Sweden!

So I've made it to Sweden and I must say: Jet lag is horrible. The fact that the sun doesn't set here until around 11:00 pm doesn't help my sleeping pattern one bit. Thus, after going to sleep last night before 9pm, I'm still up at 12:30am. I just don't get it.

Our first show is tomorrow and we'll see how well Swedish sound guys understand English when I need a hand in locating certain things, figuring out how the place is wired up, etc. I don't think the few words of Swedish I have learned (tack - thank you, nej - no, yah - yes, mixer - mixer, etc) is going to help one bit in this regard.

We have been into Stockholm from the suburb we're staying in quite a few times. What I have seen of it is absolutely beautiful; the old and new architecture, cobblestone streets, and canals passing through the city are great. However, I must admit I haven't been paying attention to the city nearly as much as I have been paying attention to our driver: Goran Wallen. Retired salesman turned promoter, Goran should have been a last place Nascar driver. He drives with two feet (even when not shifting), tailgates, zooms around curves, hops curbs to pass slow moving vehicles in the city, and talks on his cell phone constantly, even if that means traveling at highway speeds in third gear. It's terrifying.

We've been to a few music stores to get supplies and scope out places we may later need and have found a goldmine: Hellstone. The owner, Sven, gave me a free shirt that is killer. I will surely take a picture of it at a later date. This place has tons of vintage drums including old Gretsch sets and probably 100 each of vintage Slingerland and Ludwig snare drums. It's pretty much Eric Rogers' heaven. In addition, they have not one, not two, but three RCA 44 ribbon mics wasting away in a display case. According to Sven, all three are working very well and all three have an asking price of 21000K or $3500. Oh well.

I keep you all posted about some other parts of Sweden when I return from my 4-show road trip.