This blog is my photo documentary from the rehearsals to what would sadly be Jon Lord’s last concert in Nidarosdomen – the Nidaros Cathedral – the mighty cathedral with historic roots back to the viking ages in Trondheim in Norway.
For the concert on May 23rd 2010, Jon Lord was joined by The Lord Chamber Orchestra, assembled for the occassion from top classical musicians from Trondheim, and conducted by Torodd Wigum. They were joined on stage in some numbers by the rhythm section of Swedish prog-metal band Opeth – Martin Axenrot and Martín Méndez. Welsh Steve Balsamo and Swedish Nathalie Lorichs were the main singers for the vocal numbers, but there was also a children’s choir joining in for one number.
This photo blog is intended as a tribute to the great composer and musician, most famous for being a founding member of the hard rock band Deep Purple in 1968, a band he enjoyed great success with until he retired to pursue his own projects in 2002.
Hopefully this will also be joyful for the great musicians who made this a very special concert, and the large audience who were in attendance.
Me?
My name is Trond J. Strøm, and I’m from Norway. I’ve been a fan of Jon Lord and Deep Purple since my (even) younger days – since right before the band had their big reunion. A decade later I was one of the two founders of what was to become the first homepage for Deep Purple on the Internet – or the “information superhighway”, as it was called back in the day. Although this is not my achievement, the page still exists, and has been called “The Highway Star“ since the mid 1990s.
Knut Morten Johansen, the main force behind Jon Lord’s three concerts in Trondheim, Norway, has become a friend of mine over these years, and so I was invited to this concert. (We’re not quite certain, but the first time we spoke might have been at a hotel bar before a Deep Purple concert with Joe Satriani on guitar in Gothenburg in 1994.)
I worked at the picture desk of a major Norwegian newspaper for ten years, and photography is a big interest for me. Although I’m not a professional photographer, I’ve had hundreds of photos published in proper publications. As a music fan, I’m particularly fond of music photography.
Getting the chance to document the rehearsals for this concert was fantastic. I got the chance to document one of my big musical heroes interacting with other great muscians, witnessing the great vibes between the composer and his co-musicians on stage. I hope some of this spirit comes across in this set of photos.
Book and Blog
This project will be made available as a photo book for those interested in a physical copy. This will obviously be a niche book. My only possibility of publishing this book, is to use self publishing services. This means the cost for each copy is going to be higher than a book published with a couple of thousand copies in the first run.
However, this blog will remain free to view. If you don’t need a physical copy of the book, you can come here and study the pictures.
(This does not mean that other websites or publishers can lift photos from this blog and publish them without my consent.)
The blog will have far more text than the book, which will focus on the photos. There will even be a couple of extra photos in the blog. Space is not an issue here.
I hope you enjoy the blog – and if you’re interested in the book, there will be info and links once it’s available for order.
Please like the Facebook page for this project if you’re interested in receiving updates!
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