Events

22.03.2014 Skambankt (Rockefeller, Oslo)

Sunday, March 23rd, 2014

Well … just one week since the last concert, but time for another (very) short trip up north to see Skambankt at Rockefeller! OK, I could have watched the live stream as well, but a) I didn’t know that when I booked my flight, b) Oslo is always worth a visit, and c) there are sooo many awesome people in Oslo that no live stream will ever be able to replace going there! =:-D

The “problem” with meeting friends before the concert is that you never get to the venue early – I had planned to check out at least Hold Fast, the second support band, but we arrived when they were almost done. Honestly, I didn’t get the impression that I missed much though … not my music.

When I arrived, I was suprised to still get a good spot in the front; it was rather empty. But it did fill up nicely before Skambankt went on, and it was crowded both on the floor and on both galeries. So it seems the live stream didn’t prevent people from showing up.

Now, the concert … I don’t really have a lot to report about that, to be honest. It was awesome and great fun, just like the others. And I couldn’t really choose a favorite show of those I have seen – Skambankt have been really constant. They deliver the same terrific show every night, and the difference is only the reaction of the audience. Which was pretty good in Oslo; maybe not quite as energetic as in Trondheim, but people loved it. And after the Wall of Death in Me sa nei, there was quite some …. uh, let’s call it “movement” as well. “Dancing” would maybe be the wrong word. *g*

The “Hei” part in Dynasti worked well this time – because the audience didn’t care about what the band had planned. =;-p They just sang the first verse instead of shouting back “hei”. He he … good solution, and pretty awesome.

Quite funny when Ted talked about Sort blod being a song from the new album – and who knows the one before? And the one before? And the one before? I was just waiting for him to trick the audience and ask about one too much, but no … *g* And then he announced that the next song would be from that (oldest) album – and someone from the audience shouted “Skambankt!” … “Uh, no, we have already played that one!” *lol*

They had already played Malin in the main set, so I wondered which song they would use as third encore. And I was quite excited when they started the encores with the Nok et offer intro! *yay* But no … we only got the intro, followed by Mantra, then Min Eliksir, and that was it … That was a little disappointing; I had hoped for a second block of encores, but no, that was it. A great concert though, and we all know that Skambankt don’t play three hours, so that didn’t take anything from the show.

Here’s the full setlist:

  • Anonyme hatere
  • Skambankt
  • O dessverre
  • Vår bør
  • Som en sirene
  • Slukk meg (for eg brenner)
  • Sort blod
  • Me sa nei
  • Dynasti
  • Gamle spøkelser
  • Voodoo
  • Malin
  • Tanker som mareritt
  • Stormkast #1
    —–
  • Mantra
  • Min eliksir

And now I got to wait over a month for the show in Prague! =:-o

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15.03.2014 Skambankt (Samfundet, Trondheim)

Sunday, March 16th, 2014

After my last trip north and two Skambankt concerts that were even more awesome than expected I was really happy I had already booked my flight to the Oslo concert (that’s what happens if KLM unexpectedly puts out some extra cheap flights … *g*) – however, I had the feeling that this would still not suffice and I’d have to take yet another trip to Norway … =;-) Actually, I had set my eyes on Stavanger, but then I ended up going to Trondheim instead, for … reasons. The best part about that: it still leaves the option to go to Stavanger. *uhem*

Anyway. Arriving at Samfundet, I first found out that I was not on the guestlist. Well, nothing new here, that has happened before, and it’s usually not a big deal. This time it was no deal at all, because the answer was: “No, you’re not on the list … but hey, wait, I’ve seen you on TV! I’m sure you should be on the list. Here you go, just go in …” =:-o That felt very weird and very cool at the same time. *g*

I was there in good time for the support band Lydløs. And they sounded pretty good! Punk with Norwegian lyrics. And from what I read, their first concert ever, and for that it was really impressive. Thumbs up!

Also, I was kinda “impressed” with the sound – not that it was particularly good, but it was not particularly BAD. Which is good for Samfundet. =;-) Maybe because I was down on the floor instead of the stands for the first time there?

The Skambankt concert started out theatrically with the intro and the banner rising up. And it was clear from the beginning that this would be an awesome concert – the audience was REALLY into it, and everybody was loud and singing. There were mosh pits, hands and fists in the air, and the audience took over the singing quite a few times. OK, it didn’t always work out perfectly – we messed up the chorus in Mantra, and the “hei”-“hei” part in Dynasti took quite some practicing again (I still think that the audience is NOT to blame for that though; it’s just impossible to understand what Mr. Winters wants the audience to do there *g*). Still, the atmosphere was fantastic. Ted … argh, I think I’ll have to reconsider my style principles, writing “Ted” just feels awkward every time … – where was I? Oh right. Anyway. “Mr. Frontman” summed it up perfectly in the end: “Takk skal dokke faen meg ha!” An amazing concert in front of a fantastic crowd that was really into it. Perfect!

A funny little moment was the ending of Stormkast #1, where the audience was screaming hey, then the band would play, the audience would scream, the band would play … guess some things are just great fun, no matter which band is doing them and who is conducting. =;-)

In Me sa nei, Skambankt did their 2nd ever Wall of Death … Hmm, I know what I think about that. It does look amazing from above, I agree, and it might be great fun for some people to take part … but I guess they’ll soon stop doing it after the first fan hobbles out with a broken ankle. Or tibia. Which is just a matter of time …

Still, it was no problem to stick to the side and enjoy an awesome concert – everybody had a great time, the band went off stage with a “nå blir det fest!”, and everyone went out with big smiles on their faces. Yay, can’t be better! =:-D

The setlist was altered a bit on the spot – the planned list was the usual one they played every time, but they modified it a bit to fit the atmosphere. Here’s what they played:

  • Anonyme hatere
  • Skambankt
  • O dessverre
  • Vår bør
  • Som en sirene
  • Slukk meg (for eg brenner)
  • Sort blod
  • Me sa nei
  • Min eliksir
  • Gamle spøkelser
  • Voodoo
  • Dynasti
  • Tanker som mareritt
  • Stormkast #1
    —–
  • Mantra
  • Malin
  • Våre folk

Addendum: OK, after seeing the video I take back the broken ankle. Wrong scale. I was thinking more about this. But I still think WoDs are stupid. =;-p

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01.03.2014 Skambankt (Vinterrock, Øystese)

Sunday, March 2nd, 2014

Just one flight, a short bus ride to Bergen, two hours walking around town in bright sunshine, and another two-hour bus ride later, it was time for my second concert of the weekend!

Øystese is a small town in the middle of nowhere – middle of very picturesque nowhere, to be precise -, and it had hosted a gigantic Kaizers concert last year. The plan was to repeat that success this year, but then … Skambankt are not Kaizers, and neither are Grand Island (the headliner of the first night of the festival), so that meant that the concert took place in a huge hall in front of a few people. =:-/ You’d think that such a concert is doomed to be rather … slow? boring? awful? Something like that …

The support bands were okay, but nothing I’ll remember in any way. The audience … well, hadn’t arrived yet, was outside smoking, or didn’t really care. Really bad signs for a good concert … but no reason to despair, because as long as the band delivers, you can still have great fun at a concert even if the audience sucks. Or is not there. =;-) But then it’s of course terribly difficult for a band to deliver without feedback from the audience.

I didn’t check how the crowd looked when Skambankt came on. From the front it seemed that there were a few more people than for the other two bands, but it was still very far from crowded. The first three rows were into the concert, the rest … hmm, not sure. However, I felt like the audience was quite loud, when chanting for encores and screaming hey and so on. Maybe I only heard the first three rows, not sure, but still it was great to hear them joining in! Even though it did seem like the majority of the people in attendance were of the “that’s one of the Kaizers guys’ new band, no idea what they do, but let’s go there” kind who had maybe heard Voodoo and Malin but nothing else. Still, better than not going at all!

And the band? Delivered. Wait, I meant DELIVERED! Honestly: The concert, thus what happened on stage, was just as awesome as the one in Copenhagen. The energy was there, the sound was great, and you couldn’t hear or see the apparent Märkbar disaster. *gg* Of course, all in all the Copenhagen concert was much better than this one, but I didn’t regret at all traveling all the way for this show.

The setlist was exactly the same as in Copenhagen. The only noteworthy details I remember (oh come on, who am I fooling – I don’t remember, but I’m smart enough to take notes during the concert *g*) were that we had to count down from 28 (!!) in Me sa nei this time, which took quite a while … but funnily, that worked out great and seemed to involve the audience. It got so much louder towards the end, and it got people engaged. Also, we got a bit of an explanation this time in Dynasti: “First I say hei and then you say hei – that’s just politeness!” And when it worked and Ted applauded us, the audience started clapping along very fast which didn’t fit at all. *lol* Did I say the audience was a bit weird? =;-) But willing to join in, and that was great.

And I just gotta say how much I love it when I’m going to a concert alone, without having arranged anything before, and find great company all around for the whole night. And morning. *uhem* Thanks guys, it was a pleasure, and … guess I should check the flight prices for Stavanger … =;-)

Addendum: Gosh, how could I forget mentioning the nice birthday wishes from stage? Thank you! And obviously the common way to congratulate someone on their birthday in Øystese is fistbumping. =;-) OK, honestly I prefer that over hugging if the person congratulating is drunk and I’ve never seen them before. *gg*

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28.02.2014 Skambankt (Pumpehuset, Copenhagen)

Saturday, March 1st, 2014

It’s been four long years since my last Skambankt concert – way too long! Still, I didn’t really know what to expect. I really like the new album and didn’t doubt that the songs would work great live – but then, would it still be as much fun as four years ago? I mean … I’m four years older, they are four years older, and young bands like Honningbarna took over the genre … =;-)

Still, I decided for a birthday trip up north. One concert in Copenhagen, one in Øystese. Crazy, I know, but also great fun! So, first stop Copenhagen, meeting up with amazing friends, a quick dinner and then on to the concert. Missed the support band, but arrived just in time for Skambankt!

The concert had been moved to a bigger stage – a very good decision, because that one was a “real” stage and not some pedestal in the corner. And it was crowded enough that it didn’t look empty, though everyone had plenty of room to dance. Perfect!

When Skambankt started with Anonyme hatere, the audience remained rather quiet. Warming up, on both sides, I guess … And also throughout the concert, the new songs were received well, but they didn’t really get the audience excited. It was all the old songs that did that! And there were plenty of them. A really good and varied setlist, even though I missed Alarm …

Not sure if it was true that the album only came out in Denmark last Monday, as Ted claimed. That would explain the “quietness” during the new songs. Still, that wasn’t really a problem, the audience was hot and wild anyway. And they knew the old songs and went crazy for all of them.

The first highlight was of course O dessverre – or actually O desværre, as they brought in Johan Olsen as guest singer. No idea if they did that at the other shows in Denmark as well (probably not), but it was a nice surprise!

And on they went with old and new, the audience got more and more into it, and by the time they played Dynasti, everyone was screaming and shouting. So instead of starting the second verse, Ted just shouted “Hei” – which seemed to me like we were supposed to sing now, but hey … it’s been four years, _I_ certainly don’t remember the lyrics! *gg* But actually, he just wanted us the scream “Hei” back at him, which worked out great after practicing it for only … five minutes or so. =;-) And then it was so awesome that he didn’t want to stop: “Just one last time! … Or, once more! … Just one more time! … Last one now!” *gg*

They went off after Stormkast #1, of course to come back for encores. We got to choose – well, more or less. The audience of course wanted all the songs, but we only got three more, pff. *g* Interrupted by a short “Oh, Bones got problems with his bass drum, we’ll have to pass the time … any questions?” (Wonder where he got that from … *lol*) But then everything worked again and we didn’t even get to ask a single question. =;-)

And that was it! I thought it was awesome; way better than expected, and at least as great as I remember from four years ago. And with almost one and a half hours well worth traveling up north. But now I want more more MORE …! =:-D

The setlist:

  • Anonyme hatere
  • Skambankt
  • O dessverre
  • Vår bør
  • Som en sirene
  • Slukk meg (for eg brenner)
  • Sort blod
  • Me sa nei
  • Gamle spøkelser
  • Våre folk
  • Voodoo
  • Dynasti
  • Tanker som mareritt
  • Stormkast #1
    ————-
  • Mantra
  • Malin
  • Min eliksir

Addendum: Oh, I just realized I forgot to mention the nipple licking incident. *rofl*
NO, calm down, no slash fiction coming up … =;-) But one couple in the front was really having fun throughout the concert, with quite a few “oh gosh, am I really seeing that” moments, both for us right behind them and probably also for the guys on stage. *g*

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