Picture this: Your heartbeat is skipping away and the anticipation of the upcoming show is about to end its week long, perhaps even month long, crucifying wait. Due to the rounded geometrics of this particular architectural bundle of charm, the line into the show is elegantly curved, painfully keeping you aware of how far back you really are. Though you’re optimistic, so as long as you’re standing there waiting, you suck in some of the atmosphere. Welcome to Cirkus.
Let’s capitalize on the word, “atmosphere,” because Cirkus has a lot of it! The amazing thing is no matter how drained you are after a hard day’s work or how sincerely bad the band might be live, the surroundings always gets you into the right mood. Erected in 1892, Cirkus has for decades been the set for plays, musicals, TV productions, conferences, dinner shows and of course, concerts. The peculiar name and circus-tent shape indeed derives from the great circus community for whom it was built for in the late 19th century.
Comedic if not bordering softcore burlesque is a fair description of the venue’s visual picture, depicting a classical look of show biz. Studying the inner architecture, you may start to see the ghosts of thousands of actors, singers, comedians, make-up artists, costumers, sound-and-light people that have run these corridors–if these walls could talk, of course. It may sound hokey, but you can almost hear the ol’ master of ceremonies, wearing a black dress suit and matching top hat, exclaim with a ridiculously artificial, yet surprisingly natural, commercialized voice: “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s showtime!” But maybe I’m romanticizing some.
Serving as one of the biggest indoor venues of Stockholm, Cirkus gathers a great handful of world reknown, international artists and bands, as well as favoring local Swedish performers too. But given its capacity, the great thing about Cirkus is that it can seat comfortably 1,650 to 1,800 people, which also give acts (specifically bands) a large yet acoustically genuine surrounding to play in. Its flexibility also enables it to adapt to more intimate, quieter shows if needed. All in all, Cirkus offers one of the most unique indoor concert experiences available and it is with great pride and honour that I strongly recommend you readers to go see a show there, whenever you’re in the Stockholm area, of course. Perhaps, I’ll see you there?
N*E*R*D – Lapdance (Live @ Cirkus 12/8/08)
Cirkus
Kungliga Djurgården
11593 Stockholm, Sweden
+46 8 587 987 00
Upcoming Shows:
02/07 – Anna Ternheim
02/08 – Anna Ternheim
02/21 – Laleh
02/22 – The Three Elvises
02/24 – Bloc Party
02/25 – Jill Johnson
02/26 – Australian Pink Floyd Show
03/14 РTh̴str̦m
03/15 РTh̴str̦m
03/17 – David Byrne
03/19 – Antony & The Johnsons
03/21 – Franz Ferdinand
03/27 – Veronica Maggio
03/28 – Grace Jones