Last year was the first time I saw Charles Bradley at the Oya Festival in Oslo. I was amazed by his voice and also by hjs performance. His style is uniquely personal, but with strong influences from the Black Velvet man, James Brown. Today Charles Bradley played at Bergen Fest, and I realized I was right last year, he is unique!
Imagine Dragons is a new band, they released their debut CD, Night Visions in 2012. Luckily for them, the single from that CD, Radioactive, was voted the best rock hit from 2012 by the Rolling Stone Magazine, so they got a real kick-start to their career. Yesterday they played at Bergen Fest, and I was impressed by their live show.
Rival Sons is a four piece rock band from California, and if I had been short-sighted and with bad hearing, I would have thought they were Led Zeppelin when I saw them at Bergen Fest yesterday. When that is said, they are a great live band with their own personality. The audience in Bergen loved them, and that must be the most important thing.
The first time I saw Biffy Clyro, at the Hove Festival in 2010, I thought them to be good, but not sensational good. They had a charismatic stage show, lead by singer and guitarist Simon Neil. Yesterday night they closed the third day of Bergen Fest, and they ruled the stage. One of the best live concerts I have seen and heard this year. (Go to the end of the blogpost for the setlist.)
The first time I heard the Real Ones from Bergen some 15 years ago, I was amazed by their harmonies, and the general togetherness in their playing. This has been one of their trademarks, together with some really good songs. Yesterday night they played at Bergen Fest to a big and enthusiastic audience. (Picture above: David Vogt and Joergen Sandvik)
Nick Cave has managed to become more successful the older he gets. And he doesn’t really do much to maximize his success, with his morbid lyrics and sometimes quite unaccessible songs. But his show is always worth seeing, with high energy and great style. Tonight he played Bergen Fest, and tomorrow he plays Norwegian Wood in Oslo. They have something to look forward to in Oslo!
Steve Earle has had a long and sometimes bumpy career, but he has made more than twenty good CDs since his debut in 1986, and there is nothing that indicates that he will stop releasing new, good CDs in the future. Wednesday night he played a concert in Oslo and Thursday he played at Bergen Fest where I saw him.
Enslaved is the foremost Norwegian viking influenced metal band. They have played together since 1991 and they are one of the longest living Norwegian metal bands. Last night they played at the Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, in a collaboration with music streaming services company Wimp. Update August 24.2013: You can hear the concert on Wimp here. Continue reading
Bergen fest is one of the best summer festivals in Norway. It is arranged June 12 to 15th at the outdoor venue Bergenhus festning. This year’s headliners are Mark Knopfler, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Biffy Clyro and Mew. The great thing about this festival, is that in adition to the headliners, they have a lot of very interesting acts in a diversity of styles. (Picture above: Nick Cave)
The thirteenth Working Class Hero festival happened this weekend, and it was an artistic success, with artists like Ida Jenshus, Morten Abel, Mercury Motors, Oslo Ess, Judy Collins, Valkyrien Allstars, The Felice Brothers and many other artists and bands. Too bad that the people of Drammen don’t understand how lucky they are to have people who spend a lot of time, energy and money to give them this happening every year. (Picture above: Oslo Ess)
Artist Pictures Blog 