Lars Vaular

24-25.08.2012 Periferifestivalen (Glesvær)

Friday, August 31st, 2012
24-25.08.2012 – Photos Periferifestivalen (Glesvær)

Report: Torger Münzel

PeriferifestivalenThe festival season is nearly over, so one cannot be choosy where to go on a festival. Nearly last chance to see Kaizers: Periferifestivalen! But limiting the festival down to this, indeed excellent, concert would be a mistake, for it was quite some more.

Periferifestivalen is a very small festival, situated in Glesvær on the island Sotra, about 45 minutes drive southwest of Bergen. It was sold out, which meant that roughly 2500 people were there each day. The festival area was situated right within the dockside of the little fisher village, with fisher houses to the left and right, two lovely cafes and a boathouse, which made up one of the coziest venues I’ve ever seen (and they didn’t clean up much before…).

The main area had plenty of space though and was decorated with buoys hanging from the trees. There was no festival camping, but some visitors came by boat and there was, as far as I could see it, quite a party going on in the harbor. The weather was very good (Friday) and typically West-Norwegian (Saturday). Periferifestivalen is a unique and small festival, with a very intimate & friendly atmosphere.

Friday, August 24th

PeriferifestivalenThe festival started on Friday with just a handful of people showing up for Anja Viken. It seemed that many had decided to enjoy the good weather just a little more and thus missed this show. These people missed a performance that I personally enjoyed a lot. Anja Viken plays some decent Norwegian pop/rock, somehow reminding me of Avril Lavigne (which is rather a compliment for Avril than for Anja, I guess). The faster songs instantly made you bopping along while you could concentrate on Anja’s voice during the slower ones. The young Norwegian seemed to be rather shy with the audience, but that’s perfectly understandable when you have to open up a festival (and no one seems to take interest yet). Anja Viken was a pleasant surprise to start with and some of their songs (especially “Gatekredibilitet” and “Klæssar deg ned”) stuck in my head for quite some time.

PeriferifestivalenAfter that I decided to go into the boathouse to watch at least some minutes of Stein og Mari, who played in a jazzy, blues, folk-music style. What I experienced then was a very unique concert. The duo managed to create an intense atmosphere, in which Mari’s voice merged beautiful with whatever instrument her partner just played (he changed a lot from guitar to mandolin, other string instruments and even to a zither in the end). But sometimes the songs were nearly too slow and quiet. So you could not only literally hear a pin drop, but even whenever somebody in the audience got a text message you could hear that very well, too. A very interesting and beautiful concert in the boathouse nevertheless and, what I didn’t know at the time, it was the only concert of the evening programs in the boat house where I was able to get in. The 200-300 spare places were usually taken long before a band started, and the queues outside were very long.

PeriferifestivalenNext on the list was Lars Vaular, a rapper from Bergen, Spellemanspris winner, and, as many told me, the real co-headliner on Friday. He was eagerly awaited by his fans, and the main stage was packed for the first time. I’m not a big fan of rap music, but I have to admit that he got some catchy songs and the crowd, now containing mostly the younger parts of the audience, was enthusiastic. At least after Vaular played “Eg e fra Bergen” as third song (Some local patriotism had not harmed any artist, did it?), he had the hands up in the air and the crowd on his side. Vaular belongs to the gangsta rap genre, but the Norwegian version of that is far away from what is known from MTV. To me he seemed like a very nice, modest and likeable guy, and he and his fellow musicians obviously had some fun on stage. Especially Tarjei Strøm on the drums delivered quite a show as well. When the concert was over, the fans demanded Vaular’s  hit single “Solbriller på” (and of course did not get it, as only the headliners were entitled to play encores) for some minutes before the crowd scattered.

PeriferifestivalenI missed the next concert in the boathouse and decided to have a beer instead. While enjoying it, I got to know some Norwegians that were pretty undecided on the question “is the next band famous?”. (Quote: “Well you could know them if you knew Norwegian music well, but you really do not have to… They are kind of local heroes from the Bergen area, you know?”) They taught me that the next band, Jan Olav Nilsen & Gjengen, was mainly known for their kline-låt songs (make out songs). Well that seemed to be enough to fill up most of the space in front of the stage, but the atmosphere was kind of quiet and not so enthusiastic as you might think that it should be while the co-headliner performs. (And I did not see any people making out, thank God!) To me, Jan Olav Nilsen & Gjengen had a strong 80ies touch and reminded me a bit of The Cure there and a bit of U2 (80ies U2 that is, of course) here. It was a nice decent concert and many people enjoyed it, but there was not that jumping and celebrating that Kaizers or DumDum Boys managed to pull off. But maybe the audience wanted just to spare some energy for Kaizers Orchestra. 😉

With Kaizers, the first day of Periferifestivalen found a perfect ending. The report on them by Susi can be found on kaizers.konzertjunkie.com. I just have to add that Kaizers is the only band that gives me a smile on my face from the very first second of the intro until two or three days later, come what may…

Saturday, August 25th

PeriferifestivalenThe second day in Glesvær was divided into a day program, which was especially intended to be for families, and a night program, with Sivert Høyem and the DumDum Boys being the headliners.

After some improv in the boathouse (which was funny but would have probably been funnier if I had understood more Norwegian than I actually do), the first band to see was Jens Brun & De Hattmakers. They are a band for kids (and their parents) that plays classical pop/soul/funk songs, but rewrites the lyrics to make them more suitable for children. So James Brown’s “Sex Machine” became Kjeksmaskin (cookie machine), for example. I watched the Norwegian Raffi for some time and the kids loved it (or were told so, by their parents), but after 15 minutes of soul & funk I decided that I was either too young or too old for this and gladly turned my attention to the boathouse and the three young bands that were supposed to play there, each of them getting 15 minutes of time.

PeriferifestivalenIn the boathouse, I saw three very interesting concerts that I enjoyed a lot. Although all three bands being rock bands, they differed very much. Opening up were No Fuel, obviously the youngest of the three bands. The singer definitely is a future rock star to be, knowing how to entertain a stage. It didn’t matter to him that the audience, which seemed to consist mainly of parents and relatives, was seated and was probably not really knowing what was coming at it. No Fuel’s singer jumped around, high-fived the front row and just spread energy and a good mood. A very refreshing concert, and it was not a problem that the rock/punk rock played by No Fuel had some horrible transitions and other flaws since you should expect that from such a young band. Keep on rocking guys, you’re on the right track!

After three songs, No Fuel made way for Hvitmalt Gjerde. Susi and I had quite a discussion about that concert, as I found them to be really good, while Susi kind of disliked the behavior of the singer and the band. Musically it was a bit like Chuck Berry meeting Oasis. The singer was very energetic and conveyed a good rock’n’roll vibe. But while he was completely freaking out, the rest of the band seemed either bored or annoyed (or just nervous?). I think nevertheless that Hvitmalt Gjerde with their ability to sound 60ies and modern at the same time did an incredibly good job.

PeriferifestivalenThe last band in the boathouse was Grandma’s Tea Party, whom I liked from the beginning, as the first thing they did was to put some nice decoration on the stage (some flowers, tea, pictures and a cupboard – well they call themselves Grandma’s Tea Party for a reason!). The band appeared dressed up neatly in early 20th century style, that just brought some coolness on the stage naturally. Grandma’s Tea Party played some very decent indie rock, supported by a very good guitarist (who at one stage climbed the cupboard to play a solo. And guitarists climbing things are very well welcomed among Kaizers fans). It was catchy and musically flawless. The only thing you could criticize was the singer, who was just too shy and even too quiet for the music played around him. But maybe it was still the impression of the screaming Hvitmalt Gjerde singer, what led me to that conclusion.

PeriferifestivalenI only took a swift look at Sgt. Petter med Band, which played some Southern Rock and had a tambourine player whose role in the band remained a mystery to me. But maybe we just came during the wrong song. It started to rain while they were playing, and nearly immediately, rain capes were offered by a nice old man walking around the main stage. (Big “Thumps up!” for that.) As it started to rain and as we were not too excited by what we heard anyway, we decided to go for a coffee break in the lovely café. With Sgt. Petter med Band, the day program ended and everybody had to leave the festival area for an hour. I passed the hour lying on the rocks above Glesvær harbor, dozing away to the sounds of the party taking place on the boats lying in the harbor. The fact that good old Freddie Mercury was played there with great endurance and loudness made it clear that the audience warming up for tonight’s concerts was notably older than yesterday.

PeriferifestivalenHaving really dozed away, I came too late to see Solveig Slettahjell, who played in the boathouse. But while I was waiting, Marit Larsen and her band were performing their sound check on the main stage, right in front of the handful of spectators who happened to be around by accident. I found it to be very interesting to see such a sound check (some of the songs got played for up to two minutes), and Marit Larsen, who either played guitar or piano, was smiling all the time, so she might have enjoyed it as well. After nearly half an hour she finished, went off the stage, just to get on again 10 minutes later. As it was still early in the day (6 pm), there were not as many people as I expected to be, but the ones who were there were very easily caught by Marit Larsen, her neat pop songs and the joy she and her band had on stage. Marit Larsen, best known for her hit “If a song could get me you”, is the Norwegian Queen of Pop, who plays radio-suitable, romantic pop songs. Though that might not be very unique, it is the joy and excitement that Marit Larsen conveys that made this concert special. You could see teenage boys, wearing some party shirts, dreaming away in the first row, enchanted by the music and Marit Larsen. There were a lot of smiling faces in the audience (notably male), and the whole gig was just very likable.

PeriferifestivalenNext on the main stage was Magnet, which is the pseudonym of Bergen singer and songwriter Even Johansen. The festival guide recommended him as “having invented an own genre by himself”. That’s kind of true, but unfortunately I found that genre to be pretty boring. There is not much happening on- or off-stage during his performance, and the songs somehow tend to sound all alike. His folk/rock/song-writer music, with some electronic influence here and there, had some great lyrics and he created an intense wall of sound from time to time, but the last explosion, the last little bit to make a song exciting, was always missing. That did of course not bother the fans in the first few rows, who were enthusiastically waving signs and were cheering along. The rest of the crowd though reacted rather cool and was even irritated when Johansen imitated Janove Ottesen and the Kaizers-Halleluja scream. (I still do not know if that was supposed to be some mockery or some serious effort.) Halfway through the concert, I decided to go the boathouse to wait for Stein Torleif Bjella, but as many others also had this idea, the queue was already way too long. (There were even still more than hundred people queuing an hour later, when the Stein Torleif Bjella concert was supposed to finish in five minutes.) So I followed some more minutes of the Magnet concert, before we decided to have some pancakes in the warmth of the cafe and to wait for Sivert Høyem. In the café we came to talk to a nice Norwegian couple which was also very much looking forward to see Sivert. The big question that arose was “Will he play some old Madrugada songs?”, and we both were pretty sure that he probably wouldn’t. Well how wrong we were!

PeriferifestivalenSince after some very weird intro (feat. German Krautrockers Amon Düül II, from the 70ies) and two rather unspectacular songs, Sivert Høyem played “Look away Lucifer”, which gave the whole concert a new direction. Before that, it seemed the crowd was reserved, maybe hoping for Madrugada songs but not knowing what to expect. After a first Madrugada song, it feeled like everybody was relieved and now able to really enjoy the concert. In the end, Høyem played three Madrugada songs, cleverly inserted at times when the mood of the crowd was lowering. Before “Majesty”, which was just magnificent and very well received, having all of the audience singing along, he sent away his band, explaining that the next song would be too difficult for them to play. After a very long and wild applause after “Majesty”, Sivert had a big smile on his face, which he kept from then on, throughout the entire show. “The kids are on high street” was the 3rd Madrugada song played, also wildly received by the crowd. But though he played these songs (and the crowd loved him for that), this was not a Madrugada concert and Høyem’s own songs, notably “Into the sea” or “Moon Landing”, led also to big singing and shouting. He performed with such an energy that it was really a pleasure to watch, and his incredible voice sounds better than ever. Høyem was supported by some of the finest Norwegian musicians (festival guide wrote: supergroup!) amongst others Catu Salsa on guitar and Christer Knutsen on guitar/keyboard.

PeriferifestivalenEspecially the latter made quite an interesting appearance. Musically absolutely brilliant he switched between keyboards and guitar and contributed a lot to the strong sound of the band. But being real rock’n’roll he looked pretty spaced out during most times of the concert and staggered across the stage during others. He definitely does not look healthy anymore…

Anyway, Sivert’s and his band’s performance on Periferi was great and you could also feel and see how pleased they were about this performance themselves. After the last song (“Red on maroon”), which he sang on his knees and with the microphone stand being thrown down the aisle, Sivert was smiling, bowing and waving and looked pretty happy. And so was I.

PeriferifestivalenThe honor to close the festival was given to the DumDum Boys, a true Norwegian institution difficult to compare with anything else. But after some thinking it seemed to us that every country has its own DumDum Boys: one hard rock/rock/punk band that has been there since 25+ years and has songs everybody knows since they were a little child. (In Germany this would suit for “Die Toten Hosen”.) Somebody told me: “They are a, no, THE partyband.” The concert and the music, which was probably the more entertaining the better you spoke Norwegian, was not entirely to my liking, as I thought some of the songs to be rather weak and monotonous. But the reaction the band had on the rest of the crowd was tremendous. Everybody, from teenager to grandma (yep, I had two lovely grandmas dancing next to me) was singing along, and especially the generation 40+ was really having a blast. From the very first row till the last people sitting on the green next to the FOH, everybody was shouting and singing to the well-known lyrics. The singer performed a classical rock show including all the hard rock poses one can imagine. He tore down his shirt to the end of the regular set, just to come with a new shirt to the encores, when he tore it down again. As I said before, the people really loved it and many said to me afterwards, that that was one of the best concerts they had seen in years. So although not my personal favorite, the DumDum Boys were a great last band for the festival and left everybody very happy.

PeriferifestivalenSo after two days out in the Norwegian wild we set sail southwards again (would be lovely to actually really come by boat – next time…). Tired but happy. Periferifestivalen was a wonderful experience, with friendly people, some very nice bands, an absolutely unique venue in the boathouse and a very lovely festival area in the middle of the village.

24-25.08.2012 – Photos Periferifestivalen (Glesvær)

Wednesday, August 29th, 2012
24-25.08.2012 – Photos Periferifestivalen (Glesvær)

02-04.09.2010 Rått og Råde (Stavanger)

Monday, September 6th, 2010
02-04.09.2010 – Photos Rått og Råde (Stavanger)

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. =:-)

02-04.09.2010 – Photos Rått og Råde (Stavanger)

Sunday, September 5th, 2010
02-04.09.2010 – Photos Rått og Råde (Stavanger)