Operahuset

Oslo's Opera House, which was completed in 2007. It's a remarkable piece of architecture, but because I love rock'n'roll I will always associate it with Tom Waits - his management asked the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet if he could play the Opera House as part of his 2008 Glitter and Doom tour, but they turned it down, presumably because they thought Waits wasn't "cultural" enough. Once word got out there were a lot of angry people in Oslo - including some of the politicians who fund the opera.

PS - a friend in the know saw this blip and told me the real story about the Tom Waits incident. Waits' people approached the Opera House and they said no because his schedule meant he would be in Oslo on a date that had been blocked off for sound and light maintenance. The Opera House folks figured what the hell, this guy can just play here next year when he tours again, not realising that Waits doesn't even play Europe every decade. They were told in no uncertain terms that if he - or someone of his calibre - asks again, then any maintenance stuff will be rescheduled to accommodate such an artist.