The second day of the Steinkjer Festival had Timbuktu & Damn as headliner on the big stage, and Highasakite and Black Debbath at the tent stage. But before them many good artists and band played. I had special pleasure hearing Maria Mena, Skambankt, The South and Highasakite again. (Picture above: Timbuktu)
2013 has been a good year for live music. At least it has been great for me. I have been to fourteen festivals, I have seen somewhere between 150 and 200 concerts this year, and I have enjoyed most of them. For some of them I have seen only part of it, but many I have seen the whole concert. Here are 15 of my best 30 concert experiences this year. (Picture above: the audience at Kvelertak’s concert at the Slottsfjell festival)
The twenty sixth Notodden festival is over, and it has been a great festival with lots of happy blues fans, great artists who truly enjoyed being at Notodden, and some remarkable and memorable concerts. The festival closed Sunday with a free concert at noon. Saturday was packed with music, from the morning until late night. Here is a report from the last two days. (Picture above: Dana Fuchs)
Friday’s biggest headliner at the Notodden Blues Festival was Van Morrison. He played the biggest outdoor venue at the festival, Brygga, with 8000 enthusiastic fans. Before Van Morrison, James Hunter played the same venue, and later at night Little Andrew, Beth Hart and the Royal Southern Brotherhood played the big tent. Summarized, a great day with one big positive surprise for me.
The Notodden Blues Festival is the biggest blues festival in Norway, and it is also wll known internationally, as being a part of the Mississippi Blues Trail. This years festival is number 26, and 2013 is also the city Notodden’s 100 year anniversary. I have visited the festival every year singe 1994, and it is one of my festival highlights every year. So far, this year will be no exception. (Picture above: Good Time Charlie)
Saturday at the Slottsfjell Festival had the same warm and beautiful weather as the first two days. The whole area was packed with happy people, and the mood was just as good as the other days. An outdoor festival without rain or cloudy weather is a rarity in Norway. I can’t remember more than a handful of the couple of hundred festivals I have attended since I was young, where the weather has been this good for the whole festival. (Picture above: Magdi from Karpe Diem)
Next week the 17th by:Larm festival will be arranged in Oslo. From the start in Trondheim in 1997, it has grown to be an imoportant festival for the music business in Norway. Every year record company executives, managers, media people and an increasing number of international representatives gather in Oslo for four days of music and seminars. Here are some of the artists from last year’s by:Larm while we are counting down to February 13th. (Picture above: Bernhoft)
This year’s Blues In Hell is over, and it has been a great two days with good artists, good blues and friendly people from all over Norway. The festival is held some 20 miles east of Trondheim at a place called Hell, which means a shallow cave in old Norwegian. The headliners at the festival were The Original Blues Brothers, Johnny Hoy, Tommy Castro, Vidar Busk, Roy Rogers and Rory Block. (Above: Johnny Hoy and The Bluefish)
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).
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.
Artist Pictures Blog 
