Vesterbro (feat. Antz & Song Yang)

Friday 21 August

Hit my last breakfast of the week and left the hotel at a gentlemanly hour for the final day of the workshop proper. Ran through the venue progress, did my first (of three!) Mongolian TV interviews, and checked out the fresh prints from Singapore – things were roughly under control. Shot back to the hotel around noon and met up with Anna and Steve who had just flown over from London for the weekend. Greeted them in the customary manner then had panini and olives in the sun next to the hotel – Anna’s first impression was how groovy everything was, and that everyone spoke perfect English! I guess we’re not in Kawakawa anymore, sister.

We took the stroll back up past the Little Mermaid to the venue for Friday’s final preparation – the agency was taking a JIT approach and I wasn’t particularly happy about it, so I did what I could then sent all the artists back to freshen up. By 7pm we had all made it on time to Le Le, a hot Vietnamese restaurant in Vesterbro, and no-one was disappointed. At the entrance bar we were met with custom-made Tiger-coffee liqueur cocktails (which worked for me as something different) before being shown into the main hall where our tables were reserved and a DJ had been put on especially!

A live trumpeter was playing while I did my rounds (people from all over Europe had joined our multinational crew by now) and enjoyed the super-fresh noodles, but when Fat Freddy’s was Dropped I couldn’t help but welcome Friday night with a nod to the venerable DJ and a good old-fashioned groove.

The bill was the most outrageous all week and Graham gracefully laid it on his card before we cruised west to Kung Fu bar where our Tiger pub crawl started in style. This Japanese sake bar saw us spill well out onto the street before we bounced to Lil’ Vega or Ideal Bar, where Jack White had recently performed – damn. Our rent-a-crowd was going strong but my dancing shoes were still feeling restrained as we stopped in at Bang & Jensen for a sneaky pint. Luckily, our final area was the meatpacking district and the penultimate bar, Jolene, with its packed earth floor and bright funky tunes got me, Song Yang, Miss Lotion and Sidsel tearing up the floor with big smiles on our faces.

Karrier was the last stop (we had to get in before 12:30) and we had an area reserved with plenty of beers – the music wasn’t so great but it was still early. We enjoyed the buzz there for a while amidst a big group but by now I felt like giving the Danes a taste of their own medicine, so headed back with Anna and Steve around 2am for some chillaxing action in the hotel. Saturday was the main night and I wanted to be ready.

Like Carey's Bay, sorta

Thursday 20 August

After a solid breakfast of cornflakes, fruit and yoghurt followed by cheese and crackers, I led our group from the hotel, through another glorious morning past the harbour, to the venue for collaboration day 2! Got some work done in the quiet atmosphere as the setup inched along, while the artists made steady progress on their respective works.

Had a very civilized lunch with Christian, Crystella, Kenny and Pat, sampling three types of herring and a local micro brew before witnessing a very old school Copenhagen writer team up with New York legend Ghost to do an impromptu throw-up as part of a wild card appearance. I was meant to leave at 2pm, but the Hendrix soundtrack and the shining sun would have otherwise, so I stayed for my best Tiger moment so far.

On my bike, I dropped my laptop off at the hotel and continued on across the main river to Christiania, the ex-hippie area that was established in the name of peace and love and continues along a similar vein (as far as is possible in 2009). Ducking off the busy street into a promising-looking park, I found myself on a single lane path with a gleaming lake on my left and lots of sweet little home-made houses on my right. It reminded me of Carey’s Bay, only more dinky, if that’s possible.

After following this line as far as I could, three smoke stacks loomed overhead and I found myself back on a normal road, so I looked over my shoulder and headed left across a bridge back towards the lake. My Jedi GPS must have been in full working order, as within a few minutes I was feeling a happy little village vibe, with an old long-haired dude playing Dylan on his acoustic guitar in front of the main store selling Christiania beer. How could I say no? On my left, a bunch of people were selling second-hand lego and books, on my right a couple of hungover guys smoked out of a chillum. I could have stayed there forever.

Moving on towards my date with reality, I continued less than a minute before encountering a fantastic two-man sound system from Mexico City! Pumping a reggae, hip-hop vibe into a smoke-filled crowd around 4:20pm, again I couldn’t help but stay a while and soak up the groove. They were saying something disparaging about the police, which I understood, but wasn’t quite feeling. Must be the corporate gig.

Now really needing to get back, I carried on and again was met with an amazing line-up of live Danish hip-hop – though awesome, the gods were on my side as they were just finishing so I rolled on, down Pusher Street and back to the normal side of the river. Damn, I thought, I’m going to have to come back here on Sunday.

Meeting everyone in the hotel lobby at 6:30pm was the plan, and we cruised up the street to Café Sommersko for dinner, where we were joined by Shannon, Mads and some of the local artists. After a decent lamb shank with veges and a few rounds of Tiger, we headed up the street to a traditional old Danish pub which was way too smoky for me, so I relaxed outside and took Mads’ pimped out Tiger bike for a spin. Hornsleth bar was our next (and final!) stop for the night, so after checking out the artwork and chatting with a few cats, I took my leave and walked home before midnight. Moderation in all things, no doubt, but I am beginning to doubt the jam-ness of this crew!

Samarbejde

Wednesday 19 August

Day 1 of the collaboration begins! Gathered everyone in the lobby and walked by the harbour, past the Little Mermaid, in the beautiful sunshine to the venue, Pakhus 11. Six Danish artists were waiting to meet our five artists from China, Mongolia, Thailand and Singapore, and with Kasper doing a great job moderating the whole thing, the briefing took place over coffee and everyone set to work.

I joined Christian on a trip to meet Jesper and his wife (who just got knocked up!) at their beautiful house in suburban Hellerup - had coffee on the balcony and picked delicious fresh plums from their garden! Jesper drove me to his sushi restaurant in the Latin Quarter where we checked out Fox Hotel and I cruised around the funky streets with cafes, second-hand record shops and streetwear stores. Lunch at The Living Room was a classic goats' cheese sandwich with soy latte (heaven!) and with full tummy I secured perfect gifts for Jamie & Kai.

After soaking up the street corner a little longer I cabbed back to the venue to check on the progress - some great work happening from Clean, Le Fix and Miss Lotion. Walked back to the hotel with Pat and met up with Christian for a lovely dinner at Jesper's Sushitreat, a beer at Dalle Valle (great soundtrack - U2, White Stripes, Jeff Buckley), through Hotel Sankt Petri to my highlight so far, Dive Bar. Chris the bartender was a Reno-esque Dane who was raised in Asia and treated his bottles and customers with respect. We talked shit, tried to check out Lindon Puffin's myspace, had a couple of drinks and got a tip to head to Mono Bar for some dub. Unfortunately it was packed to the brim so after checking it out from the street, Pat and I walked home and hit the sack by midnight. Respect continues!

Copenhagen Calling

Tuesday 18 August

After a lovely six week stint with Mum and Ken in Singapore, Bali and Melaka, I said goodbye and checked in for a 12 hour flight to Copenhagen, along with Singapore artist Antz, my team-mate Crystella and blogger Kenny Sia. Enjoyed dinner, a glass of wine, Flight of the Conchords and Star Trek before popping a sleeping pill and knocking out for a good six hours.

By 7.30am we were on the tarmac in the fully developed world! Met up with Pat and Thai artist Rom at the baggage reclaim and took a taxi van for the short and smooth trip into downtown Copenhagen and the Scandic Front Hotel.

After dropping our bags, Antz and I went for coffee along the touristy new harbour, beautiful fresh air and bright sun beating down as we got our super-pricey caffeine fix. Took a stroll around the hood before Crystella and Kenny joined us and we walked down the main pedestrian street to lunch at Cafe Europa. Enjoyed spawn of lumpsucker with bread, cheese, and a Tiger - tried not to have a heart attack at the bill, 60 Sing dollars per head for a simple lunch!

Took in the main shopping street and city hall before jumping on a canal cruise, punctuated by the obnoxious antics of white trash scando youth. Met up with Christian, Mikkel and the Theobrands crew to work on some details before a simple dinner and drinks in the hotel to welcome all artists and guests. Finished up with one final beer (the Czech Krosevic) at the new harbour before crashing around 11pm. Respect to the body!!