The Road to Parken with The Minds of 99: A look behind the scenes

On 11 September 2021, The Minds of 99 performed in front of 52,000 people in Parken stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was a historical concert, the largest stadium concert in Europe since the pandemic. I have previously posted my own photo essay and the combined photo essay from my phototeam from the concert, now it is time to go behind the scenes and give you a small peek into the making of this historical concert.

This is a tribute to all the incredible people behind the scenes that made it all happen.
This is The Road to Parken with The Minds of 99 & Crew.

11 September 2021, and a few hours before the doors are opened for The Minds of 99 historical stadium concert at Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark

For me, it is such a thrill, such a privilege to be allowed to roam around and document everything behind the scenes like a fly on the wall. It means so much to me to be trusted to be part of the whole story and document the build up and the fantastic work by every crew member. Whenever I can I always ask if I can turn up early at gigs. Ideally at get-in because I want to document the magic being built, I find that so interesting and fascinating. All of these many parts coming together and often right down to the last minute – and then the doors are opened, and fans can enter the universe that has been created.

It is humbling and inspirational to be around so many incredibly skilled people. There is a real sense of family here, a fellowship if you will. And with the whole The Minds of 99 family, the crew have become friends and this is my office, this is where I meet everyone. During lockdowns like we have right now as I write this, I really miss getting to hang out with artists, crew, fellow photographers, friends and fans at concerts.

Obviously preparations and planning started way before what you see here, but my visual documentation started in August 2021. Let’s play Infinity Action, the latest Minds album, and take our first steps on The Road to Parken.

It begins. Working on the set list (laid out on the floor)
Testing out the podiums in Royal Arena. I like this band picture, it was near impossible to get all 5 of them in frame like this in Parken.
Final rehearsal in Royal Arena the week before the concert

After the rehearsals in Royal Arena, time seemed to stand still for me as a kid waiting for Christmas. Finally, it was Thursday 9 September in the afternoon and I could ride my bike to Parken, walk in and be blown away by this sight:

This is Thursday evening, 9 September 2021, 48 hours before the concert. It was really amazing to witness the tail end of the construction.
Parken hosted a football game just 4 days before the concert. Straight after the game, hundreds of people worked around the clock to transform and build. If you build it, they will come!
It’s like watching a life-sized puzzle being solved, every piece finds it’s place and the picture gets more and more complete.
Now, that’s a decent stereo! A massive amount of speaker amps and a proud team from Allround + Kristian Thomsen behind it!
I am guessing this is about 1% of the cables used.
Manager Ole Nørup inspecting the stage, Tor looks on. We all had to wear helmets as they were still building everything.
Franz and Jakob making sure every guitar and bass is in perfect condition
Mikkel directs the complex build of all the podiums.
And the ‘Solkongen’ basket is live, and we had to try it of course! Here’s Jannik taking to the sky.
And this is the Solkongen view from my trip in the basket. Niels went much higher than this. It was great fun, and a great spot to shoot the stage from.
Friday morning, and the ‘beast’ has been assembled and ready for action.
Kristian Thomsen, front-of-house sound engineer who made Parken stadium sound really great!
I love just walking around during early setup and rehearsals and finding surreal and gorgeous scenes like this. The scale of everything was just mind blowing.
Jannik Jensen, light designer, checking that every lamp is following his command.
You can’t take us photographers anywhere! My dear friends and phototeam members Morten Rygaard (left) and Malthe Ivarsson (right)
Malthe has a knack for capturing me without me knowing it 🙂 Sometimes I had to just sit. Take it all in. Rest those old legs!
Picture by Malthe Ivarsson.
Tor in charge of the monitor mix and cooking up some tech magic as the concert is mixed for each wireless in-ear monitor, with no lag.
Final test Friday night. Ready for launch!
That view. I will forever be incredibly grateful I got to experience this and document it. Let’s do it again!
Saturday afternoon and Parken is just about ready for all 52,000 fans!
Saturday evening and the stadium is filling up with wonderful fans and the buzz, the excitement in the air was just unreal, so magical. Infinity goose bumps!
Minutes away and tour manager Søren Borkmann keeping everyone smiling as an incredibly loud roar of the crowd fills the stadium
Franz and Paw at the C stage during the concert, and THAT is the feeling when everything goes perfect!

You definitely also must watch this incredible timelapse by Andreas Højberg showing Parken going from a football stadium to The Minds of 99 concert and back again in 1 minute.

Finally, I will end with one picture from the concert, one that shows all the hard work by everyone climaxing in two hours of pure magic:

A historical day: The Minds of 99, 11 Sep 2021, Parken Stadium, Denmark.

Thank you Minds, thank you crew and team <3 See you on the 2022 Infinity Action tour.

2 Comments on “The Road to Parken with The Minds of 99: A look behind the scenes”

  1. Reply

    Tak for denne fine fortælling + fotos fra forberedelserne frem til show. Det er du god til, og det er vi mange der værdsætter højt. Bedste hilsner fra Borkmann ❤️

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