Stavernfestivalen
Jul. 10th, 2011 07:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tilly_stratfordOne of the nice things about having impulsive, easygoing friends like Rune is that you might suddenly find yourself at a music festival you never knew existed, in a tiny Norwegian port town you'd only heard about in passing.
In short: On Thursday Rune messaged me asking if I wanted to come with him to the Stavern Festival, on Friday we drove for hours and spent a day attending concerts in lovely green surroundings in a bay. I haven't attended a lot of music festivals and this was by far the smallest I'd attended - only two stages, but lots of good artists.
We had an absolutely lovely time, only marred by the fact that it poured the entire day and there was no shelter or place to sit. We didn't mind too much the first couple of hours but there is a special kind of misery that comes from spending five or so hours completely soaked to the skin.
But we still hanged in there to catch every concert that day, and the artists were (in chronological order):
Montée [MySpace page]: A progressive indie pop band I must admit I'd never heard of (I'm pretty clueless about current Norwegian music, Rune is way more up to speed) but the music was quite pleasant.
On the festival grounds was a large rock, and climbing to the top we discovered we got a great view of the stage - it was quite nice sitting up there just taking in the music (later on the security people stopped people from climbing up, no doubt to make sure there were no alcohol-related accidents).
Jahn Teigen [random song I enjoy: 'Bli Bra Igjen']: Okay, so Jahn Teigen's an artist I think every Norwegian person is familiar with, just one of those musicians that's been present in the media as far back as I can remember. For instance he represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest three times back in the seventies/eighties, famously scoring zero points with 'Mil Etter Mil', and then there's one I've still got a soft spot for, 'Do Re Mi'. Rune and I stood in the back, intending to observe the concert with hipsteriffic ironic detachment, but... okay, half a song in we were both having a ball. Jahn Teigen is just such a screwball on the stage and an ever-present part of both our childhoods, and in spite of some of his overly sentimental ballads there's a lot of catchy tunes there. One of the pleasant surprises of the day.
Oslo Ess [single: 'Alt Jeg Trenger']: A Norwegian punk rock band in the vein of early DumDum Boys. I hadn't heard their music before, but for once I knew the name. I think Rune was disappointed by the fact their music wasn't heavier, but of my discoveries that day, they were the ones I wanted to check out when I got back home, I liked the retro punk thing they were going for.
Jarle Bernhoft [single: 'Cmon Talk']: You might remember I was completely amazed by Bernhoft when I first saw him warming up for Kaizers Orchestra. He's still got that gorgeous, groovy music, though this time he didn't do his awesome one-man-band loop pedal magic (which was more than a little disappointing) but with the addition of a backing band he was still the most dance-inducing artist I saw that day. And still intensely talented, with an awesome voice (and an absolutely mesmerizing way of dancing). And the mohawk/glasses combo? Still cool as hell.
Admiral P [single: 'Snakke Litt']: Norwegian/Zambian reggae artist - having only heard his hit single I wasn't expecting much, but his catchy songs and extremely energetic presence on the stage made the concert very enjoyable. Rune wasn't convinced though.
Attending a reggae concert with a headfull of dreads makes strangers regard you like you're cool shit, apparently. Groovy. ...Though I'm really not a big reggae fan - it's good summer music and there's a couple of Bob Marley songs I like, but I've disappointed more than one guy in my time who've tried to break the ice by asking me about my tastes in reggae.
Now that we're on this line of thought, I just realized I didn't spot any dreadheads at all at the festival, though summer music festivals are usually overflowing with them. That makes me and Admiral P the only people there with luscious locks (his a little more luscious than mine - I wonder how other people get them so flexible?). Odd.
Rumble in Rhodos [MySpace page]: Punk/Screamo-ish band. Rune's acquainted with some of the band members and I've heard him talk about their music, but this was my first introduction to them. Rune enjoys their music a lot but it was... really not my kind of thing. By this time a lot of people had left the festival because of the heavy rain, so there were maybe fifty or so people at the concert, with about twenty people standing in front of the stage - though that didn't stop the lead singer from attempting to crowd surf. Maniac.
And finally, Roger Hodgson, the singer and songwriter of Supertramp - the only non-Norwegian artist playing that day. I must admit I've never been extremely invested in Supertramp, but I still cheered when 'Breakfast in America' started. Hodgson proved to be a very likeable artist, he sang the songs he knew everybody wanted to hear, and his backing band was really good. A very nice concert, though Rune and I left early - we were wet and cold and tired, and had decided to leave once Rune had heard his three favourite songs.
What's more, the sound was amazingly good. I could hear every word, every instrument - I can't think of a single time I've attended a big concert and been impressed with the sound quality - more often that not it's shit. When attending concerts I usually wear my high-end concert ear plugs (they're ingenious - rather than muffling the sound they just lower the volume with minimal loss of sound information), but I'd forgotten to bring them with me from Bergen. I was expecting to be half-deaf by the end of the day but there never came a point when the sound got too high or uncomfortable. All the concerts were generally good sound-wise, with the exception of Rumble in Rhodos. All respect to the sound technicians at this festival, they were obviously masters of their craft.
As for the weather that day - I mentioned the heavy rain, I was soaked to the skin halfway through (and considering taking off my shoes and socks and walk around barefoot, but opted against it because I'd spotted shards of glass on the ground earlier) and it didn't help that the day got progressively windier. My back eventually started acting up (Every single time. We've got a history of bad backs in my family, mine only ever seems to give me trouble when I stay still on my feet for too many hours) so I think my enjoyment of the latter part of the festival might have been a bit influenced by that. I'd really wish there had been a single place to sit - a bench or chair or something - but no go.
But all in all, had a lovely time. Rune and I agreed that apart from the weather it had been a perfect day.
In short: On Thursday Rune messaged me asking if I wanted to come with him to the Stavern Festival, on Friday we drove for hours and spent a day attending concerts in lovely green surroundings in a bay. I haven't attended a lot of music festivals and this was by far the smallest I'd attended - only two stages, but lots of good artists.
We had an absolutely lovely time, only marred by the fact that it poured the entire day and there was no shelter or place to sit. We didn't mind too much the first couple of hours but there is a special kind of misery that comes from spending five or so hours completely soaked to the skin.
But we still hanged in there to catch every concert that day, and the artists were (in chronological order):
Montée [MySpace page]: A progressive indie pop band I must admit I'd never heard of (I'm pretty clueless about current Norwegian music, Rune is way more up to speed) but the music was quite pleasant.
On the festival grounds was a large rock, and climbing to the top we discovered we got a great view of the stage - it was quite nice sitting up there just taking in the music (later on the security people stopped people from climbing up, no doubt to make sure there were no alcohol-related accidents).
Jahn Teigen [random song I enjoy: 'Bli Bra Igjen']: Okay, so Jahn Teigen's an artist I think every Norwegian person is familiar with, just one of those musicians that's been present in the media as far back as I can remember. For instance he represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest three times back in the seventies/eighties, famously scoring zero points with 'Mil Etter Mil', and then there's one I've still got a soft spot for, 'Do Re Mi'. Rune and I stood in the back, intending to observe the concert with hipsteriffic ironic detachment, but... okay, half a song in we were both having a ball. Jahn Teigen is just such a screwball on the stage and an ever-present part of both our childhoods, and in spite of some of his overly sentimental ballads there's a lot of catchy tunes there. One of the pleasant surprises of the day.
Oslo Ess [single: 'Alt Jeg Trenger']: A Norwegian punk rock band in the vein of early DumDum Boys. I hadn't heard their music before, but for once I knew the name. I think Rune was disappointed by the fact their music wasn't heavier, but of my discoveries that day, they were the ones I wanted to check out when I got back home, I liked the retro punk thing they were going for.
Jarle Bernhoft [single: 'Cmon Talk']: You might remember I was completely amazed by Bernhoft when I first saw him warming up for Kaizers Orchestra. He's still got that gorgeous, groovy music, though this time he didn't do his awesome one-man-band loop pedal magic (which was more than a little disappointing) but with the addition of a backing band he was still the most dance-inducing artist I saw that day. And still intensely talented, with an awesome voice (and an absolutely mesmerizing way of dancing). And the mohawk/glasses combo? Still cool as hell.
Admiral P [single: 'Snakke Litt']: Norwegian/Zambian reggae artist - having only heard his hit single I wasn't expecting much, but his catchy songs and extremely energetic presence on the stage made the concert very enjoyable. Rune wasn't convinced though.
Attending a reggae concert with a headfull of dreads makes strangers regard you like you're cool shit, apparently. Groovy. ...Though I'm really not a big reggae fan - it's good summer music and there's a couple of Bob Marley songs I like, but I've disappointed more than one guy in my time who've tried to break the ice by asking me about my tastes in reggae.
Now that we're on this line of thought, I just realized I didn't spot any dreadheads at all at the festival, though summer music festivals are usually overflowing with them. That makes me and Admiral P the only people there with luscious locks (his a little more luscious than mine - I wonder how other people get them so flexible?). Odd.
Rumble in Rhodos [MySpace page]: Punk/Screamo-ish band. Rune's acquainted with some of the band members and I've heard him talk about their music, but this was my first introduction to them. Rune enjoys their music a lot but it was... really not my kind of thing. By this time a lot of people had left the festival because of the heavy rain, so there were maybe fifty or so people at the concert, with about twenty people standing in front of the stage - though that didn't stop the lead singer from attempting to crowd surf. Maniac.
And finally, Roger Hodgson, the singer and songwriter of Supertramp - the only non-Norwegian artist playing that day. I must admit I've never been extremely invested in Supertramp, but I still cheered when 'Breakfast in America' started. Hodgson proved to be a very likeable artist, he sang the songs he knew everybody wanted to hear, and his backing band was really good. A very nice concert, though Rune and I left early - we were wet and cold and tired, and had decided to leave once Rune had heard his three favourite songs.
What's more, the sound was amazingly good. I could hear every word, every instrument - I can't think of a single time I've attended a big concert and been impressed with the sound quality - more often that not it's shit. When attending concerts I usually wear my high-end concert ear plugs (they're ingenious - rather than muffling the sound they just lower the volume with minimal loss of sound information), but I'd forgotten to bring them with me from Bergen. I was expecting to be half-deaf by the end of the day but there never came a point when the sound got too high or uncomfortable. All the concerts were generally good sound-wise, with the exception of Rumble in Rhodos. All respect to the sound technicians at this festival, they were obviously masters of their craft.
As for the weather that day - I mentioned the heavy rain, I was soaked to the skin halfway through (and considering taking off my shoes and socks and walk around barefoot, but opted against it because I'd spotted shards of glass on the ground earlier) and it didn't help that the day got progressively windier. My back eventually started acting up (Every single time. We've got a history of bad backs in my family, mine only ever seems to give me trouble when I stay still on my feet for too many hours) so I think my enjoyment of the latter part of the festival might have been a bit influenced by that. I'd really wish there had been a single place to sit - a bench or chair or something - but no go.
But all in all, had a lovely time. Rune and I agreed that apart from the weather it had been a perfect day.
