Nothing’s Rotten in Denmark
The antics of Arhus’s most (in)famous punk fan are just about the best way to kick off this edition, the twenty-first entry I have made (hopefully you’ve read almost as many) and one of the final few I will make, now that the tour is wrapping up. Arhus was the first Danish stop on the tour, the last country we will visit.
(Perhaps you’ve noticed the amount of times I’ve invoked the fact, directly or indirectly, that the tour is coming to an end. Let’s just say you put five people in a van for 60 days and you’re going to get antsy come the late-fifties)
Arhus was a blast; there was a city-wide festival going on, but the real party wasn’t a part of the fest: The gig at Den Borgerlige, a local community centre of sorts, drew a wide-ranging crowd of friends old and new; Martin, our man at the Danish Rock Council (I cannot emphasize how cool it is that Denmark has a rock council. “Working at the Rock Council,” asked Kang Mao, “that’s his job? You can work for the Rock Council?” She wasn’t expecting a positive response. “The government supports it?” she added), who invited me (and Yan Jun and Laura Sun) to the SPOT Festival, a Danish music festival, back in June, had brought in local punk legend Pedro de Palma, of Clean Boys fame, and a show was born. Here’s Pedro rockin during Clean Boys’ set:
On the Road With Subs
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Ten tracks is the plan. What happens afterwards with them is up in the air. But be sure that it will be available in the near future. Maybe even in a shop near you. For now, it’s practice for the finale. The last gig. In the heart of Christiania, a commune, of sorts, in the heart of Copenhagen, at one of Copenhagen’s best rock joints, Loppen. And Friday: We’re China-bound...
Pedro was not, however, the most rockinest that night. This man, known far beyond Den Borgerlige’s walls as a rock-booster, will reappear throughout this entry, first along with Clean Boys:
And, just a bit earlier in the evening, proving that you can bang to laptop music, again, with his signature arm-waving/pointing/banging moves:
Another room packed, another crowd rocked, another notch in the proverbial bedpost:
And, of course, the requisite post-show love from the fans (and the nervous laughter of a woman not sure if this guy’s funny or freaky):
Next stop: Copenhagen. You’d think that the five days between shows would be all R+R, but, well, no. Unless ‘R+R’ to you means Rock and Roll (I meant Rest and Recuperation). From Monday through Thursday, the band is in the studio: Sonic Studios, Morten “Quartermain Records” Softing wanted to record them.
“Why did he want to record us?” Kang Mao asked, as if it didn’t make sense that someone would want to put them on tape. Morten did, and, as I type this, he is. We met at SPOT Festival, exchanged CDs and he offered. I wasn’t exactly going to say no, despite Ms. Kang’s misgivings. And it’s been a great experience for everyone. Even for Wu Hao, banished to the hallway for the sessions.
At one point, as Martin and I ate our pizza, I heard a scream come from the studio, sounding as if Morten had accidently erased some tracks, or, perhaps, someone was playing so badly he wanted it all to stop. Fortunately this time I had a translator: “HOLY FUCK THAT’S GREAT!” he had said.
