Going to Norway just to see Skambankt? Hell yeah!

I decided some time ago that I just HAVE to see Skambankt. I mean, Kaizers are great, but punk is the music I “came from”, my first favorite bands were almost all punk bands, I just love the Skambankt record, so I couldn’t wait to see them live. Anyway, waiting for Skambankt to tour Europe would probably be pretty useless. Plus, thanks to Ryanair, a trip to Oslo isn’t much more expensive for me than a trip to, say, Cologne… So I booked a flight to go to the concert in Drammen, which was then moved to another date, so I had to change the flight, and now it was a lot more expensive… =:-( But well. Shit happens. And it was worth it… *g*

So, after a day of traveling (I never said Ryanair was convenient, it’s just cheap *g*) I arrived in Oslo Friday evening, spent half an hour looking for the Garage (even though I’d been there before and was looking in exactly the right place), finally found it, bought my ticket, then left my stuff at the hostel and got a little rest before heading back to Garage for the concert. There I was lucky and met some of the fans I knew from the Rockefeller concert & Vorspiel (thanks for the nice welcome, guys!) and so I could spend the time before the concert without boring myself to death.

Then the support band went on stage, they were okay (Truls loved them *g*), and a little while later it was time for the REAL thing. =;-)

Well, now how do you describe a punk concert? I guess either you like it or you don’t, I LOVED it, and even though there weren’t too many people in the audience, there was some screaming and pogo and stuff. OK, I’ve seen worse – or better, however you want to look at it *g* – but it was good enough to heat up the atmosphere and calm enough you could keep out and still see something. Just perfect. =;-)

For the setlist, I don’t have it, so I can’t tell for sure, but it was probably the same as the next day in Drammen, so check it in that report. *g*

I have no idea why, but somehow I understood most of what Terje, ähem, I mean Ted, was saying on stage. I didn’t get any of the conversations between people, but the announcements on stage, that was okay. Don’t ask why, I guess I’m strange. But hey, I don’t mind. =;-)

So, here’s what I remember about the concert:

• In the beginning, they talked about how they came down from Sogndal and first drove off the road and then got in the promillekontrolle (whatever that is in English… *gg*). Tja, shit happens. =;-)
• Before one of the songs, they were asking whether we wanted to hear a ballad now. And then they were really really disappointed when we did NOT. *g*
• Someone in the front row was probably from Canada, or something, so they asked whether some Canadians were there. Someone from Tyskland? *tüdelü* Someone from Afghanistan? *lol*
• Then they played Alarm, and the crowd in front went crazy. That wouldn’t have been a problem, just that there were no barriers at all and some people decided it might be a nice idea to bang down the monitors and kick the microphone stand, which Skambankt didn’t think was SUCH a great idea… =;-) They had to stop in the middle of the song and quiet down the mob a little, but then we could choose whether we wanted to hear the song from the beginning, from the place they tore off or whether they should just skip it. OK. I guess I don’t need to state what was decided. *g*
• The best song they have made is, according to Terj^H^Hd, Desertør.
• There will be an EP in May/June/July/August – well, in summer. =;-) It’ll be called “Skamania” and this is also the title of one of the new songs they played, the other one was called “Kort prosess”. Hmm, I’m just not sure whether I like the title Skamania, I mean, Ska is something different… but well.

In general, there were a lot of typical things for rock/punk concerts, which I generally don’t like, that’s all just phrases to say when you aren’t creative enough to come up with real announcements. *g* But it was fun to hear and understand them in Norwegian. =;-) “Har dere fått nok? Gjør noe lyd! Har dere det fint?” For the last one, I was definitely tempted to scream “Scheißkapelle!” – but nobody would have understood. *rofl*

After the concert, Truls stole a poster for me (Thanks!!!), I wanted to have it signed, but some musicians hid backstage… *grmbl* At least Mr. Winters showed up in the end and did indeed sign it, plus passed some nice words (from beast to really nice guy in half an hour *gg*), and he even looked a tiny little bit sorry about the Drammen concert. =;-)

So, after waiting at the Garage and spending some more time at a kebap, we were too late for the KISS party (luckily… ähem *gg*), I went back to the hostel and prepared for a busy next day with yet another Skambankt concert…