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impression seigmen tourposter stoeperietHere I am. It is the 14th of December 2018 and in about an hour I am heading to the Hamburg Airport to get my flight to Oslo. From there taking the train to Drammen where SEIGMEN will kick-off this year’s club tour in six cities around Norway. It is not my first time heading to Norway to see this incredible live band on stage, but I am slightly nervous at this moment sitting here still at home and packing last things for the next 12 days away from home. At the same time enormously looking forward to meet all the friends from Norway, Germany and even other countries at all the gigs, and glad to get the chance again to visit two more places in this beautiful country that got me with its natural beauty just in the moment when I came for the first time, took the train to Hamar on 29th September 2016, to see SEIGMEN for the first time. Even the view out the train was breath-taking.

SEIGMEN 21 L RADYK merch Sandra

Drammen tonight is going to be the 11th time for me to see SEIGMEN. Welcome to this very special tour diary which will lead us to:
Union Scene, Drammen, Norway, 14th December 2018 (Support: Dreamarcher)
Folken, Stavanger, Norway, 18th December 2018
Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway, 19th December 2018 (Support: Dreamarcher)
Byscenen, Trondheim, Norway, 20th December 2018 (Support: Twin Pines Mall)
Terminalen, Ålesund, Norway, 21th December 2018 (Support: Himmellegeme)
Støperiet, Tønsberg, Norway, 22th December 2018 (Support: Ushikawa)

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SEIGMEN was founded at first as KLISNE SEIGMENN back in 1989. Kim, Alex, Noralf, Marius and Sverre created with their sound something really unique and surprised the Norwegian music scene in the 90ies. Also internationally they got a lot of attention and with ‘Metropolis’ they entered the national charts on the top position. The break-up in 1999 stopped the band’s story at first, just to bring them all back together in 2005 for the epic ‘Dødens dal’ gig. Another milestone was set in 2008 with the most unforgettable and special shows at the back than newly opened Opera in Oslo. ‘Enola’, the most recent album in the history of SEIGMEN, was released in 2015 and the following gigs were warmly welcomed by the fans. Just before 2019 marks 30 years of SEIGMEN, the guys from Tønsberg in Vestfold, southwest from Oslo, announced a pre-Christmas tour in December 2018, visiting six cities (almost) all over the country.

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14th December - Union Scene, Drammen, Norway

Though my flight and also the train had some delay, I arrived in Drammen around 6:20 pm and the first thing I noticed was that it was sooo cold. Even my Norwegian friends complained about the low temperatures. Fortunately Christian, who was planning to go to most of the gigs as well, picked me up with his car at the train station before we met Jurgita, Caroline and Nicolas for dinner in an Indian restaurant. Afterwards we immediately headed to the location, as the time passed by really quickly and the doors already opened. Union Scene in Drammen seems to be a pretty popular place. And a really fascinating one! In summer you can use the terrace with a fantastic view over the river. This time it was of course too cold to chill outside at -11°C. The concert hall had some very cool industrial charm with wooden beams and also a balcony where from you can also perfectly see the show.

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Support: Dreamarcher

DREAMARCHER was opening the first gig of the tour in Drammen. The Norwegian band from Hardanger plays kind of Post-Rock or Post-Metal music that combines melodic sounds and vocals with raw growling parts. Their debut album, ‘Dreamarcher’, was released two years ago. The newest ‘Harding EP’ is out now. You can check their music and store here: https://www.dreamarcher.net/

DREAMARCHER entered the stage at 20:45 and immediately captured the venue with their mix of melancholic, raw and sometimes even dreamy songs. Unfortunately the “luck” of support bands is often to play in front of a not very packed hall. Since the bars were also outside of the hall in Union Scene, people were distributed everywhere. To me they should have had a bigger audience, but nevertheless the gig was cool. Also the light and sound was really on top, things that round up a performance a lot. Most impressive was the drummer of the band who did not “just” drum, but also enriched the songs A LOT with his growling parts and endless energy. Also technically the guys showed great skills. With the last song of the setlist, ‘Omuta’, they presented also a song from the latest release ‘Harding EP’. Cool support gig to kick-off the tour.

Setlist
01. A Fail Of Design
02. Black Water
03. Coal
04. Perish To Black
05. From Witch We Came
06. Omuta

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Seigmen

SEIGMEN was about to kick-off their December 2018, or also by fans sometimes called “pre-Christmas” tour, in Drammen tonight. The gig in Drammen was announced a bit later than the other five shows and also the date was a few days before the “main block” started. Drammen is a town not far away from Oslo (about 50 km) and the venue Union Scene is just next to the Drammenselva (Drammen “river”). The stage time for SEIGMEN was around 9:45 pm. The long awaited tour start in Drammen felt still a bit unreal to me. Just a few hours ago I was in Hamburg heading over to the airport, after an hour of flight time and another hour in the train, I arrived in Drammen and here we are. This is the first show, so also the only time I have no idea about the setlist which I really appreciate.

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SEIGMEN opened the showcase with the literally monumental intro of ‘Monument’. A majestic choice, for sure! The next one was the classic ‘Ohm’ and then ‘Hva vi elsker’ from the latest album ‘Enola’ followed. The mix of old gems and newer hits was just perfect here. Also this one special song that EVERYONE knows, was not missed of course and so ‘Metropolis’ was played very early at the beginning of the evening this time. Goose bumps everywhere since everyone is singing this one out loud. Another old gem appeared with ‘Juvel’ and the epic ‘Fra X til døden’ that is an instrumental highlight for the ears. A rare one was the following ‘Plutonium’ from the second album, ‘Ameneon’. All in the set list was full of rare songs, so especially for long-time fans this tour might be a very special one! But back to almost present with one of my favourites on the current album: the dark and moody ‘Trøst’ enchanted the venue.

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And then my personal highlight appeared. Already a year ago, when I was lucky to hear that song live for the first time in Tønsberg during the gig celebrating 20 years of ‘Radiowaves’ release, I remember being close to tears. The immense intensity of the song, the lyrics, the music and the emotional vocals of Alex - this all blends to an unbelievable mix of perfection in this song. And knowing that I might hear it another five times next week tells me, that the decision to follow the whole tour was the best I could do: ‘Trampoline’ is probably one of my personal favourites though it is absolutely hard to choose some from the great variety of songs. The next one delighted many of my friends and wasn’t played live since 1996 from what I’ve heard. That has been a long time for ‘Mercurial’ coming back on stage. But the comeback was celebrated a lot! Sounds really weird probably, but the setlist was just a mix of highlights, one after another, and so also the next one was just beautiful and emotional: ‘Neon Sun’.

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‘Tenn alle lys’ and the lights went on, the fans turned on their phone flashlights while the song was performed. A really magical moment! The next three songs before the formal end of the gig, well you might guess two of them - ‘Slaver av solen’ and ‘Döderlein’ are live classics that everyone knows and the choir of the crowd just naturally belongs to them. And in between the good old ‘Skjebnen’ from the debut EP back in 1992 ‘Pluto’. Another thing to mention is, how happy the guys seemed to be with the reaction of the audience. The crowd in Drammen welcomed the band very warmly and enthusiastic and they totally appreciated it. The smiling faces of the band members were great to see and made it easy to party together.

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When the formal first part ended and the musicians left the stage, the crowd got louder and the calls for “mere” (Norwegian for “more” or “encore”) filled the whole venue. We didn’t have to wait long, and got “mere” as asked for: the encore part got some more beautiful songs like the heavenly ‘Agnus dei’ sang by opera singer Marius and supported by Kim, the amazing and epic ‘Mesusah’ and last and never missed ‘Hjernen er alene’. What an epic tour start. Grateful, still wondering how fast the time went by and totally caught in the SEIGMEN universe Christian and me headed back to Oslo after some short conversations with friends and buying the limited tour poster, hand signed and numbered. The way back to Oslo took just about half an hour (after finding out how to get to the car in the car park that obviously already closed (no fun standing outside when it’s below -10°C, but we managed very fast to find out how to get inside. Thank god or in this case Christian!). Though it was before 1am when I got to my “home” for the next few days until Stavanger, it took me until after 4am to finally get to sleep. Using the time to realise that this epic tour just started and looking through pictures of this first gig.

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Setlist
01. Monument
02. Ohm
03. Hva vi elsker
04. Metropolis
05. Juvel
06. Fra X til døden
07. Plutonium
08. Trøst
09. Trampoline
10. Mercurial
11. Neon Sun
12. Tenn alle lys
13. Slaver av solen
14. Skjebnen
15. Döderlein
---
16. Agnus die
17. Mesusah
18. Hjernen er alene

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18th December - Folken, Stavanger, Norway

In between Drammen and Stavanger happened to be three calm and a little lazy days in Oslo. Spending them with friends and being amazed by the huge amounts of snow outside. Living in Hamburg I am not really used to snow anymore, so it took a bit to get used to walk outside on the icy and snowy ground. But the view is just wintery and invites you to take magic pictures. On Tuesday it was about time to go to Stavanger for the second gig and for the start of “5 days - 5 concerts block” without any days off in between. This was for sure the first time for such a demanding tour for myself. As it is Norway, you can cut the option of taking a train mostly out. And I actually don’t like flying at all. It is mostly okay, but as far as there are just small turbulences, the anxiety just hits back. Well, and this second flight was… interesting. The weather forecast told me that it’s slightly warmer (around +4°C) in Stavanger, but very windy. Being on the plane and almost landing, the crew announced that turbulences are to be expected. I already noticed, and the landing was really not one that I’d like to repeat over and over again.

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Even when the plane already touched the ground, it made some major zickzacks before coming to a stop. I needed a moment to relax since I knew that flying was one thing I was supposed to do once a day for four more days. But the reception in Stavanger was heart-warming and so caring! I was picked up by Marianne and her dad who drove us home to her. She prepared a room for the night for me and just short after we arrived, people came to her place for the vors (‘vors’, also ‘vorspiel’ - used in Norway for the pre-party before a concert, another event and so on. Has a “slightly” different meaning in German where this word is actually lent from. Please do NOT use it in Germany in the same way! ;) I’ve warned you...). I don’t know how I manage to do so every time when in Norway now, but I’ve got to be slightly “drunk” (not like really drunk, but you know what I mean) as the glasses at Marianne’s home seemed to have this magical ability to fill up by themselves. We also got to start celebrating Ottoegil’s birthday there since he came from Bergen all the way to Stavanger to the gig on his birthday. I got to listen a lot to Norwegian in Stavanger and practiced a little bit myself though my Norwegian is still just at the beginner’s level, but also had some nice conversations (in English) and enjoyed the time a lot.

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Seigmen

Stavanger was supposed to be the only gig where SEIGMEN had no support which I didn’t mind that much this evening. The performance was magical. It seemed that for SEIGMEN as it was for me, the “real tour” just begun in Stavanger since everyone was on the road for the next five days now and so the atmosphere was different compared to Drammen tonight. The setlist was almost the same as in Drammen. The only difference was that the guys changed ‘Skjebnen’ to ‘Mono doomen’! Honestly I couldn’t remember having listened much to the song before, though I listened to the ‘Pluto’ EP. So I actually had to ask which song that was. And I really enjoyed it! I listen to some metal music every then and now though I am not really a fan of that genre, but I actually really enjoy the old SEIGMEN songs. It is the kind of metal that I really love to listen to. The newer songs are pretty different, but so it is a nice change in between of the setlist.

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SEIGMEN seemed to have much fun playing in Stavanger. Also the crowd was just perfect to me. The audience was enthusiastic and ecstatic more than above the mandatory applause. Also the crowd was relaxed and no major conflicts occurred. A small mishap happened during ‘Mesusah’ was performed. Suddenly the well-known song sounded different than usual… especially the drum line was a bit… off the path. I didn’t get what exactly happened, but everyone just watched up. Someone said that Noralf’s drumstick broke or just flew away. Even the band watched up and Marius and Kim just started laughing while they all continued the performance. We all just loved their reaction. After the gig, as they already did in Drammen, the SEIGMEN guys hugged each other and smiled a lot. Stavanger was just perfect to continue the tour and start this main tour part.

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After the show we happened to hang around downstairs between the bar and merch. A random drunk guy tried to give Marianne and me 200 NOK to buy ourselves a beer, but we kindly declined. As we were about to leave soon, Ottoegil just came down and called us to follow to the backstage. So we were hanging around there for a while as a very small group actually and just had some relaxed time. Norwegian was spoken most of the time and I just tried to catch up on the topics. But also had the chance to ask a few questions (obviously in English).  When the venue was about to close, Ottoegil, Christian, Marianna, Øystein and me left and ended up in the hotel with just more beer, some LJUNGBLUT music and all kinds of random conversations. I believe being in my bed around 4 or later and there we go. That was the start of a never-ending lack of sleep that just added up during the following days. Sleep is overrated anyway, isn’t it?

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Setlist
01. Monument
02. Ohm
03. Hva vi elsker
04. Metropolis
05. Juvel
06. Fra X til døden
07. Plutonium
08. Trøst
09. Trampoline
10. Mercurial
11. Neon Sun
12. Tenn alle lys
13. Slaver av solen
14. Mono Doomen
15. Döderlein
---
16. Agnus die
17. Mesusah
18. Hjernen er alene

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19th December - Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway

The day after Stavanger started for me after probably 4-5 hours of sleep as I wanted to get the pictures and that all done before leaving to Oslo. We had just a perfect breakfast at Marianne’s place with all kinds of Norwegian specialties. Christian left Stavanger slightly earlier to Oslo and I had another shaky flight with some delay (delays were just normal during this tour actually!). Unfortunately the half hour of delay on the flight led to another hour more since I missed the train and also the tram later just by a few minutes. That night I was staying at Christian’s and his girlfriend’s Charlotte place. Due to all the delays we had just about an hour at home for some pizza and a glass of wine. Apparently I decided that I didn’t need more than that glass tonight. My body seemed still to be processing the beer & wine from Stavanger. Rockefeller was sold-out for months and so when we arrived around 7:20 pm (doors opened at 7:00) there were already many people inside. Of course it had to happen in sold-out and pretty organized Oslo that my name was missing on the press list. But with the help of the confirmation e-mail and being patient I got inside and was also able to take pictures from the photo pit and enjoy this pretty special gig.

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Support: Dreamarcher

As they did in Drammen, DREAMARCHER supported SEIGMEN tonight. It was fun to see the guys rocking the bigger stage at Rockefeller. Rockefeller used to be a public swimming hall, until reconstructed in 1986 and since then used as a concert hall. The performance of DREAMARCHER worked also well on the bigger stage and again I especially enjoyed the drummer with his immense growling vocal parts. Pure energy. Well done!

Setlist
01. A Fail Of Design
02. Black Water
03. Coal
04. Perish To Black
05. From Witch We Came
06. Omuta

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Seigmen

Oslo, oh Oslo! How impressive was that! SEIGMEN surprised again this evening and there is nothing more I could have been wishing for. Rockefeller was packed literally up to the ceiling (with its two balconies actually!). First taking pictures with a bunch of other photographers in the photo pit and then… Ever tried to get back to your gang that is standing in the first two rows in a sold-out venue during the most epic song? Ha! That’s what I did and I actually survived it (after panicking for about two seconds as I got stuck somewhere in the crowd. Trying to go back during ‘Metropolis’, the number one song in the Norwegian charts in the 90ies that took SEIGMEN to the Olympus of Norwegian Rock megastars was probably not the best idea. So when I realized that I just waited for the song to be over and then tried again. And yes, that helped a lot.

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This evening was meant to be dedicated to the ‘Pluto EP’. Back in 1992, when the initial name KLISNE SEIGMENN was not old at all and the sound of SEIGMEN was pretty much Metal, no doubt! The songs show a lot of the initial energy, raw sounds and emotions of the guys who just turned 20 or a little bit older back then. When I was standing there in the crowd, it felt like a bombastic Metal opera. ‘Pluto’ was played in its whole entirety after the first five songs that were still the same as in Drammen and Stavanger. So after ‘Juvel’ the setlist changed to this: ‘Fra X til døden’, followed by ‘Mono doomen’ that already appeared the night before in Stavanger, ‘Korstoget’ that is as far as I know an appreciated song especially to many long-time fans, ‘Skjebnen’ that we already got to enjoy in Drammen and ‘Syndefloden’. I believe parts of it haven’t been played since 1992.

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Just after ‘Syndefloden’ the almost “usual” setlist of this tour jumped in again, starting with the calm and dreamy ‘Tenn alle lys’ from the latest album ‘Enola’. That gave the audience the chance to calm down a bit after the explosive ‘Pluto’ part. Followed by ‘Trampoline’ and ‘Neon Sun’ that were my personal highlights just from the start of this tour. Some were missing ‘Mercurial’, but it disappeared just for this one gig to give room for ‘Pluto’. The rest of the setlist was as already known. No big after-party for me this night. It was still almost 2am when I finished the usual picture transfer and first check. Highly appreciating that Christian made us a snack just when we came home and before going to bed.

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Setlist
01. Monument
02. Ohm
03. Hva vi elsker
04. Metropolis
05. Juvel
06. Fra X til døden
07. Mono doomen
08. Korstoget
09. Skjebnen
10. Syndefloden
11. Tenn alle lys
12. Trampoline
13. Neon sun
14. Slaver
15. Trøst
16. Döderlein
---
17. Agnus die
18. Mesusah
19. Hjernen er alene

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20th December - Byscenen, Trondheim, Norway

I started calling my days not “Tuesday”, “Wednesday” or “Thursday”, but “Stavanger”, “Oslo” or “Trondheim” etc. So the “Trondheim” day came way too early, at least I’ve got about 5.5 hours of sleep that night. Used the chance to write down some major parts of the “Oslo” day and drink as much coffee as possible until Christian and I left home to get to the airport. This is actually an interesting physical experience to be tired to death and at the same time feel like your heart is bumping like crazy because of all the caffeine you’ve just had. Probably not the healthiest start of the day, but other than that it would’ve been even harder. Of course we got another delay of more than an hour on the flight to Trondheim. That led to a bit more stressful afternoon, nevertheless I enjoyed every second of the stay in Trondheim. Got picked up by Anders who lives close by Trondheim and after a really short drive, passing by a place called actually “Hell”, we arrived at his home. On a side-note: Climate change is real. There was snow in Hell and pretty cold actually. Crazy.

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We had some awesome dinner at Anders’ place that he prepared. Since my breakfast consisted of tons of coffee and a slice of cold pizza that was highly appreciated! Than we just caught the next train and arrived in Trondheim by 6:30 pm. What a beautiful place! Trondheim and Drammen were the only two places on that tour I haven’t been to before and I was actually sad to not be able to stay a bit longer this time. But I am sure to come back very soon (I heard summers are nice here). We walked a bit around the cosy city centre all in Christmas lights, had a stop at the adorable bar called “Den Gode Naboen” where we met Christian again and I finally got to see the famous and very monumental Nidarosdom! We arrived at the location just on time at 8pm, as usual said “hi” to Sandra at the merch stand and found ourselves a place at the front row. Norwegian audience seems to be pretty relaxed about it (also experienced it that way at festivals), so it’s mostly not so difficult to find yourself standing in the front row. Only exceptions are Oslo and Tønsberg where many more fans are travelling to, not just from everywhere in Norway, but also other countries like Germany, Ukraine, Sweden or even Russia.

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Support: Twin Pines Mall

The support tonight was a band called TWIN PINES MALL. “Twin Pines Mall” is actually known as a place from the film ‘Back to the Future’, remember Marty McFly? Another Alternative Rock band with handmade music. I really enjoyed the guys. Cool songs, a mix of Indie, Rock and Post Rock, catchy & spacy vocals by Uno Møller. The space connection is more than visible in their song titles and lyrics itself of course. The songs differed from each other and so it was an entertaining matter to listen to the guys. With 8 songs a pretty long setlist for a support band. The time was spent well, anyway. Also the light was cool. To get to know different new bands during the SEIGMEN tour was a great concept that I enjoyed a lot. I heard their new album will be released in February. Check them out! https://www.facebook.com/twinpinesmallofficial

Setlist
01. Lazer Eyes
02. Signs & Satellites
03. Orbital Weapon
04. Down In The Waves
05. Blood stars
06. Void
07. A Night Incredible In Lives
08. Unbearable

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Seigmen

After we got three different setlists for the first three shows, Trondheim went back to the initial setlist that we already got in Drammen about a week ago. It is crazy how fast time flies by. The audience in Trondheim and the atmosphere was so pure and felt so “honest”. People just enjoyed themselves a lot and celebrated the band and the show. Also it was not so packed for the first time. Though it was not empty at all, but it was nice to have little more space. I believe it was in Trondheim when I realized that ‘Juvel’ almost unnoticed by myself turned from another good song to probably one of my favourites. It was just so amazing to listen to it and to sing along. Also ‘Mercurial’ came back again and so the enchanting trio from ‘Radiowaves’ was complete again. Just to hear these three songs live was absolutely worth the whole trip.

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Also ‘Neon Sun’ turned more and more into a song that I was waiting for impatiently. The setlist offered songs for so many different moods, I believe it was almost impossible not to get satisfied by it (though every one of us for sure will find a dozen of other songs that could have been played additionally). Also ‘Hva vi elsker’ has got a solid place in my heart. It feels just so positive, freeing and hymn-like. You just cannot but sing along and enjoy the atmosphere during this song. But then there are also the other, more dark and heavy songs like ‘Skjebnen’, ‘Mesusah’ or ‘Ohm’.

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The only time that Trondheim “failed” a little was during ‘Tenn alle lys’ where it became almost a tradition now to turn on the flashlight of your phone or to use an actual lighter like back in the days (remember how it was, when people didn’t have phones at concerts like they did not have at all and also smoking was much more common or allowed at all? Yes? Cool! I almost feel too young for that). So while it worked perfectly at the other shows, just a few people turned on their flashlights in Trondheim. Well, nobody is perfect. The show was still really cool and the fact that everyone was just having fun and the people were enjoying themselves made this gig absolutely cool.

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After the show the people I already knew and some absolutely cool friends of Anders headed to a burger place called “Super Hero” in Trondheim city. Though there was not much going on this night, when we arrived, there very many young people enjoying themselves. The burgers were awesome (they also had a falafel burger, in case you might need that info one day) and you could buy beer for about 40 NOK which is incredibly cheap for Norway. Even I, living in Germany and used to much lower beer prices, was honestly surprised and still don’t understand how they are able to sell it so “cheap”. Afterwards we got a ride back home by a friend of Anders (thanks a lot!). When we just opened the doors of the car, the guys themselves started laughing as there were ski in between of the car seats. “Very Norwegian!” they noted. So I ended up sitting in a car, ski in between with three Norwegian guys talking about moose steak for dinner the next day. It couldn’t have gotten more “Norwegian” as it was at that moment. Fun moment to remember!

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Setlist
01. Monument
02. Ohm
03. Hva vi elsker
04. Metropolis
05. Juvel
06. Fra X til døden
07. Plutonium
08. Trøst
09. Trampoline
10. Mercurial
11. Neon Sun
12. Tenn alle lys
13. Slaver av solen
14. Skjebnen
15. Döderlein
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16. Agnus die
17. Mesusah
18. Hjernen er alene

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21st December - Terminalen, Ålesund, Norway

The morning after the concert started very relaxed with coffee, listening to music and chilling on the sofa. Anders and I exchanged some music tips and just chilled until it was time for me to go to the airport. I was not really looking forward to it after the last two flights actually have been really shaky. And since I knew that I was flying with Widerøe and one of their really small propel fly this time, I didn’t get much calmer. It didn’t help that the flight was delayed by more than an hour. Since it was my latest flight actually, I got a bit nervous about arriving on time. There was still some distance between the airport and city centre to be covered. But, to my own surprise, it wasn’t that windy and so the short flight from Trondheim to Ålesund was almost relaxing. Also the view down to the ground was just beautiful.

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alesund terminalen seigmenLucky me, the airport is not that big, so it was very easy to find the bus to the city centre and the bus driver was just helpful. In the bus I helped an older woman with my phone to call her mom and tell her that she arrived since her connection didn’t work. It turned out the woman who came originally from Norway was living in Hamburg now. Funny coincidence. The bus stopped at the Rutebilstasjon and just next to Terminalen where SEIGMEN were about to play tonight. Also it felt so good to come back. I’ve visited Ålesund last year in summer on a backpacking tour with my best friend and for both of us it turned out to be our favourite place on that journey. Ålesund has a beautiful, dreamy city centre build up in Art Nouveau.

My hotel was less than a five minute walk away and after all that time waiting for the flight and all, I was just so glad to have a bit of time just to lay down on the bed and relax for about 45 minutes. Not much time, but at least a bit. The doors in Ålesund opened at 8pm. When I arrived 5 to 8 there were at least a few people already waiting. I also have been at Terminalen for a beer on my last visit here, so it was really cool to come back. Terminalen is just a really cosy place, with two bars and a kind of terrace, with the view out to the water and some cosy sofas and armchairs. It took a while until more people came to the venue. I used the time to chat with Sandra from merch a little bit. I checked out the place and photo pit a little bit, deciding again that it was just too small to get in and the distance from the front row was just perfect.

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Support: Himmellegeme

With some delay that I didn’t mind that much since I just enjoyed hanging around here HIMMELLEGEME entered the stage. The guys from Bergen were pretty different compared to the other support bands that SEIGMEN used to have on this tour, but also at previous shows. If you try to put HIMMELLEGEME in a music category it is probably something like this: atmospheric and slightly psychedelic Prog & Space Rock probably? I am not very familiar with Prog Rock, but if you are into detailed and enthusiastic guitar play and the pure melancholic touch in the vocals, it might be something for you. They switch between English and Norwegian vocals, but for the most part the instrumentals are much more present in the music of HIMMELLEGEME. Sometimes it’s almost dreamy and “spacy” music like from far, far away and then the harder riffs are hitting in. If you are into this kind of music or just curious, give it a try! https://www.facebook.com/himmellegemeband

Setlist
01. Myth Of Earth
02. Breathe In The Air, Like It’s Fire
03. Kyss mine blodige hender
04. Natteravn
05. Fallvind

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Seigmen

I knew that Ålesund would be different in any way, though I couldn’t explain why. To be honest just before SEIGMEN came on stage, I was sooo extremely tired. Now the venue got totally crowded and there were, as I call them fondly, many “mid-age metal heads”. The audience already enjoyed the support band, so I was optimistic about this part. And I wasn’t wrong. That was such a huge party in Ålesund. SEIGMEN seemed to enjoy it a lot as well. I saw the guys smiling many times and interact a lot with the crowd. I was standing just across from Kim and that was so much fun! Just singing, shouting back at him and the rest and enjoying myself a lot. I believe Ålesund was the gig where I was able to let go the most and just have an intense and fun time. The setlist was the same like e. g. in Drammen and especially the older and harder songs worked so well here.

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I believe when ‘Skjebnen’ was over Kim said something like that (in Norwegian of course, so forgive me if I am wrong here! It is at least what I understood) he wrote the song for an audience like that in Ålesund that would enjoy it exactly the same way they just did. And hell, he was so right! The crowd partied a bit raw, but everyone had just so much fun. I loved every second of that gig. Remember I told you about being extremely tired? Especially this concert gave me a huge “drug dose”. Some guys even started a small kind of a mosh pit, but they did it in a very “social” way, so I didn’t feel bothered by that at all. After the gig the atmosphere just remained amazing. People around me were just smiling and talked randomly to me (first in Norwegian, then in English). A random guy came to me right after the gig was just over. I was about to put back my cam when he told to me how amazing the gig was and then just hugged me.

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In a different setting it would be pretty weird, but here it was just fine. Everyone was just so happy afterwards. Also I met another guy who was standing at the merch before the concert and we just talked about how amazing the gig was. His eyes were just lit and I believe we felt both very same at that moment. Other guys talked to me when I was at the bar to get some tap water (so grateful that tap water is always free in Norway. That should be a thing everywhere. Appreciate that a lot!). They asked me where I am from and I answered “Germany”. One of the most asked questions there was actually, after that info was given, whether I bought tickets for RAMMSTEIN next year. Well I was just about to tour Norway to follow SEIGMEN (also I’ve seen RAMMSTEIN back in 2009 and was actually not as impressed as I probably should have been, but I would probably give them another time if that fits better next time). But the connection “German” and “RAMMSTEIN” seems pretty strong, I believe.

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Setlist
01. Monument
02. Ohm
03. Hva vi elsker
04. Metropolis
05. Juvel
06. Fra X til døden
07. Plutonium
08. Trøst
09. Trampoline
10. Mercurial
11. Neon Sun
12. Tenn alle lys
13. Slaver av solen
14. Skjebnen
15. Döderlein
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16. Agnus dei
17. Mesusah
18. Hjernen er alene

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22nd December - Støperiet, Tønsberg, Norway

Insomnia hit very hard that night. I had a really nice hotel in Ålesund, the room couldn’t have been nicer. But though I was terribly tired already before the concert, I couldn’t sleep at all until almost 5:30 am. Too bad when your alarm goes on at seven! Well actually I seem to have had ignored it and luckily woke up by myself at 7:30. So still enough time to pack and shower, but anyway that morning was one of the hardest for sure. Down at the breakfast I met the guys from SEIGMEN and some crew members who stayed at the same hotel. Since the departures in Ålesund that day looked like that: 
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we obviously had to take the same flight to get to Oslo and to Tønsberg then. I just waved and tried to find something at the buffet that didn’t overstrain my stomach and body too much. Ended up with loads of coffee, some orange juice and for some reason bread and brunost (caramelized Norwegian brown cheese). Got to talk a little bit to Kim while choosing food and after another cup of coffee I went back to the room to get my luggage all together.

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The ride to the airport with the bus was just as easy as the day before from the airport. At the airport I kept running into one or another band or crew member since the airport was just really small. Lucky me the flight to Oslo was really smooth (beside of the moment we touched the ground, but no turbulences this time). The train brought me also with almost no waiting time to Tønsberg, the hometown of SEIGMEN. It’s been now the 3rd time for me to come here, and so I didn’t even need a navigation app to find my way to the hotel. As always here the earlier check-in was available and I could catch up on at least an hour of sleep. After that just directly heading to a vors with Melle, Tone Kari, Jurgita and Caro. A small and cosy girls pre-party before the last gig of this awesome tour started. We arrived at Støperiet half past 7 and there was already a small bunch of people. Again saying “hello” to some friends who I’ve already met before on this tour and others I saw for the first time during this week. Also finally met adorable Liudmila while waiting outside who took over the photographer’s part tonight! So it was time to just enjoy the last gig to the fullest.

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Support: Ushikawa

The support was taken over tonight by a young and promising local band called USHIKAWA. First comment in our rows when the guys came on stage: “Wow! How old are they?!” The guys looked very young (and probably are, someone later told me that some of them were born in 1998?), but their music and performance were really cool! I enjoyed them a lot. The front singer also motivated the audience perfectly and I am sure they had brought some fans to the gig tonight. The mix of emotional melodies and hard riffs, soft vocals and shout-outs was cool and the way they performed just refreshing. Though some stage fright was noticeable, the guys were so cool and awesome. They opened their gig with the single ‘Ghosts’ that was released in spring earlier this year. The choice to let USHIKAWA open this night felt totally right! I had lots of fun listening to them and am curious what more is to come from the guys. https://www.facebook.com/UshikawaBand

Setlist
01. Ghosts
02. Good Mourning
03. Where I’ll Go
04. Bear With Me
05. Everyone We Know
06. Elephant

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Seigmen

And here we are. The last concert of the tour was about to happen. I found myself being surrounded by many friends who became very close and important to me during the last little more than two years. Five totally great gigs behind, every single one of them unique in its own way. Tønsberg is a home game for SEIGMEN and has therefore a very special vibe. I believe playing in the place where you live (or was born) can be curse and blessing at the same time. Tønsberg loves his heroes and is partying hard. The gigs in Tønsberg became a pre-Christmas tradition and so again we all met here to finish the year with SEIGMEN and they delivered totally, tonight was no exception! Five gigs in a row and no lack of energy on stage at all! (Wish I could say the same about myself.) The setlist was the same as in Stavanger. ‘Mono doomen’ again. This tour’s setlist was a blast, perfect mix through all albums. The album ‘Radiowaves’ got its deserved spot in it, also the older ones.

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Some calmer songs from ‘Enola’ like ‘Tenn alle lys’ that just perfectly fits in the ‘Christmas theme’. Alex talking about how special it is to be in Tønsberg again (I believe). Grateful faces everywhere. And hey, my annual Tønsberg beer shower again! Haha. Almost thought I could leave the country without having one. Also no Tønsberg gig without a random fan trying to push forward. But nothing could destroy that last night. Just the songs. The unique energy on stage. The guys who love to perform together for almost 30 years. The beautiful ‘Juvel’, intense ‘Trampoline’ and ‘Neon Sun’, head-banging to ‘Fra X til døden’ and ‘Mesusah’, singing out loud with everyone to ‘Slaver av solen’, ‘Döderlein’ and the one and only ‘Hjernen er alene’ that symbolizes the end of (almost) every gig.

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When the last words and chords of ‘Hjernen er alene’ fall silent, there is this feeling of pure gratitude and “out of space”. Hugging everyone and feeling little bit lost in that moment. On the one hand trying to keep it alive as long as possible, on the other hand actually slightly happy to know that I don’t need to fly tomorrow again. The night ended at the bar called “Stasjonen” with Melle, Tone Kari, Christian and Caro with some Juleøl and a funny music mix, and a little bit later with some wine with Sandra and Christian in the hotel. The clock showed 4 am again. Breakfast at 10. No rest for the wicked, you know. But I doubt that I could have slept earlier anyway.

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Six gigs, nine days on the road (+three more after the tour), 4254 km, uncountable amount of cups of coffee, and way too few hours of sleep, four support bands, so many friends I’ve met and some more I made and six nights full with the epic and magic energy of SEIGMEN. The tour ended for me spending the most magical Christmas with the sweetest people in Norway before heading back to my beloved Hamburg that welcomed me back with the usual grey sky and rain.

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Setlist
01. Monument
02. Ohm
03. Hva vi elsker
04. Metropolis
05. Juvel
06. Fra X til døden
07. Plutonium
08. Trøst
09. Trampoline
10. Mercurial
11. Neon Sun
12. Tenn alle lys
13. Slaver av solen
14. Mono doomen
15. Döderlein
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16. Agnus die
17. Mesusah
18. Hjernen er alene

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Acknowledgements: During the whole tour there was one word coming to my mind every single day and it is: gratitude. So I want to use the chance to say tusen hjertelig takk to all these people, who made my journey so amazing: Kim, Alex, Marius, Noralf, Sverre, Lorry, Sandra, all the other crew members whom I unfortunately don’t know the names of, very special takk to Dani, Christian, Charlotte, Nicolas, Caroline, Jurgita, Tone Kari, Frank, Torben, Sabrina, Ottoegil, Marianne, Øystein, Marion, Caroline, Anders, Sabine, Constanze, Liudmila, Melanie, Bjørg, Knut & Eva.

Pictures Tønsberg by Liudmila Radyk
All other pictures by Nastja Iz
Complete tour diary by Nastja Iz

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