was there in 1995 (Voodoo Lounge show including Love is Strong and Love in Vain!!!) and 1999 (a bummer of a show). Will watch on TV just like Glastonbury.

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OutOfTime

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bv

Quote
skyhawk
Landgraaf (Megaland) would be great. I live about 20km from de festivalsite. Saw them earlier there in 1995 en 1999. But I doubt of this rumour will be confirmed. Almost every year there are rumours just to speed up the ticketsell. On the other hand, if bv makes notice of this .....???

Like you say, if they spread the rumours every year it might be just another rumour, only difference this year they might get the Stones if their bid is right - the Stones will in fact do Europe this summer.

I did travel from the Netherlands to London in dec. 2012 and july 2013 and had a great time but will not go to Landgraaf again in 2014 if it happens. Was there in 1995 (Voodoo Lounge show including Love is Strong and Love in Vain!!!) and 1999 (a bummer of a show). Will watch on TV just like Glastonbury.

Landgraaf is a No Go for me. No great views on a band, . My last post was deleted by BV, so you know enough, about this gig i think.
Jeroen

Today it is 49 days i.e. exactly 7 weeks until tour start in Abu Dhabi. All of the 14 shows are now "on", and I am ready to go. But before I can go I have to do some serious and tough decitions. My workload needs to be reduced by 50%. It is a matter of family, Stones, work and IORR. I will not survive 2014 unless I change things dramatically. Now. So from now on it will be more "NO" and less "YES" unfortunately. Family is first priority until mid Feb, then Stones takes over. Work have to wait and IORR will have low priority.

I will continue to make some reports and make my own notes from every show, but I need 100% relaxing now, actually a long, long holiday without work at all. I have been working double shifts for too many years, and 2013 was extreme. So I don't know how that will fit into flying into new cities every 3 days or so. I will try to find a resting place in Tokyo. Some sort of Ryokan where they accept people who need to close down the outside world, close out internet, mobile phones and everything else.

I will do some more comments here of course but I hope people understand that I am not superman, and I can need any help there is around. Thanks for all the support so far, there are many who help me keeping IORR up to the standards.

Bjornulf

Taking care of yourself is the first priority, Bjornulf. Enjoy your holiday and family time!

The Rolling Stones are expected to start rehearsals in Paris in 2 weeks or so. Do we have some IORRians that are going to be there? Last year Dans work was perfect.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-01-14 16:58 by Stonesfan2146.

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Stonesfan2146

Do we have some IORRians that are going to be there?

I would be basically interested. But I would have to know before, when & where it exactly is and that I can see the Stones indeed from the near. I'm living hundreds kilometers away from Paris and have extra to travel there. I still regret the opportunity that I missed in 2007 (Brussels/Vilvoorde). I would be vastly interested to see the Stones from face to face (B-Stage was my nearest until now) .....


(Stuttgart 3-Aug-2006, click on picture for original size)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014-01-14 19:30 by Irix.

If there will be another secret club gig, you can usually get very close to them - but the problem is: it's secret and you may not now more details until showday...
If you get to go there, have fun!! ><

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Stonesfan2146

If there will be another secret club gig, you can usually get very close to them [...]

Even closer at the rehearsals .....



(Keith signing for the fans at Vilvoorde, [www.iorr.org] )

Yes! You need much luck to catch them at the right moment like that happy guy

After some reasoning about what Bjornulf would be without the Rolling Stones, one might also ask what the Stones would be without Bjornulf Vik. We, the ordinary fans,owe You so much, so l wish to thank You here very much for Your admirable and restless work over all These years! Carry on!

Do the girls still scream, when you perform on stage? KR: Not on stage, but when I perform, yeah.

Definitely a big PLUS ONE for bv! I had missed that message from earlier this year and I got a bit worried when I read it yesterday. Do have a good rest to keep on rocking in the new year and thereafter. Fans around the world will certainly be happy to keep you in the loop should they notice anything exciting stoneswise (hopefully any minute now...) while you're resting ;-)

--------------
IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio

Lwren scott is tweeting about strolling in Paris - does this mean they are there ?

What is the status of the Shanghai and Singapore shows? Do you think these cities are probable or have they given up on adding more? I count 12 shows (not including the secret club shows.)

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6s7s9s

What is the status of the Shanghai and Singapore shows? Do you think these cities are probable or have they given up on adding more?

I don't think that Shanghai and Singapore have been given up. BV has added these cities on 3-Jan-2014 to the appropriate Tour-Threads and they're also not removed from the "Tour 2014" page. So I think that the Stones are still working on this two shows because of the venue or the exact date.

Or they want to wait until tickets are on sale for Tokyo.

Today it is 37 days until the official tour start in Abu Dhabi. Five weeks and two days. I am ready! Organized the following today:

- Flight tickets (38,000 miles, 75 hours net flying, several 6-12 h flights)
- China VISA

And I am back on track to get fit for the tour, biking in zone red 10 minutes x 3 these past three days. I tend to overdo it, but weeks of rest are giving a great energy boost. Dangerous. The plan was 2+2 hours walking per day, to and from work, for the next four weeks, but then we got snow last week, so now I am between no-snow and real snow activities. It is paying off great to be fit for a tour. Standing, walking, waiting, moving around, for hours, before, during and after shows, changing city every 3-4 days, then it is great to have lots of energy left when the encore is on at 11pm or so show day.

Singapore and Shanghai? They will sell out in 1-2 hours, so no worries about these. Just have to count on the fact that they are on the schedule, but tour logistics may change them ot halt the announcement for still a whiole. You just need a VISA permit handy, it is too late to apply when you are on tour.

Usually we have snow in November, and it stays. By January we have 2-3 feet. Now we get an inch or two every day, so I hope I can start cross country skiing Saturday or Sunday. Then it is just in time for the tour. Three weeks of skiing is much more fun than biking in a fitness room with other maniacs!

Family, friends and customers have been prepared for the fact that I will be away for two months. THey all say have a nice trip. I am relaxed. And ready. This will be a great tour. Lots of travel, but every show will be unique, and I hope to be able to write some reports from the far east and down under...

Bjornulf

well, hope you enjoy the tour and travel Bjornulf. You are a Lucky man. if i had the money and opportunity, i would do the same.

Enjoy !!!

jeroen