Yay! Skambankt in Prague – the first-ever Skambankt concert that I could reach without getting on a plane. Awesome! OK, it meant seven hours of traveling anyway … but it was much cheaper than flying, and it’s so much easier to pack if you don’t have to fill all your liquids in tiny bottles. =;-)
I arrived in Prague in awesome sunny spring weather. I didn’t really make that much use of it though – I’ve been to Prague quite a few times before, so I skipped all the touristy stuff and preferred hanging out with a friend instead. Later, during the concert, Skambankt mentioned that they had been doing a Segway tour during the day. Wait, why did nobody ever tell me that there were Segway tours in Prague? I LOVE those thingies, my friend has never ridden one, and it would have been the perfect way to enjoy the sun. Well, next time then. =;-)
We arrived at the club about half an hour after the doors opened, and half an hour before Skambankt were supposed to start. I had been to the Kaizers show there last year (which was absolutely packed!), and I had of course expected this concert to be different – less people, less interest in the bands, more focus on partying and drinking. I had not, however, expected to walk into a venue that was basically empty! =:-o I mean, there were maybe five people sitting in the front and five more hanging at the bar, and up on the gallery there were two more – which actually turned out to be fellow Germans. =;-) We started kidding that we were probably more Germans at the concert than Czechs. Which was probably true. *g*
Anyway. Skambankt did NOT start at 8 pm as scheduled. Of course not, because there was basically no audience there … When they started half an hour later, it was a bit better. Still far from full, but it looked “okay” both on the floor and up on the gallery. It filled up more and more throughout the concert, and by the end of Skambankt’s show, it was pretty crowded. Not closely as crowded as during the Kaizers concert (which was way too crowded in my opinion), but an okay turn-out. Almost everyone was obviously there to see Karpe Diem though, and they clearly regarded Skambankt as the support band. And as Ted pointed out towards the end of the concert: Skambankt were doing what they always do, and if a concert is better than the one yesterday (uhhh, may I point out that your last concert was a month ago? *g*), this is due to the audience being better than the audience yesterday. Shortly after, Skambankt announced their last song, and the audience started shouting for Karpe Diem. ‘Nuff said … *rolleyes*
Anyway, there were some people that were interested in the concert and went along, so the audience wasn’t totally dead. They were just waiting for the main act … Skambankt absolutely delivered (except that they didn’t have Slukk meg on the setlist, booooh!), and the concert turned out just fine. Small and intimate, no pushing, lots of room to move – just not an absolute highlight. But: easy to get to. *gg*
The wall of death in Me sa nei was quite funny this time. They stopped, ordered the audience to spread out, and started the song again. And: nothing happened. *rofl* So they had to stop, actually EXPLAIN what they wanted the audience to do, and try again. =;-) Not without pointing out that while it might sound scary, there’s no need to worry, because there are lots of doctors around … (Maybe I should add here that the concert was part of a congress/workshop for Norwegian students of, amongst others, medicine … *g*)
It felt like Skambankt had to hurry through their set a little, since they had started so late. Not sure if they actually left out any of their planned songs (didn’t check a printed setlist), but at least it seemed that they were allowed to play all their songs in the end; even though they checked the time after each song. Here’s what they played:
- Anonyme hatere
- Skambankt
- O dessverre
- Vår bør
- Som en sirene
- Me sa nei
- Mantra
- Gamle spøkelser
- Voodoo
- Dynasti
- Stormkast #1
- Malin
- Min eliksir
There was no break for encores. After Skambankt’s show, it was time for Karpe Diem, and they got a huge reaction. It was really obvious that people were there to see them, not Skambankt, and everybody was singing/rapping along loudly. Hmm … well, whatever. I went up on the gallery at some point during their show, and that was pretty cool, to look down at the crowd (which actually looked bigger from above than from down on the floor).
All in all, a fun concert and a great trip. I do prefer “real” Skambankt concerts … but now it’s time for festivals first, so I guess I’ll have to do with that for the next few months. =;-)