bad mood does the trick
tuesday, july 24, 2001
i've spent the last two months paying visits to my bank to get them to stop a check i wrote and give me back the amount i put into the check ($100). every three weeks i've gone into the bank to ask about the money and every time i've been told how sorry they were for the delay and that i would have the money deposited into my account by "next week".
yesterday i was in a bad mood because of the weekend, and for the first time i was fairly agressive at the bank in my quest for my money (this check was made out last december!). apparently it paid off. someone called this morning to tell me the money had been deposited. a quick ATM check confirmed this. hooray!
this means i am indeed able to go see h�kan perform next week, i've got ticket and train money and still plenty to spare. even better, my mom has decided to go with me to the town in question to keep me company, at least through the morning while i scope out if anybody else will be camping outside the concert-gates that early. if the place is empty (i need to learn how to navigate between the show place and the train station anyhow) mom and i will do a short shopping spree and eat waffles with whipped cream and jam and then mom will go back alone sometime after noon when i park myself in front of the concert gates with a book and snacks. i hope, hope, hope that there really aren't as many other devotees out to do the same as me -- as far as i know, camping out at a venue is more an america thing than a sweden thing, because most people just don't care that much here -- it would suck if i got there at 10 am and there's already a whole bunch. the city is the hometown of one of the bands travelling with h�kan, so there is that risk, but whatever. i can only do so much before going way overboard. anything within top 5 rows and i'm happy. :)
i sound a bit obsessed, i realize this, but i'm actually not, just a bit hung up. if sunday's concert would have worked out the way i had planned, this 2nd show wouldn't really even be considered, but as it is i just really want to do the experience all over again to fit what i imagined. it's hard to explain.
h�kan's album is my first favourite swedish album ever, and i'm 23 years old. every single song is perfect, the lines, the vocals, the drums, the echoes.. it's just a perfect album. i want to experience it live and up close. i already have 2 (almost 3) live concerts with h�kan taped on video, so it's not about the show being drastically different each time. it's just about wanting to be there.
it's really amazing to get to be caught up in the enormous energy of the people on stage, being one of thousands singing every word. h�kan always looks, sounds and moves as if he is lost in complete euphoria, it's a wonder he doesn't explode. watching somebody that happy sort of sends back that same euphoria into yourself. his songs all feature backing vocals that basically sounds like boys howling in falsetto like dogs a lot -- i can't explain how good it feels to get to howl like a maniac for an hour with all the other loser-dog-people. it's just special.
ok. i think i just made it sound like it's a crazy cult. :) it's not. just a little bit. i don't think i've ever seen an artist be so enormously loved by an audience before, i mean i've been to concerts where we the audience are extremely into the artist on stage (hello, tori amos, ani difranco), but this is different -- it's like a love fest of energy and huge happiness. his music lays on a layer of bongo drums with samba rythms and dist. guitars a la the smiths so it's impossible to do anything but want to jump up and down and flag your arms about.
if that's a kind of cult, sign me up. it's like a bizarre medication thing, hahaha, i dunno, like intense happiness shock treatment. and i want to experience the perfect full dose treatment. so. i'm going to see h�kan again next week. i'm catching the earliest train i can and i will spend all day at the venue reading and waiting because i WILL be up front this time. basta!
(the up front thing isn't meant as a snob thing: part of it is that i want to see the performer as close as possible because i don't think i really believe they are there unless i see them close up, and part of it is that it means i can lean on the security barrier and the pressure from the people is often not as gruelling as when you stand in the middle of the mob (i usually put my large purse between the fence and me to add some squish room) .. and why WOULDN'T you want to be as close to the stage as possible? i just never got why some people don't bother unless they have real reasons, like noise level, squish level, hate people, or whatever.. i've been a few feet away from TMBG, ani difranco, kristin hersh and some others and it's just an amazing experience. my only problem is that it can feel too close to stare at them because i worry that they'll feel uncomfortable by people a few feet away staring like crazy.)
i'm leaving this topic until next week, promise and i also promise not to post more stupid lame "entries" today, three is enough.
