Posts from the “Music” Category

Revelry and a Robbery: Finnish Music Festivals

Posted on 11 November 2014

  Summers in Finland are magical and bright. The northern sun, barely setting, electrifies the air. Everyone feels this and revels in it, spending time in summer cottages, eating ice cream outside, and enjoying the variety of music festivals that the country has to offer. I’ll admit, I’m obsessed with Finland and can’t keep away—I’ve been seven times. I first went to meet friends, and the country has gripped me ever since. I’ve been back to visit them, and even managed to stay an entire summer, studying at Helsinki Summer University. I’ve planned the timing of other trips to and within Finland around music festivals. I’ve been lucky to attend a number of different Finnish music festivals—Provinssirock, Ruisrock, Qstock, and Flow Festival. I went…

Break Your Shoes Rather Than Your Heart

Posted on 17 March 2014

Alone, at 5am, I stepped off the bus. Alone, I took the U-Bahn to Friedrichstraße. Russia, Estonia, twice Finland, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic were behind me and Berlin was my final destination. A month of classes, and then my sojourn abroad would be complete. By now, I was used to drifting. I became a walker, a wanderer, gliding down endless streets, avenues, alleys as languages flowed over me, understood in varying degrees. Friends faded in and out as I moved around. But often, I was alone. I was toughening. I was learning I am who I can trust. And now, shaping myself, I could sense the future, both certain and unknown. I was gaining some control as I wore down my…

Silly Decisions Can Be The Best Ones

Posted on 2 February 2014

It’s cold, it’s dark, and I’ve been standing outside for almost eight hours. My friend Sara is sitting on my feet in an attempt to provide some smidgen of additional warmth on top of the thin canvas of my Chuck Taylors. My thin, white jacket – more cardigan than coat – is meaningless at this point. I’m fidgeting, bouncing, and my poor left arm has turned partially blue. Crazy girls standing out in the London winter without proper attire, I’m solidly among them. An instigator, in fact. It was actually a very good decision, contrary to appearances. December 2007 was a month of hastily made, silly choices, which filled me with an excitement that proved too much for the confines of my dorm room.…

“Kill the King, Crown the Witches”

Posted on 29 September 2013

On April 24, 2009, I attended a Patrick Wolf concert in St. Petersburg. For those who aren’t familiar, Patrick is an English musician who is difficult to pigeonhole in a specific genre. He plays a wide variety of instruments and has a rather devoted fan base, which includes me. I considered myself very lucky: this was his first concert in the city and the venue was a short five-minute walk from my homestay—a far cry from the plane ride from Kentucky to London I took to see him previously. Fact is, I was very lucky but not because Patrick Wolf for once played a concert in the city where I was located at the time, but because I had the opportunity to attend his…