Day 4 (December 29th): 1000Fryd in Aalborg, Denmark
If there's a lot of driving ahead of you, try to start your day with Entombed's version of "Night of the Vampire".
Pull into Aalborg and the venue, 1000Fryd. We load and setup merch, smoke lots of cigarettes, and check out the place. Peter, one of the proprietors and trim blond danish giant, points me to the lot a few blocks away: "Ok to park the van, left, then straight until you see the statue of bull's testicles, then straight 2 more blocks and make a right at the statue of the woman with the goose. Park behind."On our walk back we spot "Friends american restaurant and buffet." Sorry for the bad framing, but in the photo above, Shaun is leaping for joy.
Sound check then dinner. The folks at 1000Fryd prepared us an unmatched vegan bounty, shredded beet salad, beet hummus, and a mountain of hearty breads. Everything on the plate turns a deep crimson from sweet beet juice. In the dining room is a full fridge of Thor beer for the bands, but we have our kid gloves on after the tough drinking from the night before.Show time, No More Art is way tighter than their first show. We play and things are still a little groggy, but everyone in the audience is really stoked, the show's flyer described us as "it is American quality here. As a Harley - just faster." We get paid handsomely, apparently the good people of Denmark lawfully compensate performing artists, so much of the night's payout is government supported, helping keep places like 1000Fryd operating as strongly as they have for so long. Fucking paradise.
Shows over, we run the streets in search of pizza and to try out our algebra of Dollars/Euro/Danish Kronor. Some of us narrowly dodge the gauntlet of red-light-lulus, and a trouncing by local freshcuts. I think thats what was happening, the only words we got were "fucking yankee pussy." Check for your passport, just keep walking.
1000Fryd has what is undoubtably the cleanest bunk room in all of Europe. Immaculate construction, wayyy too many mattresses and pillows, and a huge game table that makes drinking games a pleasure. Peter comes up to talk with us for a long time about Danish isolationism, pastries, and the best way to j-brake a diesel Mercedes Sprinter. We book our ferry ticket, 300 Euro for a one way trip across the Skagerrak into Oslo.We wake to baked goods, sandwiches, 4 litres of orange juice, and 20 beers. Snag it all, pack it into the van, and book it to the ferry for our 8 hour boat trip into the heart of Norway.
TOMORROW: 2 Nights in Oslo
