Vesterbro Festival 2008...

This year’s Vesterbro Festival is over and now it’s time to recapture what happened during the 3 intense days of sex, drugs and rock 'n’ roll sun, music, talking and drinking. Plenty of stuff to write, so it might take a couple of days before this post will be finished, so check back every now and then for updates. As usual I didn't bring my camera, so no pictures I'm afraid (thanks a lot to Fiepige for the permission to use this photo of Ginger Ninja).

Thursday
Probably couldn't have started the festival in a better way, than "suffering" through an amazing performance by Cody. "Suffering" as the heat, which was a result of the small venue, the many people, the spotlights and the dark curtains attracting the sun, was almost unbearable. But in spite of the sauna-like conditions, it was a truly wonderful concert by a very talented band and somehow country/folk rock sounds a lot better when the weather is great and the beers are cold. Looks as if the band will not remain one of Denmark's better-kept secrets, as both The National and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy have asked the band to be the supporting act, when they visit Denmark during the summer.

Following the concert I had the fortune to (finally) bump into Ivan of Oliver North Boy Choir, and he kindly introduced me to a few friends including fellow ONBC and EPO-555 band member Mikkel. So the rest of the afternoon we had a few beers, discussed some music, where I among things tried to convince ONBC to play live (no luck), told them that they should start releasing physical albums (no luck), asked for some EPO-555 gossip including the release date of a third album (no luck), and wanted to know the story behind some EPO-555 song titles (finally I had some luck, but I won’t even try putting those explanations in writing).

Back to the music and next in line was a nice little concert by E Bird, though they did look somewhat uncomfortable (shy perhaps?) on stage. And vocally, a little less Bright Eyes inspiration wouldn't hurt.

Following a charming show by country rockers Southern Gothic Tales (with a few Cody band members on stage), there was a huge gap in the program with no interesting acts on for a few hours (though I was told that Monkey Cup Dress should be pretty good), but the weather was still fine and the beers were still cold, so a break from the music wasn't the biggest of problems.

For my part, the last concert of the evening (I once again must confess that my age is catching up with me) was by blog "darlings" BREUMM and they delivered a pretty fine performance in the (now) dark evening. Though I remain a bit puzzled why they opted not to play Ingen Verdens Ting, which I continue to rank among my favorite songs of the year.

Friday
Started the day by watching Mellemblond performing a few songs on one of the smaller venues, but the sound wasn't really good and my friend had to ask me if they were singing in Danish or English. Quite a shame, as the band was recommended to me as a pretty good live act.

So we quickly decided to move on and instead had the pleasure of watching Little Jimmy Reeves play a terrific set inside the atmospheric Øksnehallen. This is not the most complex stuff you'll ever hear, but fronted by Kashmir drummer Asger Techau, the band plays rather straightforward rock music, with the occasional inspiration from his other and better-known band.

Following the concert Asger was selling the band's EP Bring Out The Dogs (buy it here if you like) and my friend and I each bought a copy. He looked surprisingly flattered, when we told him that we had enjoyed the concert and my friend also got the inside story behind the band's name.

A little sun and a beer later, Twins Twins entered the stage, but unfortunately the band failed to impress me. The songwriting is great (no question there), but I guess it is the lack of variation that made the concert rather tedious after a while. But we still stayed and watched the entire set.

Plans were that we were going to see Halph next, but before the band entered the stage, I got a phone call from Northern Portrait front man Stefan, who just happened to be in the neighborhood and he asked if we had time for a small chat and a beer or two.
So for the next hour I had the privilege of speaking to one of Denmark's finest songwriters and among several things I finally got information on some of his previous works, news on concerts, the story behind the single cover, the record deal with Matinée Recordings etc. Some of this will (perhaps) be posted at a later and more appropriate (?) time.

A few minutes to 9 Stefan had to rush away, as he was going to play an acoustic live set (cover songs) at a nearby bar. But before leaving he suggested that we should drop by on our way to Tivoli Gardens (to see Kashmir), as we would be passing right by it. So we did and though he vowed not to do it, he treated us with a small gem, as he played acoustic versions of the two Northern Portrait songs Crazy and What Happens Next. According to Stefan it was the first time that the later was played live, so you can say that we witnessed a world premiere.

Off to Tivoli Gardens, where the plans of attending the Kashmir concert were quickly put to rest, as the length of the queues made us realize that we would be more than lucky to get in before the encore.

Slightly disappointed we went back to the Festival where we strolled around for a while trying to find some interesting bands to give a listen, but with very little luck. So instead we finished the evening at the bar, where Stefan played the third Northern Portrait song of the evening; I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me as well as a smashing version of There She Goes (The La's). Probably the highlight of the weekend, which in fact had very little to do with the Festival!

Saturday
It really wasn't my plan to see Evil Death Machine, but my train was delayed and when I arrived, my friend was sitting in the sun enjoying the band, so we stuck around; and I'm glad we did. Somehow I've always believed that his was an electronica project by EPO-555 member Hans Emil Hansen, which until now has kept me away from listening. But instead I (to my big surprise) found out that the music is a pleasant blend of alternative/indie/electronic pop/rock, so perhaps it's time to give in and give it a decent listen?

Waiting for No and The Maybes to start we spent 10 minutes listening to Danish electronica queen Tilde. But as I've stated a few times before, this is not my favorite genre, so when the sound of the synths suddenly disappeared...we did the same!

The start of No and The Maybes wasn't really anything to write home about, but 10 minutes into the show things somehow got adjusted and from that moment on it became very clear why this indie pop band has recently been signed by A:Larm Music, as the band played a string of catchy pop tunes and gave a charming performance.

Didium and The Black Bonnie Picture has been much hyped the past few months, so my expectations were really high. Normally the hype would mean that a large crowd would be showing up, but strangely it was one of the smallest of the entire festival! Whether this had anything to do with it I don't know, but the show turned out to be quite a disappointment. But as I do like the band's music a lot (their demo's are really great), I'll use the sound at the venue as the explanation for my disappointment and instead I'll be looking forward to the next concert (whenever I get the chance to see them again).

Luckily the last show I got to see at this year's Festival was a real treat. Ginger Ninja delivered one of the most energetic and dynamic concerts I've seen for some time and the four lads really made the most of this opportunity, and proved that they are a great and highly entertaining live act as well as more than capable of writing catchy pop tunes.

Thus ended this year's Festival and as you've probably understood by now, I had a pretty good time. So I've already started looking forward to next year's edition, but as a final remark I hope that they'll return to the original concept, so we'll see fewer of those established mainstream names that no one really (be honest now) cares about!

+ Cody - Just For You
+ Oliver North Boy Choir - Enola Gay
+ EPO-555 - Hyperschlieb
+ E Bird - Everyone Here Is Without A Past
+ BREUMM - Silhuetter (Zvook Mescalin Remix)
+ Little Jimmy Reeves - Romance on Drugs
+ Twins Twins - San Sebastian
+ Northern Portrait - Crazy
+ Evil Death Machine - Sugar In The Baby's Face
+ No and The Maybes - Mouth
+ Didium & The Black Bonnie Picture - The Twisted Way of Blues
+ Ginger Ninja - Stuck In A Rough Stream

Midweek...

Yesterday was bad in many ways, but it always amazes me how a good night’s sleep can do magic.

Check my new post over at Frekvens.dk. With Vesterbro Festival starting tomorrow the topic is given.

In a Myspace bulletin Idlewild announces that the band will be its own supporting act on a few selected dates of their upcoming UK tour. For the first half hour they'll be playing and acoustic set, and after a break the “real” concert will start. Perhaps this is something other bands should consider?

A new track by A Kid Hereafter is exclusively available from Myspace. It’s called I Don’t Trust Tom and the Tom in question should be known by every (?) Myspace user.

21 and counting; New track posted by One Weekly Gun.
+ Corporate Entertainment Throttle

Vesterbro Festival...

As promised the program for this year's Vesterbro Festival was published yesterday (May 1 - this is a re-post) and to be honest I'm somewhat underwhelmed right now. Perhaps I haven't been following the Danish music scene as closely as previous years, but my first impression is that last year's line-up was a lot more interesting. Especially I find it disappointing that fairly established and incredible boring names like Rasmus Nøhr, Magtens Korridorer and Tue West will be playing. But as always there are quite a few bands that I'm looking forward to seeing and the next five weeks will be spent checking out some of the unfamiliar ones, which I expect will reveal that the line-up is packed with interesting names after all, despite my initial disappointment.
Below the list of bands I plan/hope to see:

Thursday:
16:45 Cody - Comfort and Rage
19:15 Kiss Kiss Kiss - Recorded Smiles
19:15 E Bird - Empty Avenues
Really a shame that these two bands are playing at the exact same time.
19:45 Southern Gothic Tales
21:00 Stupid White Men
22:00 Mads Langer
23:00 BREUMM - Silhuetter (remix)
00:15 Are We Brothers?

Friday:
17:00 Mellemblond
17:30 Little Jimmy Reeves - Romance on drugs (found via)
18:30 Twins Twins - Fiona
19:30 Halph - Calm
23:15 January Jaunt - YourLifeYourHealthYourMoney
There's a good chance that I'll leave around 10 o'clock to go see Kashmir at Tivoli Gardens.

Saturday:
18:30 No and The Maybes - Mouth
19:30 Didium & the Black Bonnie Picture - No Drive Crushed Revisited
20:45 Ginger Ninja - OnePlusOneIsThree
21:15 Song to the Siren - These Days
23:00 Striving Vines - Too Much Wine
00:00 The Alpine - Youniverse

This and that...

Thus ends the feuilleton. In May the sun shone for a total of 347 hours and became the sunniest month in Denmark since 1920. And if the weather forecast is to be trusted, the sun will continue to shine for the rest of the week and hopefully make this year’s Vesterbro Festival a much “dryer” experience than last year.

The second Northern Portrait EP Napoleon Sweetheart will be released in July. Opening track will be a re-edited and mastered version of I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me, which can now be streamed at Myspace.

June Song by Biker Boy has been published at Myspace and it's business as usual, so the track is free to download during the first week of the month.

Indonesian indie pop quartet Sunny Summer Day has just released a six track EP named Me, Myself & The Empty Soul on Letterbox Records. Promo track So Much Fun is yet another one of those enjoyable catchy pop songs that this band seems to be throwing our way in bunches.
+ So Much Fun

Songs I Wish I Had Written gives away another free single from the Moto Boy album. And a lovely new baby it is!
+ What it was like to be with you

Currently giving the Walter Meego album Voyager a good listen. Mix dance and disco in the big synth-driven pop blender and you'll probably end up with sweet pop music like this. Infectious to say the least and this is defintitely another candidate for the soundtrack of the summer.
+ Forever

This and that...

The more I check the unknown bands playing at this year's Vesterbro Festival, the better the program looks.

The new fine tracks by Danish post rockers Mimas have already been posted by Frekvens and In a cyclone of stones, but good stuff deserves multiple postings.
+ Cats on Fire
+ Mac, Get Your Gear

I mentioned NY duo This Is Ivy League in a post last week and the more I listen to the self-titled album the more I'm convinced that this will be this year's summer album. Catchy melodies, jangling guitars and lovely harmonies - yummy!

The second single (and another freebie) Poets Dying from the forthcoming Björn Kleinhenz album Quietly Happy and Deep Inside is almost as good as the first single The Quest For Your Heart. Could very well have been the soundtrack of the summer along with This Is Ivy League, but it won't be released until September (on Tomt Recordings)!
+ Poets Dying

Still Here by Kuryakin and Tour De Force by The Ruling Class are the two recent releases by the rejuvenated Shelflife Records. More on those, when I've "chewed" my way through both of them a few more times, but first listen left me impressed.
+ Kuryakin - Take My Hand
+ The Ruling Class - Flowers

Finally. FINALLY! I have a new computer at work. The speakers are crap, but at least I'm able to stream some music now!

Danish label Speed Of Sound has launched their new webpage.

This and that...

It's been nearly three months since I started my new job, and today has arguably been the busiest day so far. But at the same time it’s by far been the most interesting one, so things like that probably goes hand in hand?

Thanks to those of you who commented on the music buying post yesterday! Much appreciated!

The word is spreading about Northern Portrait as the number one indie music blogger Tom writes about the fabulous Danish trio.
+ Crazy

Schallgrenzen writes about Oliver North Boy Choir. You certainly don’t have to be fluent in German to find it quite entertaining. Any blogpost using the term/word Krimskrams is already legendary.

Two more days and the program for this year’s Vesterbro Festival will be published.

The Last.fm Weekly Free Download Chart is now in fact updated every week.

Vesterbro Festival...

According to the festival's webpage the official program will be revealed May 1, but nonetheless several bands (listed below) have already published (at their Myspace pages) that they will be playing at the festival. Will post more news if/when I hear/find anything, though I do already know that unfortunately neither Northern Portrait nor Ruined by Martin are to be found in this year’s lineup.
* Didium and the Black Bonnie Picture
* JaConfetti
* BREUMM
* Little yeLLs AloT
* No and the Maybes
* Alex Canasta (thanks Chris!)

Plus
* The Alpine (source)

and a few more.

Support the homeless...

Buy a t-shirt at doublebob.dk and support the homeless in Copenhagen. Some great designs there.

According to the official webpage a total of 684 artists have applied to play at this year’s Vesterbro Festival. More than a 100 of those are expected to make it through the eye of the needle, and the complete list will be published May 1.

Made myself a CD last night, so I could listen to the free to download The Wolves EP by New Zeeland’s Secret Knives, but my CD player at work refuses to cooperate. Bummer!
+ The Wolves

Today sees the official release of Wayne Coyne by The William Blakes.
+ Violent God

Charlton Heston is the topic of this week’s song by One Weekly Gun.
+ Charlton Heston

Vesterbro Festival 2008...

The date for the 2008 edition of Vesterbro Festival has been revealed and it looks as if the event will last 3 days this year (June 5-7) compared to 2 days the previous years. June 5 is Constitution Day in Denmark, so using that day for the purpose of a festival seems like an excellent idea to me. Hopefully they won’t increase the number of bands to the line-up compared to last year, but instead allow the bands more time on stage and make the schedule less tight. I wasn’t impressed by the sound last year, so room for more and better sound checks should certainly be top priority as well. Since this is a festival for up and coming bands, lots of them don’t get offered that many live jobs, so it’s quite a shame if the sound doesn’t do their music justice. Or even worse, leave the audience with an impression of witnessing a bunch of amateurs on stage.

But as always it will quite exciting to see the final program and of course there are a few bands that I’d really love to see added to the line-up. One band that I guess we’re definitely going to see is the excellent britpop inspired Didium & the Black Bonnie Picture. The band was chosen as Gaffa’s demo band of February and has recently been recommended by this quite knowledgeable musician and blogger!
+ The Twisted Way of Blues
+ Tell Me Tell Me
+ No Drive Crushed Revisited

Vesterbro Festival - Some Thoughts...

Not a lengthy report - just a few thoughts (I didn't bring the camera, so no pics either)!

Was waiting for a band to start playing Who'll Stop The Rain Saturday afternoon. The water was pouring down.

The Festival is ambitious and wants to introduce the public to as many bands as possible. Unfortunately this means that the minutes dedicated to each band is very limited. I don't necessarily think that the bands need to play more than 30-40 minutes for the concert to be enjoyable/entertaining, but I think everyone would benefit if more time was available in between concerts for sound checks etc. That way the bands would feel more comfortable and the audience would get a better sound and (more importantly) a better impression of each band. Finally I think the placing of bands on various stages needs a little/some afterthought.

I spent at least 5 minutes watching each of these bands (x = entire set): A Kid Hereafter, Entakt (x), Nana Jacobi, Breum (x), Cinnober, Green Concorde (x), The Broken Beats, August and the Apples, Amazonair (x), US With Millions (x), Surfact, Carlas, Kind of girl (x), Swing of Sahara (x), Velour (x), Don't Go To New York, Volvoe (x) and 1 2 3 4 (x).

I was especially happy to (finally) catch Entakt and Kind of girl live, as they both have been on my "wish list" for a long time.

My age is starting to show. At 10:30 each night I was dead tired (and my back was hurting), so I decided to leave. This unfortunately meant that I missed Factory45 and Mushi.

Had the pleasure of saying hello to Sissel of Kind of girl and Anders/Thomas of Volvoe.

I had never heard of August & The Red Apples prior to the Festival, but the band's country-rock sounded really great and was a very pleasant surprise.
+ Desert Night Sky

Another surprise was the five-piece Amazonair. Despite having problems with the sound throughout the entire set, it was easy to hear that these guys write some fine Coldplay/Keane/Travis inspired pop tunes.
+ Because Tonight

Finally 1 2 3 4 (apparently pronounced "en to tre fire" and not "one two three four") was absolutely great. To me the lead singer looks the prototype of an "anti pop star", but he sure can sing.
+ Coltrane

Vesterbro Festival...

Tonight's the night...Check the weather forecast. Especially tomorrow looks really, really bad!

The line-up for this year's Vesterbro Festival (June 15th & 16th) looks absolutely fantastic. Here's a list of the band's I plan/hope to be able to catch during the two-day festival (unless of course they play at 2 a.m., as I'm way too old to be staying up all night). Unfortunately it looks as if I have to make unpleasant decisions a couple of times, as a few bands on the list are playing simultaneously:

+ 1 2 3 4 (Saturday 9:15) - Saddest
This is the new (re-recorded) version of this wonderful indie pop tune. Debut album to be released in September on the independent Auditorium label.
+ A Kid Herafter (Friday 4:45) - Secret Service
Will play early Friday afternoon and I'm certain that he'll deliver a great start to the festival!
+ Amazonair (Friday 9:15) - Rear-View Mirror
New addition to the list. Nice and melodic indie rock.
+ BREUM (Friday 6:45) - Silhuetter
I've only heard two songs by this band. Both of them are brilliant, but is the rest any good? Or do they only have two songs? Guess not :) Silhuetter is a brand new demo, so now I know three tracks by the duo!
+ Cinnober (Friday 7:30) - Armies of Disdain
Hopefully the music will sound equally beautiful when performed live!??
+ Decorate.Decorate. (Friday 7:00) - Departure
The band will release its debut album called Normandie on May 21. Surname should have been on my best of 2006 list.
+ THE ELEPHANTS (Friday 8:30) - Caroline Knows
This is the excellent new single by indie pop/surf band THE ELEPHANTS. Made available as a free download after some "mild" pressure :) The band has just been signed to the German label Tapete Records. How come no Danish label was prepared to sign this fine band?
+ Entakt (Friday 5:15) - Ventilen
I'm lobbying for permission to post a track from the band's debut album, but so far without any success. Instead I've posted the old (but still great) demo track Ventilen.
+ Factory45 (Saturday 11:30) - Supermarkets
New to the list. Probably requires a bit getting used to, but this is indie/alternative rock with potential.
+ The Floor Is Made Of Lava (Saturday 9:45) - Do Your Sister
We do expect these guys to deliver quite a party. Don't we?
+ Green Concorde (Friday 8:15) - 2:26
The only band on the list that I've seen live before. And they were pretty good!
+ Kind of girl (Saturday 4:45) - You Can't Save Me
A must see, as this is the most blogged about band in the history of this blog.
+ Mushi (Friday 00:15) - White Picket Fence
He'll be playing around midnight and I'm too old staying up that late (I have an one hour drive home afterwards). But two great albums make this a concert I cannot allow myself to miss!
+ Swing of Sahara (Saturday 6:15) - Mucked up in Brooklyn
The Danish version of Beirut?
+ Turboweekend (Friday 10:30) - Into You
I'm kind of expecting these guys to throw a dance party. Check the band's remix blog.
+ Us With Millions (Friday 10:00) - Shepherds Hour
Another band I don't want to miss. So far I've only heard 4 tracks by this band, but they all sound great. There certainly is some Band of Horses inspiration here.
+ Velour (Saturday 7:00) - Pam and The Important Man
The second album Undress Your Alibis has been received really well by the Germans. However we are still waiting for the (brilliant) album to be released in Denmark.
+ Volvoe (Saturday 8:30) - These Moments
Another band that I'm very much looking forward to see. That these great guys remain unsigned is hard to understand.

And I'll probably find several other bands that I'd like to see, once I get familiar with their music. Therefore this post will be updated every now and then (during the next month and a half), when I've listen to some of the other bands. More songs, comments, thoughts etc. will be added along the way as well.

A little of this and a little bit of that!

I plan to write my thoughts on Vesterbro Festival tonight.

I mentioned Danish "Happy-Lo-Fi-Party-Indierockers" Charlie, Don't Surf a few months ago. Back then the songs weren't available as free downloads for very long, but when I checked their profile a couple of days ago, 3 songs were back up. This is great summer music, so grab the songs while they are there!
+ Bury Your Sadness (Always)
+ Friends of French Art
+ Breakthrough

One band that played Saturday evening was The Ondt and The Gracehopper, but we only arrived in time to hear the band perform one song. However that one sounded absolutely fabulous, so right now I'm very much questioning our decision to see The Alpine instead. I find it very difficult to describe the music, so these are the words of the band; "The music has settled in the area between the organic sound of acoustic instruments and the noise of electronic malfunction. Good when you're alone hugging your blanket, not that great for the dance floors..."
+ When We Dead Awaken
+ Year Of The Dog

Peter recommends Under Electric Light. Check them out!!!!

Blast - Peter beat me to it ;-) Listen to the new song by Du Pacque! First impression is very good!
+ Five Storey Houses

Vesterbro Festival

I guess this is the way every festival should be? Brilliant weather (it was a very beautiful summer day/evening), plenty of cold beers, several stages (all of them within 3 minutes walking distance), lots of music, not too many people, and still a great atmosphere. Finally; no entrance fee (not really that important, but leaves you with more money for beers!).

We (a friend and I) came just in time to take a quick look around the festival area and grab a beer, before heading to the rock stage to see The Seven Mile Journey. At times the post rockers seemed to be uninterested, but still delivered a pretty fine performance. Maybe it's the lack of a microphone (the music is purely instrumental) that makes it difficult communicating with the audience? Thus making them look uninterested?

After half an hour we headed to the indie stage to see the quartet Hazey Jane (Bad Wine - mp3). I mentioned the band last week and after listening to a few songs, I hoped that the band's acoustic folk inspired music would be perfect on a small stage. We weren't disappointed and the band gave the audience a great concert. A couple of hours later I talked briefly to the lead singer, but I seriously doubt that he can remember our small conversation at all, because he was, ahem, quite drunk :-)

New Lost World played on the outdoor stage and was prior to the festival described as a "must-see", but we only heard a couple of songs, before deciding to hear Song To The Siren (Hail Mary - mp3) playing on the rock stage instead. The lead singer gave one of the most energetic performances I've ever (!) seen, but the band failed to convince me of their musical qualities. However the audience seemed to be loving every second of the show, so I should probably give these guys another close look.

It was time to get something to eat, but unfortunately this was (probably) the only thing not well organized at the festival, so we had to leave the area to pick up a kebab.

Still chewing we were back in time to hear Sidste Ambulance being announced on the outdoor stage. More people had arrived at the area now and this fast rising band didn't disappoint the fairly large audience. The band gave a great and surprisingly humble performance, and I really wish that these guys will make it big. The debut album Vandrer Hjem will be released in August and is definitely a "must-buy".

Next on the big outdoor stage was The Alpine; another fast rising band, which already has gained some popularity abroad. The band is quite popular in Denmark as well, so this was probably the concert at the festival with the largest audience. The band is self-confident (some might say arrogant), but I have to admit that I have some difficulties getting into the music. So when the band began talking about brotherly love etc., we decide to head for the indie stage instead.

At this point everything was delayed over there, so we were lucky enough to catch the last song of The Ondt and The Gracehopper. The band sounded brilliant, so we probably should have decided to watch this band instead?

Our last band of the day was The Holiday Show (snookerstar - mp3) and judging by the number of people trying to get a spot close to the stage, the band has already a rather huge fan base. My friend was a bit disappointed by the performance (I think he hoped they would sound a bit more like Depeche Mode), but I thought the concert was really fine, even though there were a few problems with the microphone. This is another bunch of humble guys (a least it looked like that) and I actually think that the band would gain a lot, if the lead singer acted a bit more self-confident on the stage.

Summed up this was quite an amazing experience and hopefully the program for next years festival will be equally interesting! If so - see you there!

Vesterbro Festival

Two other Danish bands that I'm seriously thinking of checking out at Vesterbro Festival as well, are alternative rock band Song To The Siren and experimental post-rockers The Seven Mile Journey. Both bands are new to me, but I'm pretty impressed after listening to the songs below!! Could easily end up being a very interesting afternoon/evening.

Song To The Siren
+ Hail Mary
+ Meet In Space
+ As Thick As Thieves

The Seven Mile Journey
+ Through the Alter Ego Justifications
+ In an Eight Track Universe (runs for 13 minutes and 42 seconds)