Saturday was my last day at Notodden this year. It was raining hard during the night, but it stopped in the morning. My only complaint was that the soundcheck for the Supersonic Bues Machine woke me up early. They and the Original Blues Brothers were the concerts that sold the most tickets this year, and I was looking forward to it. (Photo above: Billy Gibbons and Supesonic Blues Machine)
On Friday at Notodden the music started early. The Union Blues Cup, jam sessions, concerts in the big tent and lots of other places from noon until well after midnight. The town Notodden triples its size during these four days, and there is music everywhere. Notodden Blues Festival was voted the world’s best blues festival in 2010, and it is also a part of the Mississippi Blues Trail. (Photo above: Walter Trout)
The 29th Blues Festival at Notodden in Norway is over. Four days with blues and related music styles all day and parts of the night. The official start is early night Thursday, and the festival ends with a concert Sunday at noon. Here are photos of the artists I saw Thursday at Notodden. (The winner of the Bues Prize 2016, Amund Maaraud and Little Steven)
Bruce Springsteen seems to like playing in Norway, since he has been here a lot of time through his career. And the Norwegian people definitely loves him. All his concerts the last years have sold out in minutes or hours. This summer he has played one concert in Oslo in June, and then a concert in Trondheim two days ago and one in Oslo tonight, for a total of 100.000 fans. I saw the first three songs of his concert in Oslo tonight.
Melissa Horn is one of the most gifted Swedish artists. She is a singer songwriter who started out with her first album 21 years old in 2008. Since then she has released four more albums, the latest, Jag går nu (I am leaving now) in 2015. Last night she played at Sukkerbiten in Oslo.
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.
Artist Pictures Blog 