A busy summer!

This summer will be pretty awesome! I have quite a few great shows to look forward to.

In June I'll see Neurosis for the first time, two weeks after that Iron Maiden plays in Stockholm on their "Maiden England" tour, one week after that there is the Slottsfjell festival here in Tonsberg and late in July Smashing Pumpkins are coming to Oslo!

The biggest act for me at Slottsfjell is without a doubt, Converge. I consider all four of these bands to be among my, maybe, top ten favourite bands so it'll be an incredible month!

And as if this isn't enough we also have tickets for the Black Sabbath show in November. Quite the year 2013...

Slottsfjell day two.

As stated in previous posts, Friday had a lot more to offer music wise than Thursday. First up was Black Tusk at the stage on top of the hill. The rain was pouring down and there was even some thunder and lightning which made the attendence a quite small one. The lucky ones who were there though got a great show as the band didn't let the weather slow them down.

It's amazing the quality stuff the town of Savannah, GA, has provided over the last few years. Kylesa, Baroness and Black Tusk. Is Savannah the sludge metal capital of the world?

Next up was Tortoise, a highly influentual 90's alternative band. If you haven't heard this band yet you're certain to have heard bands and artists influenced by them during the past decade or so. This is really good rhythmic instrumental post-rock/krautrock/indie/alternative... Call it what you want, it's good music!

Timbuktu and his band Damn! has a great ability to make people dance. That they did today as well. Great versions of some of his classic early 00's songs that I listened to a lot at the time.

After a short food break we were ready for some more punk metal. This time it was served by the canadians in Cancer Bats. They were ok, their sound was a bit too "american" and straight forward for me. They did a cool cover of Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" though.

One of the biggest signings the festival made this year, for me was Wolfmother. I've seen them twice before and they have always been great. This time wasn't that different either. The only small complaint I have with them is that when you have such a great set of tracks you can play from both of your albums (especially the first one) you should really show it. At a festival like this you have limited time (they played for about an hour), so I don't like it when they use lots of time doing jams. "White Unicorn" ended up in a The Doorsy druged out jam. I also wonder what the band had been drinking/smoking before they went on stage? They didn't exactly seem sober at stage. They still manage to deliver the goods so no complaints about it.

Finally we saw a couple of songs by Pure Love, the band of the former Gallows singer. An ok band that may have some potential.

All in all it was a great day and today should be nothing short of that either. Starting with Graveyard early in the afternoon and ending with New Order tonight. Looking forward to it!

See you at Fjellet!

Black Tusk in pouring rain.

The shoes were white before I went to the festival. And they looked even worse when I got home last night.

Tortoise.

Timbuktu & Damn! put on a great show.

Cancer Bats, the highlight being a cool cover of Beastie Boys "Sabotage"

Wolfmother. One of the highlights of the festival so far.

Finally we saw some of the Pure Love set.

Slottsfjell!

Waiting for Tortoise as the sun starts to show it's face! Black Tusk killed!

Slottfjell day one.

The first day of the festival didn't mean a lot of concerts for me actually. I saw some of Bare Egil Band, a little bit more of Rival Sons, a little less of Janelle Monaé, a little bit of Suicidal Tendencies and I caught the entire show of Seigmen.

Instead I had a great time meeting people that I don't see everyday and had a lot of fun conversations with like minded people music wise. A great first day, even though the music wasn't the best.

Now I'm sitting here hoping the rain will stop as I'm about to head to the festival area. It's gonna be a great day music wise today starting with Black Tusk in a 25 minutes!

Se you at Fjellet!

Bare Egil Band is playing at Kongescenen, with hits like "Åsgårdsstrand Blues" and "Om Henning Kranes Understell"

The audience during the Seigmen concert.

Seigmen.

A look ahead to the Slottsfjell festival.

With only two days until this years biggest happening in Tönsberg kicks-off I thought I would do a little "look ahead".

This year marks the 10th year anniversary for the festival so it should be something special. Already their first booking last year showed proof of this when they booked Seigmen, whom I wrote about yesterday. It's been a decent run of bookings since then as well. I'll go ahead and list the shows I plan to catch, day by day. You can find the entire program and everything else on the Slottsfjell festival website.

Thursday:

As this is the first time me and my girlfriend will attend the festival as parents (we missed last years festival as our son had just been born), we get one day where he'll have a sleep over at his grandmothers'. Thursday is this day so this will be the "party day".

Music wise the first day is probably the weakest one with only two "must sees" for me. These two are Rival Sons and Seigmen. That gives more time for socializing though so that's cool! I'll catch parts or the whole shows of a couple of others as well including Bare Egil Band, Janelle Monaé and Suicidal Tendencies. This evening will hopefully end at Total Bar, where an official Seigmen after party is being held. Hopefully we'll get there in time before the place is packed!

Friday:

Friday is probably the strongest day, in good competition with Saturday. I have a couple of more must sees this day. This will also mean a lot more running up and down the hill, as Slottsfjell is held at a hill with stages both at the top of the hill and further down. The most interesting shows are usually held at the top, with the biggest stage situated in the middle of the hill (or can you call it a mountain?). I'll start at the top watching Black Tusk and probably hang around there to have a good spot for Tortoise. This is one of the shows I look forward to the most at the festival. I really hope to hear the song "Djed", from their masterpiece "Millions Now Living Will Never Die". There is one more must see this day and that is Wolfmother. Timubtu & Damn! usually puts on great and fun shows so I'll so most of that as well. And why not end the night dancing to Chase & Status?

Saturday:

Saturday starts quite slow as the first band I want to see starts at 16.45 and that is Graveyard. The Swedish hard rockers should put on a great show and besides the Tortoise concert this is really one to watch. Apart from Graveyard other must sees for me are: Gallows, Red Fang and New Order! I'll catch parts or the whole shows of: Daniel Norgren and Lissie.

What other bands are must sees? I don't know too much about some of the other ones...

See you at Fjellet!

Seigmen - Live at Total

During the 90's, Seigmen from Tønsberg was one of the biggest rock bands in Norway. They played the big stages and venues, until they split up in 1999.

Since then they have done a couple of re-union gigs, most noteably on the Slottfjell-festival six years ago and at the Opera in Oslo four years ago. Both of these shows were of course very well attended, with thousands of people coming to see them.

Last night they played a "secret" gig in their hometown (the town where me and my family lives). To get access to tickets you had to be invited to this special website that was originally linked in an e-mail, sent from the band. Luckily we have connections relatively close to the band so we got that e-mail. So with the tickets in our hands we could only start to look forward to a very special evening.

I should write a few words about the venue as well. Total opened it's doors around christmas in 2010. The venue/bar is run by the people behind the Slottsfjell festival here in Tønsberg so music is a huge part of this place. All over the walls are old concert flyers, posters and stuff. It's named after  one of Seigmen's albums. So it's a special place for the band to play, to say the least...

I don't know if the circumstances were the reason but the show started a bit slow. Both the band and the audience seemed a little hesitant, as if they didn't really know what to expect from each other, mind you that Seigmen hasn't played "at home" for six years. As the evening progressed, band and audience got more comfortable with one another and everyone was able to let lose a little. About halfway in, after a spectacular presentation of Marius Roth's vocal abilities (his an opera singer) the venue kind of explode and the next half hour or so showed me why Seigmen must be mentioned among the big ones in Norwegian rock.

I kind of envied the people in the audience who have grown up with the band, knowing every lyric etc. Norwegian music was never big in Sweden (which is kind of sad as it has a lot to offer), so I had never even heard of Seigmen before I moved here- I've heard a lot about and of them since though. I know the feeling of having this band that has been with you your whole life, in front of you on stage, where you never thought you'd see them again. It's a special feeling! I had no problems appreciating the experience last night though!

This intimate venue was the perfect setting for Seigmen to mark their return, as we got some surprises last night that might lead to something more...? They are now playing a few festival shows this summer, starting at the Slottsfjell festival on Thursday, where they will be performing in front of about 10 000 people (me and "the missus" included) instead of the 2-300 people that were present last night. The festival-goers will not have the same experience as we did last night and I feel privileged that I was there to witness the spectacle!