(A trip- and concert-report by Miss Loona)
[Click here for German version!]
(
After her very successful German tour in January, Kari Bremnes returned to
Germany at the end of July for two festival appearances, the first of them
taking place at the "Folk im Schloß"-Festival on July 30 at Schloß
Friedrichstein (a castle) in Bad Wildungen.
As soon as Burkhard had heard that there would be another two concerts by
one of his favourite vocalists, it was clear that he had to attend at least
one of them. As I had still very positive memories of our trip to Oslo last
November, I told him that I wanted to come with him and so we went together.
This time we had some company: Dwarf Vader. (He always keeps correcting me
that itīs "Daaarrrththth" Vader, but take a look at him, heīs about half my
size and he often carries a stick-like red torch with him, which obviously
makes for better sight underground, so thereīs no denying his dwarfish nature!)
On the day of the concert, we started with Burkhardīs car at about 11.15 a.m.
It was about 270 km to Bad Wildungen and on our way there, we listened to
tapes with some of our favourite albums: Atroxī "Terrestrials" and "Orgasm",
to which I sang along to entertain myself a bit, Fear Of Godīs "Within The
Veil", Nightwishīs "Oceanborn" and Två Fisk Och En Fläskīs "Jungfruburen".
Much better than the rubbish they play on the radio! I think Dwarf Vader mostly
enjoyed the metal stuff. Not a big surprise, I mean, itīs obvious that he
is a "metalhead" - haha!
We finally arrived at our hotel in Bad Wildungen at about 3 p.m.
Our hotel was rather small, but quite comfy, and the single room cost less than half the price we had payed in Oslo last November. It was called "Hotel del Sol" - well, the sun was actually shining, it was pretty hot (about 30° C), so there was no reason to complain and claim a refund.
In front of our hotel
The hotel also had a nice garden and in the garden, there was also a swimming-pool.
View into the garden of our hotel
Inside our hotel room
Me and Dwarf Vader having a conversation
After checking in and taking a short break, we took a walk to the place where the concert was about to take place. Bad Wildungen lies in a slightly...er, mountanious region and our hotel lay uphill. Schloß Friedrichstein is situated on the top of a hill - unfortunately another one! So we first had to go downhill and then uphill again.
The way downhill from our hotel
What got a little bit on my nerves was Dwarf Vaderīs constant whining about
the heat: "Man, itīs damn hot! Iīm sweating like hell! I think my brain is
starting to melt!" I mean, I had told him before that itīs not a wise decision
to put on a black armour, a black cape and a black helmet when you go outside
in the middle of summer while the sun is burning down from the sky, but he
wouldnīt listen. He said something about a reputation he had to live up to
and no one would take him seriously anymore, if they saw him walking around
wearing just a t-shirt, shorts and a pair of sandals. Hah, seems to me someone
is confusing ego with repute!
In the "valley" we had to cross a little tunnel - fortunately, it was illuminated
(Dwarf Vader had forgotten his torch at home) and you could see from one end
to another.
Looking through the tunnel
As it was bright daylight outside, it wasnīt scary at all.
Inside the tunnel
After crossing the little valley, it was 600 metres uphill to the castle.
Schloß Friedrichstein
Judging by Burkhardīs heavy breathing on our way up, you could have got the impression this was something like Alpe d`Huèz for pedestrians - haha! (An allusion for people who know a bit about the Tour de France.) I know, I shouldnīt make such remarks. After all, Burkhard had been carrying Dwarf Vader and me in his pockets all the way. If we had had to walk the distance on our own feet, it probably would have taken us about two days! Burkhard managed the distance from our hotel to the castle in just about 20 minutes.
Inside the yard of Schloß Friedrichstein
When we finally entered the yard of the castle (it was still about 4 hours to go before the concert would start), the stage had already been set. We walked around, Burkhard took some pictures and then we went into town, because Burkhard needed something to eat.
Me on top of the hedge of the castle yard
View from the yard of Schloß Friedrichstein
While beings like me and Dwarf Vader feed on nothing but imagination, human
beings donīt. It was about half past 5, when we finally went into a restaurant.
In spite of the fact that there were no other guests, it took about 50 minutes
until the meal was finally served. To me, it seemed like a failed attempt
at introducing a new gastronomy concept: Slow Food. As if this wasnīt enough,
the schnitzel Burkhard had ordered seemed to be more fat than meat - bah!
(Iīm too polite to give away the name of the restaurant.)
It was already 20 minutes to 7, when we got on our way to Schloß Friedrichstein
again. When we arrived there about 25 minutes later, there was already a queue
in front of the entrance. Luckily, an acquaintance of Burkhard had already
arrived before and made sure that there was still a seat left close to the
middle of the first row. (Several rows of benches had been set up in front
of the stage.)
Finally, just a few minutes past eight, Kari Bremnes and the two musicians
who accompanied her - Bengt-Egil Hanssen on keyboards and Helge Andreas Norbakken
on percussion/drums - entered the stage.
Bengt, Kari and Helge
At the sight of Kari herself, Dwarf Vader fainted. Poor little chap! Probably
a sudden beauty-overdose caused a mental short circuit - from which he didnīt
recover until the concert was over. It was obviously just too much for his
little brain, or the remaining part of it that hadnīt already been melted
by the sun!
As Burkhard told me afterwards, Kariīs setlist wasnīt much different from
the one of her German tour in January, though the order of some songs was
different and Kari also sang one song - "i mai" - which he hadnīt heard in
January.
She started her set with the beautiful "Birds" (from her third solo album
"Spor") - the only song which - as well as the chorus of "Montreal" - doesnīt
lose any of its authenticity, when itīs sung in English, because it was originally
written in this language. I do understand Kariīs reasons for wanting to sing
most of her songs in English at concerts abroad, because you really miss a
very important part of her songs if you donīt understand her lyrics (which
are written in a Northern Norwegian dialect), but still I think there would
be a better solution than to sing them in English, since - however accurate
the translation might be - languages sound different and the language in which
you sing a song actually does influence the character of the song.
At least at her concerts in Germany, Kari usally gives detailed background
information about the lyrics of her songs and what they are about or she tells
little stories or anecdotes connected with them. In contrast to quite a lot
of other artists she talks a lot between the songs, which makes her special
in a way. It never gets boring, but itīs often quite entertaining.
In donīt remember the exact order of the songs which followed, but in the first part of her concert, Kari also presented "Can It Really Be Years" (original title: "Et anna sted"), "A Fantastic Time Already" ("Fantastisk allerede"), "I See You" ("Lys anorakk") and - to our delight - the original Norwegian version "Du skulle vært her" (English title: "Youīd Have To Be Here") from her current album "Youīd Have To Be Here" respectively "11 ubesvarte anrop". By the way, she had started "I See You" in English, but she switched to the original Norwegian lyrics in the second part of this song.
I donīt know if itīs impolite to mention this, but it seems that during the last verse of "A Fantastic Time Already" Kari suddenly was a bit "lost for words", but Iīve got to say she managed it well by improvising a bit. As Burkhard and me always appreciate a bit of a change, we liked it! Apart from that, it shows that Kari is a human being just like you and me!
Talking about "a bit of a change", it was interesting to hear most of the songs being played in versions which sounded more or less different from those on the original studio albums, which was due to the fact that there wasnīt an entire band (no guitar and no bass), but just a keyboarder and a drummer/percussionist. Both of them were definitely masters of their instruments. The most intriguing thing on stage was probably Helge Andreas Norbakkenīs self-custom-made percussion- and drum-set, which consisted - among other things - of two car-rims. Also, Helge doesnīt use ordinary drumsticks, but often plays with little brooms or just uses his fingers.
Helge and his percussion-/drum-set
Burkhard told me that Helge had mentioned after one of the concerts in January
that he buys these brooms somewhere in Africa (I think it was Senegal) where
they are usually used to sweep the streets. During the more lively songs (there
are a few), these brooms usually get a bit "decimated", so they just last
for about 7 or 8 concerts.
Now back to the concert itself: Other songs performed during the first part
(if my memory doesnīt trick me) were "A Lover In Berlin" ("En elsker i Berlin"),
"Montreal" and "To Give You A Song" ("Sang til en mann"), which according
to Kari is her only love song which doesnīt have a tragic ending. The lyrics
have obviously been written with a twinkling eye and make a bit of fun of
several clichés in which so many others before Kari have drowned.
The first part of the concert ended with one of our favourite live-songs,
the fantastic "Mit hjerte hamrer og hamrer" (the first song on Kariīs solo
debut "Mitt ville hjerte"), a passionate song about jealousy, and I think
Kari manages to express this feeling very well with her voice! The text of
this song is a poem written by the Danish poet Tove Ditlevsen, who didnīt
lead a very happy live - Burkhard once read a short biography about her in
a lexicon on literature and it sounded rather sad.
After about one hour, there was a break of about 20-25 minutes. So I took
the chance and - while no-one was watching - sneaked onto the stage (hehe!)
to have a look at the setlist which lay on the ground. I noticed that the
order of the songs Kari had sung so far was not exactly the one written down
on the list, but who cares?
Me having a glance at Kariīs setlist
When Kari and her fellow-musicians re-entered the stage, it was already getting
darker. Quite an "exotic" experience for her during this time of year, as
Kari pointed out, since up north on the Lofot Islands, where sheīs originally
from, the sun doesnīt set in the summer.
During the second part of her concert, Kari sang "Day" (original title: "Dagen"),
"The Copenhagen Cavern" ("Kjøbenhavnerkneipe"), "Coastal Ship" ("Hurtigrute")
- a song about her childhood memories, when the Hurtigrute (a ship that goes
along the Norwegian coast fromt south to north and back again) arrived carrying
all kinds of strange things and people from countries far away - and "Song
To A Town" ("Sang til byen"), one of the most beautiful songs of the concert.
Hey Bengt, why did you drop the beautiful keyboard solo you had played at
the end of this song on the tour in January?
Burkhard and me were very pleased that apart from the aforementioned English versions, Kari also offered some more songs in her native tongue: "Togsang", one of our faves from her album "Gåte ved gåte" (When introducing this song on her tour in January, Kari said that in Norway, they had learned at school that in Germany the trains arrive and leave when they are supposed to - must have been either a lesson about famous German fairytales or it was All Foolsī Day, hahaha!), another beautiful song from her solo debut (lyrics again by Tove Ditlevsen), namely "Det sandeste" and - an absolute must at any of her concerts, I think she once also mentioned that this is her favourite song - the fantastic "Skrik"!
Itīs from her album "Løsrivelse", which contains poems written in prose by the famous Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, who - unbeknownst for a long time - had written poems in prose to quite a lot of his most famous paintings before he actually painted them. "Skrik" is definitely Munchīs best-known painting.
Skrik
In 1993, the Norwegian composer/musician Ketil Bjørnstad wrote the
music to 15 of Munchīs poems, and "Skrik" is definitely the most outstanding
song, also or especially because of Kariīs impressive vocals! Itīs - without
the slightest spark of a doubt - Burkhardīs and my favourite live and Kariīs
liveliest song. I think we could have listened to this song over and over
again. (Sigh!)
Unfortunately, this wonderful concert - just like any other - finally had
to come to an end. There was only one encore, but at least it was sung in
Norwegian: "Berg og båre" ("Wave On Rock") from Kariīs third solo album
"Spor".
Well, it was not that the audience hadnīt applauded hard and long enough, but this remained the last song of this concert. If you ask me, I think "Byssan lull" - a traditional lullaby and one of Kariīs most beautiful songs (itīs on "Svarta Bjørn" and she had performed it at the "Voggesanger fra ondskapens akse"-concert in Oslo) - would have been a perfect ending (to tell the audience "Now itīs really time to go to bed."), but you canīt have it all, can you? Maybe thereīs some hope that sheīll sing it on her tour in Germany in April 2005?
After the concert, Kari willingly signed albums, pictures and posters brought along by her fans, also the cover of a very special CD Burkhard had brought with him. It contained the recording of Kariīs live concert on February 1st in Berlin, which Burkhard had recorded on tape when it was aired on DeutschlandRadio Berlin in March. An acquaintance of an acquaintance of Burkhard had not only transfered this recording onto CD, but also printed a special cover which looks really professional. Burkhard also got it signed by keyboarder Bengt Egil Hanssen and percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken - now heīs got an "extra"-special edition!
To sum it up: it was a beautiful concert at a beautiful location and the
weather couldnīt have been better! It was perfect - just like the sound provided
by sound engineer Asle Karstad (possibly one of the best you can get).
The next day, we went back home again. I mean, we would have liked to also
see Kari live at the "Bardentreffen" in Nürnberg on that day, but it
would have meant another very long car-drive and we also might have got stuck
in some huge traffic-jams, since it was the beginning of the holidays in Bavaria.
So I think it was OK as it was, you shouldnīt get too "greedy"!
One final question directly addressed at Kari (just in case she should ever
happen to read this concert-report): Will there ever be an official live album
(please only with the original Norwegian versions!) or - even better - a live-DVD???
Text: Miss Loona
Photos: Burkhard
- August 2004 -
Back to German
version
