Stavernfestivalen

14.07.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Stavernfestivalen, Stavern)

Sunday, July 22nd, 2012
14.07.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Stavernfestivalen, Stavern)

14.07.2012 – Photos Stavernfestivalen (Stavern)

Saturday, July 21st, 2012
14.07.2012 – Photos Stavernfestivalen (Stavern)

14.07.2012 Stavernfestivalen (Stavern)

Sunday, July 15th, 2012
14.07.2012 – Photos Stavernfestivalen (Stavern)

StavernfestivalenKaizers Orchestra were playing in Stavern, on the weekend when I was in Norway anyway – a great opportunity to check out Stavernfestivalen! I had planned to go there a couple of years ago when Kaizers played there the last time, but in the end, it hadn’t worked out. This time, I planned ahead and made it happen – just for one day, but better than nothing, right?

I gotta admit though that Stavernfestivalen had a bit of a disadvantage. I came there right from Odderøya Live, a festival that was so well organized that it just basically blew my mind. Now, arriving at Stavernfestivalen, not really being sure which bus stop to get off and in which direction to walk to get there – hmm, not the most positive first impression you could have… =:-/ Getting in worked just fine, except that there were no lanyards left for the press passes – which is pretty inconvenient, you can’t just hold the pass in your hand all day, right? The guy at the accreditation booth was really helpful though and gave me his lanyard. Thanks a lot! StavernfestivalenAnd I guess that sums of a bit of the festival spirit – things often weren’t going the way they should, but people were trying to help where possible; just that sometimes, they just didn’t have a clue how… Which can be really charming, and I know quite a few festivals in Germany where it is just the same, but since I was so used to the professional organization from the festival before, it left a negative impression.

Next, I tried to find out if there were some photo rules or some kind of press area, which again took a lot of asking around and being sent from A to B to C and back to square one. And in the end, it turned out that I didn’t really need any of it, because the main stage was so high up that there was no chance to take any good pictures from the aisle in front of the stage anyway. Well, but then it was allowed to take photos throughout the whole night from anywhere else, so I just skipped the first three songs in the aisle… =;-)

StavernfestivalenOn the first days, there were a lot of complaints about too few toilets on the festival grounds – guess they got that fixed up before Saturday. Hardly any queues whatsoever, and I thought it was rather funny to have the Dixies out above the sea on a little pier… *g*

There was a huge selection of food on the festival – from Thai to Mexican to grilled meat and of course junk food. And also here, queues seemed reasonable (if you didn’t try to get your food right after one band had finished, of course…). The disadvantage here was the cashless system – you had to buy a “cashless card” for 50 kroner just to be able to buy anything on the festival grounds. Then you would load up the card with any amount, pay with it, and then get the rest of the money (minus the 50 kroner for the card) refunded in the end. IF you had a Norwegian bank account. If not, like me, you had to plan ahead thoroughly to make sure no money was left on the card…

StavernfestivalenThe festival grounds were so-so: There were two stages, both with enough space in front of them, and so high that you could see without problems – if you weren’t standing too close, that is. =;-) Very nice were some “natural stands” with stone boulders in the back, where people could sit and enjoy the concerts. The bad part, however, was that there was just one narrow way to the big stage, where everybody had to walk… And of course that one was really crowded, and people gathered on this side of the stage because it was hard to make it to the other side. You couldn’t get to the other side from the back, because the VIP area blocked the way. Not a good arrangement, in my opinion… =:-/

StavernfestivalenTwo stages is a great idea, in general. However, if there are two stages, I would expect a continuous program. Not sure if there were just delays or if this was how it was planned, but there were always long breaks between the shows on the two stages. In my opinion, it doesn’t necesaarily make sense to have two stages then…

All this might sound really negative, but all in all, Stavernfestivalen is a nice festival. Even though a few things were a bit chaotic, others were organized perfectly – the night busses, for example, or the food and drinks. And it seemed like the audience was really enjoying themselves, and this is the most important part, of course! Even though the size of the festivals probably didn’t really differ a lot, Stavernfestival seemed much smaller than Odderøya Live – Odderøya Live was the “professional” festival, Stavernfestival the slightly improvised, local festival, with its own festival spirit.

Well, and now I wrote a full festival report without even writing about the music! =;-) But I’ll keep that short as well, because I was quite busy throughout the day and only got to see parts of the shows.

StavernfestivalenBjørn Eidsvåg was playing rather early in the day, but a lot of people showed up for his concert. And everyone seemed to have lots of fun! No wonder, since he managed to capture the crowd not only by his songs, but also by his stories inbetween. That’s what a headliner has to do, right? And the headliner is the artist who plays on the big stage first, right? =;-) And he took care of us: “Before Kaizers and Bernhoft tonight, you’ll first get some decent music now!”

Next up on the big stage was The Soundtrack of our Lives. Very nice and entertaining music, but unfortunately, there weren’t as many people in the audience as they would have deserved. Still, a great show!

I pretty much missed Jarle Bernhoft after that, but judging from what I had seen at Odderøya Live and what the crowd seemed like from afar, he had a huge audience and delivered another pompeous concert.

StavernfestivalenDen Svenska Björnstammen played on the small stage right before Kaizers played on the big one, and they gathered a huge crowd with their party music. Nice to watch, and a great warm-up for the headliner!

Concluding the day and the whole festival, Kaizers Orchestra played an amazing concert and convinced everyone why they are Norway’s best live band at the moment! You can read all about their concert in my full report on kaizers.konzertjunkie.com!

14.07.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (Stavernfestivalen, Stavern)

Sunday, July 15th, 2012
14.07.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Stavernfestivalen, Stavern)

If you first go to Norway to see Kaizers Orchestra, you have to catch more than only one concert – so after Odderøya Live, I went to see them again at Stavernfestivalen! Actually, I had planned to attend that festival a couple of years ago already when Kaizers last played there, but in the end, that didn’t work out. This time, it did!

I was at the festival pretty early already, around 2 p.m. – much too early, as it turned out. Especially compared to Odderøya Live, the festival wasn’t as well organized; you can read more about the whole festival in my festival report. But in the end, after a lot of ups and downs and maybes and frustration and you name it, there was actually time for a small, very exclusive special little thing… check back soon for more about this! =:-)

Just after 11 p.m., Kaizers Orchestra came on stage. This time, I skipped taking pictures in front of the stage – the stage was so incredibly high up that it was almost impossible to see anything from the aisle anyway (just like from the front row), let alone take pictures. And in addition, the photographers had to leave the aisle after two (again *g*) songs on the side where it was obvious that it would be terribly crowded and pushy throughout the concert. So I chose the other side, which was less crowded and more relaxed, and decided to take my pictures from the front row instead. =;-) So if the pictures turned out any good, you’ll get some different, rather unusual pictures in the next couple of days. *g*

The concert itself was a typical festival show – there’s not that much more to say about it. Personally, I liked the show in Kristiansand a bit better, but that might have been up to my general attitude that day. Objectively, there was hardly a difference between the two concerts. There were a few small changes in the setlist: They played Knekker deg til sist this time, but no Tokyo Ice (well… okay, fine with me), and Apokalyps meg was replaced by Evig pint (yayayay!! *gg*).

The talking inbetween the songs was almost identical to what they were saying at Odderøya Live – this time, they had asked Bjørn Eidvsåg to sing along with the Jackal in Din kjole lukter bensin mor, but he had said no, so Hellraizer had to take over again. As always, the Russian opening for Hjerteknuser won the vote – so it seems there’s not that much difference between Eastern Norway and Western Norway (where Kaizers had played the night before) after all. We also got the introduction at the end again, where everyone was dragged to the front separately (and the Jackal took care that Helge looked good before he dragged him to the front). And the Jackal still doesn’t know the lyrics of Prosessen – while in Kristiansand, the “andre applauderer” part was much too late in the song somehow, we actually got it twice this time.

What was very funny was when during Bøn fra helvete, Hellraizer accidentally dropped his oil barrel stick down in the aisle in front of the stage – which they tried to cover up first, with an oscar-worthy performance by Hellraizer and the Jackal. Where’s the stick?! Usually it falls down after you throw it up in the air, must have been really high this time?! After the crew remained unsuccessful trying to convince the securities in the aisle to give the stick back, the Jackal started fishing for it with his microphone… took a bit as well, but in the end they managed to get their stick back just in time for the next barrel part. *g*

During Svarte katter, Omen started polishing his megaphone this time, while the whole band was screaming at him to SIT DOWN NOW. And, as tradition has it, the one in the band with the longest beard is allowed to choose the last song of the encores. For a long time, this used to be Hellraizer, but now he was passed by… uh… what was the name of the guy on the organ again? =;-)

The guy on the organ started playing Maestro, and as final conclusion, we got Die Polizei. Again with impressive singing by the audience, even long after the band had gone off.

A great conclusion to the festival, no doubt about it! And now it’ll take WAY too long until my next Kaizers concert… =:-/

The setlist:

I ett med verden
Tusen dråper regn
Støv og sand
Knekker deg til sist
Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
En for orgelet, en for meg
Diamant til kull
Ompa til du dør
Bøn fra helvete
Prosessen
Evig pint
Philemon Arthur & The Dung
Svarte katter & flosshatter
Hjerteknuser

KGB
Drøm videre, Violeta
Maestro

Die Polizei

Festivals 2012!

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012
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Dieses Jahr bin ich in meiner Festivalplanung recht spät dran, was unter anderem daran liegt, dass Die Ärzte auf Tour und daher viele Sommer-Wochenenden schon verplant sind. Dennoch gibt es in diesem Jahr mal wieder einige Highlights:

Southside / Hurricane (22. – 24. Juni)
www.southside.de, www.hurricane.de
Southside und Hurricane gehen dieses Wochenende über die Bühne. Das Line-Up ist in meinen Augen in diesem Jahr ziemlich stark – weniger wegen der Headliner, die Ärzte mal ausgenommen, aber wegen vieler kleiner toller Bands. Also auf keinen Fall Katzenjammer, Disco Ensemble, Kraftklub, La Vela Puerca, Thees Uhlmann, Bonaparte, Madsen, Royal Republic oder Eagles of Death Metal verpassen!
Hoffen wir, dass das Sicherheitskonzept insbesondere beim Southside (beim Hurricane war ich noch nicht und kann es daher nicht beurteilen) funktioniert…

Odderøya Live / Stavernfestivalen (11. – 14. Juli)
www.odderoyalive.no, www.stavernfestivalen.no
Zusätzlich zu den Festivals in Deutschland muss bei mir ja auch immer noch das eine oder andere Festival in Norwegen auf dem Programm stehen. Dieses Jahr sind mir Odderøya Live und das Stavernfestival ins Auge gestochen. Bei beiden ist an einem Abend Kaizers Orchestra der Headliner – die anderen Abende werden von anderen großen norwegischen (Raga Rockers beim Odderøya, Dumdum Boys beim Stavernfestival) und schwedischen (Roxette beim Odderøya, Kent beim Stavernfestival) Bands dominiert. Weitere norwegische Künstler wie Jarle Bernhoft und die CC Cowboys sind bei beiden Festivals zu sehen. Odderøya Live findet in Kristiansand statt, das Stavernfestival in Stavern, nahe bei Larvik (und das ist wiederum nahe beim Flughafen Torp in Sandefjord). Beide Festivals sind also aus Deutschland gut erreichbar und eine Reise wert!

Serengeti-Festival (20. – 22. Juli)
www.serengeti-festival.de
Beim Serengeti-Festival war ich im letzten Jahr zum ersten Mal (Bericht), und ich war sehr begeistert. Dieses Jahr wird es bei mir leider nicht klappen… äußerst schade, denn das Line-Up ist wieder klasse! Maximo Park und Deichkind als Headliner, Kraftklub (letztes Mal noch irgendwann am frühen Nachmittag auf der Bühne ;-)) und Gentleman als Co-Heads, und sonst viele “Wiederholungstäter” und kleine, aber vielversprechende Bands im Programm – die perfekte Mischung! Und die Monsters of Liedermaching und Das Pack sind natürlich noch das i-Tüpfelchen…

Mini Rock Festival (3./4. August)
www.mini-rock-festival.de
Das Mini-Rock-Festival in Horb ist bei mir schon seit einigen Jahren fest im Terminplan. Dieses Jahr war ich lange Zeit skeptisch, da mich das Line-Up nicht vollends überzeugen konnte. Boysetsfire und K.I.Z. als Headliner – erstere sagen mir kaum etwas, letztere kann ich nicht ausstehen. Mit Turbostaat – Freitags-Headliner der Zeltbühne – kann ich mich auch nicht anfreunden. Dafür aber umso mehr mit dem Samstags-Headliner der Zeltbühne, Wirtz! Außerdem u.a. am Samstag im Programm: Kraftklub, Emil Bulls, Itchy Poopzkid und Vierkanttretlager – da ist auf jeden Fall für jeden etwas dabei! Und auch der Freitag wird mit Rockstah, Cro und Yakuzi ganz sicher ein voller Erfolg. Zumal das Tolle beim Mini Rock ja gerade immer das Kennenlernen neuer Bands am Nachmittag ist. Ich bin gespannt!

Taubertal-Festival / Open Flair / Rocco del Schlacko (10. – 12. August)
www.taubertal-festival.de, www.open-flair.de, www.rocco-del-schlacko.de
Die drei “Schwester-Festivals” am gleichen Wochenende, wie immer mit sehr ähnlichem Line-Up, wobei das Rocco del Schlacko wie immer ein bisschen kleiner ausfällt – nicht nur vom Line-Up her, sondern auch ganz allgemein von der Größe, was ja nicht unbedingt schlecht ist. Die Beatsteaks, Social Distortion, Boysetsfire, Kraftklub, Panteón Rococó, die Monsters of Liedermaching und einige weitere sind bei allen drei Festivals mit von der Partie. Bush, Madsen, Sondaschule und Skindred sind tolle Schmankerl beim Taubertal und beim Open Flair, dafür hat das Rocco noch die Donots zu bieten. Bei den Headlinern gibt es einen entscheidenden Unterschied: Rocco del Schlacko und Open Flair konnten sich Korn sichern, während das Taubertal Festival mit Placebo einen – in meinen Augen – noch größeren Fang gemacht hat. Die Frage ist also eigentlich nicht, ob man dieses Wochenende auf einem Festival verbringt, sondern nur, auf welchem…

Open Air Gampel (16. – 19. August)
www.openairgampel.ch
Beim Gampel wurde in diesem Jahr lange geunkt, dass das Line-Up sehr schwach wäre – bis dann angekündigt werden durfte, dass die Foo Fighters zugesagt haben! Als weitere Headliner sind Placebo und Cypress Hill dabei, sowie u.a. Deichkind, Bush, Nada Surf, Eagles of Death Metal und Royal Republic. Und leider auch Frei.Wild, was dann doch Punktabzug gibt. Die scheinen auf Schweizer Festivals dieses Jahr beliebt zu sein…
Wie dem auch sei, insgesamt ist das Line-Up sehr hochkarätig, und ich finde es schade, dass sich das Festival in diesem Jahr mit dem Berlin-Wochenende der Ärzte überschneidet. Denn das Gampel ist schon an sich ein tolles Festival, und mit diesem Line-Up ist es erst recht die Anreise aus Deutschland wert!

Rock am See (1. September)
www.rock-am-see.de
Als Abschluss des Festivalsommers bietet sich wie immer das Rock am See in Konstanz an. Green Day, Beatsteaks, Social Distortion, Flogging Molly, Jupiter Jones und Itchy Poopzkid – und alle an einem Tag! Viel besser geht es nicht, oder? Zumal das Festival erfahrungsgemäß auch von der Lokation und Organisation sehr angenehm ist. Jetzt muss nur noch das Wetter mitspielen – am besten bei allen Festivals…