The Peace and Love Festival: Part 1

BÖRLANGE - Jenny drove the whole way to the festival that day. I sat shotgun, staring at the passing countryside through my window. I can't seem to get enough of taking it all in. It is a beautiful country here, sometimes reminding me of places through the Midwest, with rolling hills, deciduous trees, and livestock. Other times, we are surrounded by tall, thin pine trees on all sides. All the trees here seem to stretch up into the sky, lean but strong.



We pulled over into a small rest stop for some coffee in the afternoon/evening. It was a nice, cozy place with some character, quite different from the rest stops I have become accustomed to at home, as either faceless buildings that house automatic machines and underkept bathrooms or big, bright gas stations.



We had a bit of coffee while standing there and I randomly pointed at the words labeling the objects around me. I had been doing this most of the time anyway, but the newly purchased dictionary had aroused a heightened sense of the mysteries that surrounded me at all times.

We continued on our way, with Jesper in the backseat, occasionally joking with us but mostly focusing on savoring his lollipop.



Along the way, a bit of stress arose as we received a phone call informing us that the rest of the crew had arrived at the festival but had hit a snag: A camping site had never been booked. The tickets said that camping was included but apparently this meant that a camping spot in the festival was supposed to be booked ahead of time.

Oops.

We continued on our way and held firm to the belief that things would work out alright.

When we arrived, we realized that a lot of the town had been taken over by the festival. There were signs everywhere pointing towards "Peace and Love". It would certainly be nice to see more of those signs around all the time, as if it were that easy.

"Hey, just head this way to find Peace and Love."

In a perfect world, I suppose...

We found a place to put the car and started walking, hoping to get our passes and meet up with everyone. The rest of the crew found us and delivered the bad news: They weren't budging on the camping thing and we were going to have to find another place to camp outside the festival.

It was disappointing that during a festival called "Peace and Love" we couldn't be cut a break. Apparently the staff there seemed very tired with the question, suggesting that they had heard it a lot that day.

Around this time, I offered to go "Chicago-style" on the staff, announcing myself as an American and getting pushy.

"Do you know who I am? Do you know who my father is? Do you know what kind of people we know? Are you familiar with 'The Mafia' because I am American, after all... I'm calling my attorney!"

I asked if anyone had tried to "grease" the staff and rubbed my fingers together over imaginary bills. I told them Chicago was a city built on bribes and there seemed to be no one who didn't have a price. Jesper got a kick out of this and randomly repeated the term throughout the remainder of the festival.

Somewhere around this time, we realized we were in the wrong line, so we headed back to the car to replan. The rest of us stayed behind while Jenny and Tobias tried to find a camping site somewhere so we could leave the caravan somewhere for the night and see if there was somewhere better to go the next day.

We were able to find a spot behind an auction house and headed over there to set up for the night. It was still light out but getting later.

We set up the caravan and then some tables and chairs outside. A relaxing evening next to a highway, which was on the other side of a line of trees. Conveniently, there was a small wooded area on the other side of the building we were next to which worked very well as our "natural bathroom".

Dinner was prepared that night, a nice pasta dish, and we enjoyed it in the comforts of the cozy caravan.





The next day was beautiful. According to everyone, festivals here always seem to be plagued with rain, but this day showed signs of staying sunny throughout.



We made a new friend that day, Rudolph, who was looking for his brother Harold. We helped him as much as we can, but I think Rudolph was a little slow and wasn't much help at all. So, we eventually sent him on his way.



I also went about marking some planned "improvements" on my feet. I'm doing my best to break in this new pair of Chucks I bought, but the process is slow and occasionally painful.



A man approached us while we were there, clad in a black biker t-shirt that appeared to be from California. He spoke in Swedish to the crew, so I took my usual position of smiling and nodding.

Turns out, he lived in the house right there and informed us there was going to be an auction and we couldn't camp there. But he was very nice about it and spent the afternoon trying to find us another place to go, checking in from time to time with updates. He told us about a spot that was close to the festival and after checking it out, we decided to move there.

It was a field next to a parking lot that was a short walk from the festival and had several other campers scattered about, so at least there was some company there.

We set up camp again and prepared for entering the festival.

We were destined for checking out Miss Li, which turned out to be a really fun show at a small stage in a grassy part of town. The town had been completely taken over by the festival. Unlike festivals like Lollapalooza, which take over a park and are completely sectioned off from everything else, leaving the city to just serve as a pretty backdrop, this festival was in the center of town. There were lots of fences up and various gates which you could pass through if you had the wristband. Some stages were wedged between buildings, with the crowds filling the streets. I tried to imagine this happening in th U.S. but pictured a lot of people making a lot of phone calls to file a lot of noise complaints.

Next up was Kaizers Orchestra, which was a great show. I was really disappointed my camera had run out of battery before we headed in, because that meant I would have nothing to post up here, particularly video. The recorded music is good, but they really bring an intensity to the stage which has to be witnessed.

Because we were so close to the camping site, we were able to walk around, head back to the caravan if we wanted to, and venture back in to the festival just to catch the acts we were interested in. I went to Manu Chao with Albert and had a great time. This performance was completely unlike the recorded music. There was so much energy coming from the stage and you could see it in the crowd.

Let me say this: Swedish people love their music.

I can't stress that enough. You will see people jumping around near the stage at American festivals, but nothing like this. Entire crowds responding to the performers, pumping fists, jumping in the air, singing along.

I thought I knew my music before coming here. I've been proved wrong. I am regularly a bit embarrassed as everyone sings along to American songs, knowing all the words. I sometimes mumble the chorus...

We finished the night with Pigeon Detectives and headed back to the camp site.

The next day was just as relaxing and the weather was clear and beautiful again. Tobias had made a suitcase stereo and we sat around listening to music and getting prepared for the night ahead.

Jenny and I went to the mall, which was very close, so I could find a place to charge my camera battery. Electricity was hard to come by. We walked through the mall, only to find piles of kids huddled around every available electrical outlet. Apparently this wasn't a very original idea. We were finally able to find a restaurant that had one available outlet. I plugged in quickly and then we sat down nearby with some coffee, waiting and talking...

More to come later. I'm tired.