It happened again!

When Praise Unit did "The Whole Tour" in 2007 we did a concert in Husby, which is in Germany but very close to Denmark. We were surprised by how a small village could have so much interest for our music and have such a big crowd in our concert. Also their hospitality was wonderful. Yesterday we were there again, and again it was a wonderful concert. I think we could have done five or six more songs if we had voices for it. And again the hospitality was fantastic. We had a lot laughs, good food and we praised the Lord together with "Colours if gospel", the local choir.

Good morning, Kassel

Yes, it is a very good morning indeed. Despite the very early morning, after yesterdays great concert, how can a morning like this morning possibly be bad? There are just one word that is, at least a good try, to sum yesterdays evening up: Crazy!!!


Now we have almost six hours in the bus ahead of us, up to Husby. But because of all the entertainment on board, I am sure the trip will feel more like two hours...maybe three. Of course, we will watch, at least, one good movie, most likely 2012!
And then we have Praise Units own music quiz challenge, to find out which man or woman in the group who knows best! Every member gets to make up five questions, based on five songs with artists you often listen to. And the other one gets to answer them. In this way, it also becomes a great opportunity to find out who is listening to what music (was that the correct sentence to say...?)


Well well!
Husby, here we come! =) =)

God is good

We've had a wonderful tour this far.
All this great people we've met. It's truly a blessing!
Tonight we had an amazing night together with two local choirs from Kassel. The churh where ausverkauft! Es war sehr fantastisch. Welch ein freund ist unser Jesus. Vielen dank fur ein gutes abend! Now I must go to sleep so I can drive the bus again tomorrow. God bless U all!

Consert in Kassel

We just get back from our consert in Kassel! It was a wonderful evening. We sang together with the choirs "Get out" and "Open arms". The holy spirit was in the house!
Now it's late and we have to get some sleep before next stop in Husby. We look forward to it.

Good night Kassel!

Hello Kassel!

It has been a wonderful evening in Kassel.
Right now im sitting in my hotellroom with Julia. Im tired but happy after this concert this evening! Bleessings from Emilia

Good night Kassel.

Thanks Kassel, or Vellmar, for a great evening! We had a lot of fun, and would love to come back soon! Many thanks to "Get Up" and "Open Arms"! You were great!

Concert in Kassel tonight

Hi everyone!

I just got back to our Hotel after the sound check in the church in Kassel, where we have a concert tonight. It was a wonderful church and the sound was great! I'm very excited about playing there tonight. And they told us the tickets were sold out! This is going to be a very great night I think. God is good...

I hope I'll see you there!

Blessings

Praise Time

Inofficially we met with a new youth choir yesterday. They are in Erkrath, close to Düsseldorf, and have only existed for a few weeks. They have two songs in their repertoire, "Give my praise" and "My father", and we got the opportunity to sing together with them at their rehearsal. They are called Praise Time, and we hope to hear more from them in the future!

The concert tonight in Kassel is sold out. Great for us, but sad for the people who will not be able to come in because they don't have a ticket.

Review from Lübeck

http://www.unser-luebeck.de/content/view/2613/284/

Zugabe in Bremen

Grabbing the sun in Lübeck

Here is a clip from the Lübeck concert. 

The Bremen experience

It's late at night now and Praise unit is about to go to bed. Again we had a wonderful evening, and we continued until it was very late.

At first we were a little discouraged at the church, because we had some sound problems, and a few people left our concert because the music was too loud. But those who were still in the room did a wonderful concert celebration with us. We also listened to Gospel Swingers, a great choir, and we sang "Be that someone" together with Chris Lass. Afterwards we had a nice after party together with gospel swingers, where we enjoyed singing, eating and getting to know each other.

Thanks to all of you who made this evening unforgetable!

A city with beautiful buildings and beautiful people

We just had our concert in Lübeck. In this city we played for a very large audience in one of the beautiful churches. It was great to feel the atmosphere and afterwards we were still singing in the bus. We started a silly singing game in the bus, and some of us have not stopped singing, even though it is one o'clock in the morning.

We also had a great prayer and worship time this morning, so that's probably another reason for feeling so happy and uplifted today.

Tomorrow is Bremen!

Day off in Berlin

Yesterday was a great concert in one of the nightclubs of Berlin. The crowd was not so big, but we had a very good time together! Our concert was a little longer than usual and it seemed like everybody was happy with that. We tried a few new things musically, but always kept focus on that we are here for the message!

Thank you all the great people of Berlin and surroundings who came to the concert! And thanks to gospelradio.de, the organizer!

This is where we perform tonight:

http://www.fritzclub.com/index/kernwert/willkommen

On the road again

Pretty soon we're on the bridge to Denmark. Then a short boat trip and we are in Germany. Almost everyone in the bus is asleep, except for me. And the busdriver Thomas of course. Berlin, here we come!

First we take Hässleholm, then we take Berlin!

The first concert is just over and all of us hope to fall asleep quickly, because tomorrow we have to rise early in the morning. We have a ferry to catch and a gig at Club Fritz in Berlin tomorrow night.

We got a good start here in Hässleholm. Musically it was not our best performance, because we were a little rusty, and we did not nail all the new things we planned for this tour. But we had a great time on the stage and the audience inspired us to give our best.

I testified about the message of the songs "Thy will be done" and "I trust you", and I presented the vision of Praise Unit. Since I lived close to Hässleholm as a child it felt special to be here. But I don't remember the dialect anymore.

There were some people here who had been at our concert in Öland last summer. It was great to feel their support and to see that they brought more people to listen to us.

Now I hope I fall asleep, and tomorrow I will give my best in Berlin!

Day before the Big Tour!

Now it's the day before the big day when we're heading towards Germany! We're so excited to meet all of you and it's gonna be a lot of fun playing and travelling! Soon i'm going to be picked up by the musicians for our first little trip to Örebro, we're we will meet up with the rest of the gang.

So see you in a few days!!

a video from one of our rehearsals for facebookfans, enjoy:

REHEARSAL

No Germany Tour.....

......for me this time. It's only two days before Praise Unit leaves for Germany and sad enough for me I won't be able to go with them. I've recently started studying and I can't skip school for that long. I've known from the time we started planning the tour that I probably not gonna be able to go so I've been preparing. But from time to time I've forgotten that, like when we've been rehearsing , it's been so much fun working on the songs, new arrangements, new dance moves and just a lot of singing. And then I've realized that I won't be there to perform them, at least not this time. Sad but true.

Well I count on all of you German friends to take good care of my friends in Praise Unit. And I'm sure that you will. If you'll be half as nice as everybody were the last time we toured Germany, it will be more than enough.

Actually I will be joining the first part of the tour starting tomorrow. I will give the musicians a ride from Stockholm to Örebro where the bus is leaving from on saturday morning. So technically I will join the tour....sort of...a little. I guess I won't see much of Germany though.....

Well I hope to see all of our German friends soon, and all of you others reading this blog.

Bless you all!

Two days left...

Soon, very soon, we're on the road and heading towards Germany. Our first stop will be in Hässleholm (still in Sweden) and on Sunday we're playing in Berlin. We're so excited!

This is some pictures from our last rehearsal.   

Die Musiker

Die Sänger

und Kristian

Bald werden wir... Bis bald!

Fingerprints -from "The Whole Tour (2007)", Joakim Arenius & Praise Unit

Concerts with a history and a future

As I look at the schedule for the tour that starts on Saturday I realize that the concerts we do this time are not just concerts. We are part of a bigger picture. In some cases we already have history together with the city we visit, and something firm to build on. Like Husby, where I have been several times before (once with Praise Unit), and we have a relationship with the local choir. Kassel, where we will perform with the choir that we met the last time in their church, but did not get the chance to sing together that time. Witten, where we will witness the birth of Witten Soul Children, which I have been excited about for a long time.

Some cities we go to for the first time, but see the things we are a part of. Like Berlin, where we will play at Club Fritz. We have been praying to reach people in the clubs, because our music works very well in that environment, and this club in Berlin is an answer to prayers. Lübeck, where we will meet some people for the first time, that we so far have only been building Internet relations with. Bremen, where I have started working together with Chris Lass and his friends.

So this tour is not just full of drop in/drop out concerts. It is concerts with a purpose and we will do our best to fulfill our part of the experience! Hope to see YOU there!

Keep your eyes open, this is our bus, a brand new Iveco Rapido

We pray that God will take care of us during the tour and keep us and the bus in His arms. Just like He sees the little sparrow He will watch over us.

I´m glad for the opportunity to be a part of this tour, as the singing busdriver. I´m looking forward to meet you all. May God bless You and keep You in His arms.

Praise Unit working their dancemoves...

Drum Fill In Finnish

For all you music lovers out there, here is a drum fill in Finnish.

Joakim Arenius & Praise Unit "A Good Life" opening for Kirk Franklin

Early morning

We have a nice tradition in the Praise Unit band. Once every week we meet at 8:00 in the morning to rehearse with the musicians. A very nice way to start the day!

This morning we worked on a medley that is written especially for the upcoming tour in Germany. The medley contains five of the songs from our first CD "Whole", but in new arrangements. And I must say that we had some nice ideas this morning. At the end of the medley we go from a powerful ballad into a slow gospel groove. Today we tried some really interesting things on that part. I hope you'll enjoy it if you manage to get to one of our concerts. We would love to meet you!

Here are some pictures from today:

The world's largest bass guitar

Kristian (and a glimpse of his new Mac Book...)

Simon and Kristoffer

Simon can play VERY fast...

Blessings!

Deutschland ist nicht weit von Dänemark

Gibt es nur wenige Tage, bis wir nach Deutschland gehen!
Gut, dass Sie uns gefunden haben! Ihr Tag war Hope gut. Ich selbst habe in meiner schönsten Kleider gesessen und fertig geschrieben eine Lektion. Es dauerte den ganzen Tag. Aber heute Abend habe ich ins Kino gewesen und sah einen fantastischen Film, der aus Dänemark, Rache war. Ich nur sagen: Siehe es!

Ich habe in Deutschland gewesen. Ich erinnere mich mit Vergnügen der Tour haben wir März 2008 tat. Dann erinnerte ich mich den herzlichen Empfang erhielten wir, wenn wir an den verschiedenen Standorten angekommen. Ich muss erwähnen Husby, die unser erstes Ziel war und diejenigen, die später am Abend hielt eine riesige Party mit allen Arten von Gerichten. Ich erinnere mich auch alle Familien, die wir mit übernachtet haben. Immer lagen die beiden Süßigkeiten auf dem Kissen, wenn Sie schliefen. Freundlich und einladend! Ich freue mich sehr auf diese Reise, und ich hoffe, dass ich zu erfüllen Sie alle ich das letzte Mal getroffen haben!

Bis dahin, Gott segne heiß!

Music brings us together

This weekend has been a lot of fun for me. Johannes and I have been in my hometown working with a choir. The church had invited people from town to be a part of the choir. Friday night, Saturday and Sunday we rehearsed a few gospel songs and had a lot of fun. On Sunday evening we had a concert in the church with a lot of people in the audience.

When this weekend was over I realized that it's less than two weeks left 'til Praise Unit's going on tour in Germany. This means that I am going to sing gospel again in less than two weeks! :) I am so grateful for being a part of Praise Unit! Singing in a gospel choir has given me so much and I tell everybody how great it is to be a part of a gospel choir. My experience is that God really touches our hearts when we share our faith and praise his name while singing. So when we come to Germany we will be happy to meet a lot of old and new friends. Music really brings us together! God bless you!

Inspiration from the south

Some days ago i was out eating lunch with Jakob and Amos. Amos is from Madrid and is here visiting and singing. We had a typical swedish chinese buffé and we ate til we couldn't stand up. And during we spoke almost constantly about music of some kind. It's so great to have this thing in common with a guy i've never met before and to hear him speak so passionate about something i love as much as he does.

And so today I got to meet with Amos and Jakob again, this time at Jakobs and his wife Annas place here in Stockholm where we had dinner with a bunch of other friends. We ate and we sang! Great! You know it's not a very Swedish thing to do at a dinner, to sing. We have this weird thing here that means you shouldn't show off and you shouldn't brag about your talent or wathever.
But I meen, why not? If you love it, do it! And if you believe in it, let people know!


That's what music is about, and I guess that's what beliveing is about too.
Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. I made a new friend out of it.
Thanks Amos!

Praise Unit Live!

15 days left!

Hi everyone! Today it's 15 days left to our october tour in Germany! It's going to be so much fun and I'm really looking forward to it! We've been working on the concert program and I hope that you all will like the new show=) You still have time to listen and learn all our songs so that you can sing along and dance with us!

I hope to see you all soon!
Hugs Maria

New stories to tell

Hi!

This is the percussionist speaking…writing…typing? It’s my first time bloging here in the Praise Unit blog. I have my own though, www.toffesrevival.blogspot.com.  In swedish, but maybe you can google-translate it? =) It’s not that interesting really, just a lot of sportstalk. And for the moment not at all updated. Anyway…

A short presentation of myself:

--I am the one in Praise Unit (besides Jocke) that has done the most number of PU-gigs.

--I once accidently booked a trip to Greece with my girlfriend on the same dates as we were suppose to go to Cologne with PU. 

With the Germany tour soon coming up, a few memories from the last tour in 2008 is beginning to pop up again, featuring the band. How we all (except Andreas) shaved our heads during the tour. Or how we kept all of Dettingen awake during our late night jam session in the church. Or how we got lost in Kassel by night and couldn’t find our hotel. And this i just a little taste of it all. Maybe I can reveal more stories later on here!

I am really looking forward to new great stories to tell. We have already been talking about saving beards before the tour, but I guess it’s a little to late for that now...

Singing together!

One of the great things on our upcoming tour in Germany is that we will get the chance to sing together with a lot of singers from the different cities we meet. In Husby, Kassel and Witten we will do music together with others. It's a privilige for us and we know that a lot of great things can happen when we let God use music to get people together!

Jesus wants everyone

As I'm writing this I'm watching the news on the television and in one of the features they report about a woman who is fighting for her right to recieve sickness benefit from the Swedish government. She used to work as an economist but after being involved in some kind of accident she's no longer able to work. However, she hopes to one day regain her ability to work but she's unsure about in what field that could possibly be. The last thing that was said in the feature was said by the woman herself and her words were, "But who would want me? Not even I want myself."

O. My heart broke, and I could help but saying the one thing on my mind out loud: Jesus!

Jesus wants her. Jesus wants me and he wants you too. It doens't matter what you look like, what you've done, what you're thinking and whether you call yourself a Christian or not. Let us remind each other, and ourselves, that Jesus wants everyone.

Tour preparations

It's three weeks to go before we leave our homes and go for a funky gospel party on the mission field in Germany. We decided to open this blog again, since we want to share our preparations with those of you will come to concerts or wish that you could come to the concerts. There will be new things to read everyday!