I suffered from my usual foot-in-mouth disease when talking to Lau Nau, so I can't add an interview here. Lovely gigs. Tsembla played cassette loops and effects and Lau Nau alternated between guitar ballads and loop pedal trickery. Mind, hearing her version of "Hummani hei" brought back the usual childhood memories of car sickness: We used to travel each summer by car to Finland from Germany and my father had nothing but Tapio Rautavaara in his cassette deck...
I've got my tickets for Tomutonttu in two weeks - should be good. I'm a big fan of Lau Nau and Tsembla too - loved that Tsembla 7". Good to see some Finnish artists making their way to NZ, though after all this earthquake drama it's probably not the most recommended destination!
ReplyDeleteThe earthquake made our news and I saw the pictures you linked to, but I haven't heard anything about the aftermath. You folks haven't succumbed to looting and civil war, right? Most Finns enjoy roughing it, so Tomutonttu would probably be amused even if you put him up in a tent. :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck and cheer with the rebuilding. I would be there in a jiffy, too, if my body did not react badly to all travelling.
I'm sure there will be somewhere more solid than a tent! The newer buildings fared alright - it was mainly the old Victorian brick ones that just crumbled. It's sad to see them being condemned to the wrecking ball, but I guess safety comes first. There was a bit of looting, unfortunatley, but nothing as dramatic as civil war.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any severe damage firsthand yet as my side of town escaped virtually unscathed. The aftershocks were more frightening than the main quake - I only put up with them for three days before getting out of town. Hopefully they will have stopped before I return and things get back to normal!
It is sad when something one used to rely on unthinkingly proves dangerous. But earthquakes are rare, or so I understand, so perhaps you will not experience another one in your lifetime.
ReplyDeleteAnd to see a city lose its built history is sad as well. Turku is some 800 years old, but it's hard to see in most places, since developers have raged in the old districts almost like the fire storms that destroyed Germany's cities. Well, most of the old city was wooden buildings. A few years of neglect, a bit of moisture and a perfectly preserved, hundred year old house turns into a mouldy wreck, ready to be torn down.
In Stockholm, they require developers to build their façades according to the old styles of surrounding the building, which is why the city looks very pretty (and only slightly fake). Perhaps Christchurch could have similar laws. And since the Victorians loved copying old styles, you would have Gothic and classical hints twice removed in such neo-Victorian buildings...
No city here is as old as 800 years, of course. It's hard for us to imagine. I'd say that Dunedin is the South Island city with the most old buildings. While there is a historic places trust, I've never thought that Christchurch was so good at preserving their old buildings. Quite a few nice ones were voluntarily demolished, nature has added to it. Saying that, there are still some nice Gothic looking ones - I think that they will definitely have to create some rules for rebuilds. It would be sad to see the city centre die too as the shops there were always far more vibrant and creative than the lifeless malls in the suburbs.
ReplyDeleteNZ is more earthquake prone than Europe, I'd say. We are used to small ones, but hopefully a big one like that is a one time thing.