Don't Throw Bouquets At Me

I went to see Maher Shalal Hash Baz at Mono, right before going on said Gothenburg trip. They actually stopped just in time for me to rush down Argyle Street to catch the train to Prestwick. It was a very good gig - I've never seen them before so I'm glad I got that chance because I apparently missed out on a gig they did here in Sweden at the Full Pull festival recently. Tenniscoats played here in Malmö as well, as did Kama Aina. That was probably what upset me most about missing that festival, as I'd seen all the other bands before. But of course, the Malmöits (?...that's just a proposed term) didn't have the pleasure of seeing Bill Wells playing piano for them. It didn't seem like he'd gotten a chance to practise before the Mono gig, because every time Maher turned a page in the score you could see Bill looking intently at it trying to figure out how to play it. All the while trying to keep the neck of Maher's guitar out of the way. All the members had done solo sets prior to that, and on the average they were great, but it was even better when it all came together. And they got some drumming assistance from Katrina for one of the songs - that was the best one in my opinion.

So I've written about going to Gothenburg and coming back, but what did I actually do there you might wonder? Well, I went to visit a friend and to go to the recently resurrected indiepop club Taramasalata (named after an Eggstone tune). My friend's taken over the task of arranging the club and on this premiere night she'd gotten Jörgen from Fraction Discs to play records. That's him above, just about to pay his respects to Keith Girdler by spinning some Blueboy.

I always enjoy coming to Gothenburg as it's such a beautiful city. This is was it looks like. Well not really, but it CAN - if you happen to be in the Botanic Gardens. However, it was stiflingly hot this time. There was a terrible heat wave that weekend with temperatures at about 30 degrees. I also went to see the penguins of course. Didn't you know we had penguins in Sweden? They were in a pool of course. It was hard to resist jumping in the water too.

And flamingos there were. All in Slottsskogen - a sort of park/zoo thing just across the motorway from Kontiki, where the club was. Don't you think we could use some flamingos in Kelvingrove Park?