Kaizers Orchestra

05.09.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (DNB-Arena, Stavanger)

Friday, September 6th, 2013

OK, for all the Kaizers concerts I’ve seen, I’ve always written a report in German and then translated it to English; which is the easiest way for me. However, there’s just no way I could write and translate one report per day and get all the other stuff done that I’ve planned, so for the last few concerts, the English version will have to do. Let’s see if writing a report in English instead of German actually works … And sorry to all you German speaking people out there – but then, honestly, who of you actually noticed that there IS a German version and clicked the German flag to display it? Right. =;-)

Siste Dans. The very last Kaizers Orchestra concerts for – at least – a long time. If not forever. But that’s not what I want to cover in the report. I went into the concert with very high expectations; the setlists last week in Oslo and Bergen were totally awesome, Kaizers played almost three hours, everyone who was there talked about their best concert ever.

The first night in Stavanger (well, actually the second night, because the first one was a school concert, but I didn’t attend that one) was different from the others in that it was a concert sponsored by DNB, and all the money from the ticket sales went to Kaizers Orchestra’s UNICEF project. Awesome! Tickets were very cheap, only 100 NOK, and were sold out in the course of a week.

And you could see that from the moment the intro started. Nobody was clapping! The first few rows seemed excited, but the rest was obviously there because the tickets were cheap, uhem. They didn’t know any of the songs, didn’t clap if they weren’t asked to do so, and the same for singing along of course. Until the very end, people on the stands were sitting down. But, and that’s the important part: They were interested in the concert. At festivals, you often have it that people don’t care and start talking and ruining the show for others. That didn’t happen at all (at least not where I was standing). People were into it and enjoyed the show.

It started out as usual – Aldri vodka Violeta, Siste dans (but the “jentene” were of course from Stavanger today *g*), Bøn fra helvete, Tusen dråper regn (with great lighting!), and Din kjole lukter bensin mor. Uuuh… what, Din kjole lukter bensin? Hadn’t they finally dropped that one? They even did the old introduction to the song, that they need to have a female singer to sing along and asked Susanne Sundfør – but she said no. So they had to take number two on the list. Carola – but with her, Kaizers said no. Or actually “no, thank you”, because they are nice guys. And so the number three female singer is … Mr. Geir Hellraizer Kaizer!

And that part of the concert made me realize two things: 1) They were playing a festival show, with the old festival setlist, not a Siste Dans show. 2) They were in a very talkative mood, and they were incredibly funny. *g*

And yep, both of these realizations turned out to be true. The only surprise in the setlist was Prosessen, the rest was the plain festival list. And I have a hard time remembering the last concert where I laughed so hard and so much during the show. So yep, it was a festival show, but that was okay since it was only the first of many concerts for me. And it was hysterically funny. I don’t even know how and why – I think that Kaizers themselves were a bit sarcastic about the audience at times, and instead of just playing their set without interaction or any comments at all, they decided to have fun. Guess for them, it was really more of the last festival than a good-bye show. But without the rain! *g*

So, I’ll try to piece together some of the stuff that happened:
– Omen had candles this time. I’m not quite sure what he did when he got them (or was it just one? I couldn’t really see) out of his suitcase, but it involved a lighter, and it took a long time until the candle was actually lit.
– Kaizers have some songs that are “gypsy punk rock”. As Hellraizer got up on the barrel, the Jackal asked him: “So, what part are you? The gypsy? The punk? The rock?” He didn’t really get an answer, so he asked Killmaster. “Me? I just do whatever I’m being told to do!” It … doesn’t seem funny at all when reading it. But it was hilarious. *g*
– Then they actually messed up the ending of Sigøynerblod completely, playing at totally different speeds. Still, they managed to finish at the same time. =;-)
– The Jackal pointed out the DNB Arena, which was dressed up really nice (but sorry, it still looks like an ice hockey arena …). “What a fantastic place to celebrate a funeral!” =:-(
– After Killmaster’s solo in Kontroll på kontinentet, the Jackal asked us if we liked it. And Killmaster got sincere: “Thanks so much that I got to play a solo!” Not quite sure who he was addressing though. =;-)
– And then we actually got the old introduction again …! Or so I thought. Nope, they just stopped at the place where the introduction used to happen, and the Jackal took some questions from the audience. “Are you single?” – “No.” – “Is he single?” – “Yes, room 505!”
– In Resistansen, the Jackal noticed the stands. And had to include them, of course! So there was a competition on who was the loudest – Kaizers, the stands, or the people on the floor. The result was clear: “Well, we’re the loudest!” The audience didn’t like that, so we got another chance to prove ourselves. =;-)
– Not really anything special in Svarte katter, Omen blew some soap bubbles again. But after the song, the Jackal explained that Omen is really a “finding”. The just found him in 1999 – the last century, by the way! – out in Bergen, dressed in his suit, sitting at his pump organ. So they asked him to join the band, and he … didn’t say anything. Because he doesn’t talk much. Only in the megaphone to say it LOUD. Or right now, he’s saying “thank you all very very much” in his very special way …
– Oh yes, and Omen is “93 kilograms of gold”.
– Then the Jackal noted that we were a really good audience, listening when he was talking and cheering when need be. Listening – cheering – listening – cheering. And the audience actually went along, even though all of this was pure sarcasm (unlike in Trondheim).
– And the listening/cheering is just like his father does it, who is almost 70 by now. Which is true, so the Jackal could say it. He could not say it about Hellraizer’s father, even though he’s almost 70 as well. Oops, now he said it …
– By that time, I was rolling on the floor laughing. But the Jackal could still top it. He was looking for a scarf from the audience (to start Hjerteknuser, of course). “It must be from a girl, about 1.70m, plus or minus, and from the fourth or fifth row!” *lol*
– Of course they did the waving part again at the end of the song, and after they stopped, the Jackal replaced his usual “I want to see that again, let’s start it up again” with a “Oh, you didn’t get to take a picture of it yet? Let’s do it again so you can take a picture!”, pointing randomly in the audience. Did I already say that they were a tiny bit sarcastic and hysterically funny? *gg*
– And then it was over – and honestly I think that either they forgot to say before Hjerteknuser that this was supposed to be the last song, or that they forgot the fact itself or hadn’t planned it like that. In any way, it seemed like everyone was surprised that the concert was suddenly over.
– Except for the encores of course! The last song was Maestro – which the Jackal changed completely by, instead of “Sving din hammer til din pappa drar deg inn”, singing “How much do you like me now”. And bathing in the answer of course. *g*

Wow, that was a weird concert. But definitely not a bad one! I think I would have been annoyed if I had been traveling somewhere for just this one show, but as the first concert of a series of shows it was perfect. Really really funny and entertaining, and setlist-wise, there’s a lot of room for improvement! =;-)

Here’s the setlist:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Siste dans
  • Bøn fra helvete
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • Diamant til kull
  • Støv og sand
  • I ett med verden
  • KGB
  • Sigøynerblod
  • Prosessen
  • Ompa til du dør
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Resistansen
  • Svarte katter & flosshatter
  • Hjerteknuser
    ————
  • Begravelsespolka
  • Drøm videre, Violeta
  • Maestro

Salz & Pfeffer

Saturday, August 31st, 2013

Kaizers played Salt & Pepper tonight. Which is awesome … for everyone who was there. For me (who was not) it just makes me panic. A little bit at least. Or well, honestly enough to write a blog post in the middle of the night …

So, let’s back up. I started following Kaizers over ten years ago. Obviously, they played a lot of different songs back then than they do now. Some songs stayed, some went, some returned. The three songs that they played a lot when I first got into Kaizers and then suddenly stopped playing were Djevelens Orkester, På ditt skift, and Salt & Pepper. Of course there were more than that – songs like Mann mot Mann or Død manns tango or, for quite a while, 170. I didn’t care that these songs were missing. But the other three, I dearly missed.

I remember asking Rune about Djevelens Orkester one night, at Internasjonalen in Oslo (don’t ask me though after what concert that was and how we ended up at Internasjonalen and why the band was there as well?! But I remember Tor/Elvis was also there and explained to me that Internasjonalen has so “reasonably priced drinks”. In Norway. “Reasonably priced”. Muahaha … *gg*). Rune explained they just didn’t feel like playing the song at the time, but “who knows, maybe it’ll suddenly turn up again”. A few concerts later, they started playing it again. 😀

I just LOVED the original version of På ditt skift that they played before the song was actually released. After the album was out, they played it differently and not quite as energetic, and at some point in time, it completely disappeared from the set. Even though the song had changed, I wished to get to hear it again for a loooong time. And yes, they started playing it again; not very often, but I caught it a few times. It wasn’t as good as the original version. They left out the ending – and instead of starting it up again after the quiet part (which was THE BEST!), they transitioned into Fra sjåfør til passasjer. Which is another awesome song, so I really cannot complain, even though I’ll never get to hear the original version live again.

Salt & Pepper. They played it a lot during my first concerts. So much that at some point in time, we came up with the idea to pick up those little packages of Salt & Pepper that they have at McDonald’s etc. and throw them on stage during the song. That’s when they stopped playing it. (BEFORE we actually did that, just to make that clear! 😉 )

Since then, I’ve been wishing to hear that song live again, just once more. They did actually play it again. At one of those concerts in Norway where Øyvind painted a picture during the show. I wasn’t there, but of course I hoped they would play it at one of the European shows as well, since they had actually practiced it. But no, only at that one show in Norway … I asked Helge about it after a show in Zürich, but he was very clear: “Janove doesn’t like it, so it’s very unlikely we’ll play it again.” Right then, I hated Janove (a bit). They haven’t played it since. I wished for it for my 100th concert – didn’t get it.

Now they played it again. One time. At a concert that I missed. And I am so frickin’ afraid that history will repeat itself and they play it ONE TIME and then Janove decides he doesn’t like it and drops it from the setlist. And I will never get to hear it live again.

Yes, I know, it’s just a song. But it’s Salt & Pepper …

24.08.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Borggården, Trondheim)

Sunday, August 25th, 2013
24.08.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Borggården, Trondheim)

24.08.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Borggården, Trondheim)

Sunday, August 25th, 2013
24.08.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Borggården, Trondheim)

Suddenly deciding to book a short trip for the weekend isn’t always bad. Especially not if it’s a short trip to go and see a Kaizers concert. And even more especially not if you notice after booking that the release concert of Das Kriegsensemble happens on the same day and you can get to see that one as well … two birds with one stone! Add in fantastic summer weather in Trondheim, and you just have to have a perfect day. =:-)

First up was the Kriegsensemble concert. I have to admit that somehow, I had expected something entirely different – though I’m not really sure WHAT I had expected. But I was really confused in the beginning. And don’t get me wrong; it was splendid right from the start! Six really solemn (well, at least at the beginning *g*), serious musicians in suits, stand-up bass/cello/viola/violin/piano/accordion, and they started out with an overture. Which sounded quite “kaizeresque”, true, but that was all. And then they announced that this was supposed to be Resistansen – uh, whut? When they played the song again as encore (“Those were all the songs that are on the album. But we’ll just play the first one again, it’s been a while already …” *g*), I did recognize a few references to Resistansen. But I had expected something different when I heard they’d play cover versions – namely what they did in the following song, the “Siste Maestro Dans”. A clear mixture of Maestro and Siste Dans. =;-) But I thought the songs were supposed to be in German? Up until then, there weren’t any vocals at all, in no language. In 170, they had a “Ja ja, wir kommen ja zurück” at least, but Die Polizei consisted purely of humming. Anyhow, that was slowly but surely the point of the concert where they “had” me. This was so absurd, you could not NOT grin. =;-) And all of this presented in such a sincere way! And that’s how it continued, and I thought that the adaptation of the songs got better and better. Prosessen, with the lyrics read in form of a speech, was awesome, and Ompa til du dør finally made the audience sing along and dance. As I said – that whole concert was really absurd and abstruse. But awesome and entertaining at the same time! The only thing I found a bit of a pity was that the songs weren’t really sung in German; except for Ompa til du dør, which therefore was maybe a bit misleading as first and only pre-taste of the album. But on the other hand, it maybe wasn’t that bad to be spared more of the rather awful German. =;-)

Some hours later, the fun continued under open skies at the gigantic Borggården – fully sold out with 6000 people in the audience. When the support Peevish Penfriend played, it wasn’t that crowded yet, but while we all waited for Kaizers, it really filled up. Also in the front, towards the side … in my opinion, it got way too crowded already before the concert, but surprisingly, it was really okay during the show – except for two girls whose only plan it apparently was to ruin at least parts of the concert for some people around me. Why are they always a few of those idiots? But well, I managed to keep them off my back and could enjoy the whole show.

To keep it short: It was awesome! A great atmosphere on both sides, and … well, what else? After the concert we noticed that there really wasn’t anything worth mentioning in the report. Hmm … “Janove dropped the microphone and pulled it up on stage again?” Well, that’s not really THAT spectacular. During Bøn fra helvete, Omen directed the singing of Hellraizer and Jackal, he was obviously bored during most parts of the concert, and as he was missing a vase this time, he saved the flowers by wrapping them into a wet towel. His soap bubble performance in Svarte katter didn’t quite work out (he was blowing and blowing, but no bubbles *g*), and when he finally managed a few bubbles, Mink destroyed them with his drum stick. =;-) Then the whole band had to tell Omen to sit back down, and afterwards, the Jackal dragged out the pause forever, while the audience was screaming and cheering.

The beginning of Hjerteknuser was really funny when the Jackal wanted to “jump-start” the song once again. He got up on the barrel and looked like he was about to do a back-flip, but of course he ended up doing a very cautious hop down. *gg* Oh right, and during Støv og sand, he wanted the audience to sing in three voices at the end. But maybe it would have been smarter to explain what he wanted … as it was, it was quite confusing. First, he asked one side of the audience to sing “like that” – but of course everyone sang the “normal” tune and not the one the Jackal had asked them to sing. The second part of the audience had to sing as usual, and by the time it was time for my side, most people had understood what the Jackal wanted, so that we managed to sing the intended note. However, the Jackal just sang the first note and not the full tune, so that was a bit too much to ask. Consequently, there was only one try for the audience. I guess that was “planned” to sound a bit differently. *g*

Okay, seems like there was actually a bit to report after all. =;-) But the concert was a great example that an awesome concert doesn’t need a lot of clownery on stage. Just the right chemistry between band and audience – and with such a polite and well-mannered audience with a ratio of 60% women and 40% men, that works our perfectly, of course. =;-)

As conclusion, we got Die Polizei – and the audience continued singing loudly for at least ten minutes after Kaizers disappeared from stage. The perfect finish for a wonderful concert.

The setlist:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Siste dans
  • Delikatessen
  • Bøn fra helvete
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • Forloveren
  • Støv og sand
  • I ett med verden
  • KGB
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Tokyo Ice til Clementine
  • Philemon Arthur & The Dung
  • Evig pint
  • Resistansen
  • Svarte katter & flosshatter
  • Hjerteknuser
  • Maestro
    ———-
  • Begravelsespolka
  • Drøm videre, Violeta
  • Die Polizei

26.07.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Trollrock, Beitostølen)

Saturday, July 27th, 2013

Actually, I’m not really a huge fan of festivals (or at least not such a huge fan of “Kaizers at festivals”), and my last Kaizers concert at Ravnefesten in Kristiansand absolutely confirmed that opinion. Nevertheless, I wanted to see another full festival in Norway again this year. The decision for Trollrock was pretty easy – fairly small, nice area, and an awesome line up! Besides Kaizers, bands like Oslo Ess, Katzenjammer, Tommy Tokyo, and Turbonegro were playing. Yay! And right from the start it was obvious that Trollrock was the right choice. Very nice, very well organized, enough beds nearby to sleep in (I hate camping), and awesome weather – just perfect!

And in addition to that, we got a perfect Kaizers gig as well! Right from the start, the concert was awesome; finally there were a few changes to the setlist again, the atmosphere on stage as well as in the audience was amazing, and even though there hardly was any talking in betweeen the songs, the concert was so much fun.

Omen was at his best again – or well, probably he is always at his best, but depending on which side I’m standing on I can either see him all the time or just once in a while. =;-) In any case, there were flowers and notes again, he was drinking water from the bottle cap instead of the bottle, he was dancing during Støv og sand, having long telephone conversations through the megaphone, and he was feeding his lamp. At least I’m pretty sure he did?! Later on, he threw stuff at it, probably crumbs or something. Then it was time for his solo part in Svarte katter, and as usual, he put his whole soul and body into it. Then he reached out to grab something on the organ, and I figured he was reaching for his blood pressure pills or something. =;-) But no, far from it – he grabbed some soap bubbles, put them up in front of his mouth and started blowing bubbles. *rofl* This guy is just totally insane, but in the positive way. Which the band obviously thought as well. =;-)

What else? Right in the beginning already the audience sang the full chorus of Diamant til kull, without any help by the Jackal – and all in all, the audience turned out to know their lyrics and be very loud and willing to sing. Before Kaizers played Din kjole lukter bensin mor, we had to request a duet. “Sei: ‘duett’!” During his rap part in En for orgelet, Hellraizer gave at least 120% percent this time, with a squeaky voice and full energy. And after Støv og sand, Killmaster disappeared from stage – very sudden and very hurried. There’s a German cowboy comedy movie where the chief cowboy says to his men: “Now everybody go potty again before we ride on!” – maybe the Jackal should start doing that as well. =;-) But well, that was probably due to Killmaster’s energetic dancing under En for orgelet. *gg*

Hjerteknuser has gotten a life of its own by now. “It has become less of our song by now, and more and more yours.” Haaaach … =:-)

Then it was time for the encores – first Begravelsespolka, of course, and then Drøm videre Violeta. “Can you handle another song? The organizer says you can’t, but I think you can. Can you? Killmaster, you were right, you said they could take another one!”

Of course we could handle Maestro, and after that they came to the front to say goodbye and throw sticks and pleks. Peeking towards the side of the stage at the same time – how much time is left? Turned out it was almost 10 minutes, thus enough for another song. “The police and firefighters have allowed us to play another one!” So as conclusion, we even got Die Polizei, which had been requested by the audience earlier on during the concert already. An awesome ending!

All in all, Kaizers played two hours and thus used the full time they had – so much better than the forced concert in Kristiansand. =;-) The atmosphere was amazing, Kaizers were having fun, we were excited – perfect!

The setlist:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Siste dans
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Diamant til kull
  • Delikatessen
  • Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • Forloveren
  • Støv og sand
  • I ett med verden
  • KGB
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Sigøynerblod
  • Resistansen
  • Ompa til du dør
  • Svarte katter & flosshatter
  • Hjerteknuser
    ———-
  • Begravelsespolka
  • Drøm videre, Violeta
  • Maestro
    ———-
  • Die Polizei

28.06.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Ravnefesten, Kristiansand)

Saturday, June 29th, 2013

On June 28, 2003, thus exactly ten years ago, I visited a festival in Germany, kept a friend company in the front row, and had to suffer through lots of awful newcomer bands. One of them: Kaizers Orchestra! That’s when the “suffering” suddenly stopped and turned into a loud “Halleluja!”.

Ten years later, I got in the car, a plane, and another car, just to get to see that band play in Kristiansand. For the 163rd time. Ooops. =;)

Guess I should mention right away that this was definitely not the best Kaizers concert I’ve ever seen. Honestly, I thought it was pretty … no, not bad, but “standard” in a way – nothing special happening or anything that you would remember afterwards. Actually, I think that this was mostly due to me standing in a rather bad location; in the front and to the side, as always, which is usually great – but after some people pushed in right before the concert started, I could hardly see anything throughout the first half of the concert. And the concert didn’t really seem to be of a lot of interest to most people around me – conversations were much more important, apparently. And these are the things that really annoy me, so that I get into a bad mood and don’t enjoy a concert as much as I could have. And in addition, when the concert was just getting started, there were a few drops of rain …. aargh! But luckily, there were really only a few drops, which you hardly noticed, so that was good.

What I loved throughout the show, however, was thinking back to my very first Kaizers concert once in a while and comparing the two – Kaizers from back then and Kaizers now, my reaction and feeling toward them back then and my reaction and feeling now. And the conclusion was without doubt: The ten years were terrific, and I would never want to miss them. Thank you, Kaizers Orchestra!

The concert started really promising, also considering the announcements on stage: Before they played Din kjole lukter bensin mor, the Jackal looked for someone to join him in a duet. Someone from the band. But no, not the drummer. And Omen was wearing a mask, so he couldn’t do it either. “The one who gets to sing the duet is pretty tall and has blue eyes. Can you see the eye color at all, by the way?” Sure of victory, Thunder stormed to the front of the stage – just to walk back embarrassedly when Hellraizer was chosen in the end (well, who would’ve thought? *g*).

Omen was busy with a bunch of flowers that kept falling off the keyboard and which he had to find and pick up again. I’m sure he did a lot more, but I could hardly see him, unfortunately. =:-(

Just like at the last concerts, we got the story about the crew member again who had his last day on the job and wanted to hear Forloveren. And then the Jackal read on the setlist that now it’s time to ask “do you feel alright?”. And by the way, he brought his whole family to the concert. “Back there, big ones and small ones. But you cannot see the small ones.” But when he’s sitting in the kitchen at home in Stavanger and the small ones don’t want to eat their food, he always says “Don’t you know who wrote Kontroll på kontinentet? Now eat your food!”

And actually, that’s all already, there wasn’t much talk apart from that. The setlist:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Siste dans
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • Forloveren
  • Ompa til du dør
  • Støv og sand
  • I ett med verden
  • KGB
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Philemon Arthur & the Dung
  • Svarte katter & flosshatter
  • Hjerteknuser
  • Begravelsespolka

No encores. And that’s what I found very weird … it was only a quarter to midnight, so I’m sure they would have had another 15 minutes. And in addition, they had started 15 minutes late! So, if you think about that, the only reasons for this would be them not wanting to play more or them missing the energy for a long set. And both options are rather negative. =:-(

The audience couldn’t believe that there really wasn’t an encore – everybody stayed and cheered for at least ten minutes, even though the lights and music were on already. Well, no way that could mean that there wouldn’t be an encore … or could it?! Yep, it could and it did. And of course, that left a rather bad feeling after the concert.

So all in all, definitely not a bad concert – but no highlight either. And the ending was just so sudden and unexpected … But still: a great night! With really nice company, without any rain, and with a Kaizers concert – what more could you possibly want?

22.06.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Gamlebyen, Fredrikstad)

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013
22.06.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Gamlebyen, Fredrikstad)

21.06.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (OverOslo, Oslo)

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013
21.06.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (OverOslo, Oslo)

22.06.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Gamlebyen, Fredrikstad)

Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
22.06.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Gamlebyen, Fredrikstad)

Next stop: Fredrikstad! This time it wasn’t a festival, but a Kaizers concert with several support bands (which, unfortunately, turned out to be rather boring though). Not up on a hill but in the middle of the ancient town center, and – at least according to the weather forecast – without the rain, yay! Well. Unfortunately, you should never trust Norwegian weather forecasts … which meant that it started raining again already before the Kaizers concert started. But fortunately the rain was in no way like the rain the night before – not much more than drizzle instead of downpour. Which is still annoying, but much more bearable. And like the organizer put it before the concert: Kaizers are breaking up, and the weather gods are crying …

All in all, the concert was very similar to the one in Oslo. Only a few small changes in the setlist (they added Delikatessen, Maestro was played much earlier, and the last encore was 170), an enthusiastic and loud audience, good atmosphere on stage – and still, it didn’t catch on as much as the Oslo concert, at least in my opinion. For some reason, I thought that the beginning of the concert was fantastic, but then it got a bit worse throughout the show. Some of the announcements sounded a little like the Jackal wasn’t too much into the concert. “The management says we have to ask if you’re having a good time. So: Are you having a good time??” … Which can be really funny, but in the actual context, it wasn’t really. Not bad either, just … strange.

But that isn’t supposed to mean that the concert was bad or not entertaining, not at all! Right in the beginning, the Jackal was amazed: “Wow, there’s really a lot of you by now! And we’re still six …” *g* A bit later, there were long discussions about how big Fredrikstad is and if there are more or less people living there than in Sandnes or Drammen.

At the beginning of En for orgelet, the Jackal realized that it has a perfect hip hop beat and that you can sing “ah ah” and “hey” to that beat as well. Which – what we learned later – works just as well for Evig pint. =;-)

Before they played Kontroll på kontinentet, we got a little striptease – first the jacket, which the Jackal just held out behind him until someone took it. Since the crew was busy, the “someone” turned out to be butler Killmaster. *g* Then it was time to take off the tie, same procedure of course. And later, the crew had to tape up Janove’s pants and fix the broken microphone. Pretty cool if you have people pampering you all the time. =;-)

Killmaster celebrated his solo in Kontroll på kontinentet and dragged it out a lot. Then the song “finally” continued, but the Jackal stopped it again: “Wait – Hellraizer, did you want to play a solo as well?” Hellraizer could do without though. =;-) Instead, he stepped up on the drum pedestal a bit later and started messing with Mink’s drum set, until Mink pushed him down. *g* And exactly those are the little details that make a concert really entertaining!

But the best guy on stage that night was definitely Omen! He was so in his role again – even before he entered the stage. If you were standing towards the side, you could see him make his way towards the steps up to the stage – already wearing his gas mask -, and before he actually climbed them, he checked out the stage and the area, seemingly impressed. And as always, it was really worth keeping an eye on him constantly during Delikatessen. He took up his suitcase, opened it, and found a vase that he put on the keyboard. Next he found – of course – some flowers, which he put into the vase. Then it was time to play some organ, but right after he was done, he grabbed his water bottle. First he drank a little – and then he was apparently addressed by the flowers, who also wanted some water! *rofl* But first Omen had to play again, then he could continue the discussion with the flowers and finally pour some water into the vase.

Fast forward to Svarte katter, right after Omen’s second solo. He’s completely exhausted and definitely needs something to drink. So, what are you gonna do? Right, of course you grab the vase with the flowers and drink from it! *rofl* AWESOME! And of course he filled up the water again afterwards – after another conversation with the flowers. Hach … I really want a DVD with a separate Helge cam! By the way, Omen actually came out into the aisle after the concert and wrote some autographs and took pictures with the fans. Really nice!

And as the report shows, I guess, the concert was really great, all in all – even though it wasn’t as good as the one at OverOslo, because the last little bit to turn it into the perfect concert was missing. But still amazing! =:-)

The setlist:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Siste dans
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • Forloveren
  • Støv og sand
  • Delikatessen
  • I ett med verden
  • KGB
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Ompa til du dør
  • Evig pint
  • Philemon Arthur & the Dung
  • Svarte katter & flosshatter
  • Hjerteknuser
  • Maestro
    —————
  • Begravelsespolka
  • Drøm videre, Violeta
  • 170

My next concert will be next week, with my 10-year anniversary … and better weather, I hope!

21.06.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (OverOslo, Oslo)

Saturday, June 22nd, 2013
21.06.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (OverOslo, Oslo)

Time for the summer festivals! My first one this year: OverOslo. A very fitting name, considering that the festival takes place on a hill/mountain in Oslo, with a fantastic view over the whole city. That is, if you can actually see anything through all the rain …

But I’m getting ahead here. Kaizers actually played two gigs that night, the first one in the city; unfortunately it wasn’t possible to attend both gigs. At least not if you wanted to catch Katzenjammer who played at OverOslo as well. And if you didn’t catch them, you missed one of the two highlights that night. =;-)

Right when we got on the shuttle bus to the festival, it started raining. Two minutes after we got off the bus, it REALLY started raining. And it didn’t stop until Kaizers played their last song … Well, that’s a way of starting the festival season! Wet to the skin – but at least it was rather warm-ish, so that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. And the amounts of rain that poured down that night were actually so ridiculous that it was almost funny again … =;-)

As always, the Kaizers concert started with Omen entering the stage. He made his way to the part of the stage that was NOT under the stage roof first and tested the rain. Then the rest of the band came on, and the first thing the Jackal did was to move his microphone stand from the (more or less) dry part of the stage to the very front. And that’s exactly where the Jackal stayed throughout the whole concert – respect! I think that this was one of the main reasons that the concert turned out as awesome as it did, in spite of the awful conditions. The Jackal didn’t care about the rain at all, and so the audience didn’t either. Well, yes, you got all wet, but so what? And the rest of the band joined the Jackal in the rain over and over again as well (and when they said good-bye, even Mink made it to the front … without shoes *g*). And it definitely looked impressive when the Jackal jumped around on stage and the water was splashing everywhere … Actually, the Jackal even ignored the rain poncho someone threw on stage for him. *g*

Because of the weather, I took as few notes as possible – my mobile doesn’t like floods. =;-) What I remember is a rather unprepared organ player under the introduction in Forloveren; Omen was busy looking through his document suitcase when he was introduced, so he had to put away his suitcase first before he could play. =;-)

Killmaster really enjoyed his solo under Kontroll på kontinentet, so the Jackal praised him for his “god solo” afterwards. A couple of times. And the audience confirmed it. Then Hellraizer was supposed to do a “god solo” as well, and sing it at the same time, thus “scatting”. Then it was time for a singing solo of the Jackal, and finally the audience took over the solo. “The biggest choir!” And in general, we got some real and serious praise in the end for being “the best audience” – nobody left before the end of the show even though it was raining all the time.

The setlist:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Siste dans
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • Forloveren
  • Støv og sand
  • I ett med verden
  • KGB
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Evig pint
  • Ompa til du dør
  • Philemon Arthur & the Dung
  • Svarte katter & flosshatter
  • Hjerteknuser
    —————
  • Begravelsespolka
  • Drøm videre, Violeta
  • Maestro

All in all, it was an awesome concert with a great atmosphere – and the terrible weather couldn’t spoil it! The only downside: Kaizers really should have played Katastrofen …! =;-)