Folken, Stavanger, Norway & Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway22nd & 28th August 2015
Seigmen
What to do when you have never seen SEIGMEN live and always wanted to see them, when you have your annual vacation end of August and when you not know where to travel? Exactly! Plan a road trip to Norway with your beloved one including the show in Stavanger on 22nd August at the beginning of your trip and the Oslo show one week later towards the end of your journey. Back from vacation I have to say: wow! The band and its audience just blew me away! And just when I am writing this report I have the songs of SEIGMEN in my ears and wish me back to those fantastic concert moments…
First, for anyone not knowing SEIGMEN, let me introduce the band. The Norwegian band was very popular in Norway during the 90s. Kim Ljung (songwriter, bass guitar, vocals), Alex Møklebust (lead vocals), Noralf Ronthi (drums), Sverre Økshoff (guitar) and Marius Roth Christensen (guitar, vocals) released several albums and played lots of shows until they split-up 1999. In 2005, SEIGMEN played their first reunion concert and they have been welcomed back by their fans very enthusiastically! Encouraged by that they played several shows, recorded the live DVD ‘Seigmen i Opera’ in Oslo in 2008 and presented two new songs at ‘Slottsfjell Festival’ in 2012. A few weeks ago, they announced that after 18 years there will be a new album released in 2015. Great news for all the fans and the new songs they already played live rises the anticipation! The new album ‘Enola’ was finally out in April 2015 and received lots of enthusiastic critics.
As another goody, on March 3rd 2015 there was a SEIGMEN book published: ‘Monument - Seigmen by Bjørn Opsahl’, with pictures made by the amazing Norwegian photographer Bjørn including a gentle and deeply interesting biography written by Arvid Skancke-Knutsen, a well-known Norwegian music journalist. To celebrate the comeback of SEIGMEN the museum of pop-music, Popsenteret, in Oslo dedicated a whole floor to the band, where a signing session just happened before the concert in Oslo on 28th August, on the last day of the exhibition. More to that later. The exhibition was called ‘Seigmen 1992 – 2014’, showing the history of SEIGMEN through articles, some band equipment and interviews of Alex Møklebust and Bjørn Opsahl which were filmed a few weeks ago. In a red room, really beautifully arranged, are shown some of Bjørn’s fantastic live pictures and band portraits. And last, but not least there was a SEIGMEN tour following the album release with several additional shows in summer, the last one being performed in Bergen one day after the Oslo show we visited. https://www.facebook.com/Seigmen
Concert in Stavanger
So, this was the day of me very first SEIGMEN show. And I was so curious if they could convince me. We arrived the day before in Kristiansand and travelled along the south coast to Stavanger. Of course, we did some sightseeing on that tour (pictures of that someday on my website) and arrived in Stavanger on the afternoon. We had our hotel right across the street to Folken what made it very easy to fall asleep after the concert. Before, we walked around a little in the city and had some food. Early we entered the club where we met even some friends from Germany, following the band to Norway since they never play in Germany currently. This was already the second show in Folken. Since the Saturday show we attended sold-out very fast, SEIGMEN played an additional show the day before which was, according to reports we got, was already fantastic. Today, it was our day in the packed club with hundreds of people being hot to see their favourite band on stage.
There was no support act for this show (and no one for the next either) and so, starting time was quite late. Some when between nine and half past nine, the first sounds finally filled the room and people started to scream. Finally the first sounds of ‘Ohm’ appeared and the crowd went mad (well, not as mad as the crowd one week later in Oslo would go). From this moment I already knew that I would love this show. There is not only the music I love. There is a band full of energy, there is an audience admiring their heroes, there is good sound and there is a fantastic light show created by Petter Nilssen. There are screams and clapping in the hall. There is loud shouting. There is dancing. You just feel like being in another world, escaping your everyday live. And you wish you never had to come back to normality. Since this was my first live contact with the band, on this day I was more like observing what’s happening, getting a feeling for the show, take a deep breath from the energy in the venue.
There was not so much of really reviewing the show, it was all just emotions overwhelming me, drowning me deep into the SEIGMEN land. So please forgive me that I am a bit emotional; the review of the Oslo show will be more detailed. ‘Döderlein’ was ending the main set and yes, you can get even more emotional when anyone is loudly singing along. The band came back for three more songs and left with an amazing ‘Hjernen er alene’. Even there were loud screams for more, this was the final song. Asked afterwards how I liked it, I did not have the words to express my feelings. I was blown away in the best sense of words. What really impressed me was the close contact of the band to its audience and how much they appreciate the love of their fans. So I was already longing for my second SEIGMEN show just when the first one had finished. So, one more week to go until the show in Oslo at Sentrum Scene being a really great location according to Alex. And yes… he was right…
Concert in Oslo
One week later, after hundreds of kilometres were travelled through Norway, after seeing numerous fjords and mountains, the sea and islands, we finally reached Norway’s Capital Oslo. Early enough we first did some sightseeing of course. Before the show, there was, as already said above, a signing session at the Popsenteret where also photographer Bjørn Opsahl was present. Many people gathered… and many of them were German or Swedish… to see the exhibition on its last day and to get their favourite fan items signed. Before the band and Bjørn started signing the fans’ items, they all signed the exhibited photographs Bjørn did from the band being presented in this room. Fans afterwards had the chance to buy there rare items. And they did! After the signing session and before the show started, we walked down the city to have some food and finally reached the venue where already a long queue waited, being a hint for another packed show, even though there were still some tickets available. Well, at the end this club was much bigger than the last one, offering room for about 1,600 people.
The stage at Sentrum Scene was covered with a big white cloth where the famous ‘Enola’ cover picture by Bjørn Opsahl was shown. Along to the intro sounds of ‘Monument’, the picture faded and kind of countdown was show, reaching finally zero. At that point, the cloth was dropped and the band entered the stage with the song ‘Fra X til døden’ from the old ‘Ameneon’ album. When the cloth fell down, immense amounts of smoke covered the stage. As light designer Petter told us later, he was surprised that there was that much smoke and he excused that the band hardly could be seen at the beginning. Shit happens… Out of the smoke and blue lights, finally the band appeared and the magic starts once more. From the very start, the audience loudly sang along. More goose-bumps moments. The show continued with another old classic, ‘Ohm’. Yes, the song has kind of religious character for the audience and it felt like there was a holy mass was going on and Alex is the god in front of his followers. ‘Hva vi elsker’ from ‘Enola’ was up next, a very atmospheric and kind of slow song. Wonderful illumination underlined the feeling of this song.
The first song from the ‘Total’ album, ‘Colosseum’, followed. This song is characterized by its heaviness, strong bass line and charming guitar riffs. Besides, Noralf on his drums delivers fantastic work. Alex’ chant is hypnotizing, the audience is bewitched. The show went on with ‘Nihil‘, a fan favourite from the ‘Metropolis’ album where the crowd loudly sang along. The mood is fantastic and Alex emotionally thanked the audience. He said the whole band is thankful having such a great fan base. And well, I think they can be thankful having such devoted fans over so many years. ‘Trøst’ is the next song on the list and already by now one of the favourites from the newest album. The band shows a lot of joy in playing and you could see them constantly smiling. They definitely liked it being on stage. Following ‘Tenn alle lys’ is a very calm and moody song and touches our hearts. ‘Til Verdens Ende’ followed and then, there was a little surprise as the band played one song being not included in the planned setlist, ‘Skjebnen’.
The show moved on with two hits from the ‘Metropolis’ album, ‘Juvel’ and the album’s title song. A lot of fans in the crowd were really happy to hear those classics. Anyone just had to sing along. ‘Utopia i Mine Armer’ from the ‘Enola’ album was up next. Yellow and orange lights afterwards introduced ‘Slaver av solen’ (Slaves of the sun). Perfect lighting for this song. Very loudly, the crowd sang along the refrain of this song. Wanna have more goose bumps? Then this was your moment. And if you just think there can be no more enhancement, it will come. Next song was ‘I mitt hus’ followed by ‘Döderlein’ being the end of the main set. And just like in Stavanger, it was one of the absolute highlights. This song is really magic and energetic, the audience sang along as loudly as possible. And if you do not believe me, check out this video: https://youtu.be/X16xZiJeUzQ. Alex stood in front of the stage, bathing in the admiration of his fans.
The following encore bloc started with ‘Agnus Dei’ which Marius dedicated to his friend, shortly deceased soprano singer Ina Kringlebotn. The song was accompanied by Sverre on guitar and Kim. Wonderful! Then it was time for the rest of the band to return. First, Alex was taking over the microphone to tell people (as I got translated later) why the band decided to sing on Norwegian when they founded the band. It was because of the band RAGA ROCKERS who inspired them and whereof they were big fans and who were writing and singing in their native language. And so, SEIGMEN were also playing a cover version of RAGA ROCKERS, ‘Komplex’, with the guest appearance of Michael Krohn, formerly member of this band. Already in Stavanger, Alex told me about this planned guest performance and how happy he would be if it works out since he admires Krohn and the band a lot. How happy he and the rest of SEIGMEN must have been when it finally was for sure Michael would join them on stage. And not only the band was happy, also the audience was in ecstasy.
The epic concert in Sentrum Scene ended with ‘Mesusah’ and ‘Hjernen er alene’. The audience was giving the rest of its power and Alex was standing on stage with bare body. It was a fantastic and powerful end of the concert and I dare to say that this was one of the best concert experiences I ever had. After my first show the week before, where I just was overwhelmed, I now could deeply dig into SEIGMEN’s music and the show, admire the light show being perfectly composed to the mood of each song. I want more but I guess, now it will take a long time until I have a chance for another SEIGMEN show. A little consolation is the announcement that there will new ZEROMANCER shows next year, and one in Germany is already confirmed: at NCN in Deutzen beginning of September. Looking forward to it!
Setlist
| Stavanger 01. Fra X til døden 02. Ohm 03. Hva vi elsker 04. Colosseum 05. Nihil 06. Trøst 07. Tenn alle lys 08. Til Verdens Ende 09. Juvel 10. Metropolis 11. Utopia i Mine Armer 12. Slaver av solen 13. I mitt hus 14. Döderlein --- 15. Agnus Dei 16. Mesusah 17. Hjernen er alene (deLillos cover) |
Oslo 01. Fra X til døden 02. Ohm 03. Hva vi elsker 04. Colosseum 05. Nihil 06. Trøst 07. Tenn alle lys 08. Til Verdens Ende 09. Skjebnen (Not on stage setlist) 10. Juvel 11. Metropolis 12. Utopia i Mine Armer 13. Slaver av solen 14. I mitt hus 15. Döderlein --- 16. Agnus Dei 17. Komplex (Raga Rockers cover) (with Michael Krohn - Live debut) 18. Mesusah 19. Hjernen er alene (deLillos cover) |
Rating
| Stavanger Music: 10 Performance: 10 Sound: 8 Light: 9 Total: 9.5 / 10 |
Oslo Music: 10 Performance: 10 Sound: 9 Light: 10 Total: 9.8 / 10 |
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
Thanks to Silke Jochum for some help according the general information.
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