Hello, Dins Tour Blog Readers! This is Ria #276, signing on to cover our lovely time in Copenhagen.
Day 18
This brings us to our final day in Copenhagen, which doubled as Kieran’s birthday! We began festivities at midday, performing at a local hospice for some very sweet audience members. One even requested “It Don’t Mean a Thing” as an encore, which we happily sang. After this, we went back to Birgit’s house and held the birthday celebration for ½ of the Dins whose names begin with ‘K.’ Many rounds of spikeball later, Shannon and I returned home early while the remainder of the Dins went out to celebrate. All in all, ‘twas nothing rotten in the state of Denmark. Thank you for being very good to us, twice around!
– Ria #276
Day 17
RIA’S ILLNESS CHECK-IN: I feel better and better each day!! Hooray!
Today, Shannon, Kieran, and I made an exciting excursion to a park next to Rigshospitalet to enjoy a picnic lunch by a small lake. Despite the many fowl surrounding us, desperate for our scraps, we managed to enjoy ourselves. We even saw some adorable and awkward-looking baby geese. Afterwards, we taught Kieran how to ride a bike! It felt very appropriate to do so in Denmark, and he did a terrific job not falling off.
Baby geese near Rigshospitalet (my camera skills are much better now. I also fixed the settings)
During this lovely excursion, Ben tragically ate a nut and began to have a life-threatening allergic reaction. Heroically, Cassidy and Kiesse took him to the very hospital where we were going to perform! Thus, while Ben recovered in the emergency room, the rest of us performed in the nearby lobby. We dedicated this performance to him, one of my top three favorite baritones.
We had a brief break before our evening performance, during which Shannon, Will, and I snuck off to get gifts for Kieran’s (and Allegra’s) birthday tomorrow! Allegra sadly isn’t with us, so Cassidy manned the virtual birthday effort for her, while we procured new stationery for Kieran (who lost his pencil case).
New pencil case and accoutrements in hand, we made our way to Lyngby Church for our evening concert. I maintain that Lyngby Church is one of the most beautiful places in which I’ve ever performed. Rust-colored paintings cover the ceilings, and the peaked ceiling creates beautiful acoustics for singing. Stylistically, I’ve never seen any church like it. We gave, in my opinion, a lovely-sounding performance. Our ballads sounded particularly beautiful in the space.
Paintings on the ceiling of Lyngby Church
Will, also taking photos
Lyngby Church, 2 years ago
After saying hello to some very kind Danes in the crowd, the group split — some in search of food, and others in search of a pub showing the England-Croatia game. The World Cup Crew found ourselves lacking pub options, and we ended up watching the game in Birgit’s basement.
Day 16
Refreshed by a calm evening in, we ventured to Roskilde to perform at Skt. Jørgensbjerg Sognengård. We traversed by train and then enjoyed walking through the beautiful thatch-covered roofs to arrive at the church (with a break when we stumbled upon a pull-up bar, prompting several Dins to show off their gains — myself not included). After a very tasty charcuterie dinner, Ben, Will, Shannon, and I got to work casting the Dins as jurors in a production of Twelve Angry Men. If you can accurately guess the cast of Twelve Angry Dins, I will personally give you a reward of your choice as long as you choose my goodwill and affection. Afterwards, we performed a one-hour concert for a very sweet audience! Tuckered by this and the long commute back to Copenhagen, Shannon and I went straight home to our homestay and slept.
Day 14-15
We capped off our time in Aarau with a series of trains from Aarau to Basel, then Basel to Hamburg. After a full day of train-sitting, we broke barriers by train-sleeping on a sleeper train from Hamburg to Copenhagen. Before heading to bed, writer-director Will Cottiss conscripted a group of willing Dins to film our own Murder on the Orient Express-style horror film, starring Shannon, Ben, Soren, and me. While the finished product may never see the light of day, trust that it involved shirts, Zohran Mamdani, honeymoons, and many restrooms.
The train pulled into Copenhagen bright and early at 6am, just in time for us to wish Kalashree a happy birthday!! We sang for her, gave her gifts, and then navigated to our host’s home to eat breakfast and rest. Birgit hosted us two years ago, so coming back to her house was very comforting and brought back many memories. She is an incredible host, and stocked up on many snacks and food items in anticipation of our arrival.
The gang 2 years ago.
Unfortunately, the rest of this day was relatively uneventful for me, specifically because I am still in the process of recovering from a Swiss-borne illness (aka a head cold). While the rest of the Dins headed to an exciting evening gig, I stayed home and rested. Tour is very tiring, and between all the early mornings and late nights, it’s very easy to get ill if you don’t take care of yourself.
Shannon and Ria in Copenhagen 2 years ago.
