Monthly Archives: December 2007

Elmo, Movits!, Ludvig Svartholm

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On Thursday 6th, we toddled down to Debaser Slussen (pic above and click it for a gallery of the venue and area). We had no idea who was playing, we just wanted to get out of the hotel and see some bands. So, we were very chuffed to see not one but three cool acts!

First on were Ludvig Svartholm. Seeing the large lineup and varied instruments, I expected something Arcade Fire-y. What I got was a mix of very catchy folk with some hints of country. Doing this kind of intense, quiet music is always a challenge in a rock venue but I have to hand it to the band, they pulled it off flawlessly.

Next up were Movits!, who, again, I got completely wrong. I expected a Blues Brothers r’n'b workout but instead I got some fine Swedish hip hop with a hefty dollop of swing. And I mean swing as in Benny Goodman, not Teddy Riley. Movits! rocked the crowd, made everyone smile and laugh and dance and jump around. Excellent!

And the night finished with headliners Elmo. This was the one band I had pegged right: before they went on, loads of girls went up the front, staking out their positions. “Hmmm,” I mused, “I bet this lot are young, pretty, wear mascara and ROCK!” And, lo, I was right! Elmo did a catchy set of anthemic stompers, veering from New York Dolls rabble-rousing to almost Merseybeat boppiness. And they did a pretty damn good cover of ‘The KKK Took My Baby Away’ too!

Wow – what a great night! Seeing three bands I’d never heard of before, them all being vastly different genres and yet all good! I liked them so much, I bought each of their records from the rather charming lady womanning the merch stall. :-)

And what a great little venue Debaser Slussen is: fantastic space, location, lights, PA, staff – I can’t fault it. I wish we had that level of venue round here but I guess it’s unfair to compare Derby with a capital city.

Ahhhh… Stockholm!

Click the band pics for individual galleries!

Baba Sonic, Stockholm

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On Wednesday the 5th, we shook a leg at the remarkably loud Baba Sonic club. We met these lovely people:

The girl taking pics says hello by thumping one on the arm. Quite hard! :-)

And then we spotted this feller:

How can you not like a club with a resident croupier? :-)

He was a cool dude. Watching endless people lose at the table was quite entertaining in the gaps between dancing to Dexy’s and pumping Eurodisco.

Click the pics for the gallery!

Slussen By Night

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Stockholm at night is a wildly pretty place. Whether it’s looking out across the harbour, like above. Or just gazing at passing trains:

Click any of the pics for a gallery of twinkly lights and orangey transport!

Slussen Saluhall

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One of the places we wandered into by accident was Slussen Saluhall.

Perhaps it was the decorations or the darkness or the sparkly lights but I felt I’d wandered into some kind of secret Santa grotto!

Click the pic for spangliness!

Hej Hej Stockholm!

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Jyoti Landet
Photo by Mattias Cosy Den

Last week, I played at Landet, Stockholm.

And it was excellent!

The gig was organised by Cosy Den (thank you, Mattias!) and I again had the privilege of playing with the urbane and debonair Erik Halldén:

Landet is a wonderfully intimate and ..er.. cosy venue but it’s also got great lights and a PA that would shame many a larger club. It’s such a joy to play and actually be able to hear oneself (and thanks also to Gaz for doing a great job on the sound again).

I loved being able to lock around the people in the audience, from face to face and sing directly to them. I guess I’m just not rock’n'roll – my favourite type of gig is exactly this kind of small, personal affair. The first half of my set was acoustic, just me warbling over my hamfisted guitarrings. The second half was similar but with the addition of electronic backing tracks. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the whole thing had fallen as flat as a pancake!

But the audience… oh, what lovely people, as attentive and polite as they were windswept and gorgeous. I really couldn’t imagine a British audience being so charming and gracious, sadly.

Afterwards, I got the best reaction any songwriter could ask for: two beautiful ladies separately approached me and said how my set had made them feel a bit emotional and tearful. They understood exactly what my music is about. Yes! I am the king of indiegothelectrofolk! :-D

And I had even more flattery in the course of the week that followed while I was still in Stockholm. I kept bumping into people who’d been at the gig and searched me out at gigs and clubs to tell me how much they’d enjoyed the set. As if I wasn’t enough of a rampaging bighead already! (Coming back to my normal Derby life has been somewhat of a shock to the system after all that…)

This was another dream gig for me and I’m not surprised it happened in Sweden. There’s a spirit, a pure passion for music there that doesn’t seem present on these shores where everything seems far more cliquey and “cool.” And I’m entirely the wrong size, colour and age to be cool, after all! I just can’t fit into them skinny trousers! ;-)

To everyone who was at Landet, thank you for listening and all the sweet things you said after the gig. Hopefully, I’ll be seeing you again, soon!

And next on the gig trail…

Finland! :-)