“If you get lonely you can share my bed tonight.”

That’s my flatmate, A, speaking. The week my boyfriend, nico, is away in sweden, she decides to try lesbianism. I think its all the stripes she wears, its driving her horizontal.

Yesterday morning she suggested we go see a band who’s hit song, “My Best Friend”, chorus’ the lyrics:

“Damn! I wish I was a lesbian
Damn! I wish I was a lesbian
Damn! I wish I was, and that you were, too
So I could fall in love with you”

Suspicious me? No. I asked Nico along.

hello saferide
*Annika Norlin, left, with Maia Hirasawa.

The gig was at The Water Rats, an old theatre bar by kings cross. A warm, friendly pub where I was the minority, and no one said sorry. The warm-up act was a half-japanese, half-swedish girl, Maia Hirasawa. She had a great voice, and I mistook her for the lead-singer in the band that we were there to see. The band that I have not named yet. A name that comes from a special taxi service run in the most heroin addicted city in america. A service that, when rung, the chauffeur answers “Hello Saferide”. And so we come to the 3rd line-up of the night, and the band we’d come here to see.

She* was cute, charastmatic, and funny. This came bubble wrapped in a very bad english accent. The songs sounded even better than on the album (the original reason why we go to gigs) and her small-talk added new stories around the songs.

My flatmate, A, didn’t even notice when they played “My Best Friend.”