Today is the 5th of November, so the song of the day is clearly ‘Fireworks’ by ‘First Aid Kit’. It’s always wise to have a first aid kit ready when there are fireworks around!
Here are various different versions of this great song.
1. The original studio version and video (plus a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the making of the video).
As I emerged from London’s Brixton Underground Station, the ticket touts were out in force. ‘Buy or sell First Aid Kit’, they chanted. Ticket touts outside a First Aid Kit concert?! I had to be dreaming, surely!
The dream continued as I attempted to join a queue that went right around the block and never seemed to end! Admittedly these people already had tickets, but it gives some idea of the scale of tonight’s event.
By the time I got inside, the support act, the Staves, were taking to the stage. Judging from this performance, the Staves, a sister trio who sing evocative harmonies, are a class act in their own right. Their music is more folksy than First Aid Kit, but I was surprised how much they impressed me. (more…)
St Gallen is a Swiss town close to Lake Constance, near the border with Germany and Austria. It’s also very close to a little known ‘principality’ called Lichtenstein. As luck would have it, I’d arranged a trip with a friend to the German town of Konstanz on the shores of the lake. What I didn’t realise at the time was that First Aid Kit were booked to play a Summer music festival in St Gallen and that this coincided with our trip. A quick bit of research told me that St Gallen was only a 35-minute train journey from where we were staying. This was too good an opportunity to miss, and before long I’d spent a whole load of money I could ill afford on a couple of one-day tickets for the festival!
When the day finally arrived, we got off the train at St Gallen equipped with t-shirts, sunhats and suncream. It was going to be a very hot day! We hadn’t bothered to bring any food with us so ended up paying a small fortune for lunch in the town centre – Switzerland is incredibly expensive! As we weren’t really interested in seeing all the bands, we spent the early afternoon wandering around the old part of town. It turned out that St Gallen was well worth a visit on its own merit, regardless of the festival!
Here’s a review of the First Aid Kit show at the O2 Academy in Brixton last night.
https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/music/first-aid-kit-brixton-review-london-a3977611.html
Today is Johanna Söderberg’s 28th birthday, and First Aid Kit are celebrating with a special Halloween show at Brixton Academy in London. Have a great day Johanna!
Our @O2academybrix show on Oct 31st will be special. Not only is it Johanna’s 28th birthday. It’s also HALLOWEEN. So come to the show dressed up! Post photos of your outfits at the gig and use hashtag #fakhalloween18. We’ll choose a winner who will receive a signed merch kit! 🎃 pic.twitter.com/l2DuPGbsRZ
— First Aid Kit (@FirstAidKitBand) October 23, 2018
Tonight, First Aid Kit play Brighton Dome where, in 1974, another Swedish Band called ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest. ABBA, of course, went on to bigger things. Perhaps First Aid Kit will do the same!
New on YouTube.
First Aid Kit talk candidly about women, music and love.
Here is some of the reaction to First Aid Kit’s UK tour currently being posted on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpSuL0znEGS/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpf1_-DjrKO/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpfhshBHAyO/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpaadEGgx_-/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpWXA_5gXN5/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpVNWXTAHX1/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpbrp2_Axf2/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpclKBCF8t-/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpeWnFrhARY/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpb81srg_A6/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpWyuQgDAYo/?tagged=firstaidkit
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpeIRYXlq_k/?tagged=firstaidkit
Three times First Aid Kit left their idols teary-eyed after performing in front of them.
Well, it was only twice, to be entirely accurate, but on the third occasion, they got a standing ovation!
The song ‘Fireworks’ by First Aid Kit has been used on the soundtrack to the US TV series ‘Legacies’, a spinoff of ‘The Originals’ and ‘The Vampire Diaries’. The track makes an appearance in the first episode of this new series. The programme is aired on The CW Television Network and can be streamed free of charge in the US.
http://www.cwtv.com/shows/legacies/this-is-the-part-where-you-run/
(link may only be available in the US)
Here’s the famous YouTube video First Aid Kit made in their local woods in 2008. Klara was just 15 and Johanna 17 at the time. By now, they were already quite well known in their home country but this particular video went viral across the world and led to them becoming known internationally.
Since then it’s been a steady rise. Having said that, hardly anyone I know has heard of First Aid Kit, even now – in fact, they tend to look at me as if I’m talking about some sort of medical equipment! All this could be about to change, though, as next week they play 2 nights at the London Brixton Academy, their biggest UK shows to date. The following week they perform at the even bigger (5000 capacity) Cardiff Motorpoint Arena. Then, early next year, they embark on their first ever ‘stadium’ tour in Scandinavia, starting with a 13,000 capacity venue in Stockholm. After that, who knows?
The sisters have admitted to being starstruck when meeting their idols. What they don’t seem to have fully grasped yet – probably because in no way did they ever set out to do it – is that they could be on the verge of becoming ‘superstars’ themselves.