{"id":24598,"date":"2017-10-07T11:17:05","date_gmt":"2017-10-07T09:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/?p=24598"},"modified":"2017-10-14T16:54:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-14T14:54:03","slug":"kapstaden-till-kiruna-kent-at-arena-arctica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lauramccullagh.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/kapstaden-till-kiruna-kent-at-arena-arctica\/","title":{"rendered":"Kapstaden till Kiruna – Kent at Arena Arctica"},"content":{"rendered":"
Fri 7
\nOctober
\n2016<\/div>\n

It’s a special privilege to see your favourite band live in concert. I honestly thought I’d never have the opportunity to see Kent (mostly because geography placed us on opposite ends of the globe) but then they announced that 2016 would be their final year together and the autumn\/winter tour would be their last ever concerts.\u00a0Before I knew it I was planning a trip to Kiruna.<\/p>\n

Honestly, it was the most special musical experience of my life.<\/p>\n

\"Kent:<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"Kent:<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Kent:<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the months before the concert I’d tried to plan everything as much as possible. I was travelling alone, abroad for the first time ever, to a town so rural they didn’t have Uber or regular busses in the off-season. Getting to and from the concert was the one detail that remained frustratingly elusive for months.<\/p>\n

I’d tried asking on the Facebook event page if anyone knew if there was any transport planned…but didn’t get any info. Turns out a lot of the people attending the concert were also coming from somewhere else. A British guy called Duncan messaged me because he was in the same position and also looking for info. We promised to keep each other posted. Then Marie from Stockholm messaged me – same again. Only she’d asked around a lot and eventually found a whole schedule for special buses with all the info. Lifesaver!<\/p>\n

\"local<\/a>

Turns out the info was available to locals, but wasn’t anywhere obvious online. Oh Kiruna…<\/p><\/div>\n

Being strangers to the town we agreed to meet up before the concert and go together. And I’m really glad we did, as much as I like traveling alone, it was so nice to share the experience. Duncan and I met first, then Marie and her friend Filippa. We met in the Scandic Hotel lobby, where they’d been playing Kent all day. In fact, everyone said that Kent had been the only thing playing in the whole town. I don’t get caught up in fandom much but knowing that we were all there on a sort of pilgrimage for the music and discussing our favourite songs and albums was great.<\/p>\n

Outside the queue for the bus was forming and I have to say, it felt a little like a line at a post office – I’d expected a bit more excitement but the Swedish stereotype of quiet politeness held true, and people mostly just talked softly amongst themselves.<\/p>\n

\"Waiting<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"Waiting<\/a><\/p>\n

The concert venue was Arena Arctica, a huge hangar at the Kiruna airport and a short drive out of town.<\/p>\n\n\t\t