Crime City Redux...

Tuesday 20 July 2010

We awoke to a great spread of eggs, tofu, fruit, oatmeal, crackers, jam, fruit and coffee that Clara and Tijana had prepared. Robert got his Soppo, a local Odwalla-like fruit drink that is rare elsewhere in Europe, and I got my caffeine. All was right with the world at that point, and it was about to get more right.

We had decided to go swimming on Monday, so we packed our trunks and walked across town to the beach.

After a few dives off the breakwall, we settled into the grass at the dog beach with Clara and Doris, Clara’s cocker spaniel.

We did push-ups, got sunburned, and found out that tops are optional on the beaches of Scandinavia. This has both good and bad points; you can use your imagination to figure out what we mean. Several hours, layers of skin and dives later, we grabbed the bus back to the practice spot and reloaded the van for the trip to the venue.

We loaded into the venue, a sick downstairs by a parking garage that comfortably fit 50 (it fit 100tonight though) and then headed around the block to Clara’s where we ate another amazing meal full of vegan crepes, strawberries and vegan crème. Too full to play, we went back to the venue and set-up merch just in time to catch Self Abuse’s first show. Self-Abuse is a band comprised of Alex (Clara’s boyfriend) and Kalle (Balance) and two guys from a Swedish band on Feral Ward. Since my Swedish is terrible, I can’t remember their names, but they left a lasting impression on me as a band. They were totally tight, discordant punk rock in the vein of 1982. I think they pull some pages from Dead Stop’s playbook, and their hometown crowd was certainly pulling for them.

Self Abuse was a tough act to follow, but we did our best to end the night playing our fastest and hitting our hardest to match Self Abuse and please the totally rad crowd. We had some technical difficulties including a bass drum spike breaking, so people took turns sitting in front of the bass drum. Andy, Robert Refuse, Andreas from San Diego (USA!), Patricia (Beyond Pink/retired ballerina/push-up champion), and a guy who sent five text messages during one song all kept the kick in place tonight. We ended with an encore of Our World, and I proceeded to load the van in my underwear since we’d soaked through our clothes and all of mine were back at Clara’s place. The locals were both surprised and delighted by this turn of events, and in the end, we have some pictures fit for the cover of our next record.

We grabbed another cheap and delicious falafel and parted ways with Gzeg guarding the van and the rest of us sleeping at Clara and Tijana’s spots. Thanks for the great show, great company on the stage and great hospitality Molmo! The scene here is great so be sure to stop by if you’re ever in this region of the world. And like I said, check out Beyond Pink, Self Abuse and Balance.

Going, going, back, back to Sweden, Sweden.

Monday 19 July 2010

Today we had an off-day to grab some gear from Kiel before catching the ferry to Denmark and then driving onward to Malmo, Sweden in the south of the country. We departed Hamburg after a stay at the local hostel. Alex from Hoods up and the venue really put together a nice show and great accommodations for us. Two shows in and we’ve been treated better than we could ever deserve. I guess Let Down fibbed about how Europe really is. We finally stopped for lunch when we arrived in Kiel and proceeded to piss off the non-English speaking Turkish entrepreneurs with our indecisive ordering and Deutsch that is nicht sehr gut. Either way, it was a good lunch that followed our playground pushup and pull-up workout. We grabbed funny tasting sodas and bubbly water before hitting the road to Denmark.

The push-up count between Hamburg and Denmark ~700 for the band, mostly Chuck, Hess and I, butt Geoff did at least 10.

We drove through some scenic German countryside, and the neo-historian in me could nary help but wonder what it must have been like to fight an infantry war through the landscape as our grandfathers did. The fields and farmhouses take on an ominous property as I think about the potential for snipers and landmines across hedge rows and forest edges. Geoff snapped about 1000 pictures, and Hess drank at least five German mystery drinks before we hit the ferry terminal full of holiday-goers from across the continent.

We noticed that everybody was bringing cases of German soda and beer in across the border. I’m not a customs guard, but I might check on the spendthrift Costco lifestyles that the Danes and Swedes live while down in Germany. I’d leave sketchy Americans with instruments alone though.

The ferry was reminiscent of those in Washington State and British Columbia, but minus the internet access. We kept our wallets in our pockets for the impending currency switch, and proceeded to take in views of the ship-goers and funny signs. Gzeg caught a nap while Robert kept the edge strong on the portside deck.

Upon arriving, we pulled off to a gas station for the first push-ups of Denmark, where we weirded out the locals. For my workout, I was rewarded with free ice cream that was oddly sitting in the parking lot. We drove onward, from push-ups and ice creams to the border, where we doled out our toll money and entered Sweden. The landscape was flat, and had obvious glacial outwash soils with very thin and young layer supporting agriculture and lots of managed forests. This did not interest the rest of my band, but then again, I’ve nary seens soils like that unless getting close to the arctic.

We drove a few hours, arriving in Malmo just in time to change Euros for Krona and get supper. We smashed some Thai food with Kalle, meeting Andy, a one-time member of the Satanic Surfers, along the way. It was no Seattle or Vancouver BC Thai food, but then again Thailand is pretty far from Molmo, so we can forgive the folks who made it. We ate in the central square and hung out with numerous locals. Gzeg and Robert ate mad vegan ice creams, like kids in a candy store. The explanation we received for them eating five and seven vegan ice creams each was “When in Sweden, you must live this way, because we have no such things in Poland.” It makes sense to me, but it also seems to provide a stomachache.

After dinner we had to unload the van into a practice space because Molmo is “Crime City” and we didn’t want to chance any funny business. Post-load in, we rolled back to our host Clara’s, and split up between her and Tijana’s houses for the night. Both Clara and Tijana are in a rad all-female band called Beyond Pink. The first pressing of the LP sold out for good reason, but if you can, get a copy. I’m sure you’ll hear more about their band in the future. Think the Donnas meet Infest and Swedish punk rock. They all love coffee more than their respective boyfriends and have the tattoos to prove it.