Back in town

Ismét itt

Actually, I have been around Stockholm in the past few months, on and off, when I was not in Hungary. And I do have tons of new pictures to share from Viking Land, but I was struggling A LOT with either extremely bad internet connection here, either with being without a computer.
Igazából az elmúlt hónapokban voltam itt Stockholm körül, amikor nem épp Magyarországon jártam. És rengeteg új képem van Vikingföldről, csak iszonyú sokat küszködtem vagy az itteni rettenetes internetkapcsolattal, vagy azzal, hogy vacakolt a gépem. 

And it might sound funny, but I have to admit now: in all these years I have lived in Stockholm, I never liked it... Probably this is not what you can see from my photos though. But it was not really my choice to live here at the first place, I was only here because I had to, for family reasons. Now, since a few weeks, since I am not obliged to stay here any more and I am free to go back to my country any time - I began to like it in this gloomy place... I guess it must have to do with one's freedom of choice. Without that, not many things can work in life, methinks.
És lehet, hogy furán hangzik, de most be kell vallanom: ezekben az években, amióta itt élek Stockholmban, soha nem szerettem itt lenni... Valószínűleg nem ez jön le a képeimről. De alapvetően nem az én választásom volt az, hogy itt éljek; csak azért voltam itt, mert a családom miatt kellett. Most, néhány hete, amióta már nincsenek itt ilyen kötelezettségeim, és bármikor hazamehetek - kezdem megszeretni ezt a morcos helyet... Azt hiszem, ennek a választás szabadságához van köze. Anélkül  kevés dolog működik az életben, legalábbis szerintem.

And now a photo, to start with:
És most egy fotó, amivel kezdeném:



I saw this in the Ladies room at the O'Connells Irish Pub in Gamla Stan. Last Saturday it was a great ARISH concert - of their music, another time.
Az O'Connells ír kocsma női vécéjében láttam, a Gamla Stan-ban. Szombaton klassz ARISH koncert volt - a zenéjükről majd máskor.  

"Never a Mistake, Always a Lesson" - 'nuff said.
"Sohasem hiba, hanem mindig lecke" - ennyi. 


You can have this as a reminder on your iPhone, iPod case, mouse pad and a few other stuff:
Emlékeztetőként lehet az iPad vagy iPhone tokodon, egérpadodon és pár más cuccon:

Never a Mistake by AndreaGerak

www.andreagerak.com

Elisabeth Kontomanou at Huddinge Jazz 2010

Since my 4 years I have spent in Sweden, one of my greatest experiences was this concert last Friday: Elisabeth Kontomanou at Huddinge Jazz Festival.

The internationally touring brilliant singer put an outstanding show on the stage, featuring her outstanding vocals conveyed with passion and communication, great stage presence, remarkable musicians and vocalists, songs that gave chills, tears or joy to the audience, making them clapping, tapping, singing along, laughing, or submerging deep in their thoughts and emotions, evoked by the melodies.

A very professional performance and very human in the same time; Elisabeth is a master of keeping contact with the audience in a lovely manner.

Have to mention how respectfully she treated her colleagues on stage: six of them being excellent young talents (three of them in fact her sons!), and despite of that we could witness a few first time performances, such as the opening song, each performer did a great job. Apparently all of them on the stage enjoyed every minute of the show, just as did the audience.

Lead Vocals : Elisabeth Kontomanou
Drums : Donald Kontomanou
Bass : Lars Ekman
Piano : Pelle Karlström
Guitar : Erik Söderlind
Guitar : Joey Belmondo
Backing Vocals : Pixie Jakobsson
Backing Vocals : Christine Sundberg
Special Guest : Gustav Karlström

To get a little taste, open Elisabeth Kontomanu's MySpace and play the songs while looking at the photos.

























www.andreagerak.com

Vernissage on top of the city

Kiállítás a város tetején

(Most of these photos are much better, if you view them large, click on them and go to "All sizes"!

A legtöbb fotó sokkal jobb, ha nagyban nézed meg, kattints rájuk, aztán arra, hogy "All sizes"!)

Off from Slussen metro station, running up the hill to catch a concert by two of my friends, I had to stop for one second - I think it's obvious why:
Kiszálltam a metróból a Slussennél, hogy felszaladjak a hegyre két barátom koncertjére, de meg kellett állnom egy pillanatra - azt hiszem, nyilvánvaló, hogy miért:



From a little bit higher up (which means some 100 stairs, I always forget how many I have counted):

Egy kicsit magasabbról (ami valami 100 lépcsőt jelent, mindig elfelejtem, mennyit számoltam):

And the concert, with Brian Kramer and Mats Qwarfordt (Yonder) giving us the blues. It was especially a cozy moment when they stood up and started walking around in the room, out to the bar, singing and playing, as close to people as it can get. I caught myself almost singing a few seconds duet with Brian when he came to me :-)

És a koncert, Brian Kramerrel és Mats Qwarfordttal (Yonder), akik adták nekünk szépen a bluest. Különösen hangulatos pillanat volt, amikor felálltak, és elkezdtek sétálni a teremben, ki a bárba, énekelve és muzsikálva, olyan közel az emberekhez, amennyire csak lehetett. Azon vettem észre magam, hogy majdnem énekeltem egy pár másodperces duettet Briannel, amikor énhozzám jött :-)

Unfortunately I missed the other performing artist, John Leo Carter singer-songwriter who played Irish songs, but there was a girl as well, a very humble one (the reason being her illness that grabbed her a short time ago), singing beautifully, and who turned out to be the Blues Queen of Sweden, Jenny Bohman:

Sajnos, lemaradtam a másik fellépő művészről, John Leo Carter énekes-dalszerzőről, aki ír nótákat adott elő, de volt még egy lány is, aki nagyon szerényen viselkedett (betegsége miatt), de gyönyörűen énekelt és akiről később kiderült, hogy nem más mint Svédország blues királynője, Jenny Bohman:

And a little bit of the crowd:
És páran a vendégek közül:



The vernissage of Jonas Rahm painter (who has also designed the latest solo albums for Brian and Jenny) was on the top floor of Södra Teatern (Southern Theater) (see more of his works on his website).
Jonas Rahm festőművész kiállítása (aki Brian és Jenny legújabb szólóalbumának dizájnját is készítette) a Södra Teatern (Déli Színház) legfelső emeletén volt (nézd meg a munkáit a weboldalán!)
 
The location promises us some wonderful views...

A helyszín csodás kilátást ígér...

After the show, down to Slussen again:

A műsor után újra le, a Slussen felé:

Most of the photos are much better, if you view them large, click on them!

A legtöbb fotó sokkal jobb, ha nagyban nézed meg, kattints rájuk!

 
www.andreagerak.com

Erik Strandh memorial concert at Stampen

Is it appropriate to say that one had a great fun at a memorial concert? Because I did, just as all the attendees at the packed Stampen, the famous jazz-blues establishment in Gamla stan this afternoon. A few hours (4?) long blues jam session, as a tribute to Erik Strandh pianist who died last Saturday in a heart attack, just after a concert in his hometown Helsingborg with his band Our Thing, at the age of 60.

Szabad olyat mondani, hogy az ember jól szórakozott egy halottbúcsúztató koncerten? Mert én remekül szórakoztam, csakúgy, mint ma délután mindenki más a zsúfolásig megtelt Stampenban, Gamla stan híres jazz-blues helyén. Párórás (4?) blues jam session, Erik Strandh zongorista tiszteletére, aki múlt szombaton halt meg szívrohamban, rögtön egy koncert után a szülővárosában, Helsingborgban, amikor a zenekarával, az Our Thing-gel játszott, 60 éves korában.

As I am not too familiar with the blues scene (and not with the music scene in Stockholm in general),I didn't know Erik Strandh; one of my friends, guitarist Thierry Laprevote invited me, who played with him at that last gig...

Mivel én nem vagyok nagyon otthon a bluesban, (sem általában a stockholmi zenei életben), nem ismertem Erik Strandhot; egyik barátom, Thierry Laprevote gitáros hívott meg, aki azon az utolsó koncerten együtt játszott vele...

One of the last concerts of Eric Strandh:

Erik Strandh egyik legutolsó bulija:

This memorial concert was an excellent jam session (hosted by Brian Kramer); countless musicians came to say goodbye to their friend who is now in some other world, but I am sure that all the good vibes from the gig got through to the late pianist and he could hear the music.

Ez az emlékkoncert igazán kiváló jam session volt (házigazda Brian Kramer); rengeteg zenész jött el és köszönt el barátjától, aki most valamely más világban jár, de biztos vagyok benne, hogy a buliból az összes "good vibes" (kezdek fáradni így lassan hajnali 2 kettő körül, segítsetek ki, hogy van ez magyarul), tehát a good vibes eljutott az elhunyt zongoristához, és hallotta a zenét.

Some of the photos I took (I was kneeling on a bar chair for about two hours, so that I could see what was going on...)

Lőttem pár fotót (egy bárszéken térdeltem kb. 2 órán keresztül, hogy lássam, mi történik...)

Contributing musicians / közreműködő zenészek:
Anders Nystedt,  Ivan Jezek,  Williams Caroline, Daniel Ramsten, Blue Cargo, Martin Sörbom, Olle Sjöstedt, Emil Lindroth, Micael Öberg,  Brian Kramer, Steve Wadidiz Morris, Miiko Melody,  Jon Ben Berger,  Thierry Laprevote, Marcelo Nunez, Mats Qwarfordt, Fanny Holm Sickenga, Calle Pettersson, Christer Wesström - and many others / és még sokan mások

And some music:






www.andreagerak.com

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John Fogerty rocks Stockholm

Listen to little birdie's station

Hi people, thanks for being around! I didn't have time to be here and read your comments, visit your blogs etc this week, I am preparing for my concert today - if you are here in Stockholm, why not come by and have some fun? If you are looking for an alternative to the Eurovision thing, this can be a really nice program.

Now just wanted to share with you quickly my impressions from last night: we went to Hovet (an ice hockey arena which is very much used for bigger concerts) to see the old man, John Fogerty.

It was not full house, 3/4 maybe, but was an enthusiastic crowd, the way 50-60 years old people can party. As I looked around, I could count only about 40-50 boys & girls who were obviously younger than me - I am 40.

This way no wonder that in the middle, they put down chairs - that is the place where you go if you want to STAND on your feet and move your body, that is the place for the hard core fans. But I haven't seen anything like this: chairs in the middle of an arena, for a rock concert...



Anyway, for the second hour, all those decent ladies and gentlemen stood up and shook their bodies, just as well as the majority of the rest.

The guys on the stage did great, they played beside new songs from the Revival album the good oldies like Good Golly Miss Molly, Have You Ever Seen The Rain and such. Of course the arena was singing along.

John Fogerty used at least 5 guitars: a yellow, a black, a white, a blue and the red one - as far as I could keep track.

And it was awesome to see 6, yes six! guitars & bass guitars at once. Unfortunately, my little camera is not made for shooting in the dark from a big distance, so I only managed to take a few somewhat good pictures (with only 5 guitars).







Have a rocking good weekend everybody!

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