The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
- Saint Augustine

Monday, August 15, 2011

Edward Sharp on Point and Bittersweet Sweden


Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. As lame as it may be to see an American band in a foreign country, there was nothing remotely lame about this concert. It was awesome.

I was realizing that it had been a while since I had seen a real band, I was just used to seeing DJs (no offense to a certain someone) who, while they do perform music, are not necessarily creating their music on the spot. When you watch a live concert there is something special that the audience contributes, and I could feel that in this venue.

First of all, the lead singer, Alex Ebert's constant supply of weirdness and energy kept the crowd going, at one point he said, "I think I'd like to get a little closer" and calmly walked off stage into the crowd next to us and sat down. The entire venue sat down with him as he sang the song "Brother" campfire style. You could tell the base player on stage was shaking his head going, "Damn, Alex does it again."


Over all a wonderfully successful concert, and biking home from the venue in the rain my two friends and I couldn't stop singing "Home, yes I am home, home is where ever I'm with you..."

Then bright and early the next morning it was time for Sweden.

We took the train to Malmo, only about a 30 minute ride over the bridge, and only once we walked off did we remember we didn't have a plan. We all look at each other. "Wander?" "Yeah, wandering sounds good." So we did. Here is a picture of a charmingly deserted Swedish street:


We wandered around some quiet Sunday morning corners until we came across a church. Saint Peter's Church (built in the 1300s) that was holding 11 o'clock mass. We were allowed in, just as the choir began singing. I have never been a religious person, but for some reason standing in the back of this temple, with the candles alight, with angelic voices thundering through the arched ceilings and the cardinal seated in his throne, filled me with awe. To know that this exact same ritual has been performed for centuries every Sunday made me feel that I was a part of a beautiful tradition and history, even if it was just for a moment. By far the highlight of my weekend. We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but if you ever have the chance, Saint Peter's Church was truly jaw dropping. 


There is no way but to sound materialistic from here on out. Yes, we went shopping too!

We wandered more, through parks and malls and the harbor, and when the day was coming to a close we were all happy to take the train "home". My friend Brittany and I at a park in Malmo:


This may be one of the first times when we were out that people asked us for directions. We helped three old couples with bus passes and a darling tweed gentlemen with the "beep screen" (as he called it). When I was out for a run the other day, some woman stopped me to ask where the botanical gardens were. Although my first reaction was to say, "There are botanical gardens near here?? Where? I wanna come!" I respectfully told her I didn't know. Then I realized something: Did we look like we knew what we were doing??? Sweet!

1 comment:

  1. I realized 3 days ago how long it's been since I've seen a live performance. Need to fix that! ;)

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