1st fanclub meeting (Sweden), Aug 1997 - Alphaville Forum

wii · 14 Feb 2008, 21:03

The fanclub meeting was arranged at a hotel on a small island in Sweden called Hönö. (Located just outside Göteborg). The party included mostly Swedish members and the 3 of us from Denmark. But also the head of the Italian fanclub “euphoria” was kind enough to join us. The meeting included one sleepover at the hotel.

Saturday
At 3. PM Joachim, Willy, Sean and myself arrived at the hotel in Hönö. After a long awaited meal, we started to prepare the conference room that was made available for us. Hanging up old Alphaville posters, arranging the tables and chairs and setting up the DJ equipment etc. Two hours later the first members arrived, and at 18:00 PM we were all there. Willy arranged our Alphaville stock. (Selling Posters and some rare albums). A special Fanclub meeting issue of Headlines were presented to the members, featuring both Marian´s and Bernd´s autographs. (Thanx to Moonoffice). After introducing everybody to eachother, we displayed the program for the meeting. The first thing on the program was watching the latest tv-appearances of Alphaville.

It was a meeting of many surprises, both from the head of the fanclub, but also from some of the members. Willys surprise was the Flame Promo which he had obtained just the day before. But THE surprise of all was when the Italians presented the Salvation promo tape. More than a week before its release, we had the chance to listen to it.

Later in the evening our Alphaville competition started. Of course Willy, the Italians, or me could participate. Joachim had arranged a series of questions, as well as playing bits and pieces of different Alphaville songs to guess. (Mostly b-sides). After a while the final came down to two competitors, when Patrik Karlsson proved to be the Alphaville expert. The winning price: A framed photo of Marian at the last peace on earth concert. After this Willy and I made some hard-core questions for Joachim, who later revenged himself (with help from the Italians) even harder questions for Willy and me.

The most important event of the meeting was the finding of an official fanclub name. We arranged 4 groups in which we should work out a fanclub name and a logo. One from each group then presented their ideas. A lot of names (more or less serious) came up: “Eternal youth”, “Flame”, “Astral club”, “Apollo”, “Utopia”, “Welcome to the sun” and lots more until we finally agreed (almost unanimous) on: “New Horizons”. -The official Scandinavian Alphaville fanclub.

The remaining of the evening was pretty much left to partying and drinking to the music of Alphaville.

Sunday
The next morning we all got up at 12:00 and arrived together in the restaurant for breakfast. Many of us were half dead after the previous nights drinking. After this we all took a nice walk around the little rocky island of Hönö to discover its beauty. (And to cool of our hangovers). Joachim made it into a sightseeing. When we returned to the hotel we gathered in the conference room one last time to watch some old Alphaville videos. Then we checked out, and must of us went to Göteborg Central Station, where we said goodbye to eachother.

Some hours later Willy, Sean and I finally arrived to Copenhagen. What a weekend!

Photogallery:

http://www.alphaville.org/gallery/browseimages.php?c=21

Written by David Witkowski

14 Feb 2008, 21:03	#1
wii Dream Master Join Date: 07 Nov 2000 Location: Denmark Posts: 13,703	1st fanclub meeting (Sweden), Aug 1997 The fanclub meeting was arranged at a hotel on a small island in Sweden called Hönö. (Located just outside Göteborg). The party included mostly Swedish members and the 3 of us from Denmark. But also the head of the Italian fanclub “euphoria” was kind enough to join us. The meeting included one sleepover at the hotel. Saturday At 3. PM Joachim, Willy, Sean and myself arrived at the hotel in Hönö. After a long awaited meal, we started to prepare the conference room that was made available for us. Hanging up old Alphaville posters, arranging the tables and chairs and setting up the DJ equipment etc. Two hours later the first members arrived, and at 18:00 PM we were all there. Willy arranged our Alphaville stock. (Selling Posters and some rare albums). A special Fanclub meeting issue of Headlines were presented to the members, featuring both Marian´s and Bernd´s autographs. (Thanx to Moonoffice). After introducing everybody to eachother, we displayed the program for the meeting. The first thing on the program was watching the latest tv-appearances of Alphaville. It was a meeting of many surprises, both from the head of the fanclub, but also from some of the members. Willys surprise was the Flame Promo which he had obtained just the day before. But THE surprise of all was when the Italians presented the Salvation promo tape. More than a week before its release, we had the chance to listen to it. Later in the evening our Alphaville competition started. Of course Willy, the Italians, or me could participate. Joachim had arranged a series of questions, as well as playing bits and pieces of different Alphaville songs to guess. (Mostly b-sides). After a while the final came down to two competitors, when Patrik Karlsson proved to be the Alphaville expert. The winning price: A framed photo of Marian at the last peace on earth concert. After this Willy and I made some hard-core questions for Joachim, who later revenged himself (with help from the Italians) even harder questions for Willy and me. The most important event of the meeting was the finding of an official fanclub name. We arranged 4 groups in which we should work out a fanclub name and a logo. One from each group then presented their ideas. A lot of names (more or less serious) came up: “Eternal youth”, “Flame”, “Astral club”, “Apollo”, “Utopia”, “Welcome to the sun” and lots more until we finally agreed (almost unanimous) on: “New Horizons”. -The official Scandinavian Alphaville fanclub. The remaining of the evening was pretty much left to partying and drinking to the music of Alphaville. Sunday The next morning we all got up at 12:00 and arrived together in the restaurant for breakfast. Many of us were half dead after the previous nights drinking. After this we all took a nice walk around the little rocky island of Hönö to discover its beauty. (And to cool of our hangovers). Joachim made it into a sightseeing. When we returned to the hotel we gathered in the conference room one last time to watch some old Alphaville videos. Then we checked out, and must of us went to Göteborg Central Station, where we said goodbye to eachother. Some hours later Willy, Sean and I finally arrived to Copenhagen. What a weekend! Photogallery: http://www.alphaville.org/gallery/browseimages.php?c=21 Written by David Witkowski Last edited by wii; 15 Feb 2008 at 07:21.