Yes, this blog entry about my trip to Iceland is going to wear it's heart on it's sleeve, just as the title suggests, the trip I just took was very seriously the most remarkable thing I've ever been a part of. I honestly can't believe that I'm actually admitting it. I also have to admit that I'm really happy to be able to pin point a particular time in life and smack that cheesy of a title on it.
Tuesday was my last day of work prior to the trip. It was a fairly productive day spent tying up loose ends. After work Tuesday Amy and I gathered the things we needed to pack up, stacked them all in piles near the suitcases and then went to bed. I slept for something like 9 hours and it felt wonderful.
Wednesday morning I went and made spare keys to our apartment while Amy packed the bags. It was stressful making sure all things were in order for the travels. After packing I loaded the car with the bags and my guitar equipment. We then drove to Devin and Dylan's apartment and did the same with their bags and equipment.
Our flight was scheduled to leave Wednesday night from San Francisco at 11:30pm, this afforded us the luxury of not needing to rush right out of town. Our friends were nice enough to plan a little send off lunch at the IHOP on Sunset. Angie, Marc and Robert joined the four of us for some good fellowship prior to our drive. It was really the perfect way to spend the last hour in town. I think it helped us all remember there were many good reasons to come back.
The drive to San Francisco was basically without event of note. Dylan DeeJayed and I drove. We arrived in plenty of time and settled into the airport bar for a bit of drinking. Finally our flight time came up and we boarded without incident.
The only real downer of the trip for me was the flight to Iceland. It was long and uncomfortable. I would fall asleep for a few minutes and then be forced awake a few minutes later because some part of my body was aching due to the ridiculous limitations in motion. This was the first flight I've ever taken where you leave at midnight and soon fly far enough north to be in daylight again. The flight attendants actually require the passengers to close the windows so as to nullify the effect of the premature day.
We arrived at Keflavik Airport at 3pm Iceland Time, for those of us sued to living in California it was actually 8 am. It's a rather disorienting feeling to be plucked out of the Southern California heat in the middle of the night and dropped off halfway around the world in the middle of the afternoon to a chilly rainy Icelandic day.
Clearing customs in Iceland took less time than I imagined. We then gathered the bags and equipment and set out searching for our ride. Being unsure of how to find them we ventured toward the door. We soon realized the people holding the Gay Pride signs were there for us! How fun! Devin and Dylan's good Friend Kolbrun was also there to greet us.
Two rather cheerful lesbians took the band gear and big bags in a van, and a sweet gentleman named Globo gathered us in his car. As the trip would progress so did our fondness for Globo, a very gentle soul who seemed to wish good things for us. He drove us into Reykjavik in predominant silence. I was totally digging the ride. Iceland looked foreign to me on that drive, but not as other-wordly as I had perhaps expected. I was a bundle of butterflies.
Globo informed us that the part of Reykjavik we would be staying in was the oldest part of town. As we turned the corner to go up our little street Globo pointed out the Oldest home in Reykjavik, just a small stoned throw away from our temporary home.
Our lodging was a small guest house duplex. Our side had two twin beds and one pull out couch full size bed. There was no television, no clock, no stove, no wifi and no phone. We did have a sink and a bathroom which was ikea'd to the core, also a microwave. All in all a very cozy home.
Soon we met our new neighbors, a drag troop of sorts from Norway, called Queentastic. The first meeting was a little stiff, but that would change soon enough.
I was at this point beat, starving and in need of a drink, as was the rest of our party. We ventured down to the town square and were pleased to find that the Reykjavik's only Gay Bar/Cafe, "Cafe Cosi", was just less than 100 meters from our new home. Amy and I both got a large Viking Beer, and split a bowl of Lamb soup and a Ham and Cheese Sandwich. This would be the first lamb in a week of eating much lamb. The food was soothing and the beer was wonderful. Over the course of the meal we began orientation ourselves with the conversion of Icelandic currency to American. 1 dollar is roughly 72 Icelandic króna, and most items in Iceland cost in the hundreds of króna, two beers at Cafe Cosi seemed to run about 1300 króna. Our Icelandic friend Kolbrun was kind enough to lend a working cell phone, the simple math would prove shocking, one beer at Cafe Cosi was in fact 9 dollars. Ruh Roh.
After our meal we wandered back up to the duplex, where I lad down for a second. I woke up several hours later. I was apparently rather tired. Apparently I was not the only one who was tired, I would find out later, by means of a video that everyone except Devin had decided to catch some sleep, and Devin had decided to run about the Reykjavik filming himself in the surroundings.
After my nap ended libegangan buzzing around camp. Heimir, the pride director stopped by to give usshirtsrst, greet us and invite us to a celebration at a club called NASA that evening. I liked Heimir right away, he was very open and fun, and he was pretty much directly responsible for my presence in Iceland, that goes a long way towards making me like someone.
As we readied ourselves we would venture out onto the porch we shared with the queens from norway. Their door was open and they were listening to music. It wasn't long before we spilled into theenvironmentent and they into ours. They hchampaignnge and other alcohol, we had 4 kinds of flavored Vodka. The fun the fun.
The Queentastic consisted of two main performers, two dancers and one technical person. The Main two were Ruth & Vigdis, their drag names for a TV show in Norway. Their actual names are much harder to spell and pronounce, so I'll save some effort for the time being. Ruth & Vigdis were terrific. By then end of the trip we were fast and fabulous pals.
Eventually everyone was primped and preened, and more than a little pre-drunk. It was time to head out, Devin having already spent time in Iceland would act in part as a guide. WE were off headed to NASA at his direction, but first he would introduce us towonderfulful aspect of Iceland, the Icelandic Hot Dog, or Pylsur. Devin took us to an out door stand down near the water, apparently it was rather famous for their wonderful dogs, Bill Clinton himself had eaten there. This made me quite happy.
Icelandic Hot Dogs are made with lamb, like many things in Iceland. They are generalpreparedred with diced onions, crunchy dried onions, a special mustard, a special Ketchup and something maybe limayonnaiseise. I assume the Ketchup and Mustard are not actually special in Iceland, but rather they are special to me, because they are different than those same items prepared here.
Having Chomped down a dog we headed then to NASA. Inside we found a live performance going one. It was a dedication to Eurovision*, which I feel not like going into in my own words, so I'll go find a link or a copy paste and stick it around hesomewhereere. There, enjoy America, you thought people loved American Idol... You've no fucking idea about obsession. Pansies.
We drank more expensive beer and mingled about. Here I met Heimir's French Canadian Husband, Jean Francios. He was a bubbly but sincere fellow, who seemed to like our company and enjoy conversing with us about anything ranging from politics to polite society. thoughtght me many things or two about Icelandic Politics and History.
We were rather uncertain as to how our band would be treated in thforeignegn land, being that we were not at all established there really. That first night at NASA we had a couple of clues that it might not be that bad. We had a couple of different people recognize us from pride literature, one of whom went so far as to ask for a picture, so he could say he knew us before we were famous. That kind of talk will get you everywhere with us!
It was now late, we were drunk and jet lagged. We wondered into the recently dark night. The strange daylight hours would prove more than a little confusing for all of us. Amy and I at this point found ourselves once again hungry and ready for a look around at the night. We ended up at a food window, I was worried at first to find the menu all in Icelandic, of course on the other side of the window was the entire menu Englishish. The shop served something called boats. We ordered a Pizza Boat and a Bacon Boat. A boat it turned out was basically a drilled sandwich. At that time of night in that sort of state in a strange land a sandwich can be very exciting and comforting. Not to mention fuckideliciousous.
A short stumble and food glee later and we were home. Sleep came hard and fast.
Devin woke everyone in a panic the next morning. It was the night of our show and we were late for sound check. Ruh Roh. I was practicalimmobileble at this point. The other three got up fast and showered and readied themselves. Tabsencense of a clock at this point really began to bother me. I asked devin to go find out for certain what time it was as I didn't much feel like getting up if I didn't have to. Well.SurpriseiSurpriseise... Devin came back to inform us that it was only 7am. Back to bed we all went.
Later, at the proper time we readied ourselves and set out on foot to find the theater. I was now happy to have had our equipment already delivered to the theater. It was a slighty overcast day, with a times a slight sprinkle still falling. It wasn't cold but not warm either. We had no real idea as to where Loftkastallian, the castle in the sky, our venue for that night's show actually was. Devin being so on top of the game lead us fist to ttouristsit information center, where a woman behind a counter was so kind as to give us a map and mark upon it the route to our destination.
I was feeling excited. We followed her instructions but found nothing. We asked locals. They had no idea. We stopped in a gas station to ask more locals. Finally we asked someone standing in front of a building which just so happened to contain our venue.
The venue was wonderful, it was an old factory of some kind that now had a theater on the second level, hence, the castle in the sky part. The Norway boys were scheduled for sound check first, which was fine by me as I was a bit out of it still. We waited and watched them walk around apparently waiting for someone. Eventually they told they were waiting to run through their act with the sound and had been waiting sometime. At this news Amy and I decided that it would be a while before we could actually soundcheck ourselves so we found the green room, which contained several couches. Before long we were both fast asleep.
I awoke to a dark room. I thought, how sweet, someone came by and turned off the light so we could sleep undisturbed.promptlylty fell back asleep. I was awakened by someone banging through the room with a flash light. That was odd I thought. I could hear devin's voisomewhereere near by, and I could tell he was talking about our band needing a guitar amp, since this directly involved me I jumped to my feet and ran out to join the conversation. I wsurprisedsed to find the rest of the theater dark. I gave the sound tech who was askingbriefeif run down of what I really needed in a guitar amp, I decided to drop my tube amp snobbery and just accept whatever they could get me.
I then learned there was no power in the theater, that owner had not bothered to pay the bill. I heard Heimir on the phone, trying to make it all better. I did find it a bit funny that in a country wiabundantunt natural power we were having this problem of cut oelectricityity.
An hour or so later the light came on.
We watched in astonishment as Queentastic ran through their set. I was happy to know we were playing before them becausecertainlynly didn't want to follow. Even out of costume their performance was exciting.
My amp arrived finally, a VOX Modeling amp with a single 12 inch speaker. I wasn't thrilled with its performance, but I know better than to dwell on a shitty amp, especially when you in Iceland. I fussed till I found a setting that seemed to do the job. We then sound checked. It was a bit hard to hear everything without our standard backline of multiple 15 inch speakers and the usual 1000 watts of power but it would do fine. I could hear the basic elements and Amy's vocals were on top where I like them. We were pleased.
While we sound checked Domino's Pizza arrived, it tasted remarkably the same halfway around the world.
We left the theater and headed home to gather the clothing we'd need for the show. we spent a few minutes fussing hear and there and then headed back to the theater.
The staff had arrived in our absence and had turned the place into a much gayer place to spend time. There was a HUGE rainbow flag blocking out an entire row of windows, this gave the theater a charming colorful glow.
We found the green room, where we were introduced to some kind if a bit standoffish conservative and important looking men. We talked a bit and prattled about getting prepared to play. One well dressed important looking man asked me how we cam to be named shitting glitter, I told him the story about the cat and then explained that when shit happens we try to make it pretty. He enjoyed it that.
Soon we all settled down by the mirror in tdressinging room, applying make up and hair product. Nerves fluttered about the tiny room underneath the theater. We were unsure how people would respond to our music. We were unsure if there would even be people there to respond at all.
A rumbling noise began above our heads. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was a crowd of Icelander's filling the theater above. Turns out the show wcompletelytly sold out... Now I was really nervous.
Waiting on the wing looking at my band mates inforeignegn country was amazing. It felt so good. I have seen this moment in hundreds of tour videos, I have lived it in thousands of casual fantasies, but now I was present, and it was happening to me. Wow.
Turns out the important looking well dressed man was the mayor of Reykjavik. He was there to introduce us to the crowd. I hear him say our name and followed by a roar from the crowd. The curtains part and Devin runs onto the stage before me, Amy and Coco follow behind me.
I'm happy it's dark, I am not ready early in the show to consider the crowd before me. I plug in my guitar and turn on my amp. I really want it to make noise with no problems. It does. I give the new strings a little smack just to be certain, it feel right. Feels like it always does back home.
Mustache Rides starts. I panic a bit about who to come in, soIn i remember. My little into is over when devin comes in. I can relax and just slap out some chords while Amy does what she does. We hit the chorus to some nice applause. At this point I feel in my element. I can see the crowd now. It's amazing. So many people and they are all seated and paying attention. This can't be America. It's not America.
We finish the first song. Amy has a few words to say in Icelandic. The few members of the crowd that didn't love her before love her now. She tells them a story about the next song, RSO. They like the reference to George Michael, apparently the story is known the world over.
The show begins to blur a bit. It's easy to play and move when the crowd wants you to. I am feeling thrilled. Soon we are ready for the last number, a new one, the apple falls. I have a long rest before I come in, giving me time to jump up and down and look at the audience, they really like this song. I've seen that back home to. Something is working on a different level with this tune even above the others, and it seems to effect people half a world away just as much. I love coming in. It feels right. I'm excited to play them the chorus. Moments Moments Moments. This is it. This is a life in process. Here is a High water mark. Our song is ending and I'm playing a part I love. My guitar is repeating what Amy had just said moments before. I'm trying to convey it with all the hear that I can, it's important to me. 4 notes, Perfect Circle. Eye-liner is bleeding into my eyes.
The backstage is buzzing with a few more people. I think we've done well but I need to verify that with anyone who will tell me. I pull Devin aside. He is not sending out the normal Devin signals about tperformancence. I'm a bit disturbed by this. Was it as good as I thought. Then I realize that it was, and that Devin is in a different moment then I've ever seen him in. What must be going through his mind. This was his dream above everyone else. He had the heart and balls to express it three years ago, I thought he was crazy. Amy thought he was crazy. The iceland pricommitteetee probably thought he was crazy. Devin believed and now it was true. This moment has happened. It will continue having happened and happening forever.
Trefrigeratortor is stocked full of a beec called Thule. We begin to drink! Ruth & Vidgis perform. I bounce around backstage aoccasionallyaly peek out to watch. I am dripping with sweat. I decide to step into the cool night air. I step onto a balcony on the second floor to have reality peck me on the cheek. It's almost 11:00 P.M. and the sun is still up in Reykjavik, Iceland. The balcony overlooks the gray of the Bay. Reykjavik Actually means "smokey bay" in Icelandic, it makes a lot of sense. I spent a fine 10 minutes alone on that balcony.
Back inside the show wraps up. Beer is all over. There is a free beer bar in the lobby, in a town where one beer runs about $10 bucks this is a good thing. We set up a table to sell cds. People are buying them faster than we can sign them and make change. This is a good feeling. Several people tell me they love the way I play bass. I thank them and remain confused. One woman even tells me that I play bass like I'm playing guitar. I tell her thanks, all the while thinking that it's because I am playing guitar. All told we sold more cds that night then ever before. More than on our entire west coast tour. I wrote my name and a bunch of silly messages, because people wanted me to. Are those autographed Cds now proudly displayed on desks or shelves or are they tossed on car floors? Do they wonder what Amy means? Do they smoke grass and listen to them in the dark. I can only hope.
I bounce from the backstage to the lobby, drinking like I'm being paid by the beer. There is a nice guy backstage who works for the theater. He seems interested beyond what he can express. Not in a sexual interest, but in a human interest. We talk. He tells me where to go out this night. He can't go because he's just had a son. He is at home with his young wife. He should have left the theater already but he yet he hasn't. He is happy to be around. I like something in him very much, I want him to be happy in his life and to pass that onto his son and hopefully to many others. He follows us out the door at the end of the night. We talk on the way down the stairs, I'm wasted. He tells me we sound funny when we talk. He smiles as we say good bye. A moment in a life.
It's fun to walk home drunk in a country you've just arrived in. It's fun to have just played a rock and roll show in a country you don't live in.
We arrive home to party. We drink and drink, people are near sleep. Icelanders we know stop by, they bring more. The night does not end for a long time. Hiemer and I are the final two souls awake and alive. The sun has come up. We are smoking on the porch. I don't even smoke. Hiemer has seen my copy of Haldor Laxness' Independent People. We are on the porch talking about what the book means. He is telling me how Haldor came to win tNobelbel prize, and what EarneHemingwayway had to do with it. He is trying to tell me something else about art and artists, He is not saying it, but I think I got it anyway.
I don't go to bed much sooner than I have to wake up.
Parade Day! The pride parade in Iceland is something entirely different then the Pride parades we are accostomend to in the states, It's a HUGE event, and the entire city seems to come, bothe young and old. Amazing. During the paradeI had a moment of clarity, I realized that the worse place to have a massive godlike hangover would have to be smack dab in the middle of Reykjavik's Gay Pride Parade. I was honestly dying. Horrid Horrid feelings. Still, I couldn't help but be amazed.
After the parade which wound through the main shopping district amy and I high tailed it back to the apartment to freshen up a bit before the big show, I was feeling better physically, but starting to get rather nervous about the size of the crowd gathering in the square where we were to play. there were an Estimated 40,000 people in attendance. We were slated to perform last. I watched with wonder and horror as the other acts performed.
Soon our time came and up we went. There was apparently some major pressure on us to begin right away because Devin managed to start our first song, Guerrilla before my guitar was even plugged in, thanks for that one Devin. I missed the first 4 bars or so while I frantically plugged in my instrument.
Once I was able to relax and play my song I started taking stock of where I was and what I was doing. Here I was in Iceland, playing a song that I had written the music to in a shitty north hollywood apartment. The song actaully begins with a sample of some strange guitar moan that I made the day I wrote the progression and recorded the instrumental Demo in that apartment in NoHO, and now here it was coming to life again, in front of more people than I ever dreamed would hear something I wrote. Bouncing all over a country I never dreamed I'd visit. Wow.
We finished our two song set with Slut Buffet, a song devin Probably wrote in the very same NoHo Apartment, however that would have been when he lived there not when I did. Strange.
After the show I was relieved and beat. I needed rest. We journeyed back to the apartment and slept until the evening. Waking up late in the day we were just in time to catch a buffet at resuraunt in the square.
There was a dance that evening at a place called NASA. We attended and my my my did it get wild. Good times.
Amy and I left earlier than the others, ended up swilling beer in Cafe Cosi until it closed at 6 am. They gave us paper cups to poor our still full beers into and sent us of into the night, god I love that!
Sleep was nice. Amy and I slept in while Devin and Dylan and Kolbrun made a trek into the country to see kolbrun's house. We woke up late and walked around Reykjavik. We saw the large church that is apparently the tallest structure in the country. It really was a sight to behold. We bought many nick nack's for folks back home, then we went home and napped yet again.
Our last night in Iceland was spent at a fabulous resturaunt, eating one of the best meals I've ever had, paid for by pride. Amazing. So much fun to be sitting in such a place, sourounded by people from all over the european continent, eating food I could never pay for on my own.
Once again we ended the night at cafe cosi. Drinking like we would never be allowed to drink again. And probably we shouldn't be.
The Taxi to take us to the bus to the airport came very early. We were not at all ready to leave but somehow we managed. At the bus terminal we bought tickets to the Blue Lagoon and for the bus that would take us to it and to the airport. The Blue lagoon was amazing. I'll not go into it, read about it in wikipedia or something.
The final suprise came in the airport. As the man at the counter looked puzzled and typed a lot he finally printed and handed me our tickets, he explained he had to bump us to SAGA class as our seats had been filled. SAGA class = 1st class!!
*The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held between active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), in which participating countries each submit a song to be performed on live television; then proceed to cast votes for the other countries' songs, in order to find the most popular song in the competition. Each country participates via one of their national EBU-member television stations, whose task it is to select a singer and a song to go forward to represent the country in the international competition.
The Contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956, and is one of the longest-running television programmedmes in the world. It is also the world's biggest song contest in terms of audience figures, which in recent years have been quoted as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally.[1][2] It has been broadcast around the globe — beyond Europe — to such countries as Australia, Canada, Egypt, Jordan, Hong Kong, India, Korea, New Zealand and the USA; even though these countries do not participate.[3] Since the year 2000, the Contest has also been broadcast over the Internet[4]; with more than 74,000 people in almost 140 countries having watched the 2006 edition online.[5]
The Contest is historically known for being mainly a bastion of formulaic, orchestrated pop music. However it has produced a vast, diverse array of songs, including such musical genres as Arab, Balkan, Dance, Folk, Greek, Latin, Metal, Nordic, Pop-rap and Rock.
Over the years, the Song Contest has grown from a mere televisual experiment into an international institution of mammoth proportions. Most countries in Europe have taken part at least once during the Contest's history, and the word "Eurovision" is a household name which is recognised across an entire continent.
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