The year 2015 has been a good one for concert photography, with some twelve festivals and several separate concerts. I have no idea how many photos I have shot from concerts, but I have tried to pick out the twenty I am most satisfied with. Except for the top five, I have problems ranking the others. It usually depends on how I liked the concert or the band. You can make up your own mind. (Photo above: audience for Alt-J at Bergen Fest)
This year I have seen some 270 concerts all in all, at festivals and venues in Norway, Spain and USA. At some I have seen the whole concerts, others I have seen the first three songs or more. Some have been good, some not so good, while others have been excellent. Here are my best concerts from 2015. As usual, it has been difficult to say which are the best, also which ones are better than the others, but here are the concerts from #20 to 37.
Just like 2014, 2015 was a good live music year for me. I got to attend 12 festivals and lots of stand alone concerts in a variety of styles during the year. As always, it is hard to pinpoint exactly which concerts were my favorites during the year but I have tried. In this article you will find #20 – #37, and here are my best concerts of 2015, from #19 to #1.
One of the best signs that Christmas is coming up, is the amount of concerts that are held from the end of November to Christmas eve. You have the typical Christmas concerts, where two or three artists go together to present a repertoire of known Christmas songs and carols, plus some of their own hits. Then there are artists and bands that have regular concerts in December every year. BigBang is one of these bands, and yesterday they held their pre-Christmas concert at Sentrum Scene in Oslo.
Black metal has always existed outside of the established culture, both by choice and also from lack of acceptance. So also in Norway, until four years ago, when our Department of Foreign Affairs started educating their aspirants in black metal history, acknowledging the international reputation of Norwegian black metal. Since then the aspirants have got a yearly lecture one black metal, and this year it happened as a road trip with a twist. (Picture above: Order in the cowshed)
The first time I saw Katzenjammer, was at their debut concert at byLarm in 2007 or something. I have seen them several times since then, but it has been three years since the last time. Last Night they celebrated their 10 year anniversary since they started playing together at Oslo Spektrum with fans from Norway, Germany, UK and Holland in the audience. (Picture above: Anne Marit Bergheim from Katzenjammer)
In Norway we have a few of what can be called grand old men in popular music. Åge Aleksandersen is one, and Bjørn Eidsvåg is another. They have both produced albums for more than 40 years, and are still productive. Both write good, meaningful lyrics in Norwegian and catchy melodies, and they both tour around the country. Åge Aleksandersen comes from a rock tradition, while Bjørn Eidsvåg’s background is as a singer songwriter. Last night Bjørn Eidsvåg held a concert at Oslo Spektrum with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, KORK and several guests. (Picture above from the left: Kurt Nilsen, Elvira Nikolaisen, Lisa Nilsson, Gabrielle Leithaug and Bjørn Eidsvåg)
Hedvig Mollestad is one of the toughest ladies playing the guitar. She plays with her own trio, a very personal mix of intricate jazz and pure heavy gutar rock. The trio has been on a hiatus while Hedvig Mollestad has been home with here baby, but now they are back with a vengeance. Yesterday they played at John Dee for an enthusiastic audience.
Last night Junipher Greene celebrated their 50 years anniversary as a band at the club Cosmopolite in Oslo. The band was active from the late 60s to 1982, then they had a comeback in 2008. Since then they have played regularly at festivals and a yearly concert Rockefeller in Oslo. Continue reading
Keep of Kalessin was formed twenty two years ago and is still playing together. They have had some personell changes, the most notable lately is that their singer, Thebon, left the band two years ago. The rest of the band has been the same for ten years, and you can clearly hear this when they are playing live. Thursday night they played at Rockefeller, celebrating the ten year anniversary of their label Indie Recordings.
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