It’s been a while since my last post here, mostly because I’ve had so much to do in “real life”. One of the things I’ve been up to was a small, three gig tour with Jerry the Cupboard.
Sandviken
Thomas
Me & Thomas
Clas in Borlänge
Thomas
Thomas, Clas & Calle
Thomas
We started the tour off at Drömfabriken in Sandviken, one of the most amazing concert locations I have ever visited. It is run by people with learning disabilities, and just meeting these people makes you happy, the energy of that place effects you as soon as you walk through the door. We felt so welcome and was so well taken care of, and Drömfabriken have a special place in my heart after that day.
Everyone in the band was very inspired when we went up on stage, and the tour got the start we hoped for, with a really nice gig. Unfortunately there were not that many people in the audience, but I think we gave the people who showed up a nice experience.
Swedish newspaper Arbetarbladet wrote a nice review about the gig.
Stockholm
Our second concert of the tour was at Hotel Hellsten in Stockholm. They have a very nice concert series, with a jazz concert in the bar of the hotel every Thursday. Intimate concerts well worth a visit if you’re in town!
Being the second gig of the tour, and after such a great first gig the day before, we had a bit of a hard time really getting into it, but after a bit of a slow start we got it together, and it turned out to be a nice gig as well.
Before the gig I walked around in the hotel and met this Swedish comedian apparently staying there. Since I watch what he does and read his blog regularly, I got the impulse that I know this guy, before realizing who it was. I happily said hello, and by the look of his face I think I surprised him a bit. I guess people like him are pretty used to these things happening, but nevertheless you feel a bit stupid afterwards.
Borlänge
Our third and last gig of the tour was at Jazzclub Bolanche in Borlänge. A nice thing about this club is that it’s situated in the same building as the hotel, making it very easy to get there, you can almost take the elevator from your floor and step out on stage. Luxury!
I really liked the vibe of the club, it has a bit of a country & western style to it, making it a little different to an ordinary jazz club. Everyone at the club were very helpful and nice, which of course makes our life easier, but also makes it so much more fun to play! Sometimes you wish that more clubs would think about this, they would gain a lot from it.
As a musician I have to say that we often tend to do our best concerts at clubs with a good reputation (among musicians), where you know you are treated good and professionally. Since time on stage maybe is 20 percent of the total time you spend at a club, of course the time off stage effects the mood we’re in when we get up to do our job, and of course the audience can pick up on how the musicians feel.
Happy club -> happy musicians -> happy audience -> repeat cycle…
After sound check we had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant and then it was time to get up on stage. In the first song I immediately felt that this would be a good concert, the music was filled with so much energy and we had so much fun playing from the first note to the last. Inspiration was on top and afterwards we all agreed that this was our best concert of the tour.
The audience was the kind of audience you wish you would always have the pleasure of playing for, people of all ages, really listening and concentrating on the music.
After the concert there were lot’s of happy faces in the band, the staff and the audience, and we are very grateful that we could finish our tour in such a nice way with such a nice gig. From what I understood the club also recorded the concert on video, so hopefully I can upload some video clips from it in the future.
To finish this post off I would like to thank everyone coming and listening to us, and also a big thank you to Thomas, Clas and Calle for some great days together, let’s do it again soon!