The Blastfest metal festival started last year, and has so far become a success. It is situated in Bergen, at Garage during the day and at USF Verftet at night. I didn’t go last year, but this year I am here, and yesterday I saw 5 bands from Sweden, Israel, Ireland and UK, with Watain as the headliner. (Picture above)
Slipknot is one of the most successful metal bands, and have been so for the last fifteen years since they released their first, self-titled CD in 1999. I had never seen them before when they played at Oslo Spektrum tonight.
Last night was a busy concert night in Oslo. The two best venues in town, Rockefeller and Sentrum Scene, had audience friendly bands. I started out at Sentrum Scene, where Dropkick Murphys were the headliners, with Blood Or Whiskey and The Mahones as guests. (Picture above: Al Barr from Dropkick Murphys)
Black Debbath have just released their seventh full length album, “Universell Riffsynsíng” (Universal Riff Opinionising – thank you Google Translate!), and last might they presented songs from the album, plus some older songs, at Rockefeller in Oslo. (Picture above: Lars Lønning)
There is one thing that must become a tradition in Norway. And it is more beautiful than all other traditions. That is the meeting and faux combat between Mannskoret (The Male Choir) from Oslo and Svartlamon Hardkor from Trondheim at the end of January. For many of the choir members, and also many of their friends, this also marks the end of the “white”, alcohol free month of January. I attended this happening last night, which so far is the third meeting between the two choirs.
Ole Edvard Antonsen has been the leading classical trumpeter in Norway for many years. We have some other great trumpeters, too, but none as versatile as Antonsen. In 1992 he released Tour de Force after having released a CD with French classical trumpet concertos. Tour de Force was something totally different, it sold 150.000 copies and won him a Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy). Last night he played songs from Tour de Force and two following CDs live at the National Opera.
I have written about Junipher Greene in another post on this blog. Last night they held their yearly concert at Rockefeller in Oslo, starting their 50 year anniversary as a band. As support they had the new bands, Friendship, aptly named after Junipher Greene’s historical debut album, Friendship from 1971.
Tonight Spellemannprisen – the Norwegian Grammy – was held in Stavanger, and broadcast on NRK1. Here are photos and videos of the winners. A big congratulation to all of them.
(Picture above: Spellemann of the Year, Nico & Vinz. Photo: Kim Erlandsen, NRK P3)
In Norway we don’t have many legendary music business people, but we have a few. Per Eirik Johansen was one of them, but one year ago, on January 15, he died of a heart attack while sleeping, only 54 years old. On Thursday this week his family and several of the artists he worked with held a memorial concert for Per Eirik, celebrating his great influence on the Norwegian popular music scene at the Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo. (Picture above: Sondre Lerche and Jarle Bernhoft)
OK. So here is the first batch of my personal favorite photos from 2014, from Audrey Horne to Morudes. I might have loved the concert, or not, but I liked the visual performance and thought I managed to capture it on camera, too. Some of these bands and artists are well known, and some aren’t. Most are from Norwegian festivals and concert venues. I have posted them in alphabetic order, with no ranking of which I like the best. Enjoy! (Pictures above: Janelle Monae from the Oya Festival)
Artist Pictures Blog 