Field Report: Scandinavia pt.1
The last time I was in Europe was back in 2010 when I studied abroad in Barcelona. I was taken back by the the way the unruliness of the street art as well as Goudy’s architecture were interwoven into a rigid grid of a city plan. The spirit of Catalonia will always be in my heart, but this was a whole other part of Europe I was fascinated by. Our band was invited to play the highly regarded K-Town Hardcore Fest in Copenhagen. Our trip started in Berlin where we flew in. Our driver was to drive in from Poland to pick us up and get us on the road. Day one we drove from Berlin to Copenhagen and then would be on to Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Lublin, Proebnia, and back to Berlin for our last show. One of the things that got me into graphic design was architecture. I knew this would be exciting!
We boarded our tour van onto a ferry to cross into Denmark from northern Germany. The ferry was cool, and things were starting to feel real. Going to Denmark for the first time to play music felt like something I would never believe if I told myself I would be doing that 5 years ago. We rented a house in Copenhagen for the two nights we were in town. The rental felt like an old school Air bnb where the family actually lived there and rented out their home while they were on holiday. They told us to eat all their food and feed the house cat if we could. NO PROBLEM.
The fest in Copenhagen was at Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen, which started as a workers’ gathering hall in the late 1800s before becoming a self-run youth house in the 1980s, where punk shows, activism, and DIY culture thrived. It became a symbol of autonomy and resistance, eventually leading to a major conflict with the city that ended in its eviction and demolition in 2007, sparking riots and global attention. It has since relocated to a massive building with a large two-story music venue, artist residences, kitchens, art and recording studios, and a bar venue and stage. This was everything I expected and more, it was unbelievable.
We made our way up through Sweden to get to Oslo. We were supposed to have a day off, but we got there pretty late, so we just ate some dinner and hit the town for a night out with whatever energy we had left. We stayed at a cooperative that our lead singer’s husband used to live in for many years. The man who ran the building was kind enough to host us in the guest apartment. Our show in Oslo was at another legendary DIY space in a huge European building called Blitz. This place was equally impressive as the last space in Copenhagen. The bands were amazing, and it felt really good to play for the Norwegians. They were very receptive to our music, which made the night very special for us. After Oslo, it was back to the Swedish countryside to Stockholm. The drive was absolutely gorgeous, and the city was just as mesmerizing, with the colored layers of old Scandinavian architecture and pitch-black cliffsides. After Stockholm, we were supposed to catch another ferry, but there was a mix-up about the size of our van, so we had to stay another night and catch the first ferry out in the morning. The 10-hour ferry was more like a mini cruise ship and was a lot of fun, too fun in fact. We were headed to Turku, Finland, and had to drive another hour and a half to Helsinki to get to our show.
Stay tuned for part II…
