About Per Ole Hagen

Avid concert photographer and music journalist. Works with Music IP management at the Norwegian Brodcasting System (NRK).

Blastfest, Day four, Saturday

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

The last day of Blastfest had Satyricon as headliner. With Immortal out of play and an inactive Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon are the only ones, together with Mayhem, of the big black metal bands in Norway. There are no signs of Satyricon giving up, on the contrary. The closing gig on Blastfest showed that they are still one of the absolute best live acts on the metal scene today. The other bands that I saw the last night, were Decapitated, Destruction, Tsjuder and Finntroll. (Picture above: Satyricon)

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Blastfest – Day Three, Friday

Posted on February 21, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

Friday night at Blastfest I chose to see all the bands at the main stage. As the day before, the fans had a good time, the beer was flowing freely, and the mood was friendly and good, like it usually is at metal festivals. The bands I saw were Borknagar, Cryptopsy, Dark Funeral, Paradise Lost and At The Gates. (Picture above: Dark Funeral)

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Blastfest – Day Two, Thursday

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

The Blastfest metal festival started last year, and has so far become a success. It is situated in Bergen, at Garage during the day and at USF Verftet at night. I didn’t go last year, but this year I am here, and yesterday I saw 5 bands from Sweden, Israel, Ireland and UK, with Watain as the headliner. (Picture above)

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Slipknot in Oslo

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

Slipknot is one of the most successful metal bands, and have been so for the last fifteen years since they released their first, self-titled CD in 1999. I had never seen them before when they played at Oslo Spektrum tonight.

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Dropkick Murphys With Friends

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

Last night was a busy concert night in Oslo. The two best venues in town, Rockefeller and Sentrum Scene, had audience friendly bands. I started out at Sentrum Scene, where Dropkick Murphys were the headliners, with Blood Or Whiskey and The Mahones as guests. (Picture above: Al Barr from Dropkick Murphys)

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Black Debbath From Outer Space

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

Black Debbath have just released their seventh full length album, “Universell Riffsynsíng” (Universal Riff Opinionising – thank you Google Translate!), and last might they presented songs from the album, plus some older songs, at Rockefeller in Oslo. (Picture above: Lars Lønning)

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Mannskoret vs Svartlamon Hardkor

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

There is one thing that must become a tradition in Norway. And it is more beautiful than all other traditions. That is the meeting and faux combat between Mannskoret (The Male Choir) from Oslo and Svartlamon Hardkor from Trondheim at the end of January. For many of the choir members, and also many of their friends, this also marks the end of the “white”, alcohol free month of January. I attended this happening last night, which so far is the third meeting between the two choirs.

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Tour de Force with Ole Edvard Antonsen

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

Ole Edvard Antonsen has been the leading classical trumpeter in Norway for many years. We have some other great trumpeters, too, but none as versatile as Antonsen. In 1992 he released Tour de Force after having released a CD with French classical trumpet concertos. Tour de Force was something totally different, it sold 150.000 copies and won him a Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy). Last night he played songs from Tour de Force and two following CDs live at the National Opera.

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Junipher Greene and Friendship

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

I have written about Junipher Greene in another post on this blog. Last night they held their yearly concert at Rockefeller in Oslo, starting their 50 year anniversary as a band. As support they had the new bands, Friendship, aptly named after Junipher Greene’s historical debut album, Friendship from 1971.

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The Norwegian Spellemann Winners 2014

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

Tonight Spellemannprisen – the Norwegian Grammy – was held in Stavanger, and broadcast on NRK1. Here are photos and videos of the winners. A big congratulation to all of them.