As I have documented earlier here on this blog, I am a big fan of Jarle Bernhoft. Both as a singer, instrumentalist and as a songwriter. His voice is a great asset, and with his excellent songs and elegant stage presence, he is always fun to watch live. The last time I saw him live was in 2014, and on Wednesday this week I saw him again at the Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo.
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.
Vidar Busk has played blues professionally for almost two thirds of his life since he was sixteen years old. It has been a roller coaster with ups and downs during these thirty years. Musically he has always been sharp, and he has moved in and out of styles, from rockabilly and jump blues through New Orleans style music to soul, but the blues has always been there. These days he is back with his old band, His True Believers, and yesterday night they played at Rockefeller in Oslo.
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)
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.
Saturday night in Oslo this weekend was filled with live music of all sorts. The Hollies played at Sentrum Scene, Folkelarm with lots of folk musicians was held at the National stage for folk music, Team Me played at Rockefeller, Krokofant at Victoria, and at Youngstorget the bar/club Bonanza celebrated their 5 year anniversary in a big tent with live acts from Thursday through Saturday. I saw two of the bands there and saw Team Me in between. (Picture above: Erlend Hjelvik from Kvelertak)
Sweden have had many big pop acts during the last 40 years, starting with ABBA and so far ending with Avicii. They also have and have had some really great rock acts like Ebba Grøn, Thåström, the younger Lars Winnerbäck and Håkan Hellström. And then they have Ulf Lundell. He has been around since the mid 70’s and is still going strong. Yesterday night he played for an almost sold out Rockefeller in Oslo.
Henning Kvitnes has been around the Norwegian music scene since the 80s. First with his band Little Eden, then as a solo artist, going from English lyrics to Norwegian and gradually building a big and steady audience. He has played live at literally every nook and cranny in Norway, and yesterday night he played at Rockefeller to celebrate his 19th and last(!) CD, “Jada, vi esker …”. (Henning Kvitnes and Poul Krebs posing for the photographer)
In the mid 80’s Heavy Gentlemen were one of Norway’s leading live bands. Their members were from the elite of Norway’s rock, funk and blues musicians, and together they presented a funky and potent mix. The band played mostly in Oslo, but never released a CD as a band. The different members were however active in many other bands and together they represent more recordings than they can count. Yesterday night they reunited together with some friends at Rockefeller in Oslo to celebrate drummer Paolo Vinaccia’s 60 year birthday.
Charles Bradley has become one of my favorite soul artists after I saw him for the first time at the Oya festival in August last year. This year he played the Bergen festival in June, and he confirmed my first impresion. Tonight he played the Rockefeller in Oslo, and showed the fans that grown-ups can do just as well as the young ones.
Artist Pictures Blog 