The Bland Band

You know, I keep thinking that staying in Genoa will get boring but every weekend just gets better and this weekend was probably the apex…of my life. And it was all thanks to the Bland Band who are anything but!

The Bland Band -  Gustaf Jacobson,  Olle Hylén,  Anton Torstensson, Axel Öberg   

Going for a stroll, Bruce and I decided to stop for our usual at Purple Bar. “We’ll only go for two drinks” he said. “Yes”, I agreed, “two drinks ONLY”, because we all know what happens when you say “one drink only”. We both nodded very seriously. So after great conversation and our custom made cocktails we headed back home. We rounded the last corner when what do I hear? A cover of Mumford and Sons being played in the square, and I can’t resist Mumford and Sons so we stopped to listen. The next thing we hear is that the band can’t play anymore, the police were shutting them down and we had already decided that we wanted to hear more, so Bruce went over and invited them to play at La Goletta (our local jol). They were cool enough to say yes. So off we went with our new band, their cello in a pram, guitars, drums, a bango, alles! 2 drinks turned into 3, which turned into 20, we jammed to an awesome sound, drank,  chatted, laughed, drank some more and the next thing we know the sun is coming up and we had made friends for life. Axel, Anton, Olle and Gustaf are currently travelling around Europe in their camper van playing whenever and wherever they feel like, going where the wind takes them and taking one day at a time. We happened to be in the right place at the right time to be lucky enough to meet them!

Transportation for the cello

The next day was recovery day but later that evening we were ready for round 2. Bruce and I had already secured our positions as co-managers by booking them a second gig at La Goletta because we’re cool like that. This time the drinking preceded the playing and by 10 o clock things were getting exciting. They started to play, and I’m not exaggerating, literally had the entire restaurant’s attention. They blew their opening act out the water and even attracted customers from neighbouring restaurants and bars. They wowed the crowd so much so that a captain from a boat down the key actually paid them to go back to the yacht and play. We were now officially their entourage so of course we went with. So there we were, sipping free beer, on the back of a beautiful boat, listening to the greatest band in the world. Life was great. But, the sun eventually began to rise…again, so inconvenient! So we decided to all call it a night; or a day?

Portofino beach

Portofino was on the agenda for Sunday lunch so off we hopped on the ferry and no matter how many times I go there, it takes my breath away every time. After lunch at a restaurant on the harbour we took a stroll to the beach where we swam in the crystal clear blue water and lay on the beach. After a while Gustaf, Axel, Anton and Olle joined us and while I slept (like a granny after two nights of hard partying) they enjoyed each other’s company sunbathing and bombing into the water. Last to leave the beach, we stopped for cold beers and ice-cream and Gustaf took a shower in his boxers in the middle of the street in Porto Fino – we all laughed at him but he ended up being the clever one because the boys didn’t have any shower in their camper van.

The last supper

We took the train home, and had a final dinner of good old Italian pizza and rosso vino. The next day we said a final goodbye and I must admit, there was I did have something in my eye, it might have been a tear or something. After meeting these incredibly  genuine, humble, talented young men my faith in the world and its people has been restored. Even though it was a brief encounter, its one I will never forget and they are definitely memories to be treasured.  

The Bland Band are extremely talented live performers who definitely deserve a listen so do yourself a favour and check out their video’s on YouTube and like them on Facebook: facebook.com/theblandband.