Through colours, costumes, and clothing, audiences reflect the artist in front of them at concerts. For artists such as Sabrina Carpenter, stage outfits have become a central part of the concert experience, and fans take an active role by recreating and interpreting them. The clothes are not only expressions of community and visible fandom, but also acts of creativity.

On display: Dress and jacket made by Benedicte Tranberg for Sabrina Carpenter’s concert at Unity Arena, Fornebu, 30 March 2025. Photographs from the same concert: Ayça Lingaas / Budstikka. TikTok videos: Benedicte Tranberg.

“Turbojugend” first emerged as the name of Turbonegro’s fictional fan club. After the band’s break-up in 1998, Turbojugend was established as a real, international community, originating in Hamburg. Members of local chapters around the world kept Turbonegro’s name, aesthetics, and music alive through gatherings and events—and played a significant role in the band’s comeback in 2002. With its own set of guidelines and the denim jacket as a uniform, Turbojugend became one of the most recognisable fan communities in rock music. In 2011, the circle was completed when Tony Sylvester, former president of Turbojugend London, succeeded Hans Erik Dybvik as the new lead vocalist of Turbonegro.

On display: Turbojugend denim jacket owned by Henning Haugom (President, Turbojugend Lillehammer), donated to Rockheim, 2025. The Turbojugend party “Happy Ports”, organised by Turbojugend Øresund. The event was held on both sides of the strait, in Helsingborg, Sweden, and Helsingør, Denmark. Photographer: Duncan McKinlay (also known as Folding Boy Twohawks, President of Turbojugend Aberdeen).

A Turbojugend kutte (jacket) is a symbol of community and friendship. When you meet someone else wearing this jacket, you immediately know that you share musical taste, humour, and—most likely—leisure interests as well. It is a symbol of belonging, and of friendship across national borders and continents.

Henning Haugom, the owner of this jacket, travelled to Turbojugend gatherings and festivals across Europe. The jacket led to friendships and memories with members from around the world—from Welt‑Turbojugend‑Tage in Roskilde to a Turbonegro concert in Gjøvik.

— Jenny Jahnsen Berg

Fan clubs flourished in Norway from the 1960s onwards, and both emerging and established artists often had their own fan club. These clubs could be run either by the artist’s management and record label or by the fans themselves. Fans would often start a fan club by first seeking the artist’s permission—though not always.

For artists and record companies, a fan club could be a valuable resource. It might, for example, manage fan letters sent to the artist, but above all distribute its own fan magazines, information sheets, standard replies, and autographs, helping to cope with the volume of post that often raised the same questions time and again.

On display: Daydreamer (Drama), 1983; Groovy Thing (Cosmic Dropouts), 1990; The society feeling Inger Lise, 1979; Ved Mikrofonen (Gluntan), 1969; ZOO-Port (ZOO), 1983.

In 1964, at just 17 years old, Wenche Myhre had achieved a level of fame in Norway matched by few before her. The rapidly growing volume of fan mail led to the establishment of the fan club Wenches Venner (Wenche’s Friends), developed by the Myhre family in collaboration with music journalist Yngvar Holm.

Membership included items such as a membership card, pin badge, signed photograph, and a dedicated fan magazine, while membership fees and income from events were used, among other things, to help build a children’s clinic in Gaza. Wenches Venner was featured in newspapers, magazines, and on television, and quickly grew to become Norway’s largest fan club. With well over 10,000 members, the club handled significant financial sums, which later led to critical media scrutiny and internal conflicts.

On display: Membership card for Wenches Venner, signed photograph, and fan club newspapers from 1964.

For many years, New Jordal Swingers had the most professional fan club in Norway. The band received large volumes of fan mail, and several fans approached them about starting a fan club. In 1978, the band instead chose their collaborator and friend Tom Sunde as the driving force behind the club.

The fan club functioned as a link between the fans and the band, and remained active until 1992. Its magazine, Rock Machine, provided fans with detailed records of the band’s activities. The club also managed fan mail, distributed the latest press photographs, and sold a range of products bearing the band’s logo. In addition, it was one of the few Norwegian fan clubs to offer exclusive record releases to its members. Particularly active fans were invited to join “Team NJS” and were awarded a gold‑plated pin.

On display: Welcome letter from the New Jordal Swingers fan club (1978), Rock Machine no. 6 (1979).

A fanzine is a do-it-yourself publication, produced by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. Dedicated to specific cultural phenomena, fanzines can function as a form of glue within musical subgenres and as an important part of a music scene.

In Norway, fanzines experienced a period of growth with the emergence of punk. Rockefilla hit the streets in February 1977, and in the years that followed, countless fanzines were published, dedicated to punk and other Norwegian music scenes. A well-known example is the importance of fanzines within the emerging extreme metal scene. In certain genres and subcultures, the distinction between artist and audience can be less clear than in the commercial pop industry, and there is often overlap between making a fanzine and playing in a band.

On display: Frukt‑knæsk (Bergen, 1980), Konstruksjon (Mo i Rana, 1985), Nye oppstøt (Trondheim, 1980), Panic (Ski, 1985), Rockefilla (Trondheim, 1977), Schnørr (Oslo, 2022), Slayer Mag (Sarpsborg, 1986).

Sometimes a song resonates so precisely that it feels as if it were written just for you. You want to say thank you, to explain, to share—and to find a way to reach the artist. One way of doing so has been through fan letters. Handwritten letters, complete with envelope and stamp, were sent by fans through the postal service, often in the hope of receiving a reply.

Writing to a stranger one nevertheless feels one knows is an art in itself. A fan letter could range from brief messages to highly elaborate and personal letters, sometimes including drawings and gifts. Writing fan letters involved a series of choices: handwriting, design, and rhetorical devices were all important elements. Above all, it was about how one presented oneself and what one chose to write about. Today, communication between artists and audiences takes other forms, and letter writing as a mode of expression may be a tradition on the verge of disappearing.

On display: Fan letter with gifts from a Japanese fan to Trine Rein (1997).

My interest in Drama began when, at the age of 14, I bought my first record, Breaking Away, on cassette, after seeing the band on the teenage television series Halvsju and hearing them on the radio show Ti i skuddet. In the 1980s, being a fan meant sitting ready with the cassette recorder, taping songs and interviews from radio and television. News also came through the fan club magazine, and there were set days when you could call the fan club to ask questions.

My pocket money went on young adult magazines such as Topp and Det Nye, as well as weekly magazines and newspapers that wrote about Drama/Creation. The clippings were carefully kept. After concerts, we searched out local newspapers to read the reviews. We travelled by train, bicycle, and car to experience concerts, always standing at the very front and shouting along to the songs. After concerts, the boys almost always came out to sign autographs and pose for photos, and we also attended record signings. It was a hobby that required real effort in order to gather information.

Tone Børstad was born in Tønsberg in 1968. She became a fan of Drama in 1982 and followed both the band and its continuation as Creation throughout the rest of the 1980s. Her time as a fan, and the sense of community experienced at concerts, have continued to shape her later in life. She has stood in the front row at concerts by Roxette and Per Gessle, and has been part of the audience at concerts by bands such as Coldplay and Imagine Dragons – “And it all started with the boys from Larvik.”

On display: A selection from Børstad’s Drama/Creation collection. Donated to Rockheim, 2020.

Music and literature have been my core interests since I was a child, and I have always wanted to write. First, I wrote poems and stories, and thanks to the a-ha fan club, I also gained journalistic writing experience. After graduating high school, I wanted to attend university and get my master’s degree in American literature. I did that. Then, I planned to write my doctoral thesis about the Beat Generation – which I did, too. I wanted to teach American literature at university and write more books. I have done that as well – and many other things.

All of this has not happened because of a-ha. But I am sure that my passionate involvement as a fan and in the fan club has strongly contributed to shaping my personality: It has given me self-confidence and confirmed my belief in my creativity, imaginativeness, perseverance and the ability to change and achieve something. -

 Larissa Bendel, 2026

Dr. Larissa Bendel was born in Hamburg in 1974. She became an a-ha fan in 1986 and was one of the leaders of the international a-ha fan club based in Hamburg, Germany, from 1988 to 1998. She has a Ph.D in American literature and is a licenced group fitness trainer. Also, she writes books, both fiction and non-fiction.

On display: a‑ha: Hunting High and Low (Morgenbladet Top 100), 2012; Nærbilde – mitt liv med a‑ha, 2026; fan club material (T‑shirt and pen); leather strap (used by Larissa Bendel in the 1980s). Photographs in the collage are taken from Bendel’s private collection.

Magdi Omar Ytreeide Abdelmaguid (b. 1984) is an artist, songwriter, and rapper. Together with Chirag Rashmikant Patel, he formed Karpe Diem in 2000. The Oslo‑based rap duo soon developed into one of the country’s most popular and influential hip‑hop groups. In 2017, they shortened their name to Karpe, and have since consolidated their position as one of Norway’s leading artists of recent times, regardless of genre.

Karpe have, in various ways, given their fans particular attention. They have organised free concerts for fans under the age of 18 who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to see the group, and have engaged and mobilised audiences in highly original ways. Their work spans both carefully controlled audience strategies and inclusive, large‑scale approaches. As the first artists ever, Karpe sold out ten concerts at Oslo Spektrum. At the same time, they have invited smaller groups of fans to take part in exclusive events and contemporary art projects, such as an invitation to 100 fans to collaborate with the group at Festiviteten in Skien. Karpe actively shape the framework of their encounters with fans, with social engagement, format, access, and audience playing central roles in the group’s overall artistic practice.

Janove Ottesen (b. 1978) is an artist, songwriter, and composer, first known as the frontman of Kaizers Orchestra. Since their beginnings in Bergen in 2000, the band has stood out as one of Norway’s most distinctive rock projects, both musically and visually. Through extensive touring and a series of successful releases, they built a dedicated audience nationally as well as internationally. Alongside his work with Kaizers Orchestra, Janove has also made his mark as a solo artist under his own name.

From the outset, Kaizers Orchestra placed strong emphasis on their audience. Beginning with greeting fans by shaking hands before concerts, the band gradually developed a range of creative campaigns to engage their fan base. The Kaizers Virus was a digital project through which music and information were distributed directly to fans via mobile phones, and the band also invited fans to create their own versions of unreleased songs. Fan mobilisation also characterised the band’s comeback in 2023, when their most devoted fans were invited to follow the process ahead of everyone else. Through a successful campaign balancing affectionate involvement and strategic marketing, anticipation for the comeback spread almost organically to an ever‑wider audience.

girl in red is the stage name of the musician and songwriter Marie Ulven Ringheim (b. 1999) from Horten. At the age of sixteen, she began releasing her own self‑produced music online. In 2018, she gained significant attention both nationally and internationally, and in the years that followed her career accelerated with an international record deal, world tours, and streaming figures for individual songs that have since surpassed the billions. Today, girl in red is established as one of Norway’s most globally successful pop artists of all time.

From the outset, she has maintained a close relationship with her fans. Her active use of social media and candid lyrics addressing difficult themes have resonated with a steadily growing fan base. She has also been described as a queer icon, and the phrase “do you listen to girl in red?” became a cultural code within queer internet culture. A large and close‑knit international fan community has developed around the artist, in many ways extending beyond the music itself. This strong bond has also been clearly visible in the concert space, where interactions between fans have become a notable feature.

Astrid S is the stage name of singer and songwriter Astrid Smeplass (b. 1996) from Berkåk. She first became known to a broad Norwegian audience through the television programme Idol in 2013, and has since established herself as a pop artist with significant international reach. With billions of streams, sold‑out tours, and being named Spellemann of the Year in 2017, Astrid S has consolidated her position as one of the most prominent Norwegian pop artists of her generation.

Astrid S has actively used social media to communicate with and involve her fans in her music, career, and everyday life, positioning them as active participants. In her work on the song “Relevant”, she invited fans to contribute lyric suggestions, resulting in a song written with input from more than 5,000 people. As a live performer, she has built a loyal following, for example by inviting audiences to so‑called “pizza parties” ahead of concerts. These are some of the ways in which closeness, participation, and accessibility have been central elements in how Astrid S has built and maintained relationships with her fans.

Synne Sørgjerd (b. 1997) is an artist and songwriter from Kolbotn. With one foot in the singer‑songwriter tradition and the other in contemporary pop, she works in a text‑driven and conceptual manner. Within the music industry and the media, she has been highlighted as an artist with high expectations attached to her work, and she has already built a large online following.

Social media have been crucial to the way Sørgjerd has built her music career. She has described her aim as being “as personal and private as possible”, and has referred to social media as a natural part of her artistic expression. Since 2018, she has made active use of platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, focusing on visibility, continuity, and direct communication with her audience. Through humour and deliberate exaggeration—including referring to herself as “Norway’s hottest micro‑celebrity”—she has challenged expectations of perfection, particularly those placed on female artists. By playing with the influencer format, she also highlights how identity on social media is often staged, and that it is not always a given that everything one encounters online should be taken at face value.