You know that when it comes to nice clubs, I am always the one to go. Since I don't have time to come to Ibiza to check out the famous Pacha club, Pacha came to Vilnius instead. And my friend from London came right in time to accompany me in this mission. When it comes to clubbing in Vilnius, even with international clubs, it gets a local touch. So there is a risk - either you get the right crowd in, or the crowd is completely wrong. E.g., Fashion TV club in Vilnius didn't get it right and had to close. So I was curious how will it be with Pacha. I was pleasantly surprised. The first impression - face control - was based not on the "looks" criteria, but more on "manners". Of course, you can't look trashy, but you don't need to wear D&G or Armani either to get in. But if you keep on fighting to get in instead of waiting in the line, the bouncers will ask you to leave. That worked - the crowd was really decent over there. Diverse, friendly people. Fancy drinks - special Pacha cherry mojito and other good stuff. Good music. GREAT music. Lexicon Avenue really took the crowd to heaven, and R'n'B area seemed to be crowded as well. It's a small thing, it's nice to see Vilnius in their official tour listing, why they cannot learn typing "Vilnius" in a correct way? We still have to work on our city branding :) But anyway, let's not really care about this, take a look at what it looks like...
...when you decide to come to Lithuania by bus from Portugal, Sweden, Italy or wherever else within the area in blue:
From today on Lithuania has become a part of Schengen area, which means that you will be able to cross borders without any special controls while travelling inside the area. And people living outside this area, but having a Schengen visa, can freely come to visit me without any additional visa paperwork :) Woot woot!
OMG! It's December already! I realized it only yesterday when an X-mas tree was brought to our office, to be decorated. Honestly, we have more Dutch winter than the Lithuanian winter over here, as there is no snow yet!
So what have I been up to in the past month:
Moments: ...a small Energy'07 reunion in Vilnius - with Diana, Jana, randomly met Vitalijus, joining the boys party congratulating Danny with his birthday, laughing a lot with (or from) his porn XXX team, then experiencing the so-called high-fashion party in Champagne Bar , which appeared to be quite average. ...cocktails, including a mojito (for Filipe) with Piret who is incredibly often coming to Vilnius these days =) ...so much adrenaline when trying to move wooden bricks of the Jenga tower during the drinks with colleagues. Afterwards moving to playing "Taboo" (or "Alias" as they call it here) and seeing that sometimes understanding each other from half of the word is not that difficult! ...lotsa lotsa people dressed like so 1920s and dancing all night long! Lindyhop is my new entry on my dances-to-learn list, and definitely it goes well with my love for jazz music. It's the third month I attend the course and I love it! ... a different creativity workshop in my home AIESEC LC. For the first time in preparation for this training, I didn't use any aiesec-related material, kept it all within my personal experience, tuned it with a few improv excercises and real examples how a little innovation can turn into big money. It's not difficult to be creative, and it seems that the message came across. ...artsy crowd in the opening of Fluxus-East exhibition, with wine and nice meals, with a crazy exibition attached. Fluxus is a movement initially was supposed to be an anti-art movement or so called "art-joke". And indeed he exhibition reflected it - everyone was able to listen to funny music and see all kinds of crazy stuff which is not art, but makes sense. Even play flux ping-pong (see left), which has not only interesting table, but the rackets also were not standard: one of them has a hole, another is completely soft, third one has a very rough surface... Art is fun! Even the former mayor of Vilnius couldn't resist to give it a shot. Very refreshing.
What is coming up next is... Winter Holidays, of course! Can't wait :) I am going to leave you with my powerplay for this month, which is another local masterpiece on MTV!
"yeah yeah, I'm alright, I keep power forever...." - yeap that's the way I feel!
* pic from: http://www.deepfun.com/2006_07_01_archive.html * Video of Happyendless called "Power Forever"
I was watching MTV EMAs last night. I did not like the ceremony itself as I did the last year, but let's not talk about that. I am just extremely happy, because for the first time one of MTV trophies goes to Lithuania - to Jurga, the Lithaunia singer I wrote about some time ago.
Even more, I am also happy for our fellow Estonians, because they have won the New Sounds of Europe Award, the nominees for which have been voted by all people from Europe via internet and SMS during the show itself. Out of 18 semi-finalists Bedwetters from Estonia, together with other two bands (from Turkey and Romania), went to the finals. Even Klaxons got voted out before the show. And at the end of the show, Nelly Furtado announces that a young band from Estonia has won!! Yahoo!
I think they are really worth it. When I saw them on MTV B-Day, they gave all their soul on the stage. And you should check out this video:
I rarely post Lithuanian music in this blog. I think I did just one post, and now it's the second. I am not a big fan of Lithuanian music, as 85 percent of it is oriented to teenagers up to 15, or people living in the countryside, who don't care that much about the long term value of music, it's just for making quick cash from records and concerts.
BUT, this is one of those 15 percent of good stuff. Jurga is amazing. She has a great voice, and she will not go to any single compromise in terms of quality: music, production, music video - it is the best what I've seen in Lithuanian music scene so far. This is a quality entertainment product, and she is one of the best paid singers in Lithuania. So you can make money with quality product!
Check out her video and hear it yourself! What do you think?
The past couple of weeks have been one of the most important ones in lives of people fo Lithuania. It is said that basketball is our second religion, and I think it is even first, when I walk down the street in the city center and see everyone, EVERYONE staring to one thing - the TV set, showing Eurobasket 2007. from small children and families, who just sit quietly and stare watching very single move, to gangs of young people occupying all spots with TV available, groups of friends gathering in somebody's place with drinks and cheering mood, even our fellows cheering for the team live in Spain. After each victory people would go to the streets, singing or playing music loudly from their cars, Lithuanian flags all over the place! this is a wonderful feeling of togetherness :)
We had all victories, but one. Just because we lost against Russia (who are the champions, we didn't get into the finals. But, in the little final we've won against Greece, who has beaten us in the finals a few years ago.
So, bronze this time! It has been good games - not the champion times that used to be with the older generation, but definitely better games than in the most recent years. Very proud of those guys!
I'm so excited I don't even know where to start!! But this evening Vilnius IS the place to be ;) For two reasons:
<-- These girls. When I was in my late teens and was dreaming to become an artist (I still am on my spare time ;)) and was into all that hip culture life, I saw this video. It seemed so cool but so far away from me - in the big world. Afterwards, I got to go to US, to Western Europe and Asia and the world seemed not so big anymore. But now when I see that Chicks on Speed(CoS) are coming to Contemporary Art Center (CAC) in Vilnius, bringing their performance and exhibition, my heart cannot help beating faster :)
Here is a short excerpt about CoS from the CAC article:
"Punk was also the movement and the moment when women started truly rocking for themselves, incorporating explicit post-feminist political and performance strategies into their stage-personas, costuming, and stage-productions; high among them being raw sexuality, nudity, inflammatory language and sloganeering. (...) The Chicks On Speed are all that and more! An all girl band, performance ensemble, visual art ensemble, which also release and produce music made by women on their record label. "
And the reason number two for this night rocking is nobody else but Ellen Allien>, the Goddess of electronica from Germany! She is playing in all biggest electronica festivals in the world, as I heard it took a while tho persuade her to come to play in Lithuania, but damn - it's worth it! I will not expand telling too much about her style, but electronica lovers for sure know what I'm talking about :)
Im not much of a feminist, but this girly evening with best girls on stage, with nice artsy extras sounds extremely good:)
Last Sunday I had the luck to be in a closing concert of Riga's City Celebration, which was also a birthday partay of MTV in Baltic. After a 5 hour trip with our entertaining bus, having some cocktails on the way we were even more excited to see the bands on stage, which are the highlights in the Baltics. Here are some videos:
Mantas - so-called Lithuanian Robbie Williams. Good looking man, great voice, not exactly my style of music, but O.K. :)
Melo M - I would say those Latvians are my new fave band. Playing most famous pop covers with chellos sounds so damn awesome :
Since I liked them so much - again Melo M, this time with vocals:
The headliner - Digitalism . The crowd of 26 000 people went crazy when they were playing:
Afterparty was held in a tiny space in Riga's most famous club essential, where Metal on Metal DJs rocked (I'm so proud - they are the first Lithuanian DJs who are working with SKINT Records):
That's the update :) I am going to catch up with my sleeping now ;)
Last weekend:Due to weather conditions it was not Open Air anymore, but it was the same good - held in EXIT, one of the best clubs in Lithuania.
The night was awesome - good beats from fantastic DJs - Lauris Lee and ignas i.v. (LT) as well as international starts - Deep Dish and Gus Gus. The first one was a bit harder than Deep Dish we hear on the radio (say "Flashdance"), but was the same rockin:) President Bongo (Gus Gus) was awesome :) Shook our booties all night long ;) Especially during this song:
For me, it's always nice to hear the news about the National branding strategy. Currently there is a contest for the logo of Lithuania. A bunch of designers and creative agencies have put up their design samples for the contest, and now the pre-selected ones are online for public voting. Meanwhile, the research is on - what co-notation does one or another logo imply for a foreign person. In the end, based on voting and research results, the winner will be chosen and project is on for implementation.
What do you guys think? which of these logo's would encourage you to find out more about Lithuania? It`s funny, but i couldn't find a site with English translation of this article. I will share my opinion later ;)
Since I am staying here for a while, feel free to visit me and I will show you ;)
I have to tell you about my last week that I`ve spent in Lithuania. Going home is always nice, especially when you have just one week, then you just choose the best things that are available only in Lithuania…
Best food.Cepelinai, Koldunai and Fried wheat bread with cheese sauce. I know most of the foreigners in Lithaunia and many locals put those things on their black list marked FAT FOOD, but it is soooo nice to have those things once in a while :)
Best shows.PLAID was there live in Gravity. For the ones who know what is Intelligent Dance Music or WARP records, I think no more explanation needed. Maybe Intelligent has worked for me better than Dance part, but for sure there`s something worth my attennion. Thanks to Goda and Gintare for reference and also being a great company!
Best music. Lithuanian music is gaining back my trust and appreciation! Good taste revolution is definitely coming not only with Sobieski Uogos, but also with some great performers who are coming out from the underground: fusedMARc, Milky Lasers, RyRalio. Some intelligent radio stations like zip FM or Opus 3 really make me happy. Even the newest reality show “the way to the stars”, which is still a bit tacky and still a lot mass-oriented, it does have some talented voices over there! Two Lithuanian bands nominated for MTVs “Best Baltic Act”, and the fact of existence of MTV in Lithuanian itself! The new music magazine Urbanation, which does go furether than celebrity gossip topics, and lots of other things show that finally we`re getting somewhere with this!
Best jazz. This is not music, this is a separate complex form of art. I don`t have many jazz records, but I love going to live jazz shows, seeing how the players put all their heart and soul into the intstrument, where they create a miracle! A freejazz session at Neringa, performed by Lithuanian jazz geniuses the quarted of Janas Maksimovičius. Magic, it blew my mind. That just reminds me, that I should plan my next holiday in Lithuania for jazz festival season.
Best bars. The Café of Contemporary art centre, staying exactly the same as I left it… same artsy atmoshpere, bohemian people and the ones who are just sympathizing the free life of artists, as well as so many friends around. I was not expecting to meet them, but they always happen to be there!
Best discovery. A bar called Briusly (Lithuanian transcript of Bruce Lee), which I`ve seen but now finally went to. Awesome place with good cocktails and hip crowd.
Best club. Rock bar-club BIX, which always stays the same. Punks, goths, rockers mixed with general crowd, music for less dancing and more head shaking. It seems to stay the only place for music like that in Vilnius, and I heard that on Fridays and Saturdays it`s packed like it was during the first opening month years ago (luckily we went on Thursday)
Best people. Apart from seeing my family which I have missed so much, it was great to catch up with friends, some of them not seen for two years! some of them, not seen for more than a year with great stories (New Zealand, UK, works, studies...) , my dearest classmates (one got married, one got a marriage proposal, another to become a journalist, another had so many news that wouldn`t fit here, sooo amazing!), university mates (good music lovers!!), aiesec guys (nice time and challenge to keep up with male standards of consumption), relatives (news, changes, but still the same peaceful life!)...
Best city life. Vilnius is changing. It is growing like crazy, you find new businesses, the city is becoming prettier - the houses in the old town are being renovated, some of them are already shining with new look! I feel that I have become a bit of tourist in my city, but that just makes me realize that it definitely is beautiful!!! None of the grachts of Amsterdam can be compared to the tiny streets of Vilnius old-town. Even more, so great to understand what is happening around you, what are the randomly heard talks about and accidentaly meet many people you know for a long time! Small world, small city. Even Sigis happened to be in the shopping mall at the same time as I was - and we both live in A`dam now!!
Best of arts. I happened to find our about an exchibition about photography. Interesting concept, big brochure. For more you can check their blog, in Lithuanian unfortunately.
Best of relaxation. I have never watched so much TV in the past year! Dinners and lunches with friend long time not seen also were one of the best things to do. My brain got so much rest and inspiration came with it! I am fully re-charged!
Now I am already whole week back in Amsterdam and life goes on over here. Work again, play again, dinner at Harlemmerweg`ers, new fridge in the house, Jennifer`s birthday and Lithuanian karaoke duo stealing crowd`s hearts with "Breakfast at Tiffany`s", Club 8 (my discovery very close to our house), hanging out with friends and soon welcoming more of them - Niek, my mate from times in Brussels is about to move to Amsterdam. Apart from that, today was a beautiful sunny day so I spend all day on a bike cycling around the city! I love it. Life is good!
With great pleasure let me introduce you to the 100th post in my blog :) I have started it almost a year ago, that means on average I've been updating you about my life every 3 days :)
This time I wanna share something that came up to me quite accidentally. It's related to arts - one of my greatest passions, and I did not get to write a lot about it, so now it's a good opportunity! I've been in the mailing list of a Lithuanian organisation MENE, which was founded by some great people that I got to know in my University's Photography club.
I was accidentally inscribed into one of their events, called FOTOmaratonas (PHOTOmarathon), which took place in Vilnius (so I couldn't be there, obviously) last Saturday. The concept was going to an assigned point in Vilnius, receiving a topic and taking a picture on it. Every participant had only one shot per topic, so you cannot just shoot 10 pics and pick the right one (and it's quite impossible, as you can use only non-digital cameras). Now the pictures are online, ready for judgement of the public. You can check the out here.
The website is all in Lithuanian, but the visual matters the most. You can find some very nice shots there. Just for the better reference, I will translate the topics for you:
Some people love it, some people say that it is purely political and corrupt. Why do people make such a fuss out of this contest?
It's funny to see here the shock of some Belgian people when they saw the Lithuanian song. Of course, it is not the most sophisticated song in the world, but it got to the final! And Belgian didn't. Those results were voted by all people in Europe, so why take offense and blame countries that take a different approach that sweet-barbie-typo songs? Eurovision is about showing off the country, but it's also about winning. And Lithuanian song is the 6th - the highest we had ever in history fo Eurovision. Why do crappy songs win? That only proves that something is wrong with the whole concept of Eurovision.
And people are not blind, and they are not accepting it. They just take different approaches to this - some of them cancel their participation, some go to the stage and make a joke out of it.
You know that when it comes to nice clubs, I am always the one to go. Since I don't have time to come to Ibiza to check out the famous Pacha club, Pacha came to Vilnius instead. And my friend from London came right in time to accompany me in this mission.
