Conor Oberst Gig In Stockholm

Despite of his young age Conor Oberst is by far one of the most productive musicians with his solo career and several bands. I totally adore his talent, lyrics and music. I got to see two Bright Eyes concerts in Sweden in 2011 and instantly booked tickets to his solo gig in Filadelfia Church in Stockholm in January.

Bright Eyes Debaser Medis Stockholm Feb 2011

Bright Eyes WTAI Gothenburg June 2011

A good seat really makes a difference! I sat some 5 meters away from the stage so that I could really enjoy the performance full.

 

  

And it was such a wonderful concert: Setlist - absolute top gigs I have ever been!

One of the curiosities with Conor is his collaboration with Swedish band First Aid Kit, whom I also like a lot. Therefore it is often the sister duo visits Conor on stage and he also visited their latest record on song King Of The World.

Johanna and Klara Söderberg with Conor in Stockholm Feb 2011

While in Stockholm it is a perfect opportunity to enjoy the town...

... and catch lots of other events, like Ola Salo's Swedish version of musical Jesus Christ Superstar in Göta Lejon. As being a big Ola fan I had already seen the musical when it was first performed in Malmö in 2009, but then I sat quite far away. This time we got the seats in very front and that really gave added value to the performance!

My favourite Stockholm museum Fotografiska had amazing and partly also a bit disturbing David LaChapelle exhibition. One could wish that we get this kind of high profile exhibitions also to Helsinki.

I also went to independent movie theatre Zita see the award-winning movie Eat Sleep Die, which has yet not arrived to Finland. Touching story about immigrants and job situation when "you do not have a change, take it". The film comes to the new Season Film Festival in Helsinki in April.

Learnings from the trip: always aim for a good seat!

Christmas Shopping In Copenhagen

Short weekend break in wonderful Copenhagen enjoying Christmas spirit, shopping a bit and eating well.

We started our trip by visiting Danish brewery Carlsberg's Visiting Centre in Valby, less than half an hour by bus 18 from the centre. Premises of the original brewery from 19th centrury guiding you through history of the Carlsberg story.


11 Gamle Carlsberg Vej



 

 





And you get to taste 2 beers with your entrance ticket at Carlsberg bar.

It was really charming Christmas feeling all over the town.

One must-to-see for me were the wonderful table settings at Royal Copenhagen - the brand now owned by Finnish Fiskars. This year's theme was Songs of Christmas designed by 6 differents artists. My favourite one was Caroline Henderson's Swedish style table with name badges for example for Olof Palme and Astrid Lindgren.

 

 

Royal Copenhagen store was extremely popular as were the main department stores Illum and Magasin.

Imposing Christmas lights also outside on shopping streets and not at least Tivoli.

The coolest restaurants are located in Meatpacking District Kødbyen and this time we decided to test Fiskebaren. It is essential to book the table in advance as the restaurant is really popular. I ate 3 courses and they all were stunning so Fiskebaren went straight to my top list of restaurants. Here I am coming back the next time when visiting Copenhagen.

Fish tank

Other dinner places were my old favourites Sticks n' Sushi and Wagamama.

Dinner at Sticks n' Sushi

Teriyaki salmon at Wagamama

Cosy Friday evening in Bang og Jensen.

Beer and glögg

Copenhagen never fails to delight!

Copenhagen Tivoli Christmas Lights

Christmas in Tivoli is one of the year's highlights in Copenhagen.

This year's theme was Russian and Scandinavian Christmas.

Brilliantly planned area with extensive light decorations and lots of activities to choose from: one could just stroll around and enjoy the athmosphere,

take a ride in amusement park

shop Christmas stuff at handcraft stalls

  

or have a warm glögg.

A great place to get into the Christmas mood!

Joyful Noise In Chicago

During one week in Chicago I managed to attend two concerts with five live acts.

The arrival evening I went straight away to Lincoln Hall to see Danish duo The Raveonettes. I really liked the venue as it was relatively easy to see the stage both from downstairs and upstairs.

There were two warm-up bands of which I like the first one Cold Showers more. Their plain style remained me of one of my favourite bands The National.

Second warm-up band was French Melody's Echo Chambers, which did not impress me that much. Their sound is much better on record than live.

But The Raveonettes was as cool and stylish as expected.

Both Sune and Sharin's voices sounded great and harmonic. 

A week later I went to Bottom Lounge to see Gossip. The venue was pretty small and crowded (sold-out), but funtioned well. The warm-up acts Bonnie Montgomery and Magic Mouth were quite vapid.

Beth Ditto's stage apperance was really energetic and her voice as captivating as on album.


















So according to my judgement the last gig was the best one.