Oslo

20.10.2022 Skambankt (John Dee, Oslo )

Saturday, October 22nd, 2022

It would be really cool to be able to say that both my very first and my very last Skambankt concert was at John Dee in Oslo, and I thought that was true as well – but no, turns out that my very first Skambankt concert was actually at Garasjen in Oslo … But hey, my second Skambankt concert in Oslo, fourth Skambankt concert overall, was at John Dee, so that’s close enough I guess, right? =;-)

Just some statistics to start this report off in style here. *lol* Since I’m apparently the one who keeps track of everything Skambankt do and say and has a database of every concert and song they ever played. =;-) Which again is probably “close enough” to the truth – I would assume that the concert list on this page is the most complete that exists (even though I’m sure that some of the old concerts are missing, and the dates for all the Covid concerts are certainly not accurate, given how often they were moved around). And for most Skambankt concerts I’ve seen, I put the setlist into the concert report. So yes, I guess I do keep track of everything. =;-)

But let’s get back to John Dee … my very last Skambankt concert ever! =:-( I expected a lot from the concert and had actively decided to go for the John Dee concert rather than the Rockefeller concert – because John Dee is so much smaller, and small club concerts are always awesome! But when we got there kinda late-ish (luckily without too much stress, thanks to Norwegian for not causing the kind of chaos that SAS did last week), only the front row was crowded and otherwise it was quite empty. Which of course changed until Skambankt went on – but still, with the concert being on a week night and without a support band, the show started out kinda slow, I felt … Skambankt were on point right from the start, but the audience wasn’t really into it yet.

Luckily, that changed throughout the concert! The setlist was quite standard for this tour (even though I was kinda surprised about Terje complaining several times that it was too dark on stage to see the setlist – come on, I only saw four concerts on this tour, and I knew that the next songs would be “Vår bør” and “Desertør” *lol*). It had a really nice surprise with “Pansersjokk” though, yay! Haven’t heard that one forever. =:-)

Then before “Me sa nei”, the song Skambankt played at every single concert so far, Terje “complained” about a certain someone (some German living in Trondheim … =;-)) fact-checking that statement. Hey, come on, I concluded with a “close enough” on that one, isn’t that sufficient?! *lol* And they DID NOT play it at Kartfestivalen in 2010. =;-D

Of course, that got back to me later on in the concert, when Terje asked me if they had played “Stormkast #1” at every single concert. And my gut feeling was that yes, they’ve played that one every time, and definitely more often than “Me sa nei”! “But you are gonna fact-check this afterwards, right?” – well, yes, of course I will! And yep, I haven’t found any concerts (unplugged excluded, but that’s the same for “Me sa nei”, of course) where they didn’t play “Stormkast #1” – well, except that … the song was released on “Min eliksir”, so of course they couldn’t play it before 2007. Oooops … I guess “Me sa nei” wins after all. =;-D

Anyway, after all that discussion about song statistics, Skambankt gave a big shout-out to the front row and the girls that “use way too much money” on coming to so many concerts to see them, but who are the ones who “lager stemning” and smile and have a great time at every concert. Oh yes, I couldn’t agree more! By then, the atmosphere had gotten a lot more enthusiastic overall, but nothing beats the front row. =:-) Except maybe the guy from the front-cover of the live album, who was there as well and also got a shout-out. =;-)

And then, Skambankt went off after “Stormkast #1” (which already didn’t bode well for the last song … *g*). As usual, the crowd went mad and shouted for encores, so we got three final songs: “Mantra”, “Slukk meg (for eg brenner)” and … yes, of course. My last ever Skambankt song was … *drumroll* … “Malin”. Yay! Thank you very much. =:-D

(And yes, of course, I get it. People want to hear it. But Skambankt really could have switched out Stormkast and Malin, just for this one show! And I’m starting to wonder what will be their absolute final song in Stavanger … *lol*)

The full setlist:

  1. Dynasti
  2. Skambankt
  3. Satan – det e du
  4. Horisonten brenner
  5. Voodoo
  6. Pansersjokk
  7. Vår bør
  8. 10/10
  9. Balladen om deg
  10. Desertør
  11. Alarm
  12. Tanker som mareritt
  13. Me sa nei
  14. O dessverre
  15. Født på ny
  16. Stormkast #1
    ———
  17. Mantra
  18. Slukk meg (for eg brenner)
  19. Malin

Either way, this was a great concert to finish things off – very sad it’s over, but THANK YOU for all the concerts (to go back to the statistics: a total of 74 concerts over the course of 17 and a half years!), THANK YOU for all the music and THANK YOU for all the good times! Lots of highs (and lows …) from a fansite perspective as well, but overall a lot of experiences I’d never want to miss! <3

Takk for alt! And see you on the comeback tour in a couple of years. =;-)

09.03.2018 Skambankt (Rockefeller, Oslo)

Saturday, March 10th, 2018

Time for a trip down south (this still feels a bit weird for me to say, even after living in Trondheim for three and a half years now) for two concerts in Oslo and Drammen!

It feels like it’s been forever since I last was at Rockefeller, but great to come back – and yes, it’s one of the nicest concert stages around! It was pretty crowded as well, and with people who were clearly there to see Skambankt. So when they came on, the atmosphere was hot, and the crowd in front of the stage didn’t stop moving throughout the concert. People were singing along – not only during the old songs, but all the time! =:-O But of course, the old hits were the ones people were most excited about. O dessverre was the first (of many) song were the whole floor was shaking! Still, I don’t think anybody was disappointed about all the new songs in the setlist either.

I was impressed about how different this concert was to the one in Haugesund. That one was a club show, this one was way bigger. I couldn’t say which of the concerts was better, because both were awesome – I love small shows, but this one was “tighter”. Hardly any talking inbetween songs, full power from start to finish (yes, even through the ballads =;-) ).

And clearly, this resonated with the audience, they were in it 100% all the time. At one time, Terje thanked the audience, just to mention afterwards how weird it feels to him to be the little boy from the countryside, remembering traveling to Oslo to stand in the crowd at Rockefeller, now being on stage and saying “Thank you Rockefeller”. And it did look like the whole band was quite touched by the awesome reception when the concert was over. =:-)

Not much more to report, so here’s the full setlist:

  1. I dette huset
  2. Voodoo
  3. Fremmed i en fremmed verden
  4. Kommer snart hjem
  5. O dessverre
  6. Slukk meg (for eg brenner)
  7. Balladen om deg
  8. Levende legende
  9. Vår bør
  10. Stormkast #1
  11. Gribben
  12. Horisonten brenner
  13. Me sa nei
  14. Dynasti
    ———
  15. Anonyme hatere
  16. Malin
  17. Skambankt

The next morning, there was a small encore when Skambankt played a short set at the record store Big Dipper. It was early from a rockstar perspective, so some vocal chords weren’t quite awake yet =;-), but it was still a fun little show! Watch it here:

19.03.2016 Skambankt (John Dee, Oslo)

Sunday, March 20th, 2016

Last year, Skambankt played a one-off “nostalgia” show at Ranglerock, playing their full first album. I couldn’t go. Nooooo! =:-( A few months later, they announced that they would do the same thing again, this time in Oslo. Yaaaaay! =:-D

No question: I wouldn’t miss that. I’ve been a Skambankt fan since they started out, and while I don’t think that the first album is their best one (that place is shared by Hardt Regn and Søvnløs … just kidding, Hardt Regn and Eliksir of course! *g*), it is definitely this one that works best live. So that concert just had to turn out awesome! Plus, it was at John Dee, where I also saw my 4th ever Skambankt concert more than 10 years ago. Oh gosh … I’m old.

Anyway, John Dee was packed, and Hold Fast played a great warm-up show. (Except that you can’t really expect people to know your songs and sign along if you are the support act …) And when the change-over started, you could see that Skambankt were not only playing the old songs – they went ten years back in time! With the camouflage net all over the stage, the old cap hanging on the drum set, and yes: even the old military shirts and jackets. Waaaaah!! <3 If you do it, do it right, and Skambankt got full score on that one. =:-) I had expected them to play the Skambankt album in order, so I felt really smart that I had already copied the setlist to my phone and wouldn’t need to take notes for once … Well, I was wrong on that one. And concert wise, it was probably a smart move from Skambankt to mix up the order a bit and “save the best for last”! Even though it gave me a bit of a bad feeling in the beginning … the first four, five songs were not the ones you remember from previous concerts, and while the audience enjoyed it, they were far from going crazy. That was more the typical Norwegian “sipping your beer and applauding when the song is finished” type of response … and NOT what I had hoped for for this concert! But then Skambankt played Me sa nei, followed by the song that they thought was way too difficult to play live – until they practiced it and found out it isn’t *g* (Våre fiender). And then: Desertør, KKK, Alarm – victory! The audience went crazy and now, it really felt like ten years ago, with people jumping around and screaming along. Yaaaay! Even though we didn’t get the last part of Alarm. *grr* Instead of counting in again, Ted asked us who had heard the second EP they released, which contains the first song they ever made. “Do you know which one?” Everyone screamed “Skamania” – which I would have loved to hear, but was that their first song? Wasn’t that Demoattakk? But they surely won’t play that one. Or will they? WILL THEY?!?
 

Yep. They did!! =:-) Demoattakk, Skambankt, and off they went … The net was taken down, the guys changed into their modern black shirts (no leather west behind the drums though, pff … =;-)), and after the Sirene intro, it was time for the second part of the concert: “the greats”.
 

We had speculated a bit which “hit” songs they would play, and except for Mantra (which I always forget is a Skambankt song *g*), my assumption was pretty spot on. Here’s the full set list that they played:

  • Systemets makt!
  • Poltistat!
  • Revolusjonens aggregat!
  • Panzersjokk!
  • Kapitalens spel!
  • Me sa nei!
  • Våre fiender!
  • Desertør!
  • KKK!
  • Alarm!
  • Demoattakk
  • Skambankt!
  • O dessverre
  • Vår bør
  • Voodoo
  • Dynasti
  • Mantra
  • Stormkast #1

The new songs worked fabulously as well – especially Vår bør, where the audience gave me goose bumps by singing the whole intro by themselves. But also the other songs were received with loads of enthusiasm! And no, there was no way the audience would have let Skambankt finish the concert without an encore. An awesome atmosphere, and a concert that suddenly made me feel 10 years younger again … Thank you Skambankt! =:-D

22.03.2014 Skambankt (Rockefeller, Oslo)

Sunday, March 23rd, 2014

Well … just one week since the last concert, but time for another (very) short trip up north to see Skambankt at Rockefeller! OK, I could have watched the live stream as well, but a) I didn’t know that when I booked my flight, b) Oslo is always worth a visit, and c) there are sooo many awesome people in Oslo that no live stream will ever be able to replace going there! =:-D

The “problem” with meeting friends before the concert is that you never get to the venue early – I had planned to check out at least Hold Fast, the second support band, but we arrived when they were almost done. Honestly, I didn’t get the impression that I missed much though … not my music.

When I arrived, I was suprised to still get a good spot in the front; it was rather empty. But it did fill up nicely before Skambankt went on, and it was crowded both on the floor and on both galeries. So it seems the live stream didn’t prevent people from showing up.

Now, the concert … I don’t really have a lot to report about that, to be honest. It was awesome and great fun, just like the others. And I couldn’t really choose a favorite show of those I have seen – Skambankt have been really constant. They deliver the same terrific show every night, and the difference is only the reaction of the audience. Which was pretty good in Oslo; maybe not quite as energetic as in Trondheim, but people loved it. And after the Wall of Death in Me sa nei, there was quite some …. uh, let’s call it “movement” as well. “Dancing” would maybe be the wrong word. *g*

The “Hei” part in Dynasti worked well this time – because the audience didn’t care about what the band had planned. =;-p They just sang the first verse instead of shouting back “hei”. He he … good solution, and pretty awesome.

Quite funny when Ted talked about Sort blod being a song from the new album – and who knows the one before? And the one before? And the one before? I was just waiting for him to trick the audience and ask about one too much, but no … *g* And then he announced that the next song would be from that (oldest) album – and someone from the audience shouted “Skambankt!” … “Uh, no, we have already played that one!” *lol*

They had already played Malin in the main set, so I wondered which song they would use as third encore. And I was quite excited when they started the encores with the Nok et offer intro! *yay* But no … we only got the intro, followed by Mantra, then Min Eliksir, and that was it … That was a little disappointing; I had hoped for a second block of encores, but no, that was it. A great concert though, and we all know that Skambankt don’t play three hours, so that didn’t take anything from the show.

Here’s the full setlist:

  • Anonyme hatere
  • Skambankt
  • O dessverre
  • Vår bør
  • Som en sirene
  • Slukk meg (for eg brenner)
  • Sort blod
  • Me sa nei
  • Dynasti
  • Gamle spøkelser
  • Voodoo
  • Malin
  • Tanker som mareritt
  • Stormkast #1
    —–
  • Mantra
  • Min eliksir

And now I got to wait over a month for the show in Prague! =:-o

21.06.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (OverOslo, Oslo)

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

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 …! =;-)

25-26.01.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Opera, Oslo)

Sunday, January 27th, 2013

The opera house in Oslo. A symphonic orchestra. Oslo’s philharmonic choir. And Kaizers Orchestra! No way this could be anything but good. Except it wasn’t good … it was awesome, amazing, ingenious, breathtaking, crazy, enchanting, enormous, pompous, and indescribable! And since it was indescribable, this is the end of the report … =;-)

Naah, okay, maybe not. *g* I had planned to see two concerts – I mean, it must be worth traveling to Norway for it -, and then Kaizers announced a matinee concert in addition, where they filmed the DVD. So that meant for me that I got to see three concerts in the 36 hours that I was in Norway … pretty awesome. It made things quite stressful as well, actually (a big “hello” goes out to everyone I could just quickly say hi to because there was no time – sorry!), but hey, who cares if you get such amazing concerts for it? Of course, the three concerts were very very similar, because you have to tune down spontaneity on such a huge production like this. So this why there is only one report for all three concerts – Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday night. The concerts mostly differed in the atmosphere, and a little in the announcements, of course. In my opinion, the concert on Saturday night was clearly the best, especially regarding the atmosphere – not really that surprising, as it was the first one that was sold out as well. And maybe it was also due at least a bit to the alcohol intake – at least the Jackal suspected during the concert that maybe he had had a glass too much … or maybe WE had a glass too much … well, there must be some reason for ALL announcements being incredibly funny? *g*

The Friday concert wasn’t really far behind, though! Only the DVD concert was a little bit weaker, I thought, and I think it was mostly due to the audience. There were quite a few little kids up front, which is nice of course, but I think it affected the atmosphere a bit. At some time during the concert, the Jackal made a kind of “kid announcement”, before he decided that he’s just not any good at this. Hellraizer is much better with kids! And yep, he managed a “cootchie cootchie coo”, and afterwards he explained to the kiddies who’s the one who decides (namely the market – Markedet bestemmer *g*). Shortly after, the Jackal imitated the little girl that was standing and dancing in front of him for a while – which was ridiculously funny, but maybe not the best for the atmosphere, in my opinion.

So actually, for me the DVD concert ranks lowest of the three concerts I saw, but don’t worry – the DVD will surely be awesome. It’s just that the other concerts were even better! With the audience even louder and more enthusiastic and the band even more confident. And actually, from what I gathered, all three concerts were better than the opening concerts – the premier was (fully understandably) a little unsteady, and on the second day, Janove’s voice wasn’t quite like it was supposed to be. And after an off day, they picked up again on Friday, confidently did the DVD recording, and then let it all out during the second concert of the day. Hach. =:-)

But well, after all this talk I should maybe get to the concert itself now. =;-) It started with Omen walking out in front of the curtain, greeting the audience with a sympathetic nod. Then the curtain rose and … wow! A gigantic stage with the band up front and the orchestra in the back, and in the second half a choir on the side as well. Orchestra and choir with white face paint and dressed really old-fashioned. The band as always (but without any oil barrels!), the stage dressed in red velvet (well, it IS an opera, after all *g*), a canon and a baby stroller as decoration. Thus, even if there had been a time when nothing was happening on stage, you would have had more than enough to look at! And by the way, I was really surprised by how different the view was depending on where you were sitting – and for a change, the rule was: the more to the back, the better! At the first two concerts, we weren’t really in the very front, but in the 2nd/3rd row behind the orchestra pit (where there were also seats). And even though the view was great, it was still a bit too close to really see the full stage. Not that that hurt the concert or the fun in any way. *g* But our seats for the third show, row 10 in the center and just in front of the FOH, were absolutely perfect.

They started out with Aldri vodka, Violeta. First it was only Omen at the piano, and then the band came out (to huge applause), followed by the Jackal (to cheering that the opera probably hasn’t seen – or rather heard – before *g*). And after the first few lines, he suddenly pointed the microphone at the audience and had us sing – argh, and that was exactly the moment where, during the first concert, I got really uncomfortable and confused, because this … was the opera, goddammit, you don’t sing along in the opera?!? Shortly after, the Jackal made a point though: “Det er jo bare Operaen!” – what’s the problem, this is only the opera! And after a few songs, I got it. This wasn’t an opera show. It was a Kaizers concert. As simple as that. A Kaizers concert with a >50 strong orchestra in the background. Wooaaaah!

We already know the orchestra version of Aldri vodka, and (at all concerts!) I was so busy with the general atmosphere and surroundings that I don’t really have anything to report about that song. *g* Next up was Svarte katter & flosshatter. We also know that one live – but NOT with an orchestra. And therefore this was the ice breaker in a way. I really don’t know how to describe that, except for “woaaaahhh”, but that’s exactly it. Woaaah. And then desperately try to close your gaping mouth. Impressive. Bombastic. Massive. Music everywhere.

During Drøm videre, Violeta, we had to sing along again – but interestingly, only at the concerts at night. Maybe the audience wouldn’t have been loud enough for the DVD recording, not sure. But that was the moment when the “you must not sing along in the opera” rule was finally forgotten about. =:-)

After the nice song, it was time for the ugly one: Det polaroide liv. Definitely not a bad song, I always liked it, but I “only” liked it. Until Friday. Holy shit, was that awesome or what?! The Jackal jumped around on stage as if he was stung by an adder, and when he was out of breath (okay, pretended to be out of breath *g*) he put in a dramatic pause, before the song ROCKED on. At that time, it really was hard to quietly remain seated. But well, who said you had to sit quietly? Chair pogo! =;-) And then I was really amused by the part where the Jackal suddenly shouted “guitar solo!”, but you couldn’t hear a thing of the guitar throughout the whole solo, because the full orchestra was playing the same solo – only louder. *g*

The music definitely went into the legs. And as a result, every of the Jackal’s steps after the song was accompanied by a beat by the orchestra. Until he managed to get himself into “safety” on his microphone stand rim. From there, he tried several times to very carefully put a foot on the ground again. This was SO funny! I was so busy laughing the first night that I didn’t even notice that the accompanying laughter came from the speakers, uhem. *g* But holy cow, that was so ridiculous. Management’s idea: “That will be funny!” – oh yes, it was!!

The next song, Siste dans, is a really cool song, but since there’s no orchestra in there, it didn’t really feel extra “special” in this setting. Quite in contrary to the song following it, Tvilling! The Jackal started out explaining what the song was about, and then, to illustrate this even more clearly during the song, the twin came on stage and danced! First behind the drum set (which you could probably only see right from the balcony, a bit of a pity), and then in front through the band.

After Tusen dråper regn, which was as great as always, it was time for my personal highlight that surprised me most: Markedet bestemmer! I liked the song quite good before, but I didn’t really see much in it. But that changed SO SO much in the live version! The beginning was just amazing already; so much orchestra, so much guitar, great vocals. And then the ending!! Hellraizer’s guitar solo part – sheer madness (and having in the back of your mind that a bit over a decade ago at the first concerts, that guy couldn’t really play the guitar … =:-o); add in the orchestra, a flute solo, strings … hach!! I know, I wrote “hach” before, but that’s just how it was! At some point in time, I will marry this guitar. And the song will be the maid of honor.

Next up, the Jackal started hunting for a scarf in the audience. At the first concert, he wanted a green one; at the second, it didn’t matter; and at the third, three scarves ended up on stage at the same time. Which was one song early, uhem. But the Jackal was quick to admit that he just did the first mistake in his career. Killmaster: “Det måtte jo skje” – “That had to happen” … *g* As expected, the next song was Hjerteknuser, but it didn’t start until we extensively thanked the respective scarf donors: “Thank you xxx for the scarf, which Janove will now throw high in the air, and when it falls down, then the song starts” – in different variations, of course. *g* And it’s no surprise that there was a lot of singing again during Hjerteknuser, and waving arms in the air. For sure, that was also a sight that the opera hasn’t experienced very often before. And neither the orchestra – but actually, I have to point out here how “into” it they were throughout the concert. It was splendid to just look at the orchestra in between. Everyone was having fun, they were rocking back and forth, waving their arms along with the audience, waving their horns, hopping up and down; they jumped up on the beat, beat down on their instruments, were kidding around – pure entertainment.

And that’s just what we got before the next song as well, this time featuring the White Russian! I admit that I was a bit confused what that was supposed to be about (and that wasn’t only because some people look twenty years older when wearing a suit *g*) – a guy in a white suit came up on stage, drumming his chest and clapping his hands. Cool and entertaining, no question about it, and the audience went along quickly and started clapping as well. But I didn’t really get the idea behind it … but I assume that the main reason was to allow the band and orchestra a short break (’cause 1:45 can be quite exhausting without any breaks or long announcements), and also to get in the pun: “And on percussion: The White Russian!” *g*

After that, we got I ett med verden, followed by the song that started the trilogy, namely Sju bøtter tårer er nok, Beatrice. I’m always confused about the beat in that song, but it worked perfectly with the orchestra.

Then it was time to get even more people on stage: Oslo’s philharmonic choir (in smokings and with their faces painted rather “dead” *g*) entered the stage on the side, because Kaizers needed some more reinforcements for Satan i halsen! One of my favorites on Vol. III, but it seems to be a bit difficult – the xylophone part worked out right in only one out of three attempts, hehe. Luckily, the “good” version was at the DVD concert. =;-) Apart from that, the song was just as impressive as expected. During the heavy metal part, the Jackal leaned over to Omen and screamed into his ear with the bullhorn, the guitar players almost touched the floor, trying to look ROCK, and the orchestra covered their ears. Well, no, they didn’t, but it would have fit. *g* The only “weak” point was that the Jackal’s voice in the middle part wasn’t quite low enough. As I said, that song is one of my favorites, so I’m extra critical. Well, at least after I’m done romanticizing. *g*

Next up was the song on Vol. III that I hardly know because my skip finger is always a bit faster: Perfekt i en drøm. I just think that this song is a bit too slow, lengthy, and monotonous. The orchestra version didn’t quite convince me otherwise, but it was definitely a goosebumps song. Chandeliers on the ceiling, the stage all in dark blue/violet, a spot on Janove, strings strings strings, vocals. You could have heard a pin drop, that’s how much everyone was focused on what was happening on stage – no matter if you liked the song or not. Strong.

As conclusion, we got Forloveren – a perfect ending. Seconds after the last note, everyone was on their feet, the band came up to the front, the curtain dropped, a few bows, and off they went. While the audience started to demolish the opera house … or at least that’s how it sounded. Madness. But fully deserved.

The break before the encores was quite long (but well, a potty break for 100 people can take a bit *g*). Then it started again just like in the beginning, with Helge marching on stage in front of the curtain. A short wave to the maestro, and then it was time: for the Begravelsespolka.

All reports of the first two shows had mentioned it as the absolute highlight, and what can I say: It cannot get better. So absolutely bombastic, intoxicating, breath-taking – and since everyone was still standing from the cheering for the encore (or, like at the DVD concert, stood up again when the Jackal started with “All rise!”), this was the song where we finally arrived in the middle of a typical Kaizers concert. And honestly, this was the right time to get up; it wouldn’t have fit before that … what would you do when there is a beautiful string passage? Stand there and twirl your thumbs? Naah, it was much better to sit through a few rock parts and wait until it fits to stand. And during the polka, it did: Everyone was clapping throughout the whole song, and of course singing, and stomping. And – just a side-note – the dialogue between the Jackal and the audience, “Kva synes du om meg?” / “*screech*” was incredibly funny. *g* And then we got the tap dance. Wohoo! Sheer madness.

And that leads to the only negative thing about the concerts (and to make that clear right away, “negative” means something like “maybe not 100% perfect” here *g*): The Begravelsespolka was just TOO great. The rest of the concert was fantastic, incredibly amazing. And then it was time for Begravelsespolka, and that one was even better, by so much – that made the rest of the concert pale a bit in comparison. During the first concert, there was just a little thought in the back of my mind that they would play Begravelsespolka later and that everybody said that one was so great. During the second concert, I constantly thought: “Wow, that was great, and then they will still play Begravelsespolka, YAY YAY YAY!” – and during the third one I suddenly realized after they had played the polka: “Actually, I wouldn’t mind them playing only Begravelsespolka over and over and over again all night, because it cannot get any better”. And the rest of the concert didn’t deserve that, because it was fantastic as well. But that part was “only” fantastic, not FAENTASTISK!!

After that, they had to “calm down” the audience again a bit, and that worked perfectly fine with Sekskløver (including an introduction of the band). A beautiful ending to the night … before the audience started tearing down the house again. Incredible! Of course Kaizers came back on several times and were cheered wildly, together with the arranger and conductor, the orchestra, and the choir. At one of the concerts, all “Kaizers” (including the conductor) actually switched places, which was quite funny I thought. *g* The orchestra threw their hats high in the air, “Violeta” danced again, and the White Russian swinged, until the curtain dropped a last time. And walking out, blissful faces all around …

Hach. Did I say “hach” already? =:-))

02.11.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Månefisken, Oslo)

Saturday, November 3rd, 2012
02.11.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Månefisken, Oslo)

02.11.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (Månefisken, Oslo)

Saturday, November 3rd, 2012
02.11.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Månefisken, Oslo)

So, what’s the first thing you do after you return from three weeks of vacation in the US? Right. First, you spend two days finishing the translations of the Kaizers lyrics, collecting Kaizer news, and getting everything online, and then you get on a plane to Norway (to be there for a total of twelve hours), for the release party. That’s totally normal for a concert junkie. So if this report should sound strange or weird at places, blame it on the jet lag and the all-night party. That might be the reason. =;-)

Anyway. At first, nobody had a clue where the concert would take place – but in the end, everyone with a ticket or a spot on the guest list managed to find their way through. Even though I didn’t get to Oslo until the evening, we found the time for a fast vorspiel – and a little hint, just in case you want to know: always time your Kaizer vodka shots so that everyone pours them down right during the line “Aldri drikk vodka, Violeta!” =;-) Then it was time to venture out to Månefisken. I had never even heard of that venue, but the first impression was positive: not too big, but still a real concert hall with a stage. The stage itself was rather low and in a corner, so not the best view; but then, the hall wasn’t overcrowded, so there wasn’t a problem to find a nice place with decent view. But it was just too dark to take pictures …

The night started with a short introduction by the record label boss and then with the Jackal, alone on the piano. He wanted to lead us through the process of how a Kaizers song comes into being. Step one: At home in his kitchen, at the piano, with coffee and tea, and with Tusen dråper regn! Right from the start, the audience was hot and everyone was singing along loudly. The Jackal was excited: “Wow, 400 spectators in my kitchen, what a great atmosphere!”

After the opening song, the Jackal asked the man with the “magic hands” up on stage. According to the Jackal, his hands have been elected the most beautiful male hands in all of Hordaland: Omen! Which is the next step in creating a Kaizers song … the Jackal gives the song into the hands of the pianist. And in this version, we got to hear Hjerteknuser. Or actually, not only did we get to hear it, but we also got to sing. =;-)

Next up was the “newest band member”, and at the same time the oldest: Thunder. He’s been with Kaizers for a long time, but anyway, he will still be “the new one” when Kaizers are on stage at the age of 100. And he will be 102 then. *g* We got to hear a premiere now, because during “Din kjole lukter bensin, mor”, it wasn’t Hellraizer this time who got to sing a duet with the Jackal, but it was Thunder. The first two songs didn’t really hold any surprises in the piano version, because we’ve heard that version before; but this was really something new. If you’ve seen this song performed live with the whole band before, you’re just so used to where and how to clap – and suddenly, this doesn’t really fit anymore! But the song worked great in this version as well, and the audience sang along loudly.

Then it was time to bring in the rest of the band! While Hellraizer, after arriving on stage, noticed: “Oh, I forgot my guitar!”, the Jackal explained to us that they are an extremely rhythmic band. And that’s why they have a drummer – okay, he’s not so great when it comes to being rhythmic, but he’s doing his best!

The next song was Philemon Arthur and the Dung, and the Jackal almost didn’t have to sing himself anymore. The audience was ready, and was waiting intensely for the new songs – actually, everyone was so excited that we didn’t want to miss a thing. “Admit it; everyone needs to go pee, but you don’t dare to, because right then we’ll play THE song!” THE song was Drøm videre, Violeta. And even though you should assume that if there are so many hardcore fans in the audience, the big hit doesn’t draw such a big reaction, it did; the atmosphere was amazing, and the choir was incredibly loud. You see, I’m talking in superlatives, but it was really obvious how everyone in the venue knew all songs by heart, and of course this makes a difference. Not necessarily a difference to the positive – the more die hard fans, the more critical an audience tends to be as well. But in this case, there really wasn’t a lot to complain about. And despite all the tension and the unusual situation, the Jackal guided us through the evening very entertainingly.

And now it was finally time for the songs from Vol. III: “Let’s start calmly, so that those who cannot handle this can get to the back.” First up was Aldri vodka, Violeta – and I gotta admit, I don’t really remember anything specific about the live version. Which probably means that it was pretty close to the album version and didn’t contain any huge surprises. I really love that song, and I loved it live as well, and after the – again – really loud singing of the audience in the end, the Jackal claimed that this was the most moving moment ever for him on stage and that he even had tears in his eyes. Well, I would guess that the moments when he was actually crying his eyes out on stage have been even more moving than that, but in any case, it was awesome!

The second song from Vol. III was Siste dans, which works perfectly live (even though it was a bit hard for me to sing “la la la” in the end instead of “It’s a hard knock life”… uhem. *g*), and last up was the Jackal’s personal favorite, Forlover. I might have to give that song a few more rounds, but up to now, it’s definitely not my favorite, and it also didn’t grow on me in the live version, compared to the album version. The bridge part that is played by the orchestra in the recording was done by the band – first Killmaster played a two-part guitar solo (and seemed slightly overwhelmed by the task, but well, there’s time enough to practice *g*), then Thunder played a bass solo, and finally Omen and the Jackal did a four-handed piano part. Definitely impressive!

And with that, the concert was over already … well, except if we want some encores? OF COURSE we did, and we got them – first KGB, then Støv og sand (because there is an unwritten rule in rock music that every concert must contain some blues), and then, as conclusion, the song that made them: Ompa til du dør. And here, after all the praise and excitement, time for a bit of criticism: Uh, what? Release concert? I hadn’t heard the album yet, and I had hoped to hear at least one completely new song at the concert, instead of those “oldies” as encore?

I mean, I can totally understand it – the new songs are terribly complex, so it probably takes quite a while to manage to play and perform them right. But maybe Kaizers could have played more songs in the first part; maybe two songs of the Jackal alone on the piano, then two with Omen, and two with Thunder – that way, they wouldn’t have had to practice so terribly much more, but we would have gotten more new stuff. But then, on the other hand, the conclusion with all the well-known hits was perfect as well. Difficult to say …

All in all, it was a great concert, even though it was rather short. But in the end, it wasn’t really a concert, but “only” a release party. And the very unique audience definitely made up for that!

After the show, it was great meeting up with everyone again, lots of other fans who came to the show, one or another drink, walking all across Oslo in the middle of the night, a bit of a nachspiel, until I had to get on my way back to the airport around 4:30 … The whole trip was way too short, but it was so much fun! THANKS to everyone, you know who you are, it was awesome! =:-)

02.03.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Sentrum Scene, Oslo)

Sunday, March 25th, 2012
02.03.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Sentrum Scene, Oslo)