Festivals

23.07.2016 Skambankt (Fjellparkfestivalen, Flekkefjord)

Sunday, July 24th, 2016

This year, Skambankt are playing only a handful of concerts; and next year, there will probably be even fewer. So of course I had to try to fit in at least one of the festivals, and Fjellparkfestivalen was clearly the one that fit my schedule best. Just … how to get there?! Well, after a lot of planning and googling and comparing (I should really start a concert trip travel agency …), it turned out that it just took two flights and a two-hour bus ride each way! =;-)

I had heard that Fjellparkfestivalen is a very nice and cozy festival (and it’s also the oldest festival in Norway, celebrating its 35th (!!) birthday this year). I had no idea what to expect though, and I was quite surprised when I got there and there were benches in front of the stage (except for the very front, of course). But it turned out that this just added to the nice atmosphere, and for the headliner, people were standing anyway – so who cares about the benches then? =;-) The only let-down was that the sound right in front of the stage was horrible – and if you escaped that and did NOT want to sit, you had to stand on the slope that was just too uneven to dance. =:-( I was quite annoyed about that during the Razika concert (oh by the way, just jump ahead to the fourth paragraph if you want to read about the Skambankt concert *g*) – I was really looking forward to see them, but you couldn’t hear the singing at all when you were down in the “pit”, and since the concert was rather early in the evening, people on the slope took their time getting into the concert. But Razika definitely got them in the end, and their concert was great fun even from further away!

What was really awesome about the festival was the tiny little stage on the hill. Pstereo in Trondheim has such a small stage as well, but they use it pretty much for music that … uhm … nobody wants to hear anyway. Fjellparken used it for good bands that just weren’t big enough for the big stage yet. Huge shout-out to Oakland Rain who were absolutely killing it up there. Amazing voices! =:-D

OK, so after a lot of great bands in fantastic summery weather, it was finally time for the headliner: Skambankt! And what a headliner they were!! =:-o I mean, don’t ask me why, but somehow I had expected a situation like at several festivals I’ve seen lately – where the co-head was the actual headliner, and the last band (especially if they start so late) plays in front of only the “left-over” people who haven’t managed to go home yet. That can still be great fun (like bob hund at Steinkjerfestivalen) – but it’s not what you want. Anyway, nothing like this was happening. Everybody was hot for Skambankt, people got up from their seats right away, and the security actually tolerated the mosh pit. In Norway! At a festival!! I … wow! Yep, I guess that is part of “nice and cozy” … and actually, the whole festival felt quite a bit like Mini Rock (which, by the way, is also a festival arranged by young people for the locals, so I guess this is just the spirit! =:-D ). In the end, people were actually crowd surfing. Or, more precisely “crowd laying” I guess, ’cause they didn’t really move, but still. Awesome!

And – of course – that didn’t just happen, but there was a band on stage that made it happen. And perfectly so! A very nice setlist with all the hits, no pushing new songs down people’s throats, giving them all they wanted to hear. And delivering a full show filled with energy of course, plus a great light show and ROCK. It’s hard to write much more about it, but it was just amazing and a perfect conclusion for a long evening of great rock shows!

My notes say that it was the third time Skambankt played at the festival (and we all know that “third time is a charme”!). And that they’ve been at the festival as spectators many more times, and Terje hopes that the festival still exists in ten years when his son is old enough to go, and in fifteen years as well when his soon-to-be-born daughter is. Well, if the festival is always like it was this year, there’s nothing to fear, I would say! =:-)

The only thing to criticize about the Skambankt show is that it just doesn’t work to storm to the front of the stage, right towards the audience, stare at them intensely and expect them to know what you want them to do … I mean, I have seen Skambankt quite a few times by now – and I still don’t have a clue what Terje wants from me. Clap? Sing? Shout?? Hey, whatever, I’ll do it if I can figure it out! =;-) But it always feels like we in the audience either didn’t do anything/didn’t do enough or did the wrong thing when he returns to the mike. Please – just tell or show us what do do and don’t just stare, okay? *gg*

But well, we’ll just assume he wanted us to shout, sing, clap, and hop around like crazy. Which is what we did, so we should be cool. =;-) Oh, and before the encores, they even found a bra that was thrown on stage, and they seemed satisfied with that response. *g*

Here’s the setlist:

  • Anonyme hatere
  • Skambankt
  • Voodoo
  • Slukk meg for eg brenner (JAAAA! =:-D)
  • Me sa nei
  • Dynasti
  • Vår bør
  • Som en sirene
  • O dessverre
  • Malin (“a song that we wrote about a lady that left quite an impression on us last time we played here”)
  • Bak låste dører
  • Mantra
  • Stormkast #1
    —
  • Desertør

I have to admit I was a bit in doubt if it would be worth travelling two days for just one festival day (with only two bands I was really interested in), but the answer is definitely: HELL YEAH! That was awesome. Thanks so much to Skambankt and thanks to Fjellparkfestivalen!! =:-D

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29.-30.08.2014 Verket (Mo i Rana, Norway)

Sunday, August 31st, 2014
29.-30.08.2014 – Photos Verket (Mo i Rana, Norway)
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Verket 14Verket Festival in Mo i Rana – a small town just a few miles south of the Arctic Circle – took place for the sixth time this year. In 2009, I attended the first ever Verket Festival, which was a great experience. Since then, the festival grew from year to year, both in attendance and in the quality of the line up. Time for me to check it out again and find out what has changed!

My first impression was that not much has changed – the festival grounds were still pretty much the same, except that the second stage has become much bigger, and the artists that play there as well! Also, the festival was sold out this year, which means that the area was more crowded, and access to the bars, toilets, and especially food stands required some queuing. But as long as you didn’t want to get a bite to eat just after the co-head on the main stage was finished, the waiting time was fully acceptable. And all in all, I didn’t feel like it was too crowded; most people were staying on the hill in the back, enjoying the view from there, so that there was lots of space in the area in front of the stages.

Verket 14As I noted in 2009 already, the arrangement of the festival grounds is pretty much perfect: the area is sloping down toward the two stages, so that you can sit or stand up on the hill and see everything. You might not even have to move between the two stages; just turn around a bit! The concession stands are located up on the hill, close to the entry and a bit away from the stages (except for one bar to the side, right between the two stages). The only disadvantage this might cause is that lots of people just remain up by the stands throughout the whole evening, while there’s just a few spectators down by the stages. But then, if people aren’t interested in the music, they might as well just stand in the very back. 😉

Still, in my opinion, the most important part of a festival is the music! And the line-up this year was just perfect; lots of well-known Norwegian artists, all in one place. The “big names” for me were Morten Harket and Seigmen on Friday and Bernhoft and Skambankt on Saturday, but also Silya, Veronica Maggio, Satyricon, and Åge & Sambandet were clearly drawing people to the festival. Verket really managed to book a wide variety of artists – and as the festival was sold out, they obviously got something for everybody!

Friday, August 29

Verket 14The first festival day held quite a few surprises for me. I had heard most of the names on the line up before, but I hadn’t seen any of them live yet. And it turned out that I was positively surprised by almost all of them!

Morten Harket as first artist of the night was probably the one that held the least surprises for me. He delivered a very professional and captivating concert – just as I had expected. The sound was terrific, and both music and singing were perfect. Plus, he knows how to play to an audience! I was surprised that he was booked as the first artist of the festival; but in hindsight, that was a pretty smart move to get people to come out to the festival early. It worked; the festival grounds were already filled when Morten Harket came out. However, what surprised me was that most people were hanging out in the back and didn’t really care about the concert. When asked to clap along, only very few people in the front joined in, everybody else just ignored it … Still, a really nice opening concert.

Next up were Hjerteslag on the smaller stage. I hadn’t heard of them, but the host Asbjørn Slettemark introduced them as the “new big thing”, who played a fantastic gig at by:Larm (for the few who were lucky enough to get in). Verket 14And: true! That was pretty awesome. Melodic punk (or punky pop?) with Norwegian lyrics, songs that were easy to pick up, and quite some energy on stage. I had the feeling that they still need to work a bit on their live show though; it got better and better throughout the concert, but it didn’t feel quite natural yet, and they didn’t seem too comfortable on stage. This of course is a big drawback. But the music and the songs were great, so Hjerteslag is definitely a band to remember!

The next big surprise awaited me on the main stage right afterwards. I’ve been living in Norway for only a month, so I had no idea who Silya is … “Stjernekamp” sounds a lot like Star Search or Idol to me, so I expected some nice and pretty pop star. Silya, however, came out to a huge production with full band including a brass section, all in costume, and delivered a full show, not just a concert. Her songs were cover songs presented in her own style and fashion, and of course, she managed to capture the audience right away. For me personally, it all seemed like a big show and not so much like a whole-hearted performance, but it was definitely entertaining, and much more fun than what I had expected. And the audience seemed to really wake up for the first time that night; which of course is understandable when everybody knows all the songs.

Verket 14Deathcrush were the next band on the second stage, and they didn’t really get the attention they would have deserved. Two girls on guitar and bass, one drummer, all singing – or rather screaming? Lots of energy on stage, and definitely the “punkiest” band of the night. But people were more busy drinking and talking, and hardly anybody gathered in front of the small stage, which was quite a pity.

I had expected it to get much more crowded in front of the stage for the Seigmen concert, but actually it didn’t fill up much more than for the other concerts; except for the first few rows of course. Still, Seigmen delivered a fantastic show! I’ve known them for quite a while, but never managed to see them live, so they managed to surprise me completely. Judging by their music, I had expected them to be really distant, hardly talk to the audience, and play their songs without much interaction, captivating the audience by their presence alone. However, they were quite talkative on stage, not offish at all, but really nice guys. They kept pointing out how nice the festival was, and how sorry they are they haven’t been up in Mo i Rana for so long. Of course the old hits were the ones that the audience was waiting for, and the atmosphere was awesome, but Seigmen also played some new stuff. And while – again – there were less people actually interested in the concert than I had expected, those that were following along with what was happening on stage were really entertained, and for me, the concert was definitely the best one of the night!

Verket 14I’m not quite sure why Seigmen were not the headliner of the evening – for me, they definitely were! So the two remaining bands, Team Me on the small stage and Veronica Maggio had a rather hard time really capturing my attention. Both surprised me – Team Me played a really energetic rock show and Veronica Maggio’s concert was so much more varied than I had expected. And I think that I would have loved both their concerts if they had taken place earlier in the night; but by that time, it had turned quite cold and 99% of the audience were completely drunk, so that made it hard to really get into the concerts. A pity, but still a big thumbs up for great shows!

For me, the only drawback of the first festival day was the crowd. I had the feeling that hardly anybody was there for the music – which is common at Norwegian festivals. But if the line up is so amazing as at Verket, you should at least try to check out some of the concerts?! But no, either people were keeping all to the back without cheering, clapping, or even listening to what was going on at all, or they were completely drunk already at 5:30 pm and couldn’t manage to stand upright, let alone walk without bumping into someone. I’ve seen quite a few Norwegian festivals, but this seemed worse than usual. They don’t even know what great concerts they missed …

Saturday, August 30: Underverket

Verket 14The Saturday started with a special concert for those under 18: Underverket. In bright sunshine, families picnicked out on the hill, while their teenage daughters gathered in front of the stage to see Isac Elliot, a teeny star from Finland. Verket festival had announced beforehand that no queuing would be allowed before 8 a.m. (!) – that gives an impression of how crazy the kids were for that concert!

And yes, crazy is probably the right word for it; but in a positive way! I almost gave up on the idea to get to the front to take some photos – it was just impossible to get through, so many kids were crowded in in front of the stage. And everyone was really excited, singing along every single word. The securities were busy throughout the whole concert, but they knew their job and kept everyone safe. The only crying was obviously caused by the guy on stage. 😉

Verket 14He actually took up one girl to give her a hug, and she was fully in a daze afterwards. And when he went down in the aisle to greet the first rows, all the kids went completely crazy.

So, adults – I don’t expect the same maniac behavior, but maybe a bit of excitement and enthusiasm for the artists wouldn’t hurt. The kids really made this concert special, and I’m sure they won’t forget it any time soon!

Saturday, August 30

Verket 14The main festival day started a few hours later, still in bright sunshine. The festival weather really couldn’t have been much better! While it was still a bit cloudy the first day, we got blue skies and sun until it got dark on Saturday. Both days it got quite chilly at night, but that was to be expected so far north. And no rain, yay!

I missed the opener AWAY and arrived during Ane Brun‘s concert. She delivered a nice and calm opening concert – nice and relaxing, but maybe a bit too slow to really capture the audience. Again, the festival filled up nicely already, even though it was still early in the evening, but people were gathering in the back and enjoying the sun on the hill.

All in all, it looked like the audience was a bit older than on Friday. Just like the day before, the line up offered a lot of variation, but Åge & Sambandet obviously attracted people of all ages, which gave a nice mixture. And unlike on Friday, the audience seemed a bit more interested in the music. Still far from enthusiastic (except for the headliner 😉 ), but at least listening and applauding.

Verket 14Next up was Kaveh, a rapper from Oslo, on the smaller stage. His target audience was clearly the younger generation, which had gathered in front of the stage. Unlike usually, Kaveh had to perform all alone, because his DJ had missed his flight. That’s the problem with festivals so far out; there’s no “next flight” that would still get you there in time. 😉 Still, he managed just fine, and after a few songs and what looked like quite hard work to get the audience excited, he managed to get them to go along. Only the first couple of rows, but those were really into the concert then, and it was fun to see how they loved the show. And when in the end, Kaveh asked some people to get up on the stage with him, he had obviously won. Hard work, but a great show!

I’ve seen Jarle Bernhoft quite a few times, mostly as “one man band” as support for Kaizers Orchestra, but also with his festival show with a full band. I enjoyed the single shows much more, so I was really pleased when I saw that this festival show would be only Bernhoft, alone with all his machines. His songs are really captivating, and seeing him piece them together by recording sounds and loops, one after the other, until he “simulates” a full band is just awesome. And it seemed like the audience was really appreciating this! It got quite crowded in the front, and people were dancing and singing along. It was a bit of a pity though that he didn’t use his full time slot but stopped 20 minutes early.

Verket 14Montée had a really hard time following that on the small stage – especially since they were still in the middle of their soundcheck when Bernhoft was done and thus couldn’t continue right away. Still, when they started, there were quite a few people in front of the stage. My first impression was that their music, danceable rock, and the songs were really nice and catchy, but that nothing was happening on stage – which is always a bit of a problem, especially for bands that are not widely known and don’t have huge hits. And just as feared: People stayed for the first two, three songs and then started wandering off in search for food, drinks, and toilets. Where there were huge queues at that time … and Montée played for hardly anyone.

That’s a problem that Skambankt did not have; people were back in place in front of the main stage when Skambankt came on. They delivered a really good rock show – read my full report about their concert on skambankt.konzertjunkie.com – but it was obvious that everyone except for the first couple of rows in the front was waiting for Åge. They did clap a bit, but that was about it. They didn’t seem to understand what a Wall of Death was supposed to be, they didn’t sing along (not even “ohohoh” parts), and they didn’t really get excited. However, full props to Skambankt for delivering a really energetic show anyway!

Verket 14Skambankt were followed by another great live band on the small stage: Satyricon. However, like Skambankt, their target audience did not necessarily comply with Åge’s target audience … They did gather quite a crowd and everyone in front of the stage was really enthusiastic and into the show. They were held back a bit by the securities whenever the moshing got too wild; something that did not sit well with the band. So they allowed the audience to do whatever they wanted and ignore the guys with the flashlights. 😉 And when the singer mentioned that his dad had actually worked at “Verket” – the factory above the festival area – and that he’s here now to work at Verket as well (just in a slightly different manner), he had finally won over the audience! At least the small faction of the audience that was into the concert at the small stage and not just waiting for Åge … Everyone else got more and more annoyed as Satyricon continued their concert. And continued their concert. And continued, and continued, way past their allowed time slot. The stage managers were very clear in their messages to the band – but they did not cut the electricity. So Satyricon continued 17 minutes past Åge’s start time, and while they were still on stage waving their good-byes, the announcer already called the audience to the big stage.

Verket 14The atmosphere during the concert of Åge & Sambandet was then really really special. A HUGE crowd in the front (it did actually look a bit like Underverket! 😮 ), a very mixed audience of all ages, and everyone excited and singing along every word. Add to that a well attuned band on stage that does not only stare at their shoes but delivers a show as well, and songs that everyone in the audience knows. That’s the kind of atmosphere that I was waiting for the whole festival!

But then, the part that “everyone in the audience” knew the songs was not quite true, because there was one girl from Germany that did not know any of the songs, was cold, and had a train to catch at seven in the morning, so she decided to skip the second hour of Åge’s show and get on her way back to the hotel … and thus she missed it when Åge & Sambandet turned into Åge & Skambandet and Skambankt came up on stage to play in one of the songs. *argh* Sounds like an awesome mixture, and a great way to end the festival – and since Verket is one of the last Norwegian festivals, also the festival season for most bands!

Verket 14All in all, Verket was a really great festival with an amazing line up of bands and some really good and entertaining concerts. I noticed a few good bands that I will check out further and keep track of what they are doing – mostly Hjerteslag, but also Deathcrush, Kaveh, and Montée. The festival itself is organized very well; you’ll always have some queues, and if you got your food, drink, or toilet break at the right time, you hardly had to wait at all. At other times, it was really bad though, but that’s impossible to prevent. The area is perfect for a festival of this size, and it’s just a fifteen minute walk away from the center of the town.

The festival is clearly aimed at locals, as Mo i Rana is quite difficult to get to. That makes it really impressive to see that the festival was actually sold out! That means that the locals are coming and supporting the festival! While this itself is a really good thing, I got the impression of “bygdefest” quite often – and that was a pity considering the awesome line up and the quality of the bands playing there. If everyone is there to see just one band and get drunk otherwise, it would maybe be sufficient to hire just that one band and not frustrate any other bands that hardly anybody cares about … But who knows. Maybe I’m mistaken and some people in the audience did actually discover new, interesting music. Because in my opinion, THIS is the main purpose of a festival, and getting wasted is just a fun side effect. 😉

Verket 14

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17.-19.07.2014 Bukta (Tromsø)

Friday, July 18th, 2014
17.-19.07.2014 – Photos Bukta (Tromsø)
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Bukta 2014Festivals in Norway are usually rather small, compared to festivals in Germany. Bukta festival in Tromsø, high up in the north, is actually one of the bigger festivals, drawing about 6000 people per day. And it’s got a special commodity that none of the German festivals can keep up with: midnight sun!

I’ve had Bukta festival on my list of festivals that I want to visit for a long time. I expect it to be a terrific atmosphere … Sure, everyone’s used to seeing the headliners play in the dark, so it might feel a bit strange to see them play in bright daylight. And even more so if the headliners actually leave the stage and the sun is still up! But I’m not the only one who has never seen midnight sun – for most international artists, this is a situation they haven’t experienced before, and so I expect them to be amazed by the light and I assume this will create a really special atmosphere at the festival. And from all I’ve heard, Bukta is one of the nicest Norwegian festivals anyway, so I’m really excited to finally get to see it for myself!

Bukta 2014The festival takes place about half an hour walk outside of town, directly on the beach. “Bukta” itself means “bay”, and I remember walking along the coast line during my first visit to Tromsø. It was awesome – such pretty views, so clear air, so beautiful. And that was actually in October, so there was no midnight sun. And no summer! The weather forecast predicts 12-18 °C, some clouds but no rain – okay, usually I would despair at that forecast and pack my winter jacket, but for Northern Norway, that’s about the best you can expect. So let’s hope it turns out to be true and we get to experience an amazing festival!

The report was written throughout the festival, while it was happening. I hope it can capture the experience a bit!

Thursday, July 17: Opeth, Billie Van, Skambankt, The Dogs, Patti Smith

Bukta 2014The first impression of the festival grounds is pretty promising – lots of space, sloping down towards the main stage, so that there’s a good view from everywhere. Not sure yet how crowded it will get, but with the bars and food stands all set in the back under the trees, I don’t expect it to get too bad, even if the festival would sell out.

The smaller second stage is set back a bit and might be harder to access, because there are only a few narrow paths leading there. But we will see. 🙂

The first band out is Opeth from Sweden, playing melodic metal. Quite a few fans have gathered in front of the stage already – quite unusual for the first band of a festival! But they deserve it – I personally don’t like bands that shout instead of singing, but the Opeth front man does both, and the quiet and melodic parts are awesome. Bukta 2014Unlike the typical opener of a festival, they joke around on stage a lot. They complain about the cold (hey, not even I am wearing my jacket yet!) – but an undershirt helps, according to the front man 😉 – and wonder why people ask them to play their favorite songs. “Do we look like a band that takes requests?!” Guess they don’t need to, they got a good set lined up by themselves. 🙂 And in the end, they even share some rock secrets with us: whatever riff you play – if you tune it down, it will always sound good!

Next up is Billie Van as first artist on the smaller stage. My suspicions turn out to be true – it is a bit hard to get to the stage, as people block the pathways and it looks much more crowded from the back than it actually is. So not a perfect spot for the stage – but it could be worse. Nobody is pushing, and with a bit of patience you can get through easily. And Billie Van is so worth the hassle! Adorable as ever … or wait, actually I haven’t seen her live yet, but as adorable as on the record! 😉 She gets some mixed reactions when she announces a couple of slow ballads – but well, that just means a potty break for those who don’t care for ballads, right? Bukta 2014But it doesn’t seem like it’s the right time for ballads, even if they are as nice as these. The audience isn’t really into these songs – but that changes quickly when the band starts playing some of the well-known up-tempo songs. An awesome concert, and oh … so adorable! 🙂

With hardly a break, the program continues with Skambankt on the main stage. I won’t write much about their concert here – you can read all about it on skambankt.konzertjunkie.com – but iTromsø gave it a 6 out of 6 rating. And I totally agree! We get the first (and only) wall of death of the night, a lot of screaming and singing along, and a good dose of energy from the stage. Yay!

Bukta 2014Again, no time to catch a breath after the Skambankt concert: The Dogs from Oslo play on the second stage, while Kindred Fever – known from their support gigs for Kaizers – play on the smallest stage called “Little Henrik”. As I haven’t managed to find that stage yet, I decide to check out The Dogs first – and wow, they are awesome! They play rock ‘n’ roll, quite a bit like the Hives, and just like them they leave lots and lots of energy on stage. And after every song, they congratulate themselves and celebrate their good performance. I LOVE that. I’d love to stay and see the full show (I already noticed during the Billie Van concert that the gigs on the small stage get only very little time), but I still have to look for the tiny stage! Not too hard to find, it turns out – but it’s so small that there’s basically no place for the audience. 😉 So there are only a lucky few who found the stage early enough that can actually see BOTH members of Kindred Fever. But everyone else can at least listen.

Bukta 2014Or just have a beer or cider, waiting for today’s headliner! Patti Smith is quite a legend in rock music, however, I have to admit that I don’t know any other songs than “Because the night”. And throughout the concert, I get the feeling that I’m not the only one … Quite a few people seem to be really enjoying the show, especially in the front, but overall I have the impression that her music is regarded as good background music to drinking, talking, and having fun. Which isn’t a bad thing, it just doesn’t necessarily do a legend justice … But then, when Patti Smith asks us to “raise your arms and let yourself be lifted to the stratosphere – the angels are with you!”, explains that “you are the future, and the future is now!”, and elaborates that music is “the ammunition of rock ‘n’ roll” – it feels like the “legend” doesn’t necessarily include only music, and Norway’s drug laws prohibit getting the full experience. 😉 Still, Patti Smith delivers an entertaining concert. I am a bit annoyed though that while lots of people, especially in the back, don’t seem to care about what is happening on stage, all mobiles go up in the air as soon as THE SONG (thus “Because the night”) starts. Obviously, that’s what you want to show your friends – “I saw Patti Smith live, you know, the one with ‘Because the night’!”. It’s only human, I guess, but it must be annoying when you’re the one on stage and everyone just wants to hear that one song …

Bukta 2014The night (or rather the part of the night at the outdoor festival) is over around 11 p.m. – and it’s still bright daylight. Well, okay, that’s not too surprising; and not so different from Trondheim actually, so the excitement about light nights has already worn off a little for me. What I have never seen yet is actual midnight sun though. And right after the concert, the sun comes out and illuminates the hill behind the stage! Absolutely beautiful. And now that I am typing this, it’s past midnight and still light outside. So I’ll hope for less clouds and more midnight sun tomorrow – but even if that doesn’t work, the festival already proved to be worth traveling here. Nicely organized, very relaxed, just a bit … pricey. 80 NOK for a beer? 90 for a cider or wine? Whew …

Friday, July 18: Mari Boine, Spidergawd, The Bronx, Pentagram, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Biru Baby, Dropkick Murphys

Bukta 2014It stayed dry the whole first evening, and from now on, the weather forecast predicts even better weather. There’s sun during the day, but the clouds are back when the festival area opens. But it’s still reasonably warm and dry, so no reason to complain!

As yesterday, the area is already quite crowded when Mari Boine enters the stage as first artist. Her music is very folkloristic, mostly based on sami joik, but the backing band makes it sound quite “bluesy” and modern. Mari herself is very energetic on stage, dancing, totally emerged in the music. And her band delivers the perfect background, with a great sound. It might not be the favorite style for everyone (especially considering that the next band on the main stage will be The Bronx), but it’s a great and relaxing way to start the festival day!

Bukta 2014The first band on the second stage is then Spidergawd. The announcer advises us to take care of our ear drums, because the following band will be LOUD. And they are! But not just loud, also melodic and energetic. I mean, what would you expect of a band where the drummer is in the middle of the stage – and not in the back but part of the front line? In addition, Spidergawd have a baritone sax, another promising sign. And the band lives up to the good first impression – great, melodic rock ‘n’ roll. I just fear that the singer’s voice will not live through a lot of concerts if he continues his “pressed” singing style, but well … it definitely fits the songs!

From then on, the festival turns more international, with several bands from the US. The next band on the main stage is The Bronx. I’ve seen them before, but that was as their alter ego Mariachi El Bronx – a parody band that plays mariachi songs instead of their usual hardcore. This time, it’s the “real” band on stage, and from the first second they raise the – non-existing – roof. They get the crowd to go along, they are amazed by the whole festival and the surroundings (“Look around, this is a beautiful setting – don’t take it for granted!”), and they are “beyond words” that they actually get to play to such an awesome response at a festival in Tromsø. Even though they are a bit confused about the dried fish that is thrown on stage … is that somehow related to voodoo? Are they actually supposed to eat it? They don’t dare, though … Great fun, and a terrific concert.

Bukta 2014Next up on the smaller stage is Pentagram. I admit, I don’t know them at all, so I’m a little unprepared for what I get. They play plain hard rock, nothing fancy, but good, old-school music. And the singer seems to be about 90 and possessed by quite a few demons. Check them out if you have a chance; a rather unusual experience. 😉

After that it’s time for a short visit to Barren Womb on the smallest stage. They sound awesome, and a bit more “modern” than Pentagram. 😉

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is the next US band on the main stage. Three guys, drums, guitar, and bass. My first impression is that they look a little lost on the huge stage though, because they are standing close together in the center instead of spreading out. But they certainly don’t behave like they are lost! They demonstrate that three people are enough to fill the stage. The sound reminds me quite a bit of the Eagles of Death Metal, just a bit less “crazy”.

Bukta 2014On the second stage, the next scheduled band is Brave Black Sea, but they are stranded at some airport and have therefore been moved to the aftershow program in the city. They are replaced by Biru Baby from up north – even further north than Tromsø. 😮 I’ve never heard of them before, but I will definitely remember the name! Three girls on vocals, bass, and guitar and a drummer, all going crazy at the same time. The association with Katzenjammer lies at hand; however, except for the “girl band” factor, these two bands don’t really have much in common. Katzenjammer are nice and adorable, Biru Baby are rough, tough, and dirty. Their music is punk, with melodies sung in harmonies, and with crazy energy on stage. Probably also with (political?) messages in the lyrics, but that is hard to hear when you listen to a band live for the first time. The only downer for me: parts of the music are playback; mostly the song intros (which is okay), but also parts of the vocals. Not the main parts of course, just some harmonies, but that makes it hard to hear what is “real” and what is not. But the overall impression is great, and I’m sure the girls could do without the playback parts as well.

Bukta 2014Time for the headliner: Dropkick Murphys! I didn’t take any pictures from the press pit during the Patti Smith concert because extra accreditation was required, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t anything like THIS. Let’s put it like that: Hardly anyone in the pit is actually taking pictures of the band on stage at the beginning of the concert. Instead, everyone is facing the audience, trying to capture the atmosphere! The crowd is hot even before the band comes on, and they sing along every word right away. And that’s how it continues throughout the concert! Everyone seems to be into it, the songs are well-known (or even if not, they are easy to learn), everyone is in party mode. And the band seems just as amazed by the audience and the whole atmosphere, and comes back for a bunch of encores before finishing right before midnight. An awesome conclusion to the second day of the festival!

Still no midnight sun because of too many clouds … But well, there’s yet another chance tomorrow. And even though you get used to it quickly, it is fascinating to see a festival ending at midnight, while it feels like it’s just 4 p.m. …

Saturday, July 19: The War on Drugs, Monica Heldal, Kåre & the Cavemen, The Cheaters, Imperial State Electric, Skogen Brinner, Mastodon

Bukta 2014In Germany, three-day festivals usually start on Friday and end on Sunday. So this last day of the festival clearly has the feel of a Sunday for me! And everything fits in nicely – the weather is awesome, no cloud in the sky, the day started with a trip up Fjellheisen to see Tromsø from above, and the festival day starts with a free afternoon concert for everyone. For that, the festival grounds fill up with families enjoying a picnic in the sun. Lots of small kids with brightly colored earmuffs dancing to the music or just running around, families watching the stage from the rocks to the side, kids cooling down and playing in the water. A really nice way to let everyone be part of the festival!

Bukta 2014The first band of the main festival is The War on Drugs from the US. An excellent start, especially on this kind of day! Everyone seems to be enjoying the sun, the music, and the whole atmosphere. The music is calm, relaxed, and melodic and fits perfectly well. “I love playing in the sunset!” gets a few chuckles out of the audience as well … 😉

Opener of the second stage is Monica Heldal. I expected her to play alone, but she brought a full backing band. And what didn’t quite work on Thursday for Billie Van works perfectly now: calm songs, a great voice, fantastic musicians (even though Monica apologizes that she might not manage everything perfectly – without any reason!), and a surprisingly good sound. The audience is obviously having fun, and Monica seems amazed by the surroundings.

Bukta 2014Without a break, Kåre & The Cavemen continue on the main stage. I had listened to some songs before and was a bit skeptical – no vocals? And right: except for a few lines in one of the songs, they only use the microphone to announce songs. Still, the music is captivating, and it is awesome to see how different instrumental songs can sound! Clearly influenced by the Beach Boys, but every song has a different style. And in the summer weather, we even get to see the “polka dot shirts” instead of the winter jackets – and an energetic show on stage.

The Cheaters continue with garage rock on the smaller stage, but they can’t really draw too many people. I guess a lot of folks are just taking a short break, sitting in the sun, enjoying the evening.

Bukta 2014The next band on the main stage, Imperial State Electric from Sweden, is listed in the program as rock band inspired by bands like KISS, The Who, and The Hellacopters. Thus yet another “inspired” rock band that sounds like everyone else …? No, far from it! Even though there aren’t that many people in front of the stage when they come out, Imperial State Electric give everything from the first second – and as a result, it takes only a few songs until people are dancing and clapping. Melodic rock, the chorus sung in harmonies, lots of energy on stage, guitar solos, and audience involvement. Awesome!

Unfortunately, Skogen Brinner on the second stage aren’t quite as energetic. The idea to mix hard rock à la Black Sabbath with Swedish lyrics sounds interesting, but a shoe-gaze band just doesn’t fit that style. 😉 So – time for a short break for me!

Bukta 2014But really just a short break, because the final headliner Mastodon starts right on time – just like all bands of the festival. Great time management! Quite a few people seem to be waiting for the metal band from the US, but it is in no way comparable to yesterday’s headliner. Still, a more than worthy conclusion of the festival! Mastodon play a tight and precise set, and you don’t need to know the songs to enjoy their show. The ending comes a bit sudden, especially since they don’t play an encore – but the drummer gets the last words: “Thank you, the Arctic Circle! I always wanted to say that.”

And I can totally agree: Thanks for an awesome festival up north! Even though I did not get to see real midnight sun (even on the last day, when the sun was clearly visible until 10:30 pm, clouds came up just in time to “ruin” the experience) – but the festival was totally worth the visit.

Conclusion

Bukta 2014I had heard from several people before the festival that Bukta is one of the best and nicest Norwegian festivals. And yes, now that I’ve seen and experienced it, I can absolutely second that! 🙂 The line up was very varied, which means that you don’t have a specific kind of audience, but everybody comes by, no matter the favorite style of music, no matter the age. That gives the festival a special flair.

The festival grounds are nice and convenient: no long walks between the stages, lots of space and never too crowded, and what I expected to maybe be a bit of a problem – the narrow pathways between the two stages – turned out to really not be a bother at all. The infrastructure works; I stayed very close to the festival and did not need to take a bus to get back to the city at night, but that looked to be organized very nicely as well, and the wait for a bus didn’t seem to be very long. The food I tried was really good – quite a bit of variety. But hardly a vegetarian option, and no snacks. Maybe I’m a bit spoiled from German festivals where you can always choose to have for example just fries or some other small snack if you’re not really that hungry (and don’t want to spend the money for a full meal). This option is missing. And of course, drinks are incredibly expensive – but well, this is Norway …

Bukta 2014And then there are a few little things that make Bukta special and distinguish it from other festivals. The midnight sun, for one thing – it’s weird if it doesn’t get dark throughout the evening, but it’s a great experience. And, honestly: it is SOOOO convenient! Not only for taking photos, but also for finding people. Or not tripping. Or not being disturbed by the guy in front of you filming the whole show. And sure, the light show isn’t as impressive. But the stages are dark enough that light can be used and isn’t totally wasted! I had expected much less and was impressed by how good everything looked.

If you checked out some of the photos, I probably don’t even need to mention the next Brownie point, but: the scenery! The surroundings are just incredibly beautiful, and that adds a lot to the atmosphere of the festival.

Also: the stockfish. There’s a rack of stockfish available for everyone to hammer (to make it eatable) – and as a result, lots of people walk around with a piece of fish in their hands, snacking on it. Or throwing it on stage, of course. 😉

And finally, I just LOVE the knitted cup holders lots of people are wearing around their necks. Really convenient, but I’ve never seen that before.

So, even though I’ve been to lots of different festivals before, Bukta really was an extraordinary experience. Great fun, great music, great location – I will be back, I hope!

Bukta 2014

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02-04.09.2010 Rått og Råde (Stavanger)

Monday, September 6th, 2010
02-04.09.2010 – Photos Rått og Råde (Stavanger)
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The main stageAbout every big and small town in Norway has its own rock festival – that’s quite typical for the Norwegian music scene. Stavanger has been struggling with this a bit over the last couple of years. The last rock festival in Stavanger, Pulpit Rock, went bankrupt after the third year. But fortunately, it didn’t take long until a new festival was planned for the city, namely Rått og Råde! Not everybody welcomed this plan though, because the festival was scheduled to be in the middle of a residential area, where a lot of elderly people are living. However, the plans were approved, and so Stavanger was all set for a new festival for about 10000-15000 people.

I was really curious about how this would turn out, mostly because this festival was really HUGE for Norway. I gotta admit that I don’t like big festivals, I’m much more into the small and cozy ones, but then – even huge festivals in Norway seem more like medium-sized festivals in Germany, and I was wondering how they would manage to set up such a festival for the first time.

The crowdAnd I was impressed! Overall, the festival was just amazing. The area was big enough for the amount of people, there were enough bar and food stands and toilets so that you didn’t have to queue for long, the organization worked out very well, there were enough securities and volunteers to get everything to run really smoothly. Thumbs up!

A big plus was the weather of course: three days of sunshine without even the slightest clouds. Would you ever expect that in Norway in September? That was so nice, and even though it did get quite cold at night, this made the festival perfect. So it’s hard for me to really judge the festival… No clue how it would have been in the rain. But like this, it was just amazing!

After the concertsSo does that mean there was nothing to criticize? Almost, but not quite. The area was really nice for a festival. The stages were arranged nicely, you could see very well, and it never got too crowded – you could always find a nice spot in the audience. So that was perfect. But then, the festival was far from sold out. From what I heard, there were 10.000 people there the first and last night (and about 6000 on Friday), which wasn’t too bad, but still under capacity. With a few thousand people more, I think it would have been quite crowded. Not necessarily in front of the stages, but everywhere in between. There was a nice “market street” in between the two stages, where the food stands were located and where you could sit down and rest a bit. That part was usually quite crowded, especially when everybody was walking from one stage to the other. And as bands on both stages took turns playing (which means that there was always some music playing – great!), that happened quite frequently. There were a few narrow paths that just weren’t suited for a lot of people walking there at the same time. It worked out fine with the amount of people that actually was at the festival, but I’m not sure if it would be the same with even more people. And the same was true for the exit, by the way. It looked quite frightening to see everyone head toward the same narrow path at the same time right after the concerts. The organizers took every precaution they could, the path was well-lit, and there was just no way to get the crowd off the area more quickly. But this is clearly a bottleneck for the festival, which might pose a problem if the festival is continued and might even grow.

KidApart from that, the area seemed perfect for a festival. Very easy to get to from the city center (and the bus transfer worked out just great – except that it was VERY hard to actually get hold of one of the bus passes that were advertised; nobody seemed to know about them), mostly gravel grounds (so it wouldn’t get too muddy with rain), and lots of space. I can understand it though that the people living in the area were not too fond of the festival, even though the concerts ended by 11 p.m. at the latest – there’s still 10.000 people invading your neighborhood, seven hours of noise every day, and quite a bit of hassle walking around the festival grounds. However, I think that this should be bearable, as it’s only one weekend in the year – and a big plus for Stavanger.

I gotta admit that this was more or less a “surprise festival” for me. The line-up sounded great to me, because I knew almost all names on the list. However, for most of them I had NO clue what to expect. This made it really exciting, especially since there was always a band playing. So I could just walk up, check them out, and decide whether I liked it or not. Pretty cool – but it also means that I can’t report too much about the bands, because most of them were completely unknown to me. However, I’ll try to do my best now to report on the festival concerts!

Susanne SundførThe first artist of the festival was Susanne Sundfør on the big stage. I didn’t make it to the festival until halfway through her concert, but I was impressed. Not only by the crowd of people that was already gathered in front of the stage, but also by the music. When I arrived, Susanne Sundfør was doing a part alone, which was very nice. After a few songs, the band joined her. I hadn’t even noticed they were missing! But they did give a different touch to her concert and added some variety. A very nice opening concert!

After Susanne Sundfør, Line Larsen took over on the second stage. Gotta admit that she didn’t convince me. It was nice music, but not catchy at all.

Karpe DiemNext up was Karpe Diem, and my first surprise. I suspected… hmm… maybe some “dark” rock band? I got a hip hop act, which actually wasn’t too surprising I guess, I think I’ve even heard them on the radio before. They managed to get the crowd moving! I liked the show quite a lot, and so did the rest of the audience, as it seemed.

Then, before the main act, Casiokids played on the small stage. And I left after the first song… Sorry, but what was that? Indie-alternative-wannabe-rock? Not my thing, not at all.

Morten HarketSo I had time to grab something to eat before a-ha came on. I didn’t really expect a lot from the a-ha concert. I knew that I didn’t really know them (just the hits of course), I knew that it’s not necessarily the kind of music I usually listen to, and I knew that it was really cool to get to see them play live once! And I got pretty much what I expected: A professional show, a bit too reserved in my opinion, a lot of nice pop songs, and a dedicated audience that was impressively loud when singing along. In the beginning, my attitude was mostly “okay, it’s something you gotta see once, but well…” Towards the end, they played more and more hits and thus songs that I knew, and I started to really enjoy it. Yes, guess you HAVE to have seen a-ha on stage once, and if it’s only to note that Morten Harket looks like David Hasselhoff, or that it sounds pretty awkward if a whole audience suddenly squeaks “STAY!”. *lol* But yeah… that probably sounds rather insulting to any a-ha fan, sorry about that. But they were never my heroes. =;-) And I did enjoy the concert, more than I had expected.

Geir ZahlThe second day of the festival was the big “Kaizers day”. =;-) First up everybody faced a hard decision: While Uncle Deadly (aka Geir Kaizer) opened the festival day on the main stage, Skambankt were doing a signing session downtown. Not sure how the signing session went (’cause I didn’t have any doubt when deciding for Uncle Deadly), but the Uncle Deadly concert was really nice. It was a bit of a downside though that it was so early in the day and there were only very few people on the festival grounds at that time. Too bad! You can read more about the Uncle Deadly concert in my report.

After Uncle Deadly, a band called Rub A Dubs played on the small stage. I hadn’t heard of them before, but they sounded very promising! I’m really bad at finding genres for bands – but they had brass, which is always a big plus, and they got people dancing!

MewNext up on the main stage was Mew from Denmark. Again, I didn’t know more than the name, but this time my expectations were about right. A nice rock band with some “weird” influences, with a front man in a dark leather coat, singing sometimes in normal voice, sometimes two octaves up… =;-) But it was really fun to listen to! And to watch the guy whose only job on stage it seemed to be to dance. Hmm… does that mean he’s part of the band?

The next band was also from Denmark, and my first impression was “they sound Danish”. Honestly, I have no clue what made their sound typical Danish (nor do I have any idea what typical Danish sound IS *g*). The band was Oh No Ono, and actually, I even knew one of their songs – which doesn’t mean I knew the band. They reminded me a bit of Casiokids. Just standing, hardly moving, pretty monotonic music… not quite my style. And it seemed that most people were thinking the same, as it was quite empty in front of the stage at that time.

Band of HorsesOr maybe this was already because of the next band and people preparing for the BIG concert of the evening: Band of Horses. You don’t know them? Well, I didn’t either. But EVERYBODY in Norway does, and they really were the big highlight of the day for many. So people were really enjoying their concert. I found it was nice, but without knowing the songs (I had heard one on Norwegian radio though! *g*), I couldn’t quite figure out what makes them so special. It was nice music, well performed, but it didn’t really catch on for me.

Anyway, I think it would have taken a lot to take my mind away from the upcoming concert at that time. Because next up were Skambankt, who delivered a fantastic concert in front of an even more fantastic crowd! All about the concert here.

The ProdigyThe headliner on Friday was The Prodigy. I’ve seen them before, twice even, and I always hated it – not because of the music which I find is quite suitable for festivals, but because it was impossible to listen to their concerts, as the bass was turned up so loud that it hurt. And not even in your ears, but in your whole body… It turned out though this time that it wasn’t too bad! The sound was absolutely okay, and I stayed almost until the end of their concert, even though I had planned to leave after five minutes. But no, I gotta admit, that was a fun concert! The crowd loved it as well – but it was obvious that there were a lot less people at the main concert than the day before.

Enjoying the sunThe next day, like the first two, started in bright sunshine and warm temperatures, so that everybody arrived at the festival grounds early and everything started out very relaxed and happy. First up was Bare Egil Band. One guy with guitar and microphone, obviously quite funny, but I found out that my Norwegian might be sufficient for daily conversation, but not to understand what all this was about and whether it was good or bad. =;-)

That was much easier for me with the next band: Madcon! One of the few Norwegian bands of the festival which are known outside of Norway as well. In the beginning, it seemed like they had a hard time getting the audience to go along. They worked really hard though, making the audience scream again and again, splitting them into two groups and having them compete, making them jump – and it worked! The crowd was quite impressive for this time of the day, and it was obvious that everybody had fun. And rightfully so! Madcon seemed like the perfect band for that time and that crowd.

TôgThe next band, Tôg on the small stage, also had quite a few people in the audience. Not sure in which genre they should be placed – electro-alternative maybe? It was a nice mixture, in any case. At least from the musical side. Not sure why they all had black clothes and white scarves on their heads, that looked a bit silly. But it’s the music that counts, right? =;-)

Then we went back to the hip hop. Lars Vaular was another band where I knew only the name and nothing else – at least that’s what I thought. I did know their sunglasses song though. =;-) I watched their performance from the very back, so it’s hard for me to judge the reaction of the audience, but it seemed to me that they managed to capture the audience – but there weren’t as many people who let themselves capture as under Madcon’s concert.

Purified in BloodWhile the main stage was turned into a hip hop stage, the small one now became the hardcore stage. I don’t like that genre, I can’t tell what is good or bad, but Purified in Blood were quite impressive. Less because of their music (it just sounded like “noise” to me), but because of the audience. There was actually a pretty big circle pit! OK, there’s circle pits at about every concert I see in Germany, but you can’t compare Germany and Norway in this respect. Honestly, I had never expected a real pit in Norway. But then I wasn’t surprised that it was _extremely_ aggressive in there. OK, it was nothing compared to later on, but before that…

… Thomas Dybdahl played on the main stage. Talk about different styles! =;-) Nice, melodic pop rock. The main stage audience seemed to like it. I found the concert quite nice, but I didn’t know any of the songs, and nothing really stuck.

KvelertakSo then it was time for Kvelertak on the small stage. Very similar to Purified in Blood, but more melodic and thus easier to listen to, in my opinion. But it might be that PiB is just as melodic, I just haven’t found the underlying melodies yet. =;-) I saw Kvelertak a few times as support for Skambankt, and while it’s not my kind of music, I have total respect for what they do on stage. I was pretty shocked by what was going on in front of the stage though. I’m quite used to seeing pogo pits, but that looked terribly aggressive. And I always thought people are in there together and not against one another… guess that doesn’t count for Norwegian pits, who knows. If I saw that correctly, it ended with the PiB singer being escorted out by the police… uhem.

OzzyFor some reason, they were done fifteen minutes early (my guess was that they had planned for an encore, but people just left, but I don’t know whether that’s true), and then the waiting for Ozzy Osbourne began! I had seen him once before, in 1997 if I recall correctly. Don’t really remember anything from that concert except that it was raining and he covered “Singing in the rain”. =;-) Again, I didn’t really know any songs, just some fragments here and there, but it turned out to be an amazing concert! The audience was absolutely crazy, Ozzy was very friendly and entertaining, the music was great (well, except for the singing maybe – Ozzy was a bit off-key sometimes…), there was a foam sprayer and the first row, the securities and camera got covered in foam a few times, and Ozzy seemed very excited about the great audience. Honestly, that seemed a little bit fake to me… not sure why, because the audience was quite enthusiastic. But not really that loud, I thought. However, Ozzy seemed amazed and said he was amazed, so maybe he actually was. =;-) He played a really long set – almost two hours – and it seemed as if he would have continued if the hour hadn’t been after eleven, which was the strict curfew.

Thank you!That definitely was a nice conclusion to a great festival. From what I read up to now, the sales weren’t as good as expected, so it’s not quite clear yet whether the festival will be repeated next year. I really hope so though, because it’s a great thing – and yep, every Norwegian town needs its own festival! Especially if it’s such a nice one. =:-)

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20-21.08.2010 Kartfestivalen (Gvarv, Norway)

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
20-21.08.2010 – Photos Kartfestivalen (Gvarv)
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AudienceAfter I spent basically every weekend this summer at some festival in Germany, I finally made it to Norway now for… a festival, of course. =;-) Festivals in Norway are interesting: pretty tiny (compared to German festivals), a line-up ranging from “very local and unknown band” to “international star”, very cozy and nice with people really “living” for their festival. So in a way you can compare Norwegian festivals to some of the really tiny German festivals, just that there are much bigger bands playing at the Norwegian festivals.

This year, I decided to go to Kartfestivalen – the line-up was nice and interesting, and the festival wasn’t too hard to get to with only a 2-hour drive from Oslo. Gvarv, where the festival took place, is a tiny little town right next to Bø in Telemark. So there wasn’t really anything else to do in the area – but that didn’t matter; we spent a great weekend at the festival!

Rubber bootsWhen we got to Gvarv, it had already been raining for quite a while. Grr… not the way you want to start a festival, of course! But well, Skambankt would be playing, so we got out our rain coats and umbrellas and got going. The first impression of the festival grounds was very positive: Not too big (but actually impressively big for a festival in a town of this size!), two stages (a tiny one where the first bands of the day played and a “normal” one for the main acts), some food stands of course and a lot of tables and benches to sit down – all under a tent roof, so that was perfect with all the rain.

The only downside (except for the rain, of course, but that’s not in the responsibility of the festival organizers…) was the food and drinks. Food and beer was ecological – I think it’s a great idea to have such a motto for a festival, and especially to really stick to it for everything that is on offer. But then, the choice was fairly limited. For the food, it wasn’t that bad (even though I have to admit I didn’t really like it, but that’s a matter of taste of course), but with drinks? There was beer, wine, coffee, and water. Pretty limited if you have to drive afterwards… OK, there was also apple juice, but it was out the second day. =:-(

Well, to make up for that, there was a supermarket and a gas station right next to the festival grounds, so you could get something from there – but that’s not really the way it’s supposed to be, and I felt a bit bad getting my drinks there. I’d rather supported the festival by buying stuff on the festival grounds, but that wasn’t possible, unfortunately.

Lady MoscowOK, so back to the festival itself. We got there at the time when the second band of the day, Ellen M Trio, was just finishing their set, so unfortunately I can’t really report about them. Next up was And her name was Frank, followed by Lemmy Caution Strikes Back. Both sounded pretty nice, but the rain ruined their concerts a bit. There weren’t really a lot of people in the audience yet – those who had ventured to the festival grounds already were mostly seeking cover under the roof.

But then, everybody seemed to accept the rain. Lady Moscow played on the main scene, and even though there weren’t that many people there yet, those who were decided to ignore the rain and see what was going on on stage. And that was a good decision, because Lady Moscow played a great concert and managed to get the audience involved! From what I had read before, I placed them somewhere between Kaizers Orchestra and Tom Waits, which wasn’t that far off. Not that much Kaizers actually, but some unusual instruments; they had a stand-up bass, accordeon, and violin. And yep, the singer undoubtably likes Tom Waits. =;-) A very nice performance!

SkambanktAfter that, more and more people arrived, so that it filled up very nicely in front of the stage before the next concert. Because then it was time for the “Kings of rock” (as the announcer called them): Skambankt! I really loved the concert, and the atmosphere was great – the audience seemed to really have fun throughout the show, which is just the way it’s got to be! You can read a detailed report about the Skambankt concert here.

The headliner of the first day was Big Bang then. I gotta admit that I’m not that fond of them – I’ve seen them twice at some other festivals, and I was always pretty bored. This time, they did surprise me though; I enjoyed the concert quite a bit! Again, it was pretty crowded in front of the stage, despite the rain, and the atmosphere was really nice. I would have expected a bit more enthusiasm from the crowd maybe, but well, everybody was cold and wet after all. And when Big Bang finished up with “Prettiest girl in Oslo”, everybody was celebrating and having a great time.

After that, it was time to get back to our cabin at Beverøya camping (didn’t see any beavers though, he he) and dry up. The next day, we woke up to really nice, warm, and sunny weather – yay, that’s the weather you want to have at a festival, not the stupid rain!

DowntownThe festival day actually started with some free concerts downtown. OK, as much “downtown” as you can expect from a tiny little town like Gvarv, I mean. =;-) But hey, that sounds so negative, but I really don’t mean it like that. It was a great way to start the festival day, and it was very very cozy – at the town square, with a tiny improvised stage, some seats in front of it, a little café and great sunshine. And it actually got quite crowded after a while! First up was Raven Coloured Love, who also played at the festival lateron, playing some acoustic cover songs. Next was Ugrass, a band formed just for this occasion, playing some country/western/bluegrass style songs. And last but not least it was time for Roy Lønhøiden, a singer/songwriter that I actually knew from my Norwegian class. =;-) All in all, this was a great start for the festival day – a nice and cozy get-together on the town square, involving not only the people who came for the festival, but all Gvarv inhabitants, no matter whether they cared for the rest of the festival or not.

Shortly after, the “real” festival started again. It seemed to me a bit like I was seeing two completely different festivals those two days. Now, the sun was out, it remained dry troughout the evening, and even though it got quite cold at night, this was the perfect festival weather. And of course that left its traces on the audience as well, and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Bad Hair DayThe first band on the small stage was Bad Hair Day, a very young band from the area, with one of their first “big” concerts, I assume. They did a great job! Of course there’s room for improvement and they seemed to feel quite insecure on stage, but they knew how to play their instruments and had their own songs even. Just that maybe “When I was young I found a river of wisdom” is not exactly the right topic for a teenager band… =;-) But it was a nice gig!

Next up was May Kristin Steffensen, alone on stage with her guitar. She did a few very nice songs in singer/songwriter style, before Raven Coloured Love had their turn again. Actually, I liked their acoustic cover set a bit better, but they played some nice and energetic rock music now – with their own songs this time. For both of these concerts, it was a bit of a pity that there were so few people in the audience. But those who were at the festival grounds already enjoyed themselves.

KatzenjammerWe missed Emma Ejwertz after that but were back in time for Tellusalie (by the way, the name makes sense, if you look at it again *g*). I have to admit though that they didn’t leave an impression, even though they had some strange instruments. I do remember the tree that was used as percussion instrument though. I felt sorry for it. =;-)

Then it was time for the highlights of the night. First up: Katzenjammer! I don’t have to write much about the four girls, I guess – they are just amazing, and they manage to conquer any audience within minutes. I’ve seen them play in Germany a lot lately, and somehow, this was the complete opposite. In Germany, they are playing in tiny clubs that are crammed with people who know they have to expect something weird (but great!). Here, there were a few people (actually quite a few, ’cause it started to fill up again) who had probably heard the name Katzenjammer but had no clue what to expect. So at first, everybody was just watching. Then for the next two or three songs, everyone was astounded and… amused. People were actually laughing at the band! But in a very nice way. =:-) And then Katzenjammer had won, and everybody was cheering, dancing and singing. I LOVE it when that happens and a band just takes over! And Katzenjammer so deserve it. Especially ’cause they had to cut down on their set, as it seemed Jethro Tull wanted more time…

Big BangThe whole day, there had been lots of people around wearing Jethro Tull t-shirts, so it was clear who the headliner of the day would be. Or well, honestly I was always confused as soon as his name was mentioned. It took me a while to figure out why everybody was talking about some guy called Jedro Tyll, uhem. *g* Honestly, I didn’t expect much from that concert. Of course I knew “Bourrée”, and since I play the flute as well I had of course stumbled across Jethro Tull, but yeah… well, overrated. And when the strict regulations were announced – no smoking in front of the stage and a 100% photo ban (thus no Jethro Tull pictures) -, that only confirmed my attitude towards him. The typical snotty, arrogant rock star… pff.

I was mistaken. I was sooo mistaken! The concert was absolutely amazing. Perfectly performed, very varied and entertaining. I just didn’t get the “standing on one leg” thing. Maybe I oughta try it… =;-) And no, neither snotty nor arrogant, the guy came across very very likeable. And humorous! After the first two songs he announced: “Okay, these songs were from 1968 and 1969. But don’t be afraid that we’ll play only this old stuff, no, by far not! The next song is from 1971…” *rofl* And so on and so on. Perfectly entertaining and absolutely awesome. Can you tell I was amazed? =;-)

Grand IslandJethro Tull was the headliner, but not the last artist of the evening. As last band, Grand Island went on stage. I saw them as support for Kaizers Orchestra earlier this year and had gotten the latest album right away – and fallen in love with it. So I enjoyed the concert a lot; and I wasn’t the only one! A lot of people had gone home already, so it really wasn’t crowded anymore, but all the people who were still there were really enjoying themselves. There was line dancing, singing, screaming, … the perfect conclusion for the festival!

So all in all I can just say: yeah! That was a really really nice festival. The weather the first day was stupid, but well, nothing anyone could do about it. And the organizers did the best they could – there was cover, there was no mud, and there were rain ponchos on sale. =;-) Everybody, also the people who were working, seemed to be enjoying themselves, the atmosphere was very friendly, and the program was great. Two thumbs up!

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Posted in Berichte, Events, Festivals | Comments Off on 20-21.08.2010 Kartfestivalen (Gvarv, Norway)