The Journey Itself Is Home

I feel a bit uncomfortable reviewing something I myself took part in, but I just have to say it: Björk was sensational in Riga tonight. I love you, babe!

Our hotel in Riga is very nice. My room is so comfortable that I have been staying in it a bit more than is good for me. I did go out for a long walk yesterday, but other than that I have mostly been doing all kinds of inane things on my computer.

Imagine my surprise when I found this on the web!

Björk posters are everywhere in Vilnius, Lithuania, where we are now!

It is a charming city in an unassuming way. I went to the old part of town yesterday to have dinner with a friend. We had a nice evening.

Today I have mainly been reading Moominpappa’s Memoires, which I bought in the Moomin store in Helsinki airport, where we stopped briefly yesterday. A shame we had to cancel the concert there.

When Björk told me, in Shanghai, that we would have a concert in Finland this summer, she added: “Where the Moomin Elfs live!”

I think she is a Moomin fan, like me. Both of us bought some Moomin stuff in Tokyo - in Kiddyland, which is a famous toy store there.

Like Björk, Muminpappa has had voice problems. Here is an excerpt from the introduction to his Memoirs:

“[Moominpappa] had never been ill before and took a very serious view of the matter.

“When his throat was at his sorest, he asked Moominmamma to fetch Moomintroll and Snufkin and Sniff, and they all assembled around his bed. He then exhorted them never to forget that they had had a privilege of spending their early lives in the company of a genuine adventurer, and asked Sniff to bring him the meerschaum tram from the chest of drawers in the drawing room. But Moominpappa was so hoarse that no one understood what he wanted.”

Since I’m a bit of a demonologist, I LOVE this version of Declare Your Independence!

That film was shown first when I was eleven or twelve and it was so much discussed in the media that it made me almost permanently scared of going to sleep. I was afraid that I, too, would become possessed by the devil.

Anyway…

The Nattúra concert was yesterday. It was crowded. Unfortunately, Björk had a bit of a cold and wasn’t on form, but she didn’t lose her sense of humour. She even likened herself to Johnny Cash! Unfortunately all the jokes were in Icelandic and so were lost on the foreigners watching the concert on the web.

I think the band was OK. I realize that the present version of Wanderlust may have sounded like we were playing wrong notes, but we weren’t. The organ part is very off key, but that’s a transcription of the Matthew Herbert mix, and when it gets combined with the brass part of the original version, it sounds weird. Björk has said several times that she likes it as it is and so I keep playing it. It probably sounds better live than from a webcast.

Given Björk’s condition last night I’m personally of the opinion we should all be grateful that we didn’t cancel the show. She is a hero for being there and going through with it.

I was very tired after the concert. I had imagined partying all night, but only a couple of hours later I was back home!

Somebody told me that when the wife of a french minister, who came with him on a public visit to England, was interviewed there, the reporter asked her: “What is the most important thing in your life. She answered: “Happiness.” She didn’t speak English very well, so she pronounced it “A Penis.”

It was a scandal, of course.

Compared to this, occasional glitches in our performance in Paris tonight were of minor consequence. The energy from the audience was tremendous. I think it will become a great film.

Somewhat surprisingly, a lot of people in the audience waved the Tibetan flag when we performed Declare Your Independance.

Obviously, many still keep the faith!

Our brief visit to Paris has been fun. I love this city. But it is very hot compared to Iceland, so my excursion into the Latin quarter yesterday was cut short. Right now I’m sitting in the green room, some of the brass girls are asking for Vodka. There will be a party shortly.

And tomorrow: Iceland again!

I just got an email from our tour manager, with e tickets, etc. His final words were:

“It all begins again very soon, so be afraid, be very afraid.”

The tour is starting soon indeed. In a week or so we leave for Paris, for a concert that will be filmed. That’s pretty daring, considering that we have had a hiatus of two months. I will certainly be afraid, very much afraid, during that filming!

Or not.

Maybe I should be practicing now, instead of writing this…

(trembling)

I read in the newspaper today that Björk will be having a concert in Reykjavík with Sigur Rós on June 28. So I guess it is official. Stay tuned for updates, should be something on www.bjork.com soon.

People abroad have been asking me about the recent earthquake in Iceland.

Let’s say we were shaken, but not too stirred… I live on a fourth floor in Reykjavík and I DEFINITELY felt the tremor, it was scary!

Nothing was shattered, however, unlike people’s homes near the source of the quake, which is about 35 Km from Reykjavík. I have a friend there whose home was quite a bit damaged.

Just a quick update, since my last entry was so negative…

I met Björk yesterday night. She sounded great and seemed in excellent spirits.

We had a beautiful time, first in a restaurant by the name of Óðinsvé, where I met, among others, the M/M team from Paris. Then all of us went to some party in connection with the Reykjavik Art Festival and we ended the night in one of the city’s most popular bar, Boston.

Splendid!

See you all when the tour starts again!

Home at last! It is wonderful, even though I’m coughing, sneezing and blowing my nose.

We are now facing a seriously long vacation. While not on tour I will not be blogging here. I MIGHT blog a bit on my MySpace site, but then again I might not. It depends on how interesting my time here in Iceland will be!

Yesterday was strange. I was sitting in the Band Dressing Room with Chris and his girlfriend when I heard our production manager talking to someone in the corridor outside about the show being cancelled. It was about 3.30. Then he walked in and told us.

About half an hour later I was in the band bus (the three buses go by the names of The Brass Bus, The Hard-Working Production/Crew Bus and The Leisurly Country-Club Band Bus) to pick up Björk. She was really sick, poor thing. After she had gone to her place in London, the bus took Shaun, Damian, Jennifer and me to a hotel near Terminal 1 on Heathrow.

I was feeling sick myself, but the others fooled me into going with them to a Chinese restaurant. I should have been in bed, because today, after my flight to Iceland, I’m worse than yesterday. But I should be OK after a few days’ rest.