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seigmen27"Folken" Club, Stavanger, Norway
16th September 2016
Seigmen - The "front row" syndrome

When I was a schoolgirl in Ukraine in early 90's, Norwegian rock band SEIGMEN was a young and very ambitious band with the very successful ‘Total’ album. In late 90s I graduated and became a student - SEIGMEN was on the peak of its popularity in Norway and Europe... When I found out about their second project's, ZEROMANCER’s, existence in 2001 - SEIGMEN already ceased to exist and got no plans for reunion. Thereby, I started my way of getting know the band from the other end: ZEROMANCER-LJUNGBLUT-SEIGMEN. In the year 2005, the guys got together again and played two fantastic concerts in Trondheim. As a result, the DVD with the concert and the whole SEIGMEN history was released. That's the beginning of my story. When I got this DVD, being an adult and self-sufficient person, and watched the concert for about 10 times, I got into melancholic mood - if only I could be a part of this crowd and stand in a front row... and my wish came true in some special way: in the year 2013 I was standing in the front row on Målrock festival in Årdalstangen (Norway), waiting for the band which made me push the limits and I realised that everything is possible.

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What's the story...

Being one of the most successful bands on Norway's independent rock scene in the 90s, SEIGMEN is a "dark horse" for the majority of rock music fans. The people who know this band for real are mostly those who came all this long way via ZEROMANCER and LJUNGBLUT - the other two "children" of SEIGMEN members, especially ZEROMANCER, which is popular among German and other European fans for its electrifying live shows. So, if you would like to know who these guys actually are: Kim Ljung (songwriter, bass guitar, vocals), Alex Møklebust (lead vocals), Noralf Ronthi (drums), Sverre Økshoff (guitar) and Marius Roth Christensen (guitar, vocals). The band had recorded seven albums; the most unique was ‘Total’ in 1994 which had a touch of Sylvia Massy's hand. Than a lot of shows, in Norway and abroad, had happened till in 1999 SEIGMEN decided to stop its existence... People would say: "usual rock band story: enthusiastic young guys, rehearsals, albums, concerts, fame, fans, disintegration...", but the band managed to make a magnificent reunion in 2005 and continue making music and live performance in full power. Not only old fans of the band were delighted, but SEIGMEN received new fans’ army from all over the world. Moreover, the band made a priceless gift to their fans – the new album ‘Enola’ in 2015, which confirmed the fact that SEIGMEN is back for real. http://www.seigmen.com / https://www.facebook.com/Seigmen 

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Music & Performance
Counting the last year's sold-out show in Folken club in Stavanger, this year I decided to fix the high moment one more time, combining music impressions with hiking along breath-taking Lysefjord. Doors was meant to be open at 8 PM, so I decided to came a little bit earlier to talk to Sandra, the all-time ZEROMANCER and SEIGMEN merchandise girl, to see new merchandise items, meet the people I haven't seen for one year. The crowd began to gathered closer to 8:30 PM and the atmosphere became warmer. On 16th of September, it felt still like summer outside and inside, very stifling. It wasn't my first concert of SEIGMEN, so I knew what is going to happen, but nonetheless, I was expecting some "little surprises", as usual. In Folken, there was no supporting band before SEIGMEN, so sharply at 9 PM the intro's sounds flowed into the fully packed hall... and here they are! SEIGMEN on stage and Alex says greetings to the audience! Let the magic of music begin! They started with good old ‘Simone’ from the ‘Ameneon’ album and the crowd went instantly crazy with shouting and singing. Without any pause, ‘Hva vi elsker’ began. The beginning of the show was very fast and energetic, but lather the performance turned into a more lyric mode, so fans could be swept away by the tender and powerful tide of music into the unknown.

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Classic SEIGMEN's masterpieces were thoughtfully and naturally mixed with songs from the last album ‘Enola’ as well as "surprise" songs were woven into the concert's colourful canvas. Something mad, in good meaning of it, was happening in the crowd: Alex was a strong wind, blew from the stage and the fans were like a very restless sea in the storm. Closer to the middle of the concert during ‘Fra X til døden’, the musicians burned the ears of their listeners off! Sverre had a second breath and gave away the hardest riffs which made bodies of people flutter along. One of the most unexpected moments of the show came when the band performed ‘Nephilia’ for the first time since the year 2014 in Støperiet in Tønsberg. The band knew how to inflame the audience souls. Alex and Kim thanked the fans after every song for being there and for support. The main set ended with all-time favourite ‘Döderlein’ and the audience traditionally sang the refrain instead of Alex.

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The band members had vanished for a few moments just to be back for the encore part of the concert which started with ‘Agnus Dei’. Marius, Kim and Sverre entered the stage to make some magical "ritual". During the song, the crowd kept silent, so the beautiful voice of Marius filled the club completely up to the ceiling. The second surprise song of the evening and a pure gem became ‘Performance Alpha’ from the ‘Radiowaves’ album (1998). Then, Alex left the stage and left his bandmates to start ‘Mesusah’. This time, Noralf was in charge of performing traditional "striptease", instead of Alex and he took off his t-shirt. The guys were in good mood, joking with each other and with the audience. The fans were too flurried to let the musicians go from stage, but culmination was so close and the first riffs of ‘Hjernen er alene’ hanged on in the air. Time to sing along, time to say goodbye... The singing and stormy sea of people on this song was trying to get as close to the stage as possible, so the atmosphere got very hot. Alex from the stage ruled all those people sensitive to his voice as a fair and bright leader, therefore the final word "alene" became the highest peak of the show and musicians after that began to give each other supportive embraces and shake hands with fans. Kim, during handshake, gave his mediator to my friend standing next to me, what made her extremely happy.

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After the show, when fans went downstairs to the bar to have some beer and share emotions about the concert, Kim, Sverre and Marius came to talk to devotees and to give some autographs. Marius talked a little about his new role in the upcoming premier in Oslo's opera, this time Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's ‘Così fan tutte’ ("Thus Do They All") and Marius is going to sing the part of Ferrando. On that night, SEIGMEN proved one more time that it is the band of all hearts and I can't wait till next year to be there, in the first row, again.

Setlist
01. Intro
02. Simone
03. Hva vi elsker
04. Ohm
05. Colosseum
06. I mitt hus
07. Fra X til døden
08. Hvit stjerne hvit støy
09. Nephilia
10. Metropilis
11. Utopia i mine armer
12. Slaver av Solen
13. Skjebnen
14. Döderlein
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15. Agnus Dei
16. Performance Alpha
17. Mesusah
18. Hjernen er alene (deLillos cover)

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 8
Light: 6
Total: 8.5 / 9


Full Gallery

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All pictures by Liudmyla Radyk


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