stockholm, part four.

This final Stockholm post is continuing where the previous post left off. I just thought that it would be better to do a separate post so it wouldn’t be as overwhelming. After a full morning and afternoon of sightseeing and walking, Amy and I returned to our hostel to give our tired feet a break. I rested up and researched how to get to Debaser Slussen, as I was going to be seeing Real Estate that night.

I took a bus to Gamla Stan, got off, and attempted to find my way to this venue. Consulting my trusty map and the directions I had written down, finding the venue should have been no problem whatsoever. Obviously, I should have known that I’d still end up lost. I walked and walked along the water, not seeing the venue at all, and ended up at the Royal Palace. Once I realized I had walked that far, I walked back down the island and every person I asked turned out to be a tourist or a new Stockholm citizen. Eventually, I ended up back near the bus stop where I had gotten off and as I was crossing the street, I discovered that Debaser was actually really close to the stop. What a fail moment. I went inside and located the bathroom behind the DJ booth. As there were no signs outside the bathroom, I was a little wary upon entering and while I washed my hands, a guy popped out of a stall, to my surprise. Unisex bathrooms: only in Sweden. Anyways, I recognized the guy in the bathroom with me and it was Matt from Real Estate (the music was loud and I heard ‘Dan’)! We chatted a little and of course, I tweeted about my encounter. And to my embarrassment, both Math and Alex from the band retweeted me because they thought it was hilarious. Fail moment of the night, number two.

I was at this concert by myself and I’m a little too shy to just start chatting with randoms, so I awkwardly chilled alone until the opener hit the stage. The opener was a guy who performed under the name, Paper Hearts. He’s Swedish, so apart from the song titles, I didn’t understand a single word he said. He was also a little on the bland side, in my opinion, and his music sounded like generic computer-produced/backed stuff.

Finally, Real Estate hit the stage and it was pure bliss the second their sweet tunes filtered into the venue. The music is the type of music to have playing in the background on chill spring or summer’s day. So, it was just nice to stand and let the laid-back melodies fill the space. I can’t remember their exact setlist, but they played many songs off of their latest release, Days, songs off of their self-titled debut, and there was a cover of Felt’s “Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow.” Some highlights for me were “Out of Tune” (personal favourite), “It’s Real,” and “Municipality.” Their set seemed entirely too short but that could have been because I was enjoying myself far too much. I was revelling in the whole concert atmosphere, especially since the A.A. Bondy/Felice Brothers gig I was supposed to go to a few days earlier had been cancelled.

After the show had ended, I chatted with Alex for a little and for those wondering, they are playing Coachella next year. All in all, it was a great night and I definitely had a blast. Going to concerts is always great and I don’t think I’ll ever lose that feeling of joy once I’ve seen an artist or band I like play live.