Sweden 2010, Day 17

Crawled out of bed. It was at least warm in the room, a great change from the freezing cold damp camping cabin. The hotel in Hudiksvall had free breakfast, so I went down and helped myself to some coffee, bacon, cereal, and my first scrambled eggs in weeks.

Here’s a big thank you to my P.A. in Vista… he prescribes me meds every year before I come here in case I get sick. Last year I did not need them…. This year I did. Thanks Erik! Antibiotics which I almost never take, some Mucinex D, and some Advil, and I felt nearly human again.

I zoned out for much of the drive back to Stockholm. It took us about three hours to get there, then another hour to find a place to park. We all grabbed as much crap as we could carry and slogged it to the venue; quite a walk, including several flights of huge stairs. My lungs were freezing and spasmodic. We got to the KGB club and I could not even take a moment to appreciate my surroundings, for as soon as I got to the room where we were playing, I started wheezing and lost all my air. I dropped my load, fell to my knees, and started reaching frantically for my inhaler. I felt like I was going to pass out. This was easily the worst asthma attack I have ever had… it took three puffs and nearly 30 minutes for it to abate, but at last it did.

After another half hour I felt well enough to get through sound check. We were playing in a tiny room, open to two storeys, and Timo could not fit his 6’8” frame into the “stage” area, so he and I came out in front by the bar, and the rest of the band squeezed in behind us. No room for anyone to move this gig! Still, we knew we would have a great time.

After sound check, the club provided dinner for us… a delicious piping hot plate of meatballs, mushrooms, and potatoes in a mild sauce. The club itself is pretty cool. The décor is Cold War – era Russia, and many of the artifacts were genuine. A lot of thought went into this place, as every detail was in my opinion perfect. Heck, in the bathrooms, one is treated to a lesson in how to speak Russian as you go about your business!

We had quite a few hours to kill before the show, and they gave us the exceedingly warm boiler room to use as our hangout. My friend Klas came out to see us, and a couple of Tobias’ friends who live in Stockholm also came out. My voice held up pretty well, and we put on one hell of a show, even though Timo almost cracked his head open headbanging in front of the speakers which hung a scant inch from the top of his head.

Once we were done and in the car, I crashed HARD. I started feeling so sick, and nauseous, and feverish, so I slept while we made our way back to the cold little camping cabin. I paused only long enough to scrub off my makeup and brush my teeth, and I was out.

More tomorrow.