Potato holiday in Norway – off to Stockholm with ABUK, the “Asker and Bærum Youth Winds” – with the odd musician from Oslo, and even Italy. ABUK offers young adults aged 13-18 the possibility to play at a more advanced level than that afforded by the school bands that are their main affiliation. (cont below photos)
We travelled by train and stayed at the Zinkensdamm. This is a hostel of sorts located in a quiet part of Södermalm. No frills, no thrills, but well run and cheap. Perfect for us, and the nearest McFlurry was less than ten minutes away!
I really enjoyed Skansen and the ABBA museum, for similar reasons: nostalgia, and down to earth Swedishness. ABBA has been part of my life since I was about 8 or 9, when “Mamma Mia” came out. “Knowing me Knowing you” was the soundtrack to my visits to Tromsø and the Kroken downhill slope with its lift that was forever breaking down and its poorly maintained “pistes”. The interviews with Annifrid and Agneta stood out. One self-possessed and sure of herself, the other much less so. I went back and looked at the photos. You can see it all the way. “Arrival”, “The Album” – I bought them myself, and “Fernando” on 45rpm, played it to bits. Last night I hooked the Mac to my old hifi and turned up the volume on Knowing me – knowing you from Spotify. Listen to the bass line – and not just on this one.
Stockholm. Clean, tranquil, uncrowded, polite, cool, efficient, expensive. Imposing buildings, boulevards and squares. Not so cozy; not like Copenhagen, no, not at all. Here it made sense to hum “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty.
The kids. They´re musicians. They don´t have fancy handbags and fancy clothes. And they are probably not the coolest kids in school. But they act like most kids – except as a group they are incredibly easy to manage. And then they have an ace up their sleeve. They unpack their instruments, a particular, focused light comes on in their eyes, and they become an orchestra. Gets me every time.
schoutbynacht 