Prosessen

Var dette alt?

Monday, August 17th, 2009

I’ve seen lots of Kaizers concerts. Good ones, bad ones, festival shows, club shows, you name it. Lately, the concerts have changed… not to the worse (not at all!), but they are somehow different.

It started with the “b-sides tour”, the tour where Kaizers played lots of songs they normally don’t play. What did I expect before that tour? Honestly: “Yeah sure, they say that every time, and then they play the same stuff as always. Just like they always say they’ll change the setlist every day, and in the end, they never change anything.”

Then I heard about the setlist from the first concert and couldn’t believe it. But hey: “Yeah, okay, first concert. They’ll change the setlist, latest when they come to Europe.” Yes, of course they did. But only slightly! And I would have bet all my money on a “boring” setlist, at least in Europe.

Then, out of nothing, they suddenly announced the Våre Demoner album and the corresponding club shows. Something completely different. A triumphal tour, I have to say – it was just perfect. And 100% different from every other Kaizers show I’d seen so far!

Then the concert together with Farmers Market. Now there’s another cooperation with Nephew. Geir is doing documentaries about Kaizers. They announced a theater play, containing their music.

The festival shows this year are fantastic. I’ve only seen one up to now, but that was one of their best festival shows I’ve seen. And from what I read, the other festival shows are at the same level – which is something that is fairly unusual for Kaizers, to be honest. They tend to have a few great concerts and then a bad one. That’s just the way it is – or the way it used to be, at least.

So, why am I writing all that? Well, to me it seems that at the moment, Kaizers try really hard to NOT do the usual stuff. To do concerts differently, to play different songs, to change songs. Or in other words, to not get bored by what they are doing.

And yes, that’s really what I feel they are doing: Trying to hold on, trying to keep things interesting. Or maybe even to make them interesting again. I have a kind of feeling that they are burned out. That they can’t go on the way they used to. That they either have to do something different or call it a day and stop. No more Kaizers.

And honestly, this summer, this triumphal Våre Demoner tour followed by the fantastic festival shows, would be just the time to quit. ‘Cause you should quit while you’re ahead, right? And I doubt it can go up much higher. They are at their best, absolutely.

So yes, I admit, I am a bit afraid Kaizers will be history soon. I hope they won’t, I hope they can find a way to go on, to have fun in what they are doing, and I really don’t want them to quit.
But if they do, I won’t be one of the people screaming “you can’t do that to us”. Because it’s not about us, the fans, but about the band. And we have the memories. And the music. Of a fantastic band.

And this video sums it all up – another hint? Hopefully not…