Tag: steffen brandt

A weekend in Copenhagen

thegirlinthecafe 2 Comments

Last weekend I made a short visit to Copenhagen. Favourite band tv-2 played a release concert for their new album in the Copenhagen Operahouse, so there were several reasons to hop over: a tv-2 concert in an incredible venue (have a look inside here).

I hadn’t been in Denmark for several years and it was both nice and weird to be back. It feels very familiar but yet it is no longer my home.

There are a couple of things I noticed (some of them I had missed):

Kaergarden with salt
There is nothing better than fresh baked bread with Kaergarden butter. The good thing is that they salt all butter in Denmark, which just gives it a much better taste.

Gullerodsbrod
Fresh carrotbread. And just the fact that all Danish bakeries are open on Sunday.

Cyclists with helmets
Everyone, children en grownups, is wearing a cycle helmet. I think we have as much cyclists in the Netherlands, and no one here is wearing one.

Great trains
The Danish trains remains one of the most comfortable trains to travel in.

TV-2
It had been a while (March 2009 to be precise) but one never can see enough tv-2 concerts. This one was entertaining too and it was also nice to meet some old Danish friends.

Great design everywhere
From fantastic buildings (Operahouse) to the clocks on the railwaystation to the furniture in the SAS lounge on the airport. The Danes are masters when it comes to beautiful design.

Backpacks
It seems the preferred way of carrying your goods around in Copenhagen.

Sandals with socks
Wrong. Especially in the winter and even worse with white socks. Just don’t do this.

I didn’t have that much time, but did have a walk around town, also to visit one of my favourite buildings in Copenhagen:
Rundertaarnet in Copenhagen

Records shops with Showtime sleeves
It's Showtime in Copenhagen shop windows too

tv-2
TV-2 in Copenhagen Opera House

and a great Danish breakfast.
Danish Breakfast

I stayed in the Cabinn City hotel, which is affordable and has a great location close to the trainstation and Tivoli. Recommended.

How to cosy up your home

thegirlinthecafe 4 Comments

It is slowly starting to look like a real home.

New York I painted the below half of my entrance walls grey, it makes it look a bit more sophisticated (and will go well with pink, which is the colour I will paint my front door!). And I put up some small frames with photos of a place I like – New York (bought those small canvasses for a few euro in a discount shop – they look great though). I will add some London and Denmark bits somewhere in my place too.

Birdies
These two are tweeting around in my kitchen, holding my towel and tea towel. Aren’t they cute birdies? (They are from Qualy)

Organizing tree
This tree is located on the wall in my entrance. A good place for my keys, and postcards and other stuff. And – isn’t that a ticket for a tv-2 concert in the Opera in Copenhagen? Yes indeed it is! I am off for a short weekend trip this coming weekend. I look forward to both seeing tv-2 again (it has been too long!) and meeting some old Danish friends too.

TV-2 is playing a special release concert for their upcoming album Showtime, they play in the Opera house in Copenhagen, a really wonderful building, and reason enough for me to fly over for a weekend to go and see them. Here is their new single and a very cleverly made black and white video. Good to see that Steffen Brandt still has that grin on his face.

Everything passes

thegirlinthecafe 4 Comments

Danish music magazine Gaffa.dk has an interview with my other hero:

What things that you know today would you have liked to know then (1984) ?

Jeg ville gerne have vidst, at det går over. Alting går over. Det er utrolig vigtigt at vide. Desværre har det gode det også med at gå over. Men den glade nyhed er, at det jo kun går over, for at der skal komme noget nyt. At det forholder sig sådan, ville jeg egentlig godt have vidst. Det ville have sparet mig mange søvnløse nætter.

Seeing as most of you don’t understand Danish, I did a pathetic attempt to translate it:

I would have liked to know that it passes. Everything passes. That is really important to know. Unfortunately the good things don’t last forever either. But the good news is that things only pass because something new is waiting to take over. That things work like this, that’s something I would really have liked to know. It would have saved me from many sleepless nights.

I kind of cling on to his words at the moment, as he is right, everything passes and new things will arrive at the horizon.

He is a very funny, inspirational and intelligent man (and yes he is tall and has lanky legs too), and I look very much forward to see them play in Shepherds Bush Empire in London in November.

Anything you would have liked to know in 1984 that you know today?

Masoko Tanga

thegirlinthecafe 10 Comments

Looking back, with my eyes closed, I have had 3 major inspirational influences in my life, which means that inside my head you can find 3 fairly large chunks of information from all three of them.

Steffen Brandt‘s lyrics guided me through life in Denmark and they became the basis of my Danish vocabulary. His philosophy about life – seize the day – live your life before it’s over – live your dreams – has definitely had its effect on my life as well. I think it is safe to say that however sad it was to leave him and his music behind in Denmark he more or less pushed me to London as I could see I had to live my dreams. I still listen to their music often but there now is a distance to the language which no longer feels that natural anymore.

Not surprisingly Bill Nighy is the second one, still very much present. If Steffen Brandt pushed me too London, he was metaphorically standing at the other side of the water pulling me over. If my Danish consists of quotes from TV-2 songs, my English is filled with all possible quotes from films he has been in. He made me realize how cool Brits really were, how I loved the English language, he gave acting a whole new meaning and became the force to get me to give screen writing a go in the first place. Not bad.

The third one however goes quite a bit longer back.
Read More

How does it make me feel …

thegirlinthecafe 1 Comment

to go to my very last tv-2 concert tonight ?

Well it’s heartbreaking. And tonight I am not going to sell t-shirts, I will stand before the stage for a last time, and sing along with the songs I know so well. And listen to the lyrics that have been a big part of my daily life in Denmark. I am going to miss them enormously.

Yes dear readers, this would definetely have been a kleenex moment, if this had been a film.

I will try to force them to come to London not too long from now.

A one way ticket to …

thegirlinthecafe 6 Comments


It has been ordered, the ticket. For the 28th of February, ?rhus – London at 10.20 am from ?rhus with Ryanair.

A one way ticket.
Which is a weird feeling.
As if there is no turning back.
Which is good, because I don’t want to turn back.

Which direction I have to go, I have no idea yet.

But as always, Steffen has the answer:

jeg ved udm?rket godt hvilken vej vi skal tage
det er fremad, babe, uden at se os tilbage

(I know exactly which way we have to take
It’s straight ahead babe, without looking back)

1 down, 7 to go

thegirlinthecafe 1 Comment

tv-2 - Filmbyen, ?rhus
Steffen Brandt, smiling on stage in Aarhus, actually.

Oh I am so going to miss watching this man on stage. And hearing him and his band live. Good to know they play London every second year. And good to know London has some other interesting men running around to compensate …

for i = 1 to 8

remember to put on black t-shirt in the morning
go to work
try to work
answer all kind of mails from fans through the day (what time does it start, how to find the venue, what merchandise can we buy etc.)
go early from work
if i = 1 then
meetup in the cafe to socialize with other fans
dance and sing and enjoy exclusive fan sneak preview concert

else
take the train to other city
live on fastfood like MacD and Burger K.
work hard and try to enjoy some of the concert while selling t-shirts and stuff
count all the stuff sold and the money and check if numbers match
take train home
end if

find bike and bike home
freeze your *ss off because it is still very cold in Denmark
come home very late
crash in your bed

next i