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Living away from home you realise sometimes the stuff you miss. At random times you think of something/someone and that is all you want. Sometimes you read something and it reminds you of something/someone. Sometimes it's really hard, sometimes you just deal with it.

My family were over during the Easter weekend. It was awesome to see them. I miss them more and more. During the last few years myself and my sisters have gotten closer. i think it's cause we can, a) all go drinking together, b) one of us can drive us home, c) they have gotten funnier. I think my parents find it strange that we are not all at home anymore. My sister Laura has lived in London this year for college, last year it was Belfast, the year before was in Dublin. I lived in Dublin for the previous three years but before moving here we were all at home for 3 to 6 months. My little sister Hélèné is in college in Dublin and is commuting at the moment but I think soon she will be living in Dublin. This might be hard on my parents because she has always been around at home while myself and Laura have been everywhere else. Although we have taking her with us to anything that she could get into and since Hélèné has been at least 18 from the age of 16 that has been many places.
I really miss going out with them. They can look out for me, I can look out for them. It was a good system we had going.
While the whole family was over it was kinda hard cause Malmö ain't exactly a tourist place at the end of winter, beginning of spring but we had some nice walks, good food, bowling, Legoland, shopping, drinking. Good but maybe I have to use the saying everyone in Sweden keeps telling me, " You should be here in the summer!"

Mister Joe Panama is flying over tomorrow (Wednesday, so today technically.) I am very excited. A VOLCANO has been messing with this which is fucked cause it's a VOLCANO! Like what the fuck, a VOLCANO! Crazy. But airspace between Ireland and Denmark is open and Norwegian are flying. Class.
I'm hoping that Joe will have a good time while he is here. Will be going to a show at the local venue

Utkanten. Working on getting Famine and Forced Out to play there when they are on tour in the summer. Will probably explore some of København as well as Malmö, do some creeping, walk and have coffee and eating falafel(cause really, that is what you can do in Malmö)

I'm really looking forward to hanging out with one of the lads, there is no Swedish version of "Lads". I haven't been home since January. That said the last two months flew by but April is taking it's time!
This weekend is also Ciara's party which I was really looking into getting flights home for. It sucks to miss all the parties for whatever occasion, be it birthdays, moving, Friday! I keep having the discussion with people of why I am here, and what I am doing and how long I am staying cause that's all anyone here wants to know! and I do think I am going to be here for quite some time. It's fun here but I won't forget home.

I'm home from May19th till the 26th, party karaoke, creeping, gig(s), hanging out. can't wait!

In other news I will be taking my test for my Swedish class on May 5th. I had a mock test yesterday. I think it went ok. If the actually test is similar I will be in the next grade with no problems. Jag måste försöka tala svenska oftare, and I really need to learn how to spell stuff. Also Lost is possibly the greatest show on TV. I started to watch it a few weeks ago because I saw that this was the last season. I had tried to watch it before but it was on a few different stations and I couldn't follow it. But I got all the seasons and now I have caught up and I hate having to wait for each episode now!!

Listen to The Fuck You Fingers
and go here: Jaguar Trust Records

Shows

I have seen people talk about how hard it is for new people to feel welcome into a music scene. Some people usually are thinking about what are the reasons that this person is here. Sometime negative reasons come out first, sometimes it's positive.

I am slowly become part of the Hardcore scene in Malmö. Facebook and Google have been helpful in finding out about shows but by going to shows I have found more about the scene and people here. I am the outsider, this guy from Ireland but the sense of community is unreal. I feel welcomed.

First show I went to was the Social Circkle show in Utkanten. That venue is amazing. It was a really good gig and although the turn out was around 50 people (maybe a few more) they made it better by taking the equipment off the stage and playing on the floor.

Check out Pretty Whores and Commitment Crew. Social Circkle don't have a myspace but you can check them out here: http://www.nowayrecords.com/ 

Unfortunately at the next gig I was at in Utkanten, We Live in Trenches had to pull out, which is a shame

because I was really looking forward to seeing them live.

Skitkids (skit is kinda sounds like quit when pronounced, it mean shit) and Symptom put on a great show regardless. The turnout was really good for this show and included a good variety of people, it'd be nice to see that variety at home sometimes.

From that show I got talking to a few people that have been able to tell me about whats going on and where. Because of that there would have been no way I would have found out about the Punx Only show. This is in a Tattoo Studio that the lead singer of Sista Sekunden works in/owns(I'm not sure if he owns it). The place is tiny. With 50 people the place would be jammed I think there was closer to 80! It was amazing. All the bands were so good, Sista Sekunden have so much energy and a great presence. I was wondering how could anyone follow them but Beyond Pink have the skill to take a crowd for themselves. They don't take any prisoners.

Following Beyond Pink was Big Hands. I had been drinking with the guitarist/vocalist and the bassist for a good part of the night, the guitarist had been drunk since Wednesday. By the time the were playing I was also pretty drunk. Big Hands were awesome as far as I remember (swedish beer is working to destroy my short term memory).

This week I had my first out of town show. Considering that Sweden is huge, out of town shows will probably be more often than in Ireland. So far I'm not sure if Hardcore shows follow the same town playing format as in Ireland, for example if

Stockholm = Dublin then

Gothenburg would = Galway and

Malmö would = Cork and maybe

Uppsala might = Belfast BUT

there's Jönköping, Linköping and Norrköping, in theory they could be Westmeath/Carlow but seem to be much more active than Carlow. I will be going to see Ruiner in Jönköping instead of Gothenburg for two reasons, I'm flying back from Ireland that day and Jönköping is better apparently. Now as far as I can tell Malmö Hardcore and Jönköping Hardcore seems to be the most active but I haven't really got a good gauge on it because this week was my first and second out of town shows.

This was also the first time I was in Lund on purpose.  It's a University town and is pretty close to Malmö, kinda like Maynooth is to Dublin. The town that I briefly saw is really picturesque.

Hemgården is a youth centre that has a venue (small venue,  80 people comfortably full) computer access, a cafe and I have been told a recording studio. It's a great set up. This gig was free but you could donate to help the bands out.

This was an EP launch for Jönköping/Malmö Big Deal and to start a two week euro tour. Vicious band. Values, another band from Jönköping. I had been hanging out with the singers from both bands the week before and both of them took me by surprise when they hit the stage. I can't wait to see both of these bands again. I was really happy at this gig as well because Malmös Beyond Pink had been added to this show, they really know how to have fun on stage and enjoy playing. The also did an awesome cover of What's my age again.

The second gig again was in Lund and in Hemgården. I had gotten to it late because I had gotten a lift to Hemgården (community) for the Big Deal/Values show and had gotten the bus for this show. I had no idea where I was going. So unfortunately I miss the first two bands and only got the last few songs of Balance's set. I really wanted to see Balance, so a bit pissed I missed their the start of their set. They are now on a four day tour with Hårda Tider who also played this show. Hårder Tider are an amazing band, the singer gave me the lift to Lund for the previous show and again completely blown away once he hit the stage. Vicious band that just destroy all in their way. Also this gig had the diversity that the Skitkids gig had, many of them left after Hårda Tider though. Shame.

Pressure were the last band for the night. I was told that Broken Distance and Critical Point pretty much had the same 7 guys playing whichever instruments for each band. Good since they all from Faro, Portugal and on tour. The only configuration I saw was Pressure, who had some good tunes but the in between song chat of saying loads but saying nothing, for me was their downfall.

Again thanks to that community aspect, the singer-guitarist of the Pretty Whores gave me a lift back to Malmö, via another gig, Deportees from the great heights of Umeå are great musicians, soulless songs though. They looked like they had feeling but there was no feeling, everything that they played went in one ear and straight back out.

I'm in Ireland next weekend and I can not wait for this! See you there.