Joakim Andersson

The gig was super!

Kristofer had a flu but he was still great. There is something special with a man who alone with a guitar can fill a whole stage.

Christian was his charming self and really rocked us away when he didn’t make us hang to his every word in the slower songs.

The late gig and the couple of beers I drank made me really tired this morning and I slept like a log on the train. Camilla has been home from work the last few days due to a flu, and a lot of people at work are also more or less ill. So I wasn’t surprised when I’ve started to feel something growing in my throat this afternoon. Sigh. It wasn’t long ago I had my last flu, so my plan for tonight is to go to bed in a few minutes and hopefully wake up feeling alright and fully rested tomorrow morning!

Now it’s only a few hours left until Kristofer Åström and Christian Kjellvander start playing at Katalin in Uppsala.

Christian’s latest album is even better than the earlier ones and his last gig in Uppsala was brilliant. So tonight I hope for a magical performance, and with Kristofer as support it can’t go wrong!

Be there or be square!

Okej, det har hänt att jag har tittat på Idol på fredagarna och i fredags så röstade jag faktiskt för första gången.

Jag vet inte varför, men av någon anledning så känns det som det är fel att titta på Idol. Mycket på grund av att jag har fått en uppfattning att om man är intresserad av musik så ska man vägra att se på Idol. Idol ska då representera allt som är dåligt med mainstream musik.

Men jag kan inte låta bli. När jag kommer hem på fredagskvällen trött efter en lång jobbvecka så är det lätt att slå sig ner i soffan och låta sig underhållas av dessa idoler som har som sin stora dröm att bli artist. Det är en skön blandning av personer där vissa faktiskt kan sjunga och andra kanske inte är lika bra på det.

Nu är det då dags för final mellan Amanda Jenssen och Marie Picasso. Picasso ska tydligen komma ifrån namnet på hennes hund och hon är väl annars mest känd för att ha varit med i Big brother 2002.

Efter att Daniel Karlsson åkte ut, vilket i sig är en total skandal, så är Amanda min solklara favorit. Marie har en bra röst och är grym på att sjunga ballader men Whitney Houston och Celine Dion är inte direkt någonting som snurrar ofta i min cd-spelare.

I fredags så sjöng Amanda en fullkomligt briljant version av Hallelujah (youtube). Nu är det klart vad dom ska sjunga i finalen på fredag. För Marie blir det All by myself av Celine Dion, I’ll be there av the Jackson five och vinnarlåten. Amanda kommer att sjunga Unchain my heart av Joe Cocker, Suspicious minds av Elvis och sen också givetvis vinnarlåten.

Det ska bli spännande och se vad dom gör med dom låtarna på fredag!

Och ring och rösta på Amanda!

AB, AB, SvD

First read Ian Rogers’ excellent presentation about why it’s time we pay closer attention to consumer needs when it comes to digital music.

Then go and buy Radiohead’s new album In Rainbows which is available as a DRM-free download that costs whatever you feel like paying for it. If enough people buy the album we will show the music industry that this is the way forward!

Yesterday I ordered a pair of white d-JAYS earphones. The d-JAYS are supposed to be great and my iPod touch deserves the best!

I’ll get my headphones tomorrow so now I’m just waiting for the iPod touch to arrive. Hurry up Apple!

None of this is to say that you shouldn't buy the iPod touch. In fact, based on my early testing, I'd have to say that the iPod touch is by far the most amazing product to ever bear the "iPod" brand name. But be forewarned that the iPod touch is not necessarily the mythical "iPhone without a phone" that some users have been looking for. Instead, think of it as an "iPhone lite without the phone." If the iPod touch suits your needs, then don't let any of the above stop you. But with as much as has been arbitrarily removed from the iPod touch, it sure looks like Apple still wants you to buy the iPhone, and then only wants you to consider the iPod touch if you've already ruled the iPhone out.

iProng – iPhone features you'll miss out on by buying an iPod touch

Good summary. The more I read about the iPod touch the more I believe I will love it!

Last night I saw Sahara Hotnights play in the new concert hall in Uppsala. I’m not one of their biggest fans and I’ve only listened to their latest album, but I think the gig was quite ok.

They played all of the hits combined with some older material mixed in but I was a bit surprised when they left the stage after just 40 minutes. They naturally returned for an encore of two songs, so I guess in total they played for just under an hour.

Isn’t that a bit short?

Or is it just me who’s used to Moneybrother and Tomas Andersson Wij who can’t stop and basically play until they are dragged off the stage. I don’t know, but at least I’m not used to short gigs.

I’m not that sure about the new concert hall either. I think it’s butt ugly and it unfortunately has the same style indoors. There is no charm and no personality just a lot of concrete everywhere.

The big room with numbered seats might be better but this concert was a standing one so it was on the ground floor in the area where, I heard, there is usually a café. That in itself is quite odd.

Then for some reason the stage is so low that even I had a hard time seeing the girls in the band. A bit into the show we moved to the back of the room and Camilla finally got a glimpse of the singer and said “Oh, she’s got dark hair!” I found that quite hilarious!

If this wasn’t enough they left the light on in the entry hall and they didn’t close the doors, not that it would have mattered with glass doors. But this meant the room wasn’t dark enough and I found the lights very distracting and annoying. I really hope they’ll do something about that.

All the queueing sucked quite bad too, but that will probably get better as the people working there get more experience.