Three years ago one of the most talked about artists at the Oya festival in Oslo were Florence And the Machine. This year the band played the biggest stage at the festival, and the band had no problems justifying this. A big crowd saw them through their set, and they had a great time.
Amund Maarud has been one of Norway’s best blues guitarists the last 10-12 years. He started playing when he was a young boy, and was a member of the house band at the Oslo blues club Muddy Waters from he was 18. Seven years ago he changed direction with the band The Grand, playing heavy guitar based rock. At the Notodden Blues Festival he presented his new project that is a mix of blues and heavy rock.
Little Steven has a Norwegian favorite band called Cocktail Slippers. They are an all-female band with a distinct style, both musically and visually. Friday afternoon they opened up at Brygga at Notodden, before an audience of around 5000.
This year’s headliners at the Notodden Blues Festival included ZZ Top. The three elderly gentlemen from Texas played at an outdoor venue with a capacity of 10.000 people, and it was packed when the band came on stage.
Thursday the 25th blues festival at Notodden starts, with headliners like ZZ Top, Paul Rodgers, Roomful Of Blues, Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and many other great blues artists. Here are some of the artists from 2011 while we are counting down for this year’s festival. The winner of that year’s Blues Prize was Kid Andersen (picture above).
The headliner for the last of three concerts at Romsdalsmuseet during The Molde International Jazz Festival this year was Norah Jones. 5000 people had waited in the cold, but still sunny sunny weather for the star. She played twenty two songs from her 10 year career, and everyone went home a little warmer.
When Ane Brun entered the stage at Romsdalsmuseet on Thursday – an outdoor museum of old Norwegian houses – she was at home in more than one sense. She was born her in Molde and grew up here before she moved to Stockholm in 2001.
Soul music is known historically for their artists’ performances and their extravagant costumes. In later years many female soul artists have tried to enter the throne. Amy Winehouse was close, but Janelle Monáe looks like the most likely contender. Here are some pictures from her performance at the Molde International Jazz Festival yesterday.
Baskery
Steinkjerfestivalen was arranged this weekend for the seventh time with Behemoth, Kaizers Orchestra, Susanne Sundfør and D.D.E. as headliners. Three stages, great bands, music non stop for 8 hours each day, a smooth organization, and a great atmosphere made his year’s festival just as pleasurable as last year’s.
Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth was the headliner of the first day of the Steinkjer Festival in Norway. They followed the popular Norwegian band D.D.E. on stage, and you should think that was a bad choice.- But Behemoth showed why they are considered one of the world’s leading metal bands, and played a dark and extreme set.
Artist Pictures Blog 