After a lot of festivals in Norway, it’s now time for some festival dates in Europe again. First one was Eier mit Speck festival in Viersen. Not really right around the corner for me, but well, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? =;-)
Even though traffic was bad this weekend, I made it to the festival grounds in time for the German band Phrasenmäher, and that was absolutely worth it – a very entertaining concert, and a very promising audience! And it continued like that throughout the evening with the bands Motorjesus and Betontod; the festival was nice and cozy, and there was a great atmosphere in front of the stage. And in the back, people seemed also interested in what was happening – so all in all, very promising!
Unfortunately, the band before Kaizers Orchestra, Triggerfinger, was a bit of a letdown, and it was obvious that quite a few people left the festival at that time. A pity! Luckiliy, however, it got more crowded again before Kaizers came on stage. They were about 15 minutes late; not much of a surprise, as the changeover time was very short with only 20 minutes. It had worked for the other bands, but it was just too short for Kaizers.
They had the Russian Dance as intro again. All afternoon it had been obvious that the audience did not or hardly know Kaizers – you could count the Kaizers T-shirts in the audience on the fingers of one hand, and beforehand, a lot of festivalgoers were asking “what kind of headliner is that?” Anyway, in time for the concert, the fans were gathering in the front!
But the rest of the audience had to be convinced first – according to the Jackal’s poll, at least three fourth of the audience were seeing Kaizers for the first time. And to cut it short: The concert was strange. It was fun, the audience participated willingly, but it didn’t quite catch on. One reason might have been missing communication… the Jackal hardly talked at all between the songs, and when he did, it was just the usual “hello” and “thank you” and “who has seen Kaizers before”. As soon as he did some more, like for example when the audience was cheering in Resistansen, the audience was totally into it. But it happened way too rarely… it seemed to me as if the audience was ready to play along and do anything and just needed a spark, but Kaizers didn’t give that spark. The concert was good, but it missed just a bit to be great. Of course you could argue that this spark should have been given by the audience, not the band – but then, if the major part of the audience has never seen a band, I don’t think you can expect that. Then it’s the band that needs to convince the audience, and that’s what I was missing. I’m kinda curious for feedback from people who’ve seen Kaizers for the first time at that festival.
The setlist: Ompa til du dør, Bøn fra helvete, Delikatessen, Din kjole lukter bensin mor, Veterans klage, Sigøynerblod, Resistansen, Diamant til kull, Psycho under min hatt, Svarte katter & flosshatter, Hjerteknuser, Kontroll på kontinentet, Maestro.
There were no encores, even though the audience (including me) had absolutely expected them, and they were written on the setlist as well. Seemed like the audience didn’t call Kaizers back on stage enthusiastically enough. It really didn’t look and sound that quiet to me, as the audience response was good (at least in the front and considering that the audience didn’t know Kaizers), and so the end was rather abrupt and sudden. That’s not the way to gain new fans, I fear… And I have no clue why they didn’t play En for orgelet this time (which was clearly the best-known and most popular song at Southside festival).
Well, “de slutter aldri å overraske deg” – “They never stop to surprise you.” Right!
So there’s not a lot to report from the concert, since there was almost no talk, as mentioned. I was surprised by the middle part of Veterans klage, where there was some kind of strange sound effect on the organ – sounded funny. Then there were a few song announcements à la “if you know only one Kaizers song, then it’s this one” and “you’ve probably never heard that song before, but it’s a huge hit single in Norway”. The latter was Hjerteknuser of course, and it starts “like this” – just that, unlike at other concerts, “this” was just the Jackal pointing to start the song; not him jumping off the barrel or dropping a towel.
Towards the end of the concert, there were lots of crowd surfers coming in, and Hellraizer was complimenting the security guys because they were doing a good job. “It’ good to be nice to the kids! It wasn’t like that in Norway a few days ago.” Hmm.
But to finish on a more positive note: Whenever there was some audience interaction, everyone had lots of fun, and the atmosphere was awesome at least in the front. And they played Diamant til kull, yeah! =:-D
Comments
Hallo, der Bericht ist auf jeden Fall nachvollziehbar. Ich habe es ähnlich empfunden. Das Publikum fand ich allerdings sehr ätzend. Nur Herumgepoge vor der Bühne. Zu vergessen darf man auch nicht den Becherwurf nach Frontmann Jan Ove. Er konnte ja gerade noch so ausweichen. Vermutlich war dies der Grund, dass das Ende so plötzlich kam und es schier zwei Minuten gedauert hat, ob Kaizers nun noch eine Zugabe spielen oder doch nicht bis die Musik anging. Ich hatte zumindest das Gefühl, dass dadurch die Setlist extrem gekürzt wurde. Sehr schade!
Freuen wir uns auf 2012 - Clubkonzerte, wo Leute gezielt hingehen!
Habs auch so empfunden mit den Kaizers. Ehrlich gesagt habe ich mich aber gewundert, dass sie nach den Ereignissen in Norwegen überhaupt pausenlos weitertouren. Klar, man kann es übertreiben aber in Norwegen herrscht immer noch Staatstrauer und wenn die Kaizers 1 Woche danach noch nicht wieder in fröhlichster Hochform auftreten, finde ich das absolut verständlich. Man kann ja nicht so tun, als wäre nichts passiert und Rock’n’Roll ein eigener Kosmos. Also : Vor dem Hintergrund - Hut ab.
Das Konzert liegt mittlerweile zwar schon recht lange zurück, aber ich hatte mir die ganze Zeit schon vorgenommen, einen Kommentar zu schreiben. Ich habe definitiv schon viel bessere Konzerte der Herren Kaizer gesehen, konnte aber durchaus nachvollziehen, dass sie keine Zugabe mehr gespielt haben. Ich fand das Publikum in den Reihen 5-10 unmöglich. Erstens waren sie total stressig, weil sie meines Erachtens nur pogen wollten, was ja jeder nach Belieben machen soll, so lange man Leute, die mit Herzblut dabei sind nicht deren Konzert versaut. Wenn man dann aber irgendwelche Schuhe ins Gesicht bekommt oder das Gefühl hat, da vorne könnten für den Großteil der Leute genauso gut "De Höhner" spielen. Als dann gegen Ende auch noch ein Bierbecher Richtung Janove flog, hatte ich schon befürchtet, dass sie nicht noch mal auf die Bühne kommen. Die Unruhestifter hatten währende der Lieder, speziell aber in den Pausen auch nichts Besseres zu tun, als nach ihrer blöden "Helga" zu rufen. Ich fand es echt sehr schade, vor allem für die Band, da sie extra für den einen Tag hier her gekommen waren. Ein paar Dinge muss man als Band sicherlich abkönnen, aber ich kann verstehen, wenn ihnen das alles ein bisschen zuviel war. Mich würde ja mal brennend interessieren, wie die Band es genau empfand? Für eine Stunde Spielzeit von Norwegen nach Deutschland, kein besonders guter Auftritt. Das stelle ich mir schon etwas deprimierend vor. Weißt Du da Genaueres, Susi? Beste Grüße, Sascha
Der Bericht trifft genau das was in Viersen passiert ist... ein gutes aber komisches Konzert. Im Vergleich zu den anderen bisher erlebten war das Ende so apprupt, wie nie zuvor. Aber Düsseldorf hat dann für alles entschädigt was es hier nicht gab :) ( Ich sag nur 10 Minuten weißer russe :))