2019 has been a busy year all over for me, and I have not been very good at posting here on my blog. I will try to do better in 2020. But I have been shooting many concerts and festivals, actually more bands and artists than ever before. Here are the first twenty of my favorites from 2019. (Photo above: All the Norwegian blues artists who performed at The Royal Albert Hall in November)
Another Notodden Blues Festival is over, and this was my 25th anniversary at the festival – easily on my top three list of all of them. The weather was excellent, many tickets sold, the bands and artists were great and I got to meet good friends and acquaintances. What more can you ask for? (Photo above: Steven van Zandt and the Mostar School of Rock.
This year’s Månefestivalen was my third in a row, and like last year, it was a hot happening. Beautiful weather, sun, hot, a perfect recipe for a successful festival. The festival had a mix of national and local artists, plus Wyclef Jean as the headliner on Saturday. And on Thursday, the building society OBOS sponsored a special day with four artiists and where the proceeds are donated to a local cause. (Photo above: Wyclef Jean)
This year’s Tons of Rock was my sixth time, and the first time at a new location. The former five years the festival has been held at Fredriksten festning in Halden, but from this year it will be held at Ekeberg in Oslo. There are always plusses and minuses t moving a festival – for Tons of Rock they lost a spectacular location, but have won a much higher capacity. And everything worked just fine during the three days the festival lasted.
OverOslo is a new festival to me, even if it has been going on for some ten years. It is located high at Grefsenkollen, a spectacular location with literally a view of all of Oslo. The only practical problem is getting up there, with only a quite narrow road winding up to the venue and no parking on site. But when you get there, it is definitely worth it.
Bergen Fest this year was four days with a great mix of artists and musical styles. just like their recipe has been for many years. I have had the great pleasure of seeing old favorites, new bands, indie bands, pop, hip hop, soul and Americana, all in four days. This year was no difference, with an eclectic mix of styles and new and old. (Photo above: Patti Smith)
The last day at the Inferno Metal Festival 2019 had a good variety of music styles. Prog metal from Opeth, black metal with lots of pyro from 1349, symphonic black metal from Carach Angren, epic black metal from Cult of Fire and blackened death metal from Archgoat. (Photo above: Ravn from 1349)
Saturday at the Inferno International Metal Festival had mostly Nordic bands on the Rockefeller stage. Norwegian bands Gaahls Wyrd, Taake, Impaled Nazarene from Finland plus Bloodbath from Sweden, and Der Weg Einer Freiheit from Germany. (Photo above: Old Nick Holmes from Bloodbath)
Friday at the Inferno Metal Festival had less symphonic and more black and death metal than the first day. This day was also the only day of the festival where there were still a few tickets left when the doors opened at 4 PM, but after a few hours the night was sold out, like the rest of the days. (Photo above: Jonathan Hultén from Tribulation)
The yearly Black Easter event, The Inferno Metal Festival, is on in Oslo. It started yesterday, with the first of four full concert nights at the Rockefeller Music Hall with bands playing on two stages for almost two thousand fans from all over the world. The headliner the first night was Dimmu Borgir.
Artist Pictures Blog 