Punk, Jazz, & Interpretive Dance

A couple more music related things have happened in Luleå recently.The big thing was the opening of Kulturens Hus, above, the new concert hall complex, with gallery space, cafes, and the town library. Admittedly some people were not impressed, with at least one letter in the local newspaper saying "why the hell should my taxes be going towards this 'kultur'; I hate music and dance and will never go there". Ah, the enlightenment hasn't penetrated every cranny up north.

The most disappointing thing about the building is the name. After the regional newspaper held a naming contest to give the "culture house" a cool name the committee decided on calling it just "the culture house". Though taking a leaf our of Jeff Kennets' book for naming everything "Melbourne-this" and "Melbourne-that" I was going to suggest The Luleå Culture House. Or even The Melbourne Culture House... and rename Skeppsbrogatan (Shiping bridge Road) Melbourne Boulevard...

But plenty happens here. The first thing I went to see was Magnus' band (one of the trumpeteers from Luhrarne). Seeing as he turned up to our Kent-Albinz gigs, we thought we should reciprocate. But what he didn't tell us was that he was playing as part of International Women's Day celebrations, at the end, and we would have to sit through over an hour of poetry and bad interpretive dance with a woman, a chair, and a piece of cloth. Now I am more than happy to support the cause and see new things, but I am so over sitting through this kind of stuff; the dance consisted of walking around the chair (representing the journey?) , covering with the cloth (abandonment?), uncovering the chair (newly opened eyes in a new land, freedom from repression?) and then tipping the chair over (the unresolved angst of blah blah blah blah blah blah). Sorry, it didn't do it for me.



I think this kid said it all - the sound engineers needed a bit more practice - everything was too loud, and the balance within the band was awful.

Then two weeks ago came the Swedish Jazz Celebration to Luleå. And some big name artists. Here is Robert Nordmark, who had a beautiful tone and control.

Randy Brecker was the headlining act, playing with the Norbotten Big Band. Famous funk trumpeter from the 70s and on, he played using a lot of guitar pedal effects to alter the trumpet sound. I didn't think it worked so well - it just sounded like a synthesiser so could have been anything. But they played some great, funky tunes, and the NBB under Tim Hagans is always a tight unit.

Randy & Tim

Bobo Stenson Trio

Kristian Harborg

Nils Lindgren is possibly the James Morrison of Sweden, the family friendly jazz muso most Swedes are most likely to have heard of. Famous for his special red trombone, he also sings and has done musicals and stuff. Unfortunatley he sang alot at this concert, which was a pity because his funky trombone playing is smooth and sweet and I would have liked to hear much more.

The last bit of kultur I have experienced is 70's punk legends (in Sweden) Asta Kask. My first rock gig in Luleå; it was cool. But I had kinda forgotten that there would be cover bands and stuff, even here, so got there too early, and was surrounded by 16 year olds, and quite a few mohawks, heaps of peircings and studded jackets and paint splattered, torn jeans. The crowd was small, and so was the mosh pit, but that didnt stop 5 foot high 15 year old girls getting amongst it. Boy did I feel old! The youngest kids there were probably about 10, sans parents, but there were a few oldies who were around 'back in the day' also. I didn't really understand much of what was being sung, except for a couple of lines such as "kill kill kill", and "I smell corpses and want to stomp on your head". And some political stuff about "the corporation". Youtube them at will. I think the song Blitzkrieg is in English, but I cant really tell.