my dear friend Lars Emil of the accordion please make some noise for him yeah and we're gonna start
out with a song called journeys
Festival. How are you doing? What a lovely crowd you are. We thank you so much for that. We are Symbio
and we have traveled all the way from the dark, dark Scandinavia, Stockholm, Sweden and we are so happy
to be a part of this year's festival. We are actually out on a US tour right now. We are just in the
beginning of the tour so we are packed with energy.
And on my right hand side, we have my dear friend and colleague. He's been sitting there beside me for
15 years, playing his hurdy-gurdy and electronics, and his name is Johannes Kivorkian-Hellman. Please
give him some applause. Thank you. Thank you so much. And I have already introduced him once.
but he's a man who needs two presentations, at least. He doesn't demand it, but he needs it. So on my
left-hand side, from the dark forests of Western Sweden, of the small county called Värmland, here
is Lars-Emil Löjeberg on the accordion stompbox and electronics. And as Lars said, we have
just started our US tour in the beginning of this week, and I can assure you, everywhere where we came,
they asked us, so where are you going for the weekend? And we said, we're going to Bloomington. And
all of them said, oh, so you're going to Bloomington. Everyone is so nice there. So nice people are
living in Bloomington, and we felt like, okay, yeah, cool. Let's see.
And it was really true. We have been so well taken care of here during our day here. So it's really
lovely to be here and we're looking forward to share more of our music with you this evening. We started
out with a song called Journeys and we would like to continue with another song which we have named
Arrows of Light.
Thank you so much, everyone. That was Arrows of Light, followed by the song Amnesty. And now we would
like to play some music for you, which came to us around two years ago. And both myself and Lars, in
that time, two years ago, we were in the moment where a lot of things in our lives were changing.
You know, sometimes you are at a place in life when you feel that some things are starting to come to an
we have to start to find some new directions or paths in life. Start something new and end something
old. And when you're in that moment, maybe it's easy to get a bit afraid because usually we know what
we have, but we don't always know what we're going to get. And I don't know about you, but in my weakest
moment, sometimes I doubt, am I going to get any more great things in this life or was this it?
But when we are in that moment, let's remember that maybe the very, very best things that will happen
to us in our lives, they didn't happen to us yet. So they are still waiting for us. So if we dare to
take a new direction and start to walk on this new path, soon these new possibilities in life will appear
to us. So this song is called Parting Road, and it's about those crossroads that we encounter in life
now and then.
And this song is especially for the people who are in that situation right now. Maybe there is someone
in here who is in that moment right now, thinking of ending something and daring to take a new road
in life. This is Parting Road.
west part of Sweden, quite close to Norway, in one of those, you know, small little villages that are
almost forgotten. And I sometimes think of the silence that only happens in places where no one lives.
For example,
When I go back to my little home village to visit my mom and dad, I take the car and I do the six hour
drive from Stockholm, crossing the country and then ending up in the deep, deep forest in my hometown.
And then when I come there, usually it's in the middle of the night, I stop my car and I step out.
When it's wintertime and dark I usually gaze up to the sky and then I see all those thousands and thousands
of small shiny little dots looking down on me and it's almost like they are singing sometimes. This
song is called Starlit Skies and it's about that
Thanks.
That was Starlit Skies, followed by the title track of our second album, Rising. And Starlit Skies,
fun fact for you, it was actually released as a single today. So it was premiere after single release
for that song. And if you liked it, please, you are so welcome to have a listen to it again later tonight
after you have listened to all the other fantastic concerts going on.
I suppose you have all been sitting and wondering how is it like to live and to tour together with a
hurdy-gurdy player? Of course! Doesn't everyone think that thought now and then? Or is it maybe just
me? Do we have any hurdy-gurdy players in the audience? Shout if you play hurdy-gurdy! Yes! Lovely to
be represented, finally! We had to go all the way to America to find hurdy-gurdy players. I'm not all
alone after all.
That's great. That's great. Well, I can tell you a secret. When you are traveling together with a hurdy-gurdy
player, or if you meet a person who plays it, you will notice one thing. And that's that every hurdy-gurdy
player always carries around their hurdy-gurdy first aid kit. And it looks something like this. Yeah,
something like this. Everyone has it. And what does this hurdy-gurdy kit contain? Well, it contains
all the necessary
tools and equipment to maintain this crazy instrument. So he's got the pliers. Of course. I've got many
of them. Yeah, cutting the strings off when he is like angry of the instrument, yeah. And then he's
got the famous Allen key, the big one. The golden one. Yeah, the Allen key, exactly. He got the Allen
key. It was included when he bought the Hürdigördi because he bought it in IKEA in Sweden. So then
you could, you know, screw it together as well. We are Swedes.
So that's what and then the most important part is the little secret bottle. And what does the hurdy-gurdy
player has in his secret little bottle? Yeah, it's 98% alcohol for the hurdy-gurdy, but sometimes for
the player as well. Well, when I have the early mornings, but but you know, I need this alcohol for
the rosin to be able to get sound in the hurdy-gurdy and in Sweden where we come from.
Many things are forbidden because, you know, the authorities, they are really aware of us not starting
bad behaviors. So you cannot buy 98% alcohol drinks. You know, it's impossible. You can't find that
in Sweden. So where do you find this? Well, there is a country called Germany. You know about it? Yeah.
And we have been to Germany. It's really great to be touring there because besides nice people, they sell
98% alcohol for one dollar, one liter. And it's really easy to find it. So if you're there, you can
buy a lot or you shall buy a lot. And when I'm there, I buy many bottles. I go home to Sweden and then
I am king on the black market of alcohol for hurdy-gurdy players in the whole north of Europe. It's
a great feeling. It's a great feeling. I mean, it's for a good cause also. Yeah. Everyone has to have
some sort of side business, you know.
Well, now you know a little bit how it is to travel around with the hurdy-gurdy player. I have come
to love this fascinating instrument. I was amazed by it from the first time I heard it 15 years ago
when I saw it in the hands of this player. And now, Johannes, it's time to show the audience the different
colors of the hurdy-gurdy. Well, mister, play your heart out.
I'm ready
He'll make it.
Thank you so much everyone. So time goes fast when you have fun and we had quite fun today, Lars, right?
Yes, lovely evening. So that means we will play our last song for you for this concert. But there is,
we will actually play a little bit more on this festival as well. Yes. At 9 p.m. tonight in the first
church. So if you want to come there, welcome. One of the shortest distances we had
to travel between two gigs yeah so excellent and that was good because we flew 5 a.m. from Atlanta Georgia
this morning so it was really nice to just transport ourselves easy before when we play the last song
we want to give a warm thanks to Lotus Festival for inviting us yeah what a nice place and it's like
they said Bloomington is a lovely place with lovely people and speaking about lovely people the crew
at this stage were wonderful Jack
The last song of this concert has a Swedish name. Do we have any Swedish-speaking people in the audience?
Yes! Scandinavia!
Well, but for the other people, I will tell that this is a title in Swedish. And the song is called
Genom Mörker. And in English, it means going through darkness. And it's about this wonderful life that
we are given. It's amazing to be alive. We get to experience so many beautiful, fascinating things.
And I mean, especially an evening like this,
being among friends, music lovers. I mean, that's wonderful, right? Yeah, exactly. But as all of you
know, sometimes life can be a bit more difficult. And maybe so difficult that we sometimes find ourselves
at a place where we feel that everything that we can see with our eyes looks like darkness to the eyes.
And we really want to find that energy and determination to get back up on our feet and feel this happiness
and energy and gratefulness for being alive. But we are not sure if we can make it because it feels
so far away. So what can we do when we are down there in the darkness? One person said once that if
you're going through hell, just keep going.
So that's quite true. We have to face the darkness and go through it. And that can be really hard and
painful to do all alone. But if you do it together with someone hand in hand, it will become a little
bit more easy. So we would like to finish off this evening by going through the darkness hand in hand
together with all of you, because that's going to make everything so simple and actually quite joyful,
I think. So it will be six minutes of darkness. And when we are through that,
and you need to hang in there. But when we are through that, there will be a lot of light and happiness
there. So, dear friends, thank you so much for being with us this night. We are Symbio from Sweden,
and this is Genom Mörker.
Have a wonderful festival and see you during the weekend. Enjoy and thanks for your warm generosity.