Konzerte

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

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?

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Berichte, Events, Konzerte | Comments Off on 28.06.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Ravnefesten, Kristiansand)

22.06.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Gamlebyen, Fredrikstad)

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

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!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Berichte, Events, Konzerte | Comments Off on 22.06.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Gamlebyen, Fredrikstad)

21.06.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (OverOslo, Oslo)

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

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 …! =;-)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Berichte, Events, Konzerte | Comments Off on 21.06.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (OverOslo, Oslo)

22.05.2013 77 Bombay Street (Universum, Stuttgart)

Saturday, June 1st, 2013
This entry doesn't exist in English.

Konzerttechnisch gesehen war der Mai ziemlicher Wahnsinn – Art Brut, Benzin, dann eine Woche New York inklusive Kaizers-Konzert, dann Honningbarna und zum Abschluss noch 77 Bombay Street. Die wollte ich unbedingt mal wieder sehen – nachdem sie mich beim Open Air Gampel 2011 sofort überzeugt hatten. Also keine Müdigkeit und auf ins Goldmarks … oder nein, kurzfristig verlegt ins (deutlich größere) Universum, gutes Zeichen!

77 Bombay Street sind in der Schweiz riesig – hierzulande aber noch quasi unbekannt. Die Musik kann man wohl am besten als eingängigen Pop auf Englisch beschreiben, und genau da haben wir sowohl die Stärke als auch die Schwäche der Band. EINGÄNGIG. Ohrwurm, aber absolut! Lieder wie “Up in the sky” oder “I love Lady Gaga” hört man einmal, singt am Ende schon mit, und zwei Wochen später immer noch. Und interessanterweise funktioniert das auch auf Platte: Die Lieder kann man immer und immer wieder nebenbei hören, sie sind einfach schön, gehen einem aber nicht auf den Geist.

Aber wie gesagt, es ist auch gleichzeitig die Schwäche. Hört man auf die Texte oder liest sie gar im Booklet nach, ist man doch enttäuscht, denn … nun ja, “banal” ist noch nett gesagt. Zwar sollen da durchaus immer wieder Gesellschaftskritik oder ernste Themen drinstecken, aber über eine minimale Prise kommt die Band nicht raus. Schade! Man muss es also wirklich als seichten Pop ohne Tiefgang nehmen.

Das ist ja aber auch absolut in Ordnung, solange die Musik Spaß macht. Und dementsprechend freute ich mich auf das Konzert – war aber erst mal ernüchtert. Denn was stellt man sich beim Stichwort “seichter Pop” vor? Genau, vier weichgespülte Grinsebacken auf der Bühne, die ihre Lieder runterspielen und dazwischen eher unbeholfene Ansagen ins Mikro grinsen. Und genau das war es. 🙁 Die erste Hälfte des Konzerts fand ich absolut enttäuschend und fühlte mich simpel und einfach “im falschen Film” – das mag ja ganz nett sein, aber es ist nicht meine Welt. Absolut nicht. Am Tag zuvor hüpfte noch der Sänger der Honningbarna um mich rum, da fühlte ich mich um einiges wohler …

Aber – zum Glück – zu früh verzweifelt! Nach einer Weile wurden 77 Bombay Street immer lockerer und damit auch sympathischer. Der Lead-Gesang ging reihum, jeder durfte mal ans Mikro, es wurde sehr unterhaltsam und man merkte, was die Jungs musikalisch so alles draufhaben. Und als dann als letztes Lied noch “Waiting for tomorrow” akustisch und ohne Mikros dargeboten wurde – auch wieder auf alle Band-Mitglieder verteilt und mit lautstarkem Mitsingen des Publikums – da hatten sie bei mir absolut gewonnen. Das war stark, wahnsinnig stark. So viel Ausdruck sucht man bei anderen Bands vergeblich.

Mal sehen, wie lange es dauert, bis sie es wieder nach Deutschland schaffen – und wann der große Durchbruch kommt. Denn der muss kommen – radiokompatible Ohrwürmer und musikalisches Können, was will man mehr?!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Berichte, Events, Konzerte | Comments Off on 22.05.2013 77 Bombay Street (Universum, Stuttgart)

21.05.2013 Honningbarna (Zwölfzehn, Stuttgart)

Saturday, June 1st, 2013

I was quite surprised when I received a newsletter announcing a Honningbarna concert in Stuttgart. Seriously? Honningbarna? Why would they tour in Germany?!

Just a little bit of background: Honningbarna is a Norwegian punk band that has been strongly influenced by Skambankt. I – as a Skambankt fan – have always seen them as a rip-off of Skambankt. However, after seeing them play at Odderøya Live last year, I have to admit that it’s not “as bad” as feared: Yes, they play punk songs with Norwegian lyrics, yes, they have a song where they mostly shout their own name, yes, that is quite like Skambankt. But then, their songs are different and they use a cello in addition to the usual instrumentation. And, just like Skambankt, they have a great energy on stage and their concerts seem to be really fun.

Still, an unknown band singing in Norwegian … I wouldn’t expect them to tour Germany. But hey, if the come, I’ll go and see them! I even got my ticket beforehand, because I returned from New York City the day before, and I knew that without a ticket, the sofa would win that night …

I arrived pretty late, when the support band was already playing. There were about five people outside the venue and – except for the band on stage – about five inside. *uhem* Subtracting the guys from Honningbarna, that left about four or five paying (?) guests. Ooops.

It did get a little bit better until Honningbarna went on stage, but still there weren’t more than 10-15 people there. And honestly: If I had been in charge, I would have forced the support band to watch the concert instead of standing outside or hanging out backstage. But well.

Honningbarna didn’t care about how many people were there (or at least they didn’t show it). They delivered! Full energy, jumping around, screaming – impressive, especially with such a small audience! It might have been a bit too much in the beginning though … I mean, I would have come forward and stood closer to the stage, but I don’t want to jump, I don’t want to mosh, I don’t want to watch out for anyone suddenly jumping into me. And during the first song, singer and guitarist left the stage and started jumping around wildly in the front – which was awesome and is probably typical “them”, but it made all the spectators draw to the back and to the sides to get out of the danger zone. 😉 Uhm, probably not what was intended.

Anyway, it was an awesome (and intimate *g*) concert and great fun. I’ll really need to get the albums – because even though I speak Norwegian, I didn’t have a chance to understand anything they were singing. Next time I’ll come better prepared. 😉

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Berichte, Events, Konzerte | 1 Comment »

17.05.2013 Janove Ottesen (Sjømannskirken, New York City)

Monday, May 20th, 2013
17.05.2013 – Photos Janove Ottesen (Sjømannskirken, New York City)
More photos...

On the day after the concert in New York City, there was a little extra bonus for all Kaizers fans: The Jackal played at Sjømannskirken’s celebration to honor the Norwegian national day. Alone on the piano (actually, the whole band was asked to play, but for some reasons that didn’t work out), without a real setlist, very spontaneously – or at least that’s how it seemed.

These are the songs we got to hear:

  • Hjerteknuser
  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Di grind
  • Romantisk salme in F-dur
  • Drøm videre, Violeta
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Forlover

A great concert! Even though the Jackal pointed out several times that things might go wrong – normally, he doesn’t play the songs on the piano himself, and he hasn’t played them for a long time. And in addition, not all Kaizers songs work with only the piano. And yes, some notes did go wrong, but nobody minded that. That’s just the logical result: “I write such complicated songs by now that I cannot play them myself – which is of course great, to debut in New York City with such C moments …”

But the Jackal definitely didn’t need to worry about that! The audience was twofold. In the front, around the piano: American Kaizer fans who were singing along every single word (or rather every phone sequence *g*). In the back: Norwegians who wanted to see what the Sjømannskirke had organized to celebrate the day, but who hardly knew the songs. And in the end, everyone was excited about the concert! But it did seem like the Norwegians needed a while to wake up … =;-)

The one thing I found sad was that the Jackal didn’t take the time to come down for a bit after the gig, to give the fans the chance to say thank you for the concert(s). There was only a handful of people there, but it would have meant a lot to them. On the other hand, it is totally understandable of course that the work part of the day was done after the gig …

But at least the fans had the chance to see two concerts instead of only one – and as a concert junkie, I totally approve of that of course! *g*

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Berichte, Events, Konzerte | Comments Off on 17.05.2013 Janove Ottesen (Sjømannskirken, New York City)

16.05.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City)

Monday, May 20th, 2013
16.05.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City)
More photos...

Kaizers Orchestra in New York? Well, I am a loyal fan, but there’s a limit to everything; I don’t need to be at EVERY concert … at least that’s what I decided when the show was first announced. But after some more consideration … New York had been on my list of cities to travel to for a long time, but there had never been a good opportunity to actually do that – and the flights were affordable, May was the perfect time for vacation for me, and it wasn’t hard to convince a friend to come along. So well, why not? A week in New York City, including a Kaizers concert! =:-)

I guess I don’t need to write anything about New York City here – a great city! Unfortunately it was a bit chilly for May (except for the day of the Kaizers concert; that day, the weather was just perfect!), but the city was absolutely impressive and exciting. A great vacation. =:-) And on Thursday it was finally time for Kaizers!

Honestly, I really hadn’t expected much of this concert. Kaizers concerts in new cities tend to be rather “standard”, nothing special, because the “newcomers” to the Kaizers family will be overwhelmed by what they get no matter what – even if they get “only” a minimal concert without much extra effort. In addition, the concert was far from sold out (you could still order very good tickets on the website a couple of days before the show), and that of course is bad for the atmosphere. Also, the audience would probably be made up of a few American hardcore fans and a lot of “oh, fellow Norwegians visiting, never heard of them, but let’s go there anyway”-Norwegians living in New York. But hey – when you’re in New York anyway, you’re not gonna miss out on the concert of course. *g*

The concert took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in a concert hall that was probably intended to host classical concerts, ceremonies, or talks. So there were fast seats, a balcony, and a stage without any special decorations – well, of course Kaizers couldn’t bring their video wall. Actually, they even had to rent most of their equipment except for the pump organ and guitars. But with a red velvet curtain in the background, it didn’t seem like anything was missing on stage, the stage decorations were just a little minimalistic. But to make up for it, the Jackal had found his tuxedo again. =;-)

The atmosphere was awesome even before the doors opened – and very very exhilarated and excited. No wonder, many of the fans had been waiting for this moment for years and years! So I got to meet the biggest American hardcore fans before the show (cheers to all of you!), until people made their way inside. In the auditorium, it looked a bit sobering though: lots of empty seats, and – for whatever reason – these seats were all in between the taken seats. Since tickets were for specific seats, this was pretty stupid and looked quite sad, too many empty spaces everywhere. =:-( Still, the excitement grew, and at precisely 7 p.m. the show started. Lights out, spot on, Russian Dance!

And: Screaming on! *g* Yep, of course I had expected excited fans, but that was definitely way over what I had reckoned. Kaizers hadn’t even entered the stage yet, but the fans were already screaming and screeching from the top of their lungs. It definitely didn’t sound like the auditorium was half empty, not at all. =;-) And of course the fans got even louder when Kaizers actually entered the stage, live and in color. Goosebumps, hell yeah! And interestingly enough it seemed that most “real” Americans had managed to get their seats in the front rows while the “Norwegian” Americans were farther back. Perfect!

At the beginning of the concert, the atmosphere was quite weird … On the one hand, fans were soooo enthusiastic, on the other hand, they were in their seats – and had to stay there. The ushers had made that perfectly clear right from the start; it wasn’t even allowed to go up to the stage before the concert started (well, except if you were wearing a Konzertjunkie shirt, didn’t hear about that weird rule, and went to the front to say hello to people there … somehow, nobody sent me back *uhem*).

So we had an audience that was really well behaved and sitting in their assigned seats, shaking and dancing as much as possible in a sitting position, singing along from the top of their lungs (partly in a bit of gibberish, of course), and adoring the band. After the third song, the Jackal couldn’t take it anymore: “Hey, stand up and come all down and to the center!” The poor ushers looked terrified, but the Jackal didn’t have to say that twice – everyone jumped up and crowded in in front of the stage, in the aisles and between the seats. That was when the concert turned from great into perfect. My thought at that moment: They are about to tear down the Met. Wohoo!

Let’s start with the setlist:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Bøn fra helvete
  • Svarte katter & flosshatter
  • Støv og sand
  • KGB
  • Delikatessen
  • Sigøynerblod
  • Bak et halleluja
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • Veterans klage
  • Evig pint
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Philemon Arthur & the Dung
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Resistansen
  • Forloveren
  • Ompa til du dør
  • Hjerteknuser
  • Maestro
  • Dieter Meyers Inst.
    ——–
  • Begravelsespolka
  • Die Polizei

So all in all, the setlist was a bit more classical or “old-fashioned”, with a few surprises (Evig pint! <3) and just about two hours of playing time. To jump ahead a bit: I was totally amazed by the concert. One reason was of course the whole situation - there's this tiny Norwegian band that I discovered totally coincidentally ten years ago, on stage in a city on a different continent, in front of screaming fans; and I'm there. =:-o (And in addition to that, I was greeted by lots of people with a "are you Susi" right after I arrived and got lots of comments and thank-yous about this site ... =:-O Guys, you made my day, it's so awesome to hear that the work I do here actually is of help and interest to others!!!) Another reason was that the concert was so incredibly ... relaxed? It's hard for me to put it into words, but it felt like Kaizers didn't have anything to win or lose at this concert, and therefore they went into the show much more relaxed than with other concerts. Usually, they are "at work" and have to deliver. Here, it was clear right away that the fans would love the concert, no matter what would happen on stage - and so there was no pressure at all on the band and Kaizers could play their concert without worrying about anything. They obviously had great fun on stage. The Jackal tended to drift off into "stand-up parts" once in a while, which made the concert even more entertaining. And even though there might have been some problems with the sound and playing - simply because of the borrowed instruments and unusual sound on stage - everyone seemed to have fun, on stage and of course in front of it. There are already a few reports about the concert online, so here are just my notes without too much explanation:

  • “Kaizers Orchestra in New York, for the first and last time!” – “It feels somehow weird to come here and promote the band, and then to never come back …”
  • The audience sang along very loudly during Bøn fra helvete – and keep in mind that at that time, everybody was still sitting!
  • “This might be the best show you’ve ever seen!”
  • During KGB: “Can you hop up and down? Bounce, New York, bounce!” *lol*
  • During Delikatessen, Omen was busy writing in his diary. When everyone on stage “froze” and stood there motionless, the Jackal asked Hellraizer: “Is everything going fine? Any problems we should know of?”
  • During Bak et halleluja, the audience had to shout “wop!” like usual. “Hey, that’s not loud enough!” – and of course it worked even better (and louder) after that! And the Jackal managed to get even the folks on the balcony to stand up.
  • En for orgelet was translated to “One for the pump organ and one for me” this time.
  • Then it was time for some small talk. The Jackal wanted to know what the first thing was that Hellraizer did in New York. “Oh, I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, and then back to Manhattan – you know, I have this bridges thing when I travel … You’ll have to tell me what you did in the city in the meantime.” – Jackal: “Oh, so you want to meet Jeff Bridges?” – Hellraizer, appalled by the bad joke: “Uh … sorry guys, the show’s off …” But the Jackal apologized and admitted that it wasn’t a stand-up show. =;-)
  • Of course there was the obligatory poll where the fans come from – lots of fans from America in the front, then a whole lot from Norway, two from Germany, one from Sweden (“Get out!! No, just kidding …” works in NYC as well. *g*).
  • After Killmaster’s solo in Kontroll på kontinentet, the Jackal complimented him: “They already love you!” But Killmaster didn’t seem satisfied … Jackal: “Well, I see you’re not satisfied with the solo. But you can do better next time! Or … no, actually not, because there is no next time.”
  • Before they played Resistansen, the Jackal explained that he has so many interesting stories to tell. “Too bad they are all in Norwegian, so you cannot understand them! But actually, Norwegian is easier to understand than to speak. Right? You probably understand half of what I am saying … in English.”
  • Of course the rest of the band already played the intro to Resistansen during the Jackal’s monologue. They didn’t really manage to transition into the song afterwards, so the Jackal stopped Mink: “Stop, it’s not working! And anyway, your cymbal is upside down, that means you’re playing the song backwards!” *lol*
  • “Feels like home!”
  • “Thanks to the Met for having us! Who would’ve thought we belong in a museum already? I’m not even 40 yet, but only 29!” Next up was a quiz about how old Hellraizer is – right, 12 is pretty close. Actually, he’s 14. *g*
  • Before the concert, Kaizers had met some fans on the street already, and they were really glad about that. They always dreamed to play in New York one time, but they would have expected to maybe play in some small pub. “But no – it’s the Met!”
  • Before Hjerteknuser: “This is the song that payed for the trip!” *lol*
  • Someone in the audience shouted “Maestro” after that statement, but no: “Maestro? That is the song that payed for the last tour …”
  • About Hjerteknuser: “Hmm … do you think that could break in America?”
  • “We traveled a long way for this – do you mind if we play one more?”
  • Of course nobody minded, and Begravelsespolka as first encore got a great response as well. And then, as conclusion: “a song for the Germans – a Norwegian band singing German in the USA”.

An amazing conclusion for a terrific concert – even though the singing didn’t continue this time after Kaizers went off stage. But instead there were gleaming eyes and euphoria all around, and the fans jumped at the memorabilia – setlists, plecs, barrels (which they even managed to smuggle out of the Met in the end, hidden from the security).

All in all it was an awesome concert. No, an awesome experience! It was great to finally get to meet the “US fans” in person and not only via the internet. And the concert was really something special, once in a lifetime, and … hach. A wonderful evening, there’s not really anything else I could say about it. THANK YOU to everyone who was part of it!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Berichte, Events, Konzerte | Comments Off on 16.05.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City)

25.04.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (KOKO, London)

Saturday, April 27th, 2013
25.04.2013 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (KOKO, London)
More photos...

The next step towards world domination: Kaizers Orchestra take over London! And the fans are all coming along … =;-)

For me, that meant a week in London, filled up with lots of action – sightseeing in bright sunshine every day at daytime, and at night we went out to the O2 arena and some concerts. Yay! Quite exhausting actually, but a great vacation. Kaizers really picked the perfect week for their trip to London.

Finally it was Thursday and thus the day of the concert! After an extensive Vorspiel at our flat (where we – amongst other things – found out that both ladles and tea strainers are perfectly suited to fill up small bags of confetti *g*), we got on our way to the legendary KOKO. Just before the doors opened, there was quite a queue there, and right from the beginning it was obvious that there was only a small percentage of British fans in the audience. You heard mostly Norwegian everywhere – okay, with a bit of German blended in, and yes, of course also some English. =;-) But during the concert it was totally clear that most of the audience consisted of fans that had traveled to London to see the show. On the one hand, that meant of course that Kaizers probably did not win over any new fans or “conquered England” with this concert, but then: what other band manages to fill up a venue of 1500 people somewhere abroad? For most bands, it’s only a handful of “hardcore fans” that travel abroad for shows. So wow, that was definitely impressive!

Kaizers were supported by the Scottish singer Siobhan Wilson. Honestly, nobody really seemed to care or listen – I have to admit that I didn’t either. But then, I was still busy handing out the last packages. =;-) And of course admiring the venue – as if it was made for Kaizers! It seemed like an old opera theater, with galleries and boxes, three or four tiers, red velvet everywhere … just beautiful.

At 9:00 pm, the lights went out and the Russian Dance came on. It got more and more crowded in the front – and in my opinion, too crowded and a bit uncomfortable. That’s the problem if a venue is filled up with fans and fans only – everyone wants to be in the front. And where I was standing, we got regularly showered with beer from the galleries above … which means that I’ve definitely experienced more comfortable concerts. =;-)

It was obvious right from the beginning that this would be a legendary show – the atmosphere was indescribable, the audience incredibly loud, and EVERYONE was into the concert. Not like it usually is, that half of the audience is there for the party only. So considering the audience, this was a very good “Norwegian” concert with a very enthusiastic audience. But in London!

The Jackal mentioned a few times that this was the “first and last Kaizers concert in London”. Apart from that, there wasn’t really much talk at all – maybe because Kaizers just didn’t know what language to use? The poll in the beginning showed that there were about 100 people in the audience that did not understand Norwegian. Still, the Jackal switched to talking Norwegian after asking that. At least part of the time – I gotta admit, by that time I had been in England together with a group of Norwegians for five days; so I don’t have the slightest clue when he was talking English and when Norwegian. *g* But as I mentioned, there really wasn’t that much talking anyway. I would assume that this was due to the fact that KOKO had a strict curfew at 11, and even without talking, Kaizers easily played the two hours.

The setlist was pretty much standard: Aldri vodka Violeta, Siste dans, Tusen dråper regn, Din kjole lukter bensin mor, En for orgelet en for meg, Ompa til du dør, Bøn fra helvete, Det polaroide liv, Sigøynerblod, Forloveren, Støv og sand, KGB, I ett med verden, Kontroll på kontinentet, Philemon Arthur & the Dung, Svarte katter & flosshatter, Hjerteknuser, Maestro. Encores Begravelsespolka, Bak et halleluja, and Die Polizei.

Right from the beginning, they made eager use of the barrels (even though some guitarist had to be encouraged – “Get your ass up there!”), the audience was singing along loudly (very impressive at the end of Din kjole lukter bensin), and quite early on in the show, we got a “Say halleluja! Say save me Kaizer! Say PLEASE save me Kaizer!” part. During Philemon Arthur, the Jackal seemed like a priest, standing in front of the crowd with his arms spread – so impressive! And they celebrated the break in Svarte katter for very very long again, which was also absolutely awesome. Or, to use the Jackal’s words: “Watch out West End, here we come!”

Oh yes, and then there was Forloveren =:-D – and there was confetti in the air …:

Thanks a lot to Linda for the video! And if somebody accidentally filmed this song as well, maybe even from the galleries, let me know! *g*

As encores, we first got the Begravelsespolka – what was quite surprising by the way was that the Jackal was not wearing a tuxedo and later a red shirt on stage, but the “normal” suit like on the European tour. Which of course didn’t hurt the atmosphere though. =;-) Next up was Bak et halleluja – even though originally, they had probably planned to play Dieter Meyers Inst. And as very last song, they played Die Polizei because “You were a fantastic audience; you must all be Norwegians!”. And the song worked perfectly as conclusion of the concert … and after Kaizers went off stage for good, the audience kept singing for quite a while. Awesome! =:-D

Unfortunately, there was no time for another encore, but the concert was fantastic as it was. Actually, it didn’t really mean that much that it was in London – but the audience was totally unique and special. The atmosphere was magical, and – if not before that – I’m sure there were a few tears falling during Die Polizei …

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Berichte, Events, Konzerte | Comments Off on 25.04.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (KOKO, London)

15.03.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Samfundet, Trondheim)

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

Report by Lena V.

I wasn’t going to go to this concert. I had my last concerts lined up, five more to go before Kaizers’ big break. I had a couple of friends from the USA that were going there, and they were going to stay here a few days before and after the show because they wanted to see a bit of Oslo when they were in Norway. I had actually only met one of them before, and only briefly during a concert at Ås last year, so I could only hope that the visit would be okay – you never know what to expect when you’re going to spend several days with someone you’ve barely met. 😉 So, they arrived here on Wednesday, on Thursday we were up late having some drinks when someone mentioned the words “I wish you were going to Trondheim with us”. Well, there went the last of my savings – again. Kaizers have cost me a lot these past years, I’m sort of glad they’re taking this long break. 😉 In no time tickets for the train next morning were bought, and guest list passes (!) were in place.

We arrived in Trondheim a couple of hours prior to when the doors should open, just enough time for dinner and getting the luggage safely stowed away at a hotel room – or so we thought. But when we got to the venue we had to wait in the main hall for an hour and a half – it’s a good thing time goes fast when you’re in good company. 🙂
Finally, we were let in to the “circus tent” – that’s what the concert hall looks like – and found a nice spot up front. And more waiting. 🙂 So we got to talk some more, and enjoy the quite relaxed and laid-back atmosphere.

With no warning, the lights dimmed and “Russian Dance” started playing. And I was completely blown away by the reaction of the audience. The room practically exploded! I can honestly not remember the last time I was at a show with that kind of energy and joy from the audience. And I kept being amazed for the rest of the show. Wow. Thank you, Trondheim!

And the setlist was perfect. Well, almost. I wouldn’t have minded if they’d swapped Støv og sand for something else. Not that I don’t like the song, I just think they have so many songs that are better… 🙂
And this is where it gets hard to write this report. I hadn’t planned to write anything, so I didn’t take any notes during the show. And unlike Susi, I’ve got crappy short term memory. 😛 I did try to write down some of the highlights afterwards, but if I’ve gotten them wrong or backwards please don’t kill me. *gg*

The show started with Aldri vodka, Violeta – a perfect opener – followed by Diamant til Kull (yay!), Tusen dråper regn and Din kjole lukter bensin, mor. As usual, not too much talking during the first songs. When it was time for the big drum part of En for orgelet, Janove almost couldn’t get up on the oil barrel. I think he usually steps on a monitor to get up, but it wasn’t at its usual place for this show. He almost fell down, but luckily there was a roadie there to give him a hand. 🙂

Janove pointed out several times that the audience was crazy! Really crazy! They had been playing at Samfundet for ten years, and they had never experienced an audience this great there before!

Janove had his usual “where are you from” routine, asking if there were people there from some random Norwegian cities. I remember some people next to me shouting at Janove, trying to get his attention to a guy that had come all the way from Tokyo – but they didn’t get through. *gg* Well, it’s on paper now, that’s gotta count for at least something? 😉
Terje went up to him and whispered something, and then Janove wondered if there was someone there from Molde? The Norwegian football season had started that same day, and Stavanger had won their game, over Molde.

Someone had told Janove once, that if you’ve played a blues song with a really good response, you had to follow up with another blues song. So naturally, I ett med verden was followed by Støv og sand. But if you’ve played two blues songs with great response, you should play something else. And Kaizers have played all types of genres: blues, rock, blues, dance, rap, blues, dub (yes – they were great at dub), classical etc. But the best follow up to two blues songs, would of course be some gypsy music, this time in the form of Resistansen!

Kontroll på kontinentet started with Janove throwing an (invisible) ball at the audience, I don’t remember the purpose behind it. But I think it was during this song that Terje decided that it was a good idea to go crowdsurfing. Maybe it was, but it looked to me like he almost was dropped to the floor a couple of times, and when he got back on stage it seemed like he’d hurt his back a little. Or maybe it was just for show. 😉

At some point, I don’t remember during which song, Janove placed an imaginary golf ball at the edge of the stage, and he “hit” it with an accompanying drum sound with perfect timing. Nice detail!

Helge did his usual stuff. Taking notes, swaying eerily during Svarte katter, and being mysterious about his briefcase.

The band left the stage, and while waiting for them to come back the applause was just overwhelming. For the hundredth time that night I was surprised by the energy the audience showed. It was beautiful!
They got back on for the encore, first up: KGB. And then: Begravelsespolka. This nights version of it didn’t include the first verse, instead we got verse number two twice! Performed excellently, you would almost think it was planned that way. *gg*
They said goodbye again, and once more the audience got to fill the hall with applauding and cheering! And the band came back! As a second encore we got Die Polizei. It wasn’t on the setlist, so I guess they decided to play it when they found out what a wonderful and crazy audience we were! At the end of Die Polizei, Helge picked up a book and started reading. He got so wrapped up in it, that he didn’t realize the song was over until all the others had left the stage. *gg*

To sum it up: A fantastic concert, with fantastic friends. It was worth every krone, and every minute of motion sickness on the train! And the best part wasn’t the great show or the great audience, or the great setlist, but getting to know new people and really connecting to them.
And all because of Kaizers.

Setlist:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Diamant til kull
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • I ett med verden
  • Støv og sand
  • Resistansen
  • Ompa til du dør
  • Forloveren
  • Drøm videre, Violeta
  • Philemon Arthur & the Dung
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Svarte katter & flosshatter
  • Hjerteknuser
  • Dieter Meyers Inst.
    ——

  • KGB
  • Begravelsespolka
    ——

  • Die Polizei

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Berichte, Events, Konzerte | Comments Off on 15.03.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Samfundet, Trondheim)

10.03.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

The last day of the tour, the last club show in mainland Europe. After a pretty dull day spent at the airport, writing reports, we arrived rather late in Copenhagen and hurried to the concert. Therefore, my mood before the concert was quite … baaah. Vega is always awesome and I expected a great concert, but it was much too crowded already (the original plan was to see a calm and relaxed concert from the gallery), DJ Ralph Myerz was annoying (honestly: I really didn’t manage to find out what he added to the concerts – a mix CD would have done the same job …), and it was still one and a half hours until the concert started. Well, time to find an okay spot to stand – and I accidentally ended up behind some fans I knew, we chatted away the time until the concert (which of course killed my voice – but who cares, it was the final concert of the tour anyway) – and finally it was time for Kaizers!

After the first song, I suddenly had an awesome idea: Hey, today’s concert report will consist of nothing but “Well, how do you think the final concert at Vega was? Yes, exactly. Just incredible! And that’s how it was, no need to write anything else, and I’m taking the day off from writing a report!” – yes, after nine concerts and nine reports in ten days, you do start to get a little sick of it. =;-) But no need to worry – as soon as the Jackal started greeting the audience after a few songs and casually backheeled a flying paper ball at the same time (“Yes, I am a soccer player!”), it was time to get out my mobile again and take notes. Guess I just can’t do without. =;-)

The setlist was almost identical to the one in Cologne, just that it didn’t stop so abruptly and didn’t seem somehow “shortened”:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Det polaroide liv
  • Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • I ett med verden
  • Støv og sand
  • Sigøynerblod
  • Ompa til du dør
  • Bøn fra helvete
  • Forloveren
  • Min kvite russer
  • Philemon Arthur & the Dung
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Svare katter & flosshatter
  • Hjerteknuser
  • Maestro
    ———–
  • KGB
  • Drøm videre, Violeta
  • Begravelsespolka

My first thought when Kaizers entered the stage was: YELLOW. ‘Cause Mr. Hellraizer was wearing his yellow shirt again, and actually, we had just discussed that before the show. =;-) But we did get an explanation for it later on: Copenhagen was the conclusion of the tour (well – even though “conclusion of the tour” means that Kaizers will have ONE off-day now …), and that caused some tears during the sound check (but Hellraizer mopped them up afterwards). And to cheer himself up, he needed to wear the bright yellow shirt. OK, if it helps? Honestly, there were a few times in the concert where it seemed like you could feel the dark shadow looming over the concert – concerts at Vega are legendary, and this was the last one for a long time. A good reason to shed some tears … even though I didn’t really feel like that that night. Instead, I was just happy because of the great concert. But it did hit me the next morning – who knows, that might have been my very last time at Vega …

Before they played Din kjole lukter bensin, mor, the Jackal told us once more how they tried to find a female artist to sing the duet. They called up five Scandinavian singers, but they all said no. “They said we were difficult to work with and we don’t have any hits – and they said it like it was a bad thing?!” So Hellraizer had to take over again. But only in the beginning – later on it was the audience singing. Without any encouragement, everyone just started and sang as loud as possible, on and on. Beautiful!

En for orgelet was translated into Danish of course, and of course we got the drum solo on the barrel as well. And in the next song, the Jackal was up on the barrel again, this time to dance up there. Barrel dancing instead of pole dancing, exciting. =;-) But he stopped the stripping part already after taking off his jacket. *g*

Keith Richards says that when a concert is at its best, you gotta play blues (thus Støv og sand) – the Jackal says that when a concert is at its best, you gotta play gypsy music (thus Sigøynerblod). “Put your hands up in the motherfucking air!”

During Bøn fra helvete, Omen had to fish out his steel rim under Hellraizer who was already banging on the barrel. And after his part, he was sent back to his organ by the Jackal very harshly …

After Forloveren, the Jackal admitted this time: “The new songs are much more complicated than the old ones!” That’s true – Kvite russer is simple, but just as good! And it worked out great live again, including the Jackal holding a note for a loooooong time (and Hellraizer carefully checking his pulse in between to make sure everything was okay with him) and some yodel improvisations at the end.

During Kontroll på kontinentet, Killmaster jumped into the audience and had them carry him through the whole hall, just like in Prague – this time it took even longer before the audience returned him to the stage. “The best stage dive ever!” And how do you feel after that, the Jackal asked? Killmaster: “Oh my god, I’m starting to cry!”

Before Hjerteknuser, the Jackal asked whether we are all “kjærester”, thus lovers, now – and of course he got a loud yes. “Hellraizer, did you want to say something as well?” – “Sure, that about the lovers …” *g*

To make up for that, the Jackal dedicated a song to him during the encores, namely Drøm videre, Violeta – because it was March 10 and therefore an anniversary, because Hellraizer met his wife 25 years ago! Uh, yes. =;-)

As usual, the highlight of the evening was the Begravelsespolka – and in the beginning, the audience did not only clap along, but stomp, as is typical for Vega. So impressive! You hardly noticed that the Jackal screwed up a little and wanted to start too early, and the audience loved the song. Well, I guess it really is the best live song of the best live band at the moment … =:-D

I would definitely have expected a second encore after that, because both the concert and the atmosphere were awesome. But no, the lights went on quickly after the last song, and even though they were turned off again for a moment (probably by accident), which made the audience scream for more even louder and longer – there was no more song. That was really sad – but then, they probably couldn’t have surpassed the Begravelsespolka anyway, but only add a calmer ending to the concert.

And that was the conclusion of a fantastic tour. Fantastic both according to what Kaizers delivered and just overall – there was not one single concert that you could call bad (or just “worse”) in an objective way. All venues were of the exactly right size, so that they were really crowded, the atmosphere was great, and the performance on stage was perfect. And if they hadn’t done that before, Kaizers imprinted their memory into the brains of the audience with the Begravelsespolka for sure – so we can only agree, with a little sigh: “See you next time, whenever that might be!”

For me personally, this tour was just amazing again. It is fantastic to meet so many people (again) in every city, get to know new friends, talk away the days, and enjoy the concerts together. Thank you all for the great company and for bearing my quirks (“No, we won’t leave until they kick us out!!” – “Gnaah. Gotta. Write. Report. And how the hell does ‘Arbeitssieg’ translate into English?!” – “Soap bubbles! Yes! But you have to do it as well, I’m not gonna do it alone, shame on you if I don’t see you, argh!” *gg*). And just as big a thank you to everyone approaching me about the fansite, for all the kind words and gleaming eyes – it is so amazing to hear that there are more lunatics like me, who love this band so much. Don’t be offended if I don’t manage to remember all faces – but the joy about the nice words will definitely be remembered. =:-)

And whatever the future will hold, we’ll meet again – at other bands’ concerts, without concerts, or maybe at the reunion tour in 2025. Or who knows, it might be in 2016 already. Let’s just cross our fingers, be grateful for this tour, keep the amazing memories alive, and softly hum: “Andre applauderer, og det er sånne som oss!”

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Berichte, Events, Konzerte | Comments Off on 10.03.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Vega, Kopenhagen)

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »