Yes, you read that correctly. It's late and I just returned from seeing a couple of live bands with Viktor in Old Town, Stockholm. We had a great time; a true brother-in-law bonding experience.
Before leaving Stocksund--at nearly the last minute--we selected a show to go and see. Good choice, as you will see. We decided to hit a show at a club called Debaser; there are actually several of these clubs in Stockholm. This one was in the Old Town, which Viktor called "party central."
When we arrived at the club, which is located in the Slussen (or locks), the place was already happening. An outdoor restaurant was covered with tarps and outside of them, there were about 200 people drinking and talking while a DJ spun tunes. Within the first five minutes, the DJs had played a Gang of Four tune and something by LCD Soundsystem. A very good sign.
The stamp on our hand to prove that we were of drinking age was a portrait of Earnest Hemingway.
The highlight of the evening for Viktor was a compliment I received on my t-shirt. Viktor was adamant that we put some thought into what to wear to the clubs; he suggested a t-shirt with a "thoughtful message" and some jeans. He didn't expect that someone would really dig my Trogdor shirt.
The first band was a 3 piece called Les Artyfacts from Uppsala, a university town; they had a French mod/garage/60s thing happening that was pretty cool, if a little too cerebral and staged. The female bass player was good, but she could work on her backup singing a bit. Overall rating: a college band trying too hard. C+. Oh, and a very short set (reminds me of that Woody Allen joke in Annie Hall: "and such small portions...")
The main act was The Early Days, which was clearly more experienced. IMHO they had one too many guitarists up there. The vocals could have been mixed louder. Nice vibe, crowd loved them. We had fun. A solid B.
In the slideshow, you'll notice a mural on the wall paying homage to Detroit as the home of garage/proto-punk (i.e. MC5, The Stooges, etc). Ah, home.... Some observations on Swedish rock and roll:
- Shows started on time. That is very not rock and roll.
- No smoking in the club. I loved this, as being near smoking is akin to waterboarding for me. But it did seem odd.
- Show over at 1:00 a.m. and the line is out the door to hear the DJ. Um, I've come around to the whole EuroDisco/DJ thing, but there's something wrong with that.
This was a great time. Viktor is a very cool guy and fun to hang out with. We left after the second act, walked around through the hip part of town, bought some Greek fast food (gyros for Viktor, falafel for me), and had a great time. The kids were just getting started. As for me, it's nearly 3am here in Sweden, and I am going to get to bed.
