Next week, Friday 14th June, Men On The Border will be at the Sandviken Kulturcentrum theatre to play the latest release, Jumpstart Redux – acoustically. We’ll be on the main stage like last time (in 2016), but with the significant difference that this time the audience will be on the stage with us – making it a smaller venue with a more intimate atmosphere. The auditorium will be sealed off with a curtain, perfect for projecting our film material to. There’ll even be a bar outside the stage entrance in the foyer and tables on the stage on which people can rest their glasses when their arms get tired. The show will also be streamed live on Facebook.
Seriously, it feels like I’m describing a hip event in London rather than Sandviken. But on second thoughts, recent experience assures me this will be better than London. The sticky floors and smelly toilets I experienced there in April will not be missed. Try dancing to Smiths songs on a floor covered with 100 layers of dried beer. I did, and it wasn’t easy.
We have some very special guests with us:
Bertil Fält will be playing soprano sax. As Bertil puts it himself, he’s from a completely different musical world (namely jazz), but that’s what makes it so exciting. His playing adds a new sonic dimension and feel to the songs.
Amanda Örtenhag is a rising star who likes a challenge – and we’re very willing to provide one. Her projects include the band Different Cups with several prizes won.
Super-guitarist Steven Kautzky Andersson is active in progressive, metal and alternative rock, but has even delved into folk and world music.
A beatbox. Yes, we’ve been experimenting with programmed beats. And why not? All-in-all a varied bunch of people and styles which we’ll pull together and aim in the same general direction.
We’ll also have the now quite famous Hero guitar (or The Beast as Yngwie Malmsteen dubbed it), built by my employer, Sandvik. The third guitar which was built has now been sold at auction, but I’ll bring along number one of the two prototypes and let Steven try it out. It’s a bit heavy and the scalloped frets feel strange, but sound-wise it’s perfect.
I’ve decided to wear my Indian gear again. Mostly because it’s nicer to look at than black jeans, but also because it reminds me of 1967 hippiedom, the summer of love, flower-power and psychedelia. A time when even a lot of hit music genuinely had something to say (unlike today). But at the beginning of 1967 you had both The Beatles (Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane) and Engelbert Humperdinck (Release Me) side-by-side in the charts. In other words, it wasn’t all roses back then.
Alone again or is the brilliant first track on Love’s 1967 album Forever changes. It didn’t reach my consciousness at the time – it was too obscure for me at age 14 and there were no hits. Also, Love stayed at home in San Francisco while the main competition, The Doors, toured the world and became big stars. It’s a shame it turned out that way.