Kopenhagen

10.03.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

The last day of the tour, the last club show in mainland Europe. After a pretty dull day spent at the airport, writing reports, we arrived rather late in Copenhagen and hurried to the concert. Therefore, my mood before the concert was quite … baaah. Vega is always awesome and I expected a great concert, but it was much too crowded already (the original plan was to see a calm and relaxed concert from the gallery), DJ Ralph Myerz was annoying (honestly: I really didn’t manage to find out what he added to the concerts – a mix CD would have done the same job …), and it was still one and a half hours until the concert started. Well, time to find an okay spot to stand – and I accidentally ended up behind some fans I knew, we chatted away the time until the concert (which of course killed my voice – but who cares, it was the final concert of the tour anyway) – and finally it was time for Kaizers!

After the first song, I suddenly had an awesome idea: Hey, today’s concert report will consist of nothing but “Well, how do you think the final concert at Vega was? Yes, exactly. Just incredible! And that’s how it was, no need to write anything else, and I’m taking the day off from writing a report!” – yes, after nine concerts and nine reports in ten days, you do start to get a little sick of it. =;-) But no need to worry – as soon as the Jackal started greeting the audience after a few songs and casually backheeled a flying paper ball at the same time (“Yes, I am a soccer player!”), it was time to get out my mobile again and take notes. Guess I just can’t do without. =;-)

The setlist was almost identical to the one in Cologne, just that it didn’t stop so abruptly and didn’t seem somehow “shortened”:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Det polaroide liv
  • Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • I ett med verden
  • Støv og sand
  • Sigøynerblod
  • Ompa til du dør
  • Bøn fra helvete
  • Forloveren
  • Min kvite russer
  • Philemon Arthur & the Dung
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Svare katter & flosshatter
  • Hjerteknuser
  • Maestro
    ———–
  • KGB
  • Drøm videre, Violeta
  • Begravelsespolka

My first thought when Kaizers entered the stage was: YELLOW. ‘Cause Mr. Hellraizer was wearing his yellow shirt again, and actually, we had just discussed that before the show. =;-) But we did get an explanation for it later on: Copenhagen was the conclusion of the tour (well – even though “conclusion of the tour” means that Kaizers will have ONE off-day now …), and that caused some tears during the sound check (but Hellraizer mopped them up afterwards). And to cheer himself up, he needed to wear the bright yellow shirt. OK, if it helps? Honestly, there were a few times in the concert where it seemed like you could feel the dark shadow looming over the concert – concerts at Vega are legendary, and this was the last one for a long time. A good reason to shed some tears … even though I didn’t really feel like that that night. Instead, I was just happy because of the great concert. But it did hit me the next morning – who knows, that might have been my very last time at Vega …

Before they played Din kjole lukter bensin, mor, the Jackal told us once more how they tried to find a female artist to sing the duet. They called up five Scandinavian singers, but they all said no. “They said we were difficult to work with and we don’t have any hits – and they said it like it was a bad thing?!” So Hellraizer had to take over again. But only in the beginning – later on it was the audience singing. Without any encouragement, everyone just started and sang as loud as possible, on and on. Beautiful!

En for orgelet was translated into Danish of course, and of course we got the drum solo on the barrel as well. And in the next song, the Jackal was up on the barrel again, this time to dance up there. Barrel dancing instead of pole dancing, exciting. =;-) But he stopped the stripping part already after taking off his jacket. *g*

Keith Richards says that when a concert is at its best, you gotta play blues (thus Støv og sand) – the Jackal says that when a concert is at its best, you gotta play gypsy music (thus Sigøynerblod). “Put your hands up in the motherfucking air!”

During Bøn fra helvete, Omen had to fish out his steel rim under Hellraizer who was already banging on the barrel. And after his part, he was sent back to his organ by the Jackal very harshly …

After Forloveren, the Jackal admitted this time: “The new songs are much more complicated than the old ones!” That’s true – Kvite russer is simple, but just as good! And it worked out great live again, including the Jackal holding a note for a loooooong time (and Hellraizer carefully checking his pulse in between to make sure everything was okay with him) and some yodel improvisations at the end.

During Kontroll på kontinentet, Killmaster jumped into the audience and had them carry him through the whole hall, just like in Prague – this time it took even longer before the audience returned him to the stage. “The best stage dive ever!” And how do you feel after that, the Jackal asked? Killmaster: “Oh my god, I’m starting to cry!”

Before Hjerteknuser, the Jackal asked whether we are all “kjærester”, thus lovers, now – and of course he got a loud yes. “Hellraizer, did you want to say something as well?” – “Sure, that about the lovers …” *g*

To make up for that, the Jackal dedicated a song to him during the encores, namely Drøm videre, Violeta – because it was March 10 and therefore an anniversary, because Hellraizer met his wife 25 years ago! Uh, yes. =;-)

As usual, the highlight of the evening was the Begravelsespolka – and in the beginning, the audience did not only clap along, but stomp, as is typical for Vega. So impressive! You hardly noticed that the Jackal screwed up a little and wanted to start too early, and the audience loved the song. Well, I guess it really is the best live song of the best live band at the moment … =:-D

I would definitely have expected a second encore after that, because both the concert and the atmosphere were awesome. But no, the lights went on quickly after the last song, and even though they were turned off again for a moment (probably by accident), which made the audience scream for more even louder and longer – there was no more song. That was really sad – but then, they probably couldn’t have surpassed the Begravelsespolka anyway, but only add a calmer ending to the concert.

And that was the conclusion of a fantastic tour. Fantastic both according to what Kaizers delivered and just overall – there was not one single concert that you could call bad (or just “worse”) in an objective way. All venues were of the exactly right size, so that they were really crowded, the atmosphere was great, and the performance on stage was perfect. And if they hadn’t done that before, Kaizers imprinted their memory into the brains of the audience with the Begravelsespolka for sure – so we can only agree, with a little sigh: “See you next time, whenever that might be!”

For me personally, this tour was just amazing again. It is fantastic to meet so many people (again) in every city, get to know new friends, talk away the days, and enjoy the concerts together. Thank you all for the great company and for bearing my quirks (“No, we won’t leave until they kick us out!!” – “Gnaah. Gotta. Write. Report. And how the hell does ‘Arbeitssieg’ translate into English?!” – “Soap bubbles! Yes! But you have to do it as well, I’m not gonna do it alone, shame on you if I don’t see you, argh!” *gg*). And just as big a thank you to everyone approaching me about the fansite, for all the kind words and gleaming eyes – it is so amazing to hear that there are more lunatics like me, who love this band so much. Don’t be offended if I don’t manage to remember all faces – but the joy about the nice words will definitely be remembered. =:-)

And whatever the future will hold, we’ll meet again – at other bands’ concerts, without concerts, or maybe at the reunion tour in 2025. Or who knows, it might be in 2016 already. Let’s just cross our fingers, be grateful for this tour, keep the amazing memories alive, and softly hum: “Andre applauderer, og det er sånne som oss!”

26.01.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

Saturday, February 4th, 2012
This entry doesn't exist in English.

Bericht von Maestro Morker

Für Kaizers aus dem Frankenland zuerst nach Wien und dann nach Kopenhagen? Hell yeah! Das klang zumindest bei der Buchung noch nach einem grandiosen Plan (war es am Ende auch, keine Sorge… nur teuer und arschkalt), und ich freute mich sehr auf diesen, für Kaizers Orchestra ja legendären, Konzertsaal und erwartete gute Stimmung – zu Recht!

Nach dem viel zu kurzen Auftakt in Wien einige Tage zuvor war ich auch mehr als heiß auf ein richtiges, langes Konzert. Zum FM4-Geburtstagsfest sei im Übrigen noch gesagt (die wirklich Interessierten werden ja den Mitschnitt gesehen haben), dass es eine viel zu kurze, aber dafür höchst intensive Regen-Matsch-Schlammschlacht war und Kaizers einen extrem schwierigen Job sehr gut bewältigten. (Kettcar war übrigens auch großartig, aber das nur am Rande.)

Zurück zum Vega. Das Ding war sehr voll, wenn auch wohl ein paar mehr noch reingepasst hätten, und die Leute waren heiß auf Kaizers. Nach der Vorgruppe “The Eclectic Moniker”, die für mich den Stempel “höchst amüsant” verdiente (völlige Durchgeknalltheit als Showkonzept ist auch nicht schlecht, musikalisch allerdings fast ein wenig zu klassisch Rock&Western, aber ich war auch einfach ungeduldig evtl.) und bereits vom Publikum über Maßen gefeiert wurde, steigerte sich die Stimmung unter klassischem, immer lauter werdenden Bak-et-hallejula-Lalalalalala, je näher der Russian Dance rückte.

Dass Kaizers hier im Vega ein absolutes Heimspiel hatten, war von Beginn an klar, und Janove hätte bei den meisten Liedern problemlos sein Mikro weglegen können (wie es dann bei Resistansen und später Die Polizei auch geschah). Die Band nutzte wohl die Gelegenheit, um ein wenig etwas auszuprobieren, die Setlist überraschte mich auf jeden Fall einige Male kräftig. Nach dem Einstieg mit I ett med verden schien man sich erst einmal zu denken: “Lassen wir die Verrückten da unten sich ein bisschen müde tanzen”. Hevnervals und Knekker deg til sist als zweites und drittes Lied waren daher dementsprechend perfekt gewählt. Hier erst einmal die komplette Setlist:

I ett med verden – Hevnervals – Knekker deg til sist – Di grind – Tusen draper regn – Støv og sand – Drøm videre Violeta – Kavalér – Bøn fra helvete – Apokalyps meg – Jævel av en tango – Bak et halleluja – Resistansen – Kontrol på kontinentet – Din kjole lukter bensin, mor – En for orgelet – Svarte katter & flosshatter – Hjerteknuser
——–
KGB – Maestro – 170
——–
Die Polizei

Nur dreieinhalb wirklich neue Lieder, dafür mit Kavalér, Apokalyps meg und Jævel av en tango drei Lieder, mit denen ich wirklich nicht gerechnet hatte. Gerade Jævel av en tango war unglaublich überraschend, und ich habe zum ersten Mal verstanden, wie das Lied live funktionieren kann… nämlich dann, wenn ein gesamter Saal mitsingt… es war sehr beeindruckend.

Apropos Saal grölt mit: Es ist natürlich schon etwas anderes, wenn man Kaizers in einer ihrer Hochburgen erlebt, als in, sagen wir, Schorndorf. 😉 Und gerade die klassischen Mitsingstellen in Bøn fra helvete, Maestro oder auch Din kjole lukter bensin haben in der Masse richtig Spaß gemacht (von die Polizei oder Resistansen gar nicht zu reden). Drøm videre, auf das ich mich sehr freute und bei dem ein Stoffelefant auf die Bühne flog, funktionierte live fantastisch, und das Wolfsgeheul am Ende hat definitiv Potential, Kavalér hingegen wirkte irgendwie verloren. Vielleicht auch, weil es evtl. nicht ganz so bekannt ist wie der Rest und man den Eindruck hatte, dass viele das Lied nutzten, um einmal durchzuschnaufen.

Nun hin zu den kleinen Dingen, die mir im Gedächtnis geblieben sind. Bereits die Vorgruppe hatte einige Luftballons losgelassen, die auch bei Kaizers noch ab und an durch den Saal schwebten. Bei Bak et halleluja schwebte einer der Ballons, just zum ersten Refrain, Richtung Janove, der, wie jeder Mann der mal gekickt hat, nicht widerstehen konnte und versuchte, den Ballon möglichst schön wegzuschießen. Allein: Der Ballon flog ein wenig hin und her und kam nicht ganz bis zu Janove, der sich streckte, aber das Ding nicht wirklich erwischte. Die erste Reihe gab ihm einen erneuten Versuch und spielte den Ballon zurück. Dieser Versuch gelang, aber Sänger und Publikum standen so im Bann dieser sportlichen Eleganz, dass fast vergessen wurde, mit dem Lied weiterzumachen. Ich glaube, Helge war schon seit ‘ner Minute am Pumpen für die zweite Strophe. 😉

Bei Resistansen gab es ein Lautstärke-Duell zwischen Rune und Publikum, bei dem Janove mit Runes Perfomance nicht wirklich zufrieden war. In der Folge zeigte sich, dass auch Kaizers Spinal-Tap-Fans sind, als Janove Rune anwies: “Turn it to eleven…” <Rune schreit irgendwas zurück> “Well, that’s one louder, isn´t it?” Auch für Dänemark hatte Janove bei En for orgelet (große Trommel) sprachliche Leckerbissen bereit. Da die Artikel durcheinander zu wirbeln ja nicht möglich war, entschied er sich dafür, den Songnamen auf sehr sehr dänisch (vermute ich, meine Dänischkenntnisse sind eher gering) auszusprechen, En for orgelet en for maaaaaaaaaaaaaiii… Das Publikum war in jedem Fall sehr amüsiert. Das Gleiche galt für eine kleine Einlage vor Bøn fra helvete, als Janove das Publikum darüber abstimmen ließ, ob er den großen oder den kleinen Axtstil zum Verdreschen der Fässer nehmen sollte. Selbstredend wurde es der große…

Verwirrend für alle war die Platzierung von Bak et halleluja und Resistansen, ziemlich in der Mitte des Sets. Die Folge davon war absolute Uneinigkeit, auf welche Art und Weise nach Hjerteknuser denn Zugaben zu fordern seien. Das klassische Lalalala, wildes Schreien und Gestampfe sowie Versuche einzelner, die Polizei anzustimmen, ergaben eine grandiose Kakophonie.

Für mich persönlich waren Hevnervals, Drøm videre Violeta und Jævel av en tango die Höhepunkte bzw. unvermuteten Höhepunkte des Sets. Mit Støv og sand dagegen konnte ich mich bisher nicht komplett anfreunden, und das hat sich auch live nicht wirklich geändert. Und Apokalyps meg war noch nie mein Lieblingslied…

Das Set endete mit Die Polizei, bei dem Janove eigentlich gar nichts mehr sagte, sich an eine Tonne lehnte und sichtlich zufrieden mit dem Geleisteten war. Das sehe ich genauso, wobei das wirklich euphorische Publikum natürlich viel zum gelungenen Abend beitrug. Die Sucht ist damit erst einmal gestillt für den Anfang, und dann kommen ja auch schon bald die Deutschlandkonzerte. Man sieht sich dort!  

17.11.2011 – Photos Fozzy (The Rock, Copenhagen)

Sunday, November 20th, 2011
17.11.2011 – Photos Fozzy (The Rock, Copenhagen)

17.11.2011 Fozzy (The Rock, Copenhagen)

Friday, November 18th, 2011
17.11.2011 – Photos Fozzy (The Rock, Copenhagen)

Waaaah! You know these concerts where you feel absolutely unprepared going in, and then you are totally blown away afterwards??
Or wait, if you’re not a concert junkie, you might not know this feeling. =;-) So, to elaborate: Fozzy is a band I discovered rather late; only this year, actually. So I got several albums at the same time, liked them, but never really had the time to listen to them as closely as I would have liked. I expected them to be a good live band, so I kept an eye on the tour dates… but I was reasonable enough to NOT drive three hours to see them warm up for some other band – was it Accept? – this spring. Or wait, was that actually reasonable? Naaah, now I think: that was plain out stupid! Gosh, what the hell was that?! =:-D

But let’s back up. I decided to include a little stopover in Copenhagen on my way to Norway, to see Fozzy there. Everybody would consider that crazy, I did myself (yes, okay, I needed to stop over anyway – but only for an hour, not for a day… *g*). But well, Fozzy played at The Rock; The Rock is a cool venue, and I desperately wanted to check out Fozzy. However, I felt unprepared. I knew the songs somewhat, but basically only the hook lines, just like you know songs you’ve been listening to in the background, but never taken the time to REALLY check them out.

Didn’t matter. Didn’t matter AT ALL! Fozzy absolutely blew me away, and it was just an amazing night. Awesome! *speechless*

But I’m getting ahead again, let’s start in the beginning. I didn’t get the name of the first support band – their music was nice, but there were too few people in the audience, so everyone was listening, but nobody really… cared, I guess. Still, not bad!

The crowd got more involved with the second band, Sister. Or well, crowd… there weren’t really a lot of people there, it looked really empty. However, the ones that were there were enthusiastic! Seemed like there were a lot of Sister fans at the concert, because there was quite a bit of dancing and cheering in the front. I had pretty mixed feelings about their gig. First of all: the music was good. Really good! I liked it a lot. But then, their outfit?! What was this supposed to be? Horror punk? Death metal vampyre style? Hey, if I wanted vampyres, I would watch Twilight… =;-) Anyway, good music, good atmosphere in the audience!

And then it was time for Fozzy! I was really sceptical at that time. I mean, there were SO few people in the audience, and of course that meant that the audience really wasn’t very loud. And you know these big American bands, if they play in front of an empty hall that doesn’t make noise, and they are totally annoyed and just try to get done with their concert, right?
Right? Wrong! So totally wrong! Fozzy came on, the audience cheered as loud as possible (which wasn’t that loud), and from one second to the other, the band exploded on stage, the audience was blown away, and the concert started out like none of the support bands had managed even remotely. Uuuh…. waah! So much energy on stage, so much “we don’t care how many you are and if you don’t know us, but you’re gonna have fun now! We’re ALL gonna have fun now!” And oh yes, we had… =:-) It’s hard for me to really describe the concert – all in all, it was just amazing. Chris Jericho is the perfect front man and got the crowd absolutely excited. However, I was really surprised how fast I went from “oh my gosh, that is Chris Jericho there, three meters from me” to “wow, what a great band with a great front man”! =:-) And yep, it wasn’t only Chris, not at all. All band members were so involved, obviously having great fun on stage (which is always great to watch!), and they played a perfect concert. Chris’ singing might not be perfect, but then – who cares? With so much energy on stage you hardly notice. And if you do, well… just sing along loudly. Even if you’re unprepared and only know the hook lines…
SO impressive, I was really blown away. As you might notice, I can’t really express myself, except for: THIS WAS AWESOME!

So on the next tour, I KNOW that I have to go see a concert. Or two… I hope I won’t have to go to Copenhagen again to see them, but if I have to… I will.

I did not wait for an opportunity for a little chat or some pictures after the concert – maybe I should have, but then, I’ve seen it before that that ruins the magic of the concert. Maybe next time. So I’ll say it here instead: Thanks so much, Fozzy, for an amazing concert! =:-)

08.04.2011 Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

Sunday, April 10th, 2011

It’s always great to come back to Scandinavia after some concerts in Germany/Europe, just because of the language – because suddenly the audience can sing along every single word and not only the lalala parts. And that is awesome, of course! And if the concert takes place at Vega in Copenhagen, the concert must turn out fantastic!

However, this time there were rather few people there, at least for Vega. The gallery was closed, but the hall itself filled up pretty well until the start of the concert. And when Jarle Bernhoft went on stage, it was obvious that the audience was really loud and wanted to have a great time! And that’s just how it continued for the remainder of the concert. It definitely wasn’t a “serious” concert where Kaizers concentrated on playing perfectly, but it was really about having fun; on stage and in the audience. You could see that already when the crew did a little guest appearance under Jarle Bernhoft’s Fly Away; they came on stage and showed us their dancing moves… *lol* That – of course – made us hope for a few crew tricks at this “last” concert of the tour, as usual for a lot of bands. But (unfortunately!), I’ve never seen any of those at a Kaizers concert, so we got a “normal” show.

But the concert was really funny nevertheless! The Jackal’s Danish lessons (he can pronounce “dører” perfectly in Danish by now, as the audience confirmed, and then he transferred the newly learned pronunciation rule to “tårer” in the following song; and of course we got the Danish version of “En for orgelet” as well), a birthday song for a fan (who actually wanted to hear Die Polizei, but the Jackal refused to understand that – at least not in the middle of the concert *g*), Hellraizer’s five seconds of fame in the break in Delikatessen, the guitar players up on the barrels again during Sigøynerblod, and after that a song “about a man who went down into a cellar”. And Omen seems to pass the time between his playing parts with a book by now. Or maybe he is studying where he needs to stand during his important appearance in Svarte katter, ’cause obviously he doesn’t quite know that yet – or why would Killmaster suddenly push him back two steps? =;-)

The setlist: Intro, Delikatessen, Djevelens orkester, Señor Torpedo, Veterans klage, Sigøynerblod, Resistansen, Philemon Arthur & The Dung, Femtakt filosofi, Din kjole lukter bensin mor, En for orgelet en for meg, Psycho under min hatt, Svarte katter & flosshatter, Hjerteknuser, Sju bøtter tårer er nok Beatrice, Ompa til du dør, Happy birthday, Bøn fra helvete, Kontroll på kontintentet, Maestro. Encore KGB and Die Polizei.

During Kontroll på kontinentet, Killmaster jumped into the audience again to play his solo – and the Jackal made sure that he didn’t just end up back on stage right away, by balancing on the guard rail and pushing Killmaster back into the audience. At least until he jumped in himself and the both of them surfed the crowd in parallel.

Maestro, KGB, and Die Polizei were the perfect conclusion for the concert. The latter with the audience singing along loudly, of course. Really beautiful… and a great conclusion for the tour! Not counting Oslo now. =;-)

8.11.2008 Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

Saturday, November 8th, 2008

Wohoo! Now, that was a great concert trip. =:-) It started with a day of sightseeing and shopping in Copenhagen. And the sun was shining all day, so nice! And just after I had settled down in a café because I wanted to get some work done, I got a message from Aud. She was also in Copenhagen. Huh? So cool! And half an hour later I found out it wasn’t only Aud, but Lena and Linda were there as well. They had just decided spontaneously to get into the car and drive down to Copenhagen to see the concert.. and to get right back on the road to Oslo after the show. Hey, and I thought that I was crazy! *gg*
... read on!

8.11.2008 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

Saturday, November 8th, 2008
8.11.2008 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

19.4.2008 Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

So. Now the big conclusion, the last concert of the tour, after almost 2 months on the road. Of course, I expected something special – a different setlist, collecting all forces again, gathering all the energy for the final show. But well… the concert turned out to be absolute average.
... read on!

19.4.2008 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

Saturday, April 19th, 2008
19.4.2008 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

18.4.2008 Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

Friday, April 18th, 2008

Hmm… that was a strange concert. Really great in one way, of course – it was Vega, after all, and concerts there are always great. And then I was up on the galery for the first time this tour, and that was A LOT of fun. A great view over the whole stage, a lot of space for dancing and nobody in front of me (well, except for the extremely drunk girls next to me that leaned over the barrier all the time, blocking my view, but well *g*). And the atmosphere was really amazing!
... read on!