Gogol Bordello is one of the hardest working bands in New York. Their show is full of action and is always fun to watch. Tonight they played in Oslo, at the outdoor stage Sukkerbiten on a small peninsula behind the National Opera House by the seaside.
The last day of Stavernfestivalen 2016 was sunny and warm, like Friday. And like the other days, the first act was a well known artist, to draw the crowd to the venue early. Around 10.000 people in all ages came this day, bringing the total to over 30.000 for the three days. That’s an impressive number, and the good thing for the festival is that the venue can take more if they want to next year. (Photo above: Ellie Goulding)
While Thursday at Stavernfestivalen was cloudy and a bit windy, Friday was sunny and warm, the perfect weather for an outdoor festival. All systems also worked from the start on the second day of the festival, the weather was great, and the crowd was happy and enjoyed the artists. (Photo above: Veronica Maggio))
Summer in Norway is festival season. You can literally go to several festivals every week in different parts of the cuontry. In earlier years I have attended different festivals in July, and this year I wanted to check out Stavernfestivalen, located between the seaside towns of Stavern and Larvik two small hours south west of Oslo. (Photo above: Maria Mena)
Neil Young is on a tour with a new band this summer. Last week he played at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, and last night he played at the Stavern Festival in Norway as the headliner. With Neil Young, you are never safe to what he presents, but I can take the concert he played as a repeat any day.
The last day of Tons of Rock 2016 was the best weather wise, sunny and warm. The crowd was still eager to see more bands, even if some of them were getting noticeably tired after the first two days. Most of the people were camping, since Halden doesn’t have a specially good hotel capacity. The day started with The Annex, while Bodies closed the festival twelve hours later. Between them we got Amon Amarth, Megadeth, Behemoth and many others. (Photo above: the audience to Hedvig Mollestad Trio)
While the weather gods were slightly grumpy at Tons of Rock the first day, they were in a better mood Friday. Overcast and a good temperature is perfect for an outdoor festival, and specially good for photography. The line up Friday had Alice Cooper and Ghost as headliners, plus Sixx:AM, Convergeand Norwegian favorites like Black Debate, The Dogs and El Caco. (Photo above: Alice Cooper)
The third Tons of Rock festival was arranged this weekend at Fredriksen Festning in Halden, Norway. The two preceding festival have both been successful, and with great artists, but this year they topped it with artists like Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Megadeath, Behemoth, Ghost and Sixx:AM. Thursday night had Black Sabbath as headliner. (Photo above: Ozzy Osbourne from Black Sabbath)
Friday at Bergen Fest had a noticeably younger audience than the first two days. The reason was obvious, with local hip hop hero Lars Vaular as headliner and bad boy YelaWolf, plus the British boy wonder Jake Bugg, this was the day for the young crowd. We also got the Canadian indie boys in Half Moon Run, a tropical party with Rudimental and the new British soul star, John Newman. (Photo above: Lars Vaular)
Thursday at Bergen Fest had a couple of my favorite bands – live and on album – plus some new ones. Wilco has long been a favorite since I saw them the first time at Norwegian Wood in 1999. I have seen Ghost several times the last years, and love their pop version of black metal. Sigur Rós isn’t my personal favorites, but they always make a great live show. Here are the artists I saw last night. (Photo above: Ghost)
Artist Pictures Blog 