Øyafestivalen 2016 – Wednesday With Aurora, Ane Brun, Jason Isbell and Skepta

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Per Ole Hagen

Aurora © Per Ole Hagen The Øya Festival in Oslo is the biggest music festival in Oslo. It was originally held at and around the medieval ruins down by the seafront. Three years ago they had to move the festival to a park close to the Munch museum, which also meant the capacity increased. The park is ideal for a festival, with a natural amphi for three of the stages. The fourth one is a huge tent, located at the farthest distance from that main stage, so they can have bands playing at the same time with no over hearing. Here are the bands I saw on Wednesday. (Photo above: Aurora)

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SXSW 2016: Eclectic Wednesday with Aurora, Leon Russel, Metal and Country Rock

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Per Ole Hagen

Aurora © Per Ole Hagen One of the good things about SXSW is the mix of all kinds of styles. There is a misconception among some of my fellow Norwegians that in Texas, everything is about country music. They can’t be more wrong, and specially during SXSW. I’d rather say there could be a little more country at the festival. On Wednesday I managed to see two metal bands – one sludge metal, the other doom metal – two country/Americana acts, a psychedelic pop act, one old time rock hero, a pop and rock singer songwriter and a modern pop artist. (Picture above: Aurora)

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Pstereo 2015 – With Susanne Sundfør, Band of Horses, Yelawolf, Ida Jenshus, Opeth, La Roux and more

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

The Pstereo festival is one of my favorite festivals, held in Trondheim in the second half of August, usually the week after the Øya festival. Both festival have some commonalities in that they have both eclectic bookings. At Pstereo this means that you have pop, electronica, Americana, metal and hip hop on the same stage. Here are photos of the artists at Pstereo 2015. (Picture above: Yelawolf)

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Steinkjerfestivalen 2015 – Friday With Seigmen, Roger Hodgson, Aurora, The Dogs and Dunderbeist

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

I have been attending Steinkjerfestivalen (The Steinkjer Festival) for some years, and seen it grow from an ambitious local festival to a big event. Last night was almost sold out, with more than 5.500 people attending, and tonight is all sold out, so total attendance for two days will be around 12.000. For a local festival in a town of slightly over 20.000 inhabitants, located 80 miles north of Trondheim, these are impressive numbers. The program is also impressive, with a mix of different styles, but it works like a charm. (Photo above: The Dogs)

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Eclectic Saturday at Bergen Fest 2015 with Jaga Jazzist, Kygo, Aurora, Tori Amos and Seinabo Sey

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Per Ole Hagen

Saturday at Bergen Fest 2015 followed up the eclectic mix from the day before. The headliner was Kygo, Bergen’s own DJ star, then Indie favorites Alt-J, uncompromising Tori Amos with her grand piano. Aurora is another coming star from Bergen, and Seinabo Sey is one of the best things coming from Sweden those days. Put in British folk rock with the Levellers, speed jazz from Jaga Jazzist and some more indie-folk from Kyla La Grange, and you have a mix worthy of one of Norway’s best festivals. (Photo above: Tori Amos)