Because of the pandemic, many of the regular guests for SXSW stayed home, so the attendance for the festival was lower than before. This also reflected on the Picnic, with fewer people. But the atmosphere was as it always is at Leeann’s – friendly, open, welcoming and including. And social distancing, for those who wanted, was not a problem. (Photo above: Jon Langford)
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The last day at Øyafestivalen starts early, and the last band stops at 11 PM, which means ten hours of music from six stages. Twenty eight bands and artists plus book talks and artist interviews. And after the last act has finished, the party continues at clubs in Oslo, like the other three nights. With the club day Tuesday before the festival venue opens, much more than a hundred bands and artists have presented themselves for their fans. (Photo above: Patti Smith)
Friday at Øya had sun, but a heavy wind that threatened many of the constructions at the venue. The organizers had torn down the covers on the fences around the venue to avoid the wind. Luckily nothing happened, and the fans had a good time this day, too. Personally I saw seven bands and artists, five of them female. (Photo above: St. Vincent)
While Wednesday had good weather at Bergen Fest – cloudy and not too cold – Thursday started out with rain and wind gusts from the morning, and it kept raining the whole day. The result was that the main stage couldn’t be used most of the night. The wind blew the rain in on the stage, so concerts had to be moved, and the opening act had to be cancelled. But the organizers at Bergen Fest are used to rain and did a thoroughly professional job. (Photo above: Thåström)
This year’s SXSW Barn Dance at Leeann Atherton‘s place is my 20th, and I have enjoyed all of them. I meet the great people of South Austin, I meet the delegates at the festival who have stayed one extra day to join this party, I get to eat delicious bbq, and I her a lot of good music. As an end to a busy SXSW week, the Barn Dance is the perfect way of doing it. (Photo above: Hajk with Leeann Atherton)
Norway has always had a special place for Leonard Cohen, for many reasons. One is that Marianne in So Long Marianne is Norwegian. Also because many of his albums and songs were huge hits in Norway, but often not recognized in the rest of the world. In 1993 the album Cohen på norsk was made with Norwegian artists singing his songs in Norwegian, and last night the artists from the album plus more than twenty others played a tribute concert at Oslo Spektrum. (Photo above: Odd Nordheim and Safari perform Hallelujah)
The year was 1984 and I was a music teacher at Hartvig Nissens Skole, one of the two high schools in Oslo to offer a full music line. Besides teaching music history, harmony, music theory, and conducting the school choir, we had a class choir in my class, plus some of the girls formed a harmony octet. Norwegian TV made a feature for the program Musikknytt, and here is the result.
Madrugada were one of Norway’s most sought after band in the years 2005-2007, until their guitarist Robert Buraas died in 2007. The band continued playing together for a year, but then their singer Sivert Hoyem went solo, and he has so far released five solo CDs, the last one, Endless Love, this year. He is recently on a tour to promote the CD, and yesterday night he played at Studentersamfundet in Trondheim.
Unni Wilhelmsen is one of my favourite singer songwriters. She has made good songs and released great albums since the mid 90’s, and is always a pleasure to see live. Tonight she played at John Dee in Oslo, as part of her summer tour. Here are some pictures from the concert.
Josh Homme is 40 years old today, May 17th. He is one of the leading musical artists on the newer hard rock and stoner rock scene, with present and former membership in bands like Kyuss, Eagles Of Death Metal, Queens Of The Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures. Here are some pictures of Josh Homme from different live concerts.
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