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last update: July 21st, 2011
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last update: July 21st, 2011
Intropages W3C validated!
Ladies and Gentlemen, the official dates of the Violeta-Tour in 2011:
You may order tickets for the shows in Norway on www.billettservice.no.
My first Kaizers concert of the Grand Finale tour was awaiting me, when I entered the plane which would bring me to Oslo on that Thursday evening. This time Kaizers would play at the Sentrum Scene, which is bigger than the Rockefeller, where Kaizers have played numerous sold-out shows. It had been announced before that Kaizers were going to play three new songs and some of the old ones, so my expectations were very high.
When I arrived in Oslo at 4 p.m. it was already getting dark and it was much colder than in Bonn - what a surprise... at least it didn't rain. First of all I used my free evening to visit the theater where Hamlet was shown. Aksel Hennie, one of Norway's most popular actors (known from films such as "Buddy", "Uno" or "Hawaii Oslo"), played the role of the Danish prince. Unfortunately the performance was very boring and lifeless, while Hennie played a way to angry and aggressive Hamlet. It just didn't work. Besides there were some school classes in the audience, and among them some little girls who would giggle and pinch each other every time Hennie entered the stage. So, the central "å være eller ikke å være" monologue was kind of killed by the crackling of potatoe chip bags, the cackling of excited teenagers and mobile phone bleeps. At least it was nice to see Aksel Hennie from so close. And after all - the tickets for the Centralteatret were half price half an hour before the show...
On Friday there was an autograph session with Kaizers at the book shop Tanum. Many fans, most of them of the female sex, had come to let Kaizers sign their bags, CDs, selfmade photo albums, pants, toes etc. Kaizers, Jan Zahl and the photographer Paal Audestad were nice and friendly and signed everything that was given to them (even my cigarette box...). It was there that I met Linda, a Dutch fan who had come all the way to Norway to see Kaizers. We met up later in front of the Sentrum Scene. As usual the queue was very long and it took us a lot of time to get in. When we finally got in we went to the merch stand to have a look at the new merch articles: a T-Shirt with Helge's picture saying "The man behind the mask", underwear in pink and black, buttons, stickers, bags etc. Even the merchman was new, it was the notorius bassist in Skambankt- "Don Fist" himself.
The Sentrum Scene doesn't look very big, but it has two very big galeries from where you can have a fantastic view over the whole stage. You could only sit up there so we sat through the whole show (lazy girls, I know...). There, where Øyvind would stand we could see an easel and painting tools. So it was true that he was going to produce a painting during each show. Mad mad Kaizer world!
First of all Jan Zahl entered the stage and welcomed the audience to a reading night. The musical start was made by my special friend Geoff Berner, who played one or two new songs and gave out some copies of his little red book "How to be an Accordion Player". The audience liked him and after a couple of songs he left the stage having made a lot of new fans. The "Russian Dance" was played soon after and the huge red Kaizers Orchestra logo in the background was illuminated. There was much rejoicing! Kaizers entered the stage one after the other and the first chords of "Dieter Meyer" filled the hall. Janove started with a soft and sad "Legg meg inn…" and the audience sang the rest while Janove leaned back and listend to the music of the masses. It was quiet moving to be honest. The melodic part ended up in an impressive oil barrel massacre and was finished with an explosive LEGG - MEG - IIIIIIIINN! What a beginning! Kaizers went on with "KGB", "Delikatessen", "Ompa Til Du Dør", and "Bøn Fra Helvete". The audience clapped their hands and danced and stamped their feet, so that our seats trembled. In the breaks between the songs one could observe Øyvind working industriously on his painting. The exitement reached its first climax when "Den Sjette Sansen" was announced. Even at the risk of being taken for confused I must say that I was reminded of U2's "Hold me Kill me..." and Guns’n’Roses' "Paradise City" by the beginning of the song. At least there is a western meets hardrock sound to that song, which I like very much. It was followed by "Du Og Dine Er Even", which has been available on the internet as a bootleg in a very bad quality. The new version of it does not start with the pump organ though, which makes the song more straight forward. It is a very melodic poprock-song with soft 70's appeal, definitely an earbuzz, and maybe even a dancefloor hit?
After the band had played "Container", "Señor Flamingos Adieu" and "Blitzregn Baby" it was time for a song that has't been played very often: "Død Manns Tango", a heartbreaking tune and - the enemy of every mascara-wearing girl... No, I seriously liked it and I hope Kaizers are going to perform it more often. Anyway, "Kontroll På Kontinentet" was played with full force, complete with the Moses and the towel-performance. And then it was time for "Kvite Russer". Personally I don't like that song but I loved the way it was arranged by Janove. He asked the male part of the audience to sing the deep and drunken-sounding "Laalaalaa"-part while the women were supposed to squeak the "Kvit- kvite russeeer"-part. We followed the instructions and it was really fun. I wonder if he will try that in Germany as well... "Kvite Russer" was followd by "Tokyo Ice Til Clementin", the perfect western-cartoon tune and one of my favourite songs. It is funny and refreshing, especially where Geir does the "lalalalala" with a high-pitched voice.
Adonis and other sexy objects,
Photo: Vetle S. (click!)
It looks as if Kaizers were not going to play the "Gypsy
Finale" on this tour, since the last part of the show contained "Sigøynerblod",
"Bak Et Halleluja" and "Maestro", after which Øyvind's
painting was auctioned off. I had expected some whild and chaotic painting
with a lot of orgasmic splatters but to my utter surprise Helge presented
a clean piece of art, sporting a white background with a red vertical stripe
and two black horrizontal stripes. Janove held the auction professionally
and in the end the painting was sold at the price of 8000 Norwegian Kroners.
Who knows, maybe one day it will be worth millions ...
However, the penultimate song was another new tune called "9 mm",
which in my opinion is the weakest of the new songs. It reminds me a bit of
the Kinks' "You really got me now" and I find it quiet monotonous
and mediocre. Still it might develope into a very good song if more action
was put into it. Anyway, the evening was near its end, "170" was
played, but Kaizers had a big surprise in store for us. They came back with
Geoff Berner and all together they performed Berner's song "Whiskey Rabbi".
Rune and Øyvind gave the beat while Janove, Helge, Terje and Geir sang
along the chorus "here comes the whiskey rabbi...". What a nice
ending for a fantastic evening.
The day after I took the train and saw the two shows in Bergen. The second Bergen show was actually even better than the Oslo gig, the audience was even more enthusiastic and the band seemed to have a wonderful time up there. Still I am not going into the details here as it would be full of admiring words and uninteresting drivel, so you just have to believe me that it was fantastic. The whole trip was worth it, I met some wonderful people again and hope to see all of them soon again. I am also looking forward to the rest of the Grand Finale tour. You should do that, too! Shirin
As a conclusion to this year’s Maestro tour we from Save-Me-Kaizer decided to get to Copenhagen to celebrate two sold-out shows at the legendary Vega hall. So we got into the "Kaizermobil", filled it up with the nowadays so expensive petrol, picked up Susi from Hamburg and hit the highway to Copenhagen. We all had never been to Copenhagen, and the first thing that struck us was the endless number of bicycles in the city. Very often you could see some stylish buisness woman in a costume and high boots cycling to work. Well, that is rather a sight the boys could enjoy. The Danish language by the way is very easy to read if you know Norwegian but when it comes to pronounciation it is very hard to understand. You can easily get that hot potatoe impression the Danish language is famous for.
We left our stuff in the hotel and quickly made our way to the Vega, since the doors were going to open already at 7 o’clock. There were not so many people waiting outside (not as many as in Oslo at least) and we suddenly felt 10 years older, the average age of the fans being around 20. When the doors opened we managed to get into the second row which was not a wise choice since there was much pushing and pulling and squeaking – worse than in Norway - that after a while I decided to stand in the back where you could still see very much and where there was no pushing. Thomas and Karsten were brave enough to stay where they were and Susi even made it to the first row after a while. The concert was a very good one but I confine myself to saying that we were very much afraid of the floor giving in - because the fans were stamping so hard - and taking us and the band into the dark profundities of Copenhagen. Luckily enough this didn’t happen and we survived the concert all well and alive. Only Karsten got unlucky. At one point he didn’t see Janove jumping into the crowd and the next second he had him on his head which caused some kind of whiplash with him. Well, no risk no fun…
But let’s get to the second concert on the next day, which probably was among the best kaizers concerts ever (Trust me, I have seen 44 shows...). Much more wiser than the day before we prefered to go up to the gallery from where we had a wonderful view on the stage and the audience and where we could rock in peace. We also hung a save-me-t-shirt on the railing so that we could make ourselves visible. Loads of cameras were waiting for the concert of the year to shoot the footage for the upcoming DVD. Like on the rest of the tour Mr. Geoff Berner was the warm-up act. I must say that his endless sarkasm starts getting on your nerves after a couple of shows. He says things like "My name is Geoff Berner, I am from Canada. NOT the United States.... WE didn’t go to Iraq." Hahaha! Well, he is the "Whisky Rabbi", we know that but is everything as simple as that? "Just consider this: Osama Bin Laden doesn’t drink. And George Bush doesn’t drink." Oh, how cunning and how cynical… After the third or fourth time the surprise effect wears off and empty phrases remain. The whole thing kind of tastes like Michael Moore: a flat, populist and cheap showmanship. Geoff Burner might be a very intelligent, politically well educated man, but he is drwoning in weltschmerz and extreme cynicism. The young Danish audience however was very pleased with the support-act and had a good time. And then the Gods in black finally came. A rush of adrenaline transformed us all into weak-willed dance-machines.
The red Kaizers-Orchestra-logo, that had been left home during the European tour was there again and its flashing made the audience scream hysterically. The Gentlemen were back again and began their show of eternal joy. This is the setlist that was in store for us:
Lucky
girl!!!
KGB
Delikatessen
Knekker deg til sist
Hevnervals
Container
Señor Flamingos Adieu
Blitzregn Baby
Bøn Fra Helvete
Mann Mot Mann
Kontroll På Kontinentet
Christiania
På Ditt Skift
Dr. Mowinckel
Di Grind
Dieter Meyers Institution
Evig Pint
Ompa til Du dør
Maestro
Mr. Kaizer...
Sigøynerblod
Bak et Halleluja
Resistansen
170
Die Polizei
This day like the day before the Gentlemen looked for full body contact with the audience. Janove jumped into the crowd twice and was carried on hands while he was singing. A lucky girl even managed to get a kiss from the Maestro himself. Should this scene be on the DVD she will probably be the happiest girl in the world and show the DVD to her grandchildren when she is old and wrinkly!! Janove also posed with a cylinder hat that somebody had thrown on stage the day before (and we hope he keeps this hat, since he looks gorgeous with it). Killmaster, like Moses, parted the crowd and ran through the gap playing his guitar. Geir did his strange Rock'n'Roll movements in the wildest manner. The Danes screamed and danced and had a great time (including us of course). It was one of the coolest and greatest audiences we had ever seen! We yelled out loud, whispered loving words or threw our hands up when the Maestro asked us to. We were slaves to the rhythm and it is always fascinating to see the way Janove gets the people to do exactly what he wants them to do. He is also very good at empathising with the audience. When the band played "Christiania" he finished the song by singing "Bevar Christiania" ("save Christiania") and the crowd chanted softly with him. You should know that Christiania is a small self-governed democratic community in Copenhagen that has existed for about 30 years. There you can find loads of ex-hippies, alternative people and – unfortunately – also many drug problems. The crime-rate is quiet high in Christiania so politicians have been talking about shutting down the place or taking other drastic measures. This has led a lot of civil rights activists to defending Christiania with slogans such as "Bevar Christiania". It’s a complicated case if you ask me...
Hatmaaaaaaan!!The last song was "Die Polizei" and it was overwhelming to hear the whole audience singing the chorus over and over again until the deeply impressed Gentlemen left the stage and the lights went on. Very romantic indeed!
We think everyone would agree in that Kaizers could never ever become boring. There are some few shows where the it doesn’t really click, but we always know that the next concert is going to be awesome as ever again and that Kaizers will eventually get those half mad smiles on our faces. I want to send my greetings to everyone who took part in this tour and made everything become even nicer. Most of all I want to thank Susi, Candy und Thomas for driving the long distances and being there, the whole Kaizers-crew, who did and said all those good things, Britt for letting us sleep at her place and of course the greatest live-band ever. And last but not least I want to thank all the fans who made it possible for Kaizers to go on tour so often. You rule!!! See you on tour!! Shirin (corrections by Thomas)
I never know what to think of Berlin. Sometimes I find the
city rather ugly and way too big for my little existence, but here and there
I see a piece of Berlin, that is beautiful and bursts with cosmopolitan flair
and atmosphere. That happened again when I stood in front if the Arena Berlin
at the Spree river and looked at Hoppetosse for the first time. The Hoppetosse
is a restaurant and party ship that is known to everybody in Berlin. Next
to it there is a swimming pool let into the river. The arena itself has the
capacity of 7.500 people. For the Pop d'Europe festival it was devided into
halves. The festival programme was a strange read, 'cause what the heck was
Kaizers Orchestra doing on an "Eastern-Block-Party"? Until the very
beginning we didn't know which band was going to play as the main act. The
two other bands that played that evening were the multiculti band Shantel
Bucovina Club Orkestar and !DelaDap from Austria, which I had never heard
of before. The programme said that the bands played gypsy musik und East European
music, again tunes, that have influenced Kaizers Orchestra, but never outweighed
the main musical direction which is rock.
Anyway, !DelaDap started the show. The seven-man band from Vienna, whose members
originally come from Hungary, the Czech Republik and Slovakia call their music
"Nu-Roma" or "Nu-Gipsy" and mix Roma and Sinti tunes with
Dub and Soul. Quiet disappointing if you ask me, not only because the singer
made a very cool and bored impression. At least it didn't click with me. But
it did when the Shantel Bucovina Club Orkestar entered th scene. The producer
and DJ Stefan Hantel alias Shantel mixes the music of his Romanian ancestors
with new electronic beats. The brassband blasted us nearly away and the singer
was the mistress of the evening. Related musicians would be the Serbo-Croatian
Goran Bregovic and Fanfare Ciocarlia. The audience got completley mad as Mister
Hantel handed out Vodka to the first rows (most of it ended up in my hair
though...) and "Berlinoooooo" became a dance party on the vulcano.
What a fantastic show! Shantel Bucovina Club Orkestar is an unforgattable
live-event, though I can't say anything about the CDs.
The only problem that I could think of: Would Kaizers manage to top the Club
Orkestra? The audience was programmed on ethno-beats, which isn't exactly
what Kaizers have to offer. If they had started with "Sigøynerblod"
they could probably have managed to catch the atmosphere much better, but
they opened with "På Ditt Skift", which was a strong contrast
to the extatic cound of the Bucovina. But then, you can't blame Kaizers for
their own special sound, can you? At least it is what makes this band so special.
It just didn't really fit into the pogramme, allthough it was – in my humble
opinion – a rrrrreally good concert. "Hevnervals" and "Container"
followed and the dance-crazy crowd could finally dance on. "Evig Pint"
and "Di Grind" came and the Jackal loosened up and began chatting
to the audience. People from different Scandinavian countries were asked to
show themselves. The Swedish were asked to leave the hall, which is, if you
know Scandinavians, just a joke. I have never ever met a Norwegian who hasn't
run down his Scandinavian neighbours and vice versa. In the end they are all
friends, so it IS a running gag. Anyway, Janove asked a fan to to say some
"wise words", but unfortunately this guy was so pissed nobody could
understand his gibberish and for the rest of the concert he went on harassing
other people in the audience… After a beautiful "Kontroll På Kontinentet"
it was time for a couple of new songs so the Jackal took off his shirt. There
is said to be fans who didn't like that, but I guess thay have never seen
Iggy Pop naked... Well, yes. Øyvind whistled the scary melody of "Senior
Flamingos Adjeu", which was followed by the über-rock songs "Blitzregn
Baby" and "Delikatessen". Janove asked the audience if they
had finally recognized that he was singing in a foreign language. "Of
course it's Swedish". Laughter. No of course it wasn't Swedish, 'cause
Sweden sucked, but no, just kidding, all Swedish fans were invited to come
backstage after the show. And everybody was happy. These Scandinavians are
crazy. "De Involverte" was the last song before the break, but Kaizers
didn't come back to play the "Gypsy Finale", which was the big surprise
of this evening. Instead they played "Bønn Fra Helvete" and
(finally!!) "Maestro", which has developed into a sensational and
funky live-song. As I mentioned before, I found the concert quiet good. I
am sorry for those fans who were disappointed out of one or the other reason.
But c'est la vie, isn't it?!
Kaizers on the roof of the Universal building? It is a must to go there, especially since I didn’t make it to the Prekestolen gig where the band played a couple of hundred metres above a fjord in the snow. Universal had invited press people to this special gig and they came in large numbers. It was a bit bizzare to see the beloved Kaizers-set in front of that impressive scenery, high above Berlin's roofs. To make a long story short: This concert ruled!! If it was the fresh air which made the band so good or the uplifting view, I don't know. Anyway they showed the press nerds what real and original rock music is about. And some of those people even managed to move their asses and clap to the sound of Kaizers. The show started with "Bønn Fra Helvete" and the band played one hit after the other, plus "Gypsy Finale". Somewhere in the middle a little blond boy was let onto the scene and played the tambourine. Killmaster was in good shape and made a fantastic rockstar-show. And finally I could have a closer look at Helge and his gasmask. This man is unique if not an omen… Fortunately enough nobody fell from the building out of happiness and so the party went on for some time. Should Kaizers, as I see it, have managed to convince the press of their uniqueness, it will be a piece of cake for them to infect the German market with the Kaizers virus. And Ladies and Gentlemen, it is about time something happens to stop this brain-softening shitty music that is presented to us in the mass media and pollutes our ear channels day by day. It’s time for Chaos and the continent is ready for Kaizers!! Shirin
Alternastage, 2:00 am, 12 °C, drizzling rain, about
500 freaks: It had been a long day, with getting up early, 5 hours
driving to the festival area, 3 hours waiting to get a parking place, 2 hours
for finding a cosy place for our tent, 2 hours waiting to get the festival
ribbons tied around our arms and never-ending fighting through tenthousands
of drunken teenagers. We were tired and exhausted, our bodies were hurting
very badly, the rain and the coldness were giving us shivers. But we bore
up and waited for the last band to come. From a dutch friend, Martijn, we
knew that Kaizers Orchestra is like a drug and can make you crazy, but we
were brave enough to face this extended family from Bergen in Norway.
Most of the festival visitors went home after Korn, the main act of the evening,
had played, not knowing that they would miss one of the best live performances
of whole Rock am Ring 2004. We had no idea of what was to come either when
we gathered in front of the stage. What we saw was strange and unusual. A
spotlight focused on a round symbol with a head wearing a gas mask. What was
that supposed to tell us: to be ready for an attack with biological and chemical
weapons? Furthermore there were oil barrels, pans, car wheel rims, baseball
bats, axe handles and a cute old-fashioned living room lamp. It looked everything
but not normal.
Suddenly a kind of polka music started to play. The excitement of the audiences
was increasing. Accompanied by the sound of an old manual sirene, the guys
of Kaizers Orchestra entered the stage. Everybody looked full of expectation
at the six men dressed in suit and tie. When they started the concert with
"Ompa Til Du Dør", the people immediately started dancing.
The impulsive beats of the music and the energetic performance of Kaizers
infected the crowd and let them forget all the coldness, wetness and tiredness.
In spite of the late time the band was in a good mood. The handsome singer
won all the female hearts with his flirtatious bright eyes and the taking
off some "unnecessary" clothes. His job as entertainer and the drinking
of a bottle of good, and compared to Norway cheap, wine had obviously warmed
him. But also another band member was secretly drawing the attention of the
audiences to himself. The musician with the gas mask. This giant shape with
the bald head dealing optional with the harmonium, the piano or accordion
seemed to have escaped from the monsters family and spread out a mysterious
and nearly scary atmosphere. This impression was amplified through the beating
of all the unusual music instruments like the oil barrels and the wheel rims,
which gave the songs a special martial, sweeping sound.
The band performed in total eleven songs, a good mixture of the both albums
"Ompa Til Du Dør" and "Evig Pint". They showed an incredible
talent in mobilising and even hypnotising the exhausted crowd and brought
out the last of everybody. The audiences were screaming until the vocal cords
refused to work, they clapped their hands until the pain was overwhelming
them and pushed their hands in the air to show Kaizers their pleasure. The
singer was conducting the crowd. When he asked for "Hallelujas",
he got a chorus screaming it.
Sometimes the interaction with the audiences went over the top and remembered
of annoying kindergarten games, but the crowd never hesitated to follow the
instructions. Every member of the "Kaizers"-family, introduced in
the course of the concert, had his special role to play and fulfilled his
part with passion and total commitment.
The show ended after 1 hour with the song "Resistansen" and under
thunderous applause the masters of the night Kaizers Orchestra left the stage.
Even on the long way home to the tent, we could see smiling people loudly
humming the melody of some songs (just hardcore fans will know the Norwegian
lyrics) or screaming "Save me, Kaizer!". Katja Bunzel
For the second time I had to get into a plane on a September
11th for a Kaizers concert. Last time my destination was Berlin, this time
it was lovely Oslo, where Kaizers Orchestra were supposed to play their last
concert for a while in the - as always - sold out Rockefeller. The Vorspiel
at Truls' place was gay and fun, there was much drinking and singing of "Mr.
Kaizer" before we sett off for the Rockefeller, some of us quiet unsteady
on their legs already. There was a long queue before Rockefeller, which gave
me time to smoke a couple of cigarrettes, since smoking in public places has
been lately forbidden in Norway. Kind of cruel but maybe also quiet sensible.
Killmistress, Janin (without e) and Susi made it to the first row. I didn't,
which was my doom. There was a terrible crowd and lots of pushing and pulling.
I was nearly squashed, my poor and oh so delicate feet were trampled on and
my old hunched back and my bottom were done funny things to. Yes, that's what
maniac fans are like! At least I was glad I wasn't in Denmark, where - as
Killmistresss told me - blond, well-armed Valkyries with huge fronts get hysterical
fits under Kaizers shows. I don't think I would survive THAT!!
Well, from my personal misery back to the concert: after the unnerving clown-DJs
Kula and Goggen finally left the stage the Goo Men came. Seven guys in suits
with among others a toilet seat as an instrument (hoho! so funny and so new!).
They played very boring and uninspired Rock'n'Roll, shaking madly and frenetically
(which did not make the music any better) and left quiet soon. I must admit
that I am no fan of Rock'n'Roll being a metalfan thoroughly, but of course
there is a chance the Goo Men are the new stars in Rock-Heaven and I just
didn't notice. However, one of the clown DJs felt the need to act as an animator
and announce Kaizers. Thanks, next please!
After the lovely "Russian Dance" Helge entered the stage with his
gasmask on and began playing "Mr. Kaizer, Hans Constanze Og Meg"
on his cute little pumporgan, the crowd singing along the whole song. Out
of some weird reason Kaizers have been denying singing that song lately, but
the crowd sang it beautifully and most willingly, so who cares. After the
song was over the band finally came and gave us "På Ditt Skift".
Nice beginning! A look at the set list tells us that Kaizers were really going
to give their audience a special evening:
Mr. Kaizer, Hans Constanse & Meg
På Ditt Skift
Hevnervals
Container
Veterans Klage
Twist and shout!!!Ompa til Du dør
Bøn Fra Helvete
Mann Mot Mann
Di Grind
Kontroll På Kontinentet
Medisin & Psykiatri
Evig Pint
Dr. Mowinckel
170
Encore:
Naade
Rullett
Dekk Bord
Sigøynerblod
Bak Et Halleluja
Resistansen
Second encore:
Die Polizei
The melancholy "Naade", never played live before and sang and written
by Mr. Hellraizer himself was beautifully performed. It was also nice to see
"Rullett" for the second time. The biggest surprise must have been
"Dekk Bord"! Hellraizer announced that it was played for the first
and last time in Rockefeller, so everybody should listen. Shouldn't have done
that! The song was a complete mess with Jan Ove being on some other planet
and doing his own thing. He cordially apologized for this on kaizers.no afterwards, which is really nice of him.
It's only love!!!Nevertheless it was funny and I am willing to see it as the
lovable side of Kaizers and actually I WAS glad to see it live. We were also
informed that "170" was never going to be played again which - from
my point of view - does not really touch me since I don't like it anyway.
In the end the still hungry audience got their "Die Polizei". "Herr
Polizei, Herr Polizei..", yes, we forgive them this little grammatical
mistake (it should be "Herr Polizist"). The whole audience sang
along the chorus and repeated it until the last Kaizer left the stage. But
before that Jan Ove couldn't fight back the tears and broke down touched by
the love that was shown to him.
Yes, that's how it was! Emotional and touching. And although I have seen better and cooler shows and allthough my wretched body was maltreated very badly I am glad I was there. This concert ruled not in the least because of the fantastic and devoted Kaizers audience. And I am glad I met some of them, all being so nice and kind. Kaizers Orchestra have been and will always be my favourite live band (I can say this because I have never seen Nine Inch Nails live). And the next time they are playing I will be there again, somewhere in the first rows, look up to the stage in infinite admiration, yes, look up to these Gods... stop, get a life Shirin! And YOU got the point, I guess... Shirin :-)
No, it is not funny to get into a black car at two
o'clock in the evening and get fried for about three hours on your way to
the Netherlands. Of course it helps to know that all strains are going to
be compensated for later on. In the beginning of June I finally managed to
drag along my friend Carmen to a Kaizers concert ("pleaaaaaaaaaze!! It's my
birthday!!") and since then she has been infected by the Kaizers virus, too.
Let's put it this way: if you are not infected after your first Kaizers
concert you must be either blind, deaf or cold-hearted and you probably think
that white chocolate is real chocolate. Paaah!
However, Carmen and I arrived in Utrecht without major sunburns, found the
Tivoli rightaway and saw that there already was a considerable number of
German fans waiting outside th venue. Susi of course and Joyce from
Groningen, Killmistress and some other well-known faces.
That is by the way one nice thing with being on so many concerts. Getting
to know new people and sometimes even making friends. But back to
Tivoli:
After the first band (I can't really remember the name...) entered the stage,
the venue was already packed with people. The Golden Locks played a rather
boring set that left us some more time for chatting, before at last the promising
"Russian Dance" filled the air, giving me - as always - goose bumps. Kaizers
started with "Ditt Skift", which has meanwhile developed into a
brilliant and powerful live song. Rune enters the stage first giving us the
beat, Oleg follows (by then I still didn't know that it was not Helge on the
pump-organ but his brother) and then Øyvind who supports them with
heavy and broad strokes until the two guitarreros board the stage -- thunder
and lightning and the first guitar parts of the song fill the air, and then
Jan Ove's accusing voice sounds from the foggy stage. It is sooo beautiful
and impressive! For some reason the beginning of "Ditt Skift" reminds
me of Sicily, what's more -- it reminds of one of my favourite films, the
"Godfather" (especially the first part, where Al Pacino is sooo
damned good looking...).
Dances with towel...Anyway! A perfect light-show, not really suitable for epileptics
though, showing us the bands' crystal clear silhouettes, intensifies the power
of the song. It is followed by "Hevnervals", "Container",
"Veterans Klage", "Ompa Til Du Dør", "Bøn
Fra Helvete", "Mann Mot Mann", "Di Grind", "Kontroll
På Kontinentet", "Medisin Og Psykiatri", "Dr. Mowinckel"
and "Evig Pint". And since the audience has gone totally mad Kaizers
serve us the "Gypsy Finale".
All the way throughout the concert there was "stable communication" between
the band and the audience.
Last button undone!!!The Jackal promised to undo the last button of
his shirt on the next concert in Holland, while Hellraizer prefered to do
an impersonation of a Persian stripper with a towel over his face,
performing some kind of snake dance. Then we were frightened by the
announcement that Rune was to leave the band next year, whereupon Minken
stormed the stage cleaning the floor under Jan Ove's shoes and wiping Jan
Ove's, Hellraizer's, and Øvind's faces with the same towel. I am not
sure they are going to keep him after this... :-)
All in all it was an energetic, humorous, perfect and steaming hot show (despite
the Killmaster making a mistake during "Medisin Og Psykiatri" for
which he begged our pardon) that made us forget about the frying sessions
in the car. After the concert there was some heavy drinking, then Carmen had
to leave for Cologne, while Susi and me climbed into the car to look for a
parking place where we could get some sleep and get prepared for Pukkelpop
the next day.
Three hours of restless sleep were followed by an unnerving
search for a shower, a lamento under an ice-cold shower, the purchase of a
couple of glasses of Belgian chocolate spread, standing in the traffic jam
for ages, being guided through an endless parking area and finally arriving
at the festival. Having found the rather large Marquee tent we took a glance
at Keane, who impressed me a lot and whom I would recommend to all Coldplay
fans. We also met Dino and his girl-friend and chatted away while waiting
for Kaizers. It was good to see many people running around in Kaizers t-shirts
and quiet a number of German fans again.
Shiny happy people everywhere...Everytime Kaizers have to restrict themselves to a certain amount of time or when there is a TV team, they tend to play a very fast set without breaks as if Satan himself hade come for them. For spoiled Kaizers-addicts like us this was a solid and nice concert, but nothing we would tell our children and grandchildren about. Kaizers started off with "Ompa Til Du Dør" and played "Evig Pint" as an encore. There were some technical problems during the concert which they overcame without batting an eyelid. My personal impression was that the show was somehow more aggressive and missed the usual carefree lightness that I like so much about Kaizers. However I believe that for people who don't have the experienced eye and wisom of a Kaizers conoisseur like me ;-) the show was still an energetic and cool one. Still my advice for Kaizers: for a funkier concert go and see them in a club.
Unfortunately Dillinger Escape Plan and Mike Patton (down
on your knees now!) played on Friday/Saturday, so we had to put up with bands
like Ash, Papa Roach and Velvet Revolver. Velvet Revolver weren't convincing
at all. First of all because the G'n'R crew without Axel-oh-Axel just can't
work, even if Slash played with five cigarrettes hanging out of his mouth
and stood on his hands. Secondly because Scott Weiland (Ex-Stone Temple Pilots
singer) with his "storky" leatherpanted legs looked like a poor
imitation of Rob Halford, whose vocal cords refuse to do what they did earlier:
to sing!
Then we watched a bit of Ash (boooooooooring!) and finally left Flanders
already thinking of the next and last concert in Oslo... give me some of
those smelling salts, please!! Shirin
Four concerts in a row. One could think that this would boring after a while but this is a wrong conclusion. Kaizers would never allow that to happen! Those who are already addicted know what I am talking about, don't they? Since there are already nice reports on some of this tour's concerts on this site I am going to confine myself to a short summary of the last four concerts in Cologne, Hannover, Tongeren and Antwerp.
As we heard before the gig, the concert was going to be an explosive one. This wasn't
just simple-minded reasoning, since the audience in Cologne had already proven twice that they liked it
hot and spicy. Pål Jackman warmed up for Kaizers again and he finally manged to sell out all the
albums he had taken along. This man with the wooden clogs and the manipulated guitar is just devine, right?
Los Señores de Kaizer of course kept their promise, they played one Knüller after the other
(I am just writing Knüller, because it means something funny in Norwegian...). Jan Ove cleared a path
for himself through the audience to get on stage, didn't care for breaks and announcements, and most of the
time he hung from some kind of strip on the ceiling right over the audience. After a while the splendid
man unbuttoned his shirt (fortunately none of the ladies in the hall fainted), and took it off near the
end of the concert. Caramba! What a sight! An an encore they played the Gitano Final, "Dr. Mowinckel" and
even "Die Polizei".
After the show everybody gathered in Stereo Wonderland, the mega-stylish pub on the other side of the
street, where Mister Jackman played a small set on an improvised stage. He was supported by Jan Ove and
Øyvind, who whistled the tune of "Erlkönig" (see pictures), and the rest of the Kaizers plus
the crew yelled and cheered. Just a perfect evening!
The German band "Urlaub in Polen" ("Vacation in Poland") opened the Visions party in
Hannover ("Visions" is a popular music magazine). "Urlaub in Polen" is a very impressive band if you ask
me - not least because the drummer just looked awesome (sorry, I'm just a girl)... This duo plays best
quality electronic rock, in a groovy and psychedelic way, and those interested in this kind of music should
defenitely give it a try. I bought the CD and I don't regret it. Back to reality: It seemed like Øyvind
had enjoyed the whistling session from the night before very much, because he suppported his ex-boss again
on stage. If anybody is wondering who the mysterious man behind the drums was: It was Steffen, the merchandise
man, and a highly gifted drummer into the bargain. Chapeau!
The Visions party was a full success for Kaizers. They had a good grip on the audience right after they
started, even though most of the people didn't know them (of course Jan Ove asked how many people had bought the
CD). At one point Jan Ove stuck to the pillar in front of the stage, then again he danced through the
raging audience. Most of all he was amused by the Germans screaming "Schneller Minken" to make Rune play
"Sigøynerblod" faster. He said he would have liked to have it on tape. However, on Kaizers' last concert
in Germany the Krauts made a very good impression again, showing how open-minded and rockable they are! Well done, friends!
The audience on the Viva Velinx festival in Tongeren, Belgium, behaved very different from the audience in Hannover: it didn't 'behave' at all. Dino from Belgium, a very big fan of Kaizers', had done everything to get the band to play in Tongeren and was let down by his fellow citizens. Ugh! It seemed like nobody knew what they had to expect. They stood there like stuffed dummies while they watched the stage.Either they were thunderstruck or sleeping, you couldn't really tell. Maybe they just had forgotten to have breakfast. Just few poeple danced and sang in front of the stage. Jan Ove gave a dancing couple his maracas and did the best he could to keep the concert going. Killmaster even climbed down from stage, probably to find out if the people could be tipped over when touched. What a bunch of lame losers!! As if they were on a Gothic concert...But all frogotten and forgiven. Next time they are hopefully going to do a better job. By the way, at this point I'd like to thank Garonce, Susi's friend, who let us sleep at her place in Liège. What a beautiful house!! Merci beaucoup!
On Sunday we were so afraid of the Belgians having a funeral party again. But this time it was an announced Kaizers concert, so most of the people knew how to confront the band. And they did it the right way (dancing, shouting, blabla, you know..)! Dino, who had driven the whole way to Antwerpe looked much happier after this gig. He had provided the band with Duvel beer, which Kaizers came to like after their first gig in Belgium. Me, the humble one, spent the time during the concert standing with Nils and Johan, the officers responsible for light and sound, and tried to take some nice pictures with my puny little camera. This also meant that I didn't stand in the front rows when Kill and Hell, the happy-go-lucky guitarreros, jogged through the audience and greeted the dancing people. Damn it! All in all, this was a very beautiful farewell-concert and as always I hope to see them soon again (I just don' want to be repetitive). And now, enough of the gibberish, off to bed I go :-) Shirin
The sextet from Norway rocked the crowd at the famous Prime
Club in Cologne. Last Friday was the third time in nine months that Kaizers
Orchestra played in front of a frenetic German audience at the Prime Club in
Cologne, Germany. Picture this: a band from Norway presents songs in Norwegian
to a German audience, that sings along to most of their choruses. The crowd
celebrated the Kaizers like an old friend, who returned to bring them one and
a half hours of pure bliss. It already is one of my favorite gigs ever! The
night started off well with the highly innovative Pål Jackman, founder
and frontman of Norwegian fellow band Wunderkammer, who inaugurated the evening
with a fine solo performance, just him, a damped acoustic guitar and the stomping
of his clogs. Pål pulled it right off shaking his hair to a mix of traditional
rockabilly style R&B, coupled with his die-away vocals over a 60s reverb effect.
His romantic love songs could only be topped by a highlight rock interpretation
of Goethe's "Der Erlenkönig", which he presented in the clearest (sing-along-to)
German. Couldn't have been anyone better to prepare the crowd for what came
next.
When the guys of Kaizers Orchestra paraded onto stage, they were welcomed by
a heated crowd that was up for anything (but mainstream). They came along looking
like a unit of highly creative individualists, and the concert would only confirm
that. All but the drummer were dressed in black suits, white shirts and ties.
The confident, charming singer and frontman Janove Sjakalen Kaizer, guitarist
Terje Killmaster Kaizer, blue-and white striped drummer and percussionist Rune
Mink Kaizer, the dead serious bold-headed multi-instrumentalist Helge Omen Kaizer,
who turned up in a gas mask, curly bassman Øyvind Thunder Storesund and
the extroverted guitarist/vocalist Geir Hellraiser Kaizer delivered one of those
rare, spectacular live shows to remember. Kaizer's Orchestra played an intoxicating,
rhythmic mix of slightly melancholic Pop/Rock, combined with Eastern European
Polka Punk and Klezmer. The slightly anarchic atmosphere immediately got all
hands up for the witty and intimate preachings of frontman and singer Janove,
who seemed to be diving towards the crowds for most of the gig, whilst holding
onto a strap with one hand, which was hanging from the ceiling. He was conducting
the crowd and had everyone melt in his hands. He would make us repeat anything
from "Hallelujas" to "Hoos and Aahs" and kept us involved.
The band kicked off the gig with their latest hit "Evig Pint", which
is also the title of their current album (2003), introducing a tight and entertaining
one and a half hour set. They played songs from their two albums "Ompa
til du dor" (2001), "Evig Pint" (2003), but also tried out a
couple of new songs, which went down well. The most entertaining parts of the
concert included Janove, Geir and Terje experiment with a number of unusual
instruments, incl. an old manual siren. They made a lot of noise by taking turns
picking up axe handles and hammering onto empty oil barrels or old wheel rims
and created kick ass grooves, like on Dr. Mowinckel, which featured Geir Hellraizer
on the mic during one of their "Encores". Keyman Helge Omen Kaizer,
who played the part of the silent, scary freak drew all kinds of organ, harmonica
and old piano sounds from his keyboards, whilst hardly moving anything else
but his fingers. At one point drummer Rune Mink Kaizer refuses to continue on
his drums and starts hammering onto the barrels instead, until the rest of the
band calms and refers him back to his seat. The crowd is cheering at the spontaneous
stage performances of the Kaizers'. The Kaizers are such a well-rehearsed orchestra,
who performed as a perfect band and drama unit, it put a big grin on my face
just to watch them play. After long periods of ovation, screaming and two resulting
sets of "Encores", the band retreated for good, leaving a totally
cheerful and happy crowd.
Last time in Munich was great, so we had to be there again this time, of course! Or well, anyway! =;-) Finding the Atomic Café wasn't very difficult, as we knew more or less where to go: always in the direction of the Hofbräuhaus, and then to the place where the tour bus is blocking the one way street... *lol* This problem was solved pretty fast, luckily, as otherwise it would have led to a total chaos. *g* We spent the afternoon in the "Englische Garten", watching surfers (yes! honestly!) and collecting our forces for the concert. The concert started a little late, as usual. Though it was Easter, the Atomic Café was full, the atmosphere was good, and after Pål Jackman had started the concert and had gotten a lot of applause for his "Erlkönig", Kaizers entered the stage through the audience. Killmaster must have lost his shoes somewhere along the road, and the Jackal poured his wine evenly on my arm and his shirt... *cough* (Hey, how was I supposed to know he was behind me? =;-)) The stage was really low - compared to for example Amsterdam - maybe 30 centimeters high, a fact that caused a lot of interaction with the audience throughout the show. Are there any other clubs where it only takes two steps down from the stage to be standing in the middle of the audience? As in the Netherlands, Kaizers started with the new song "På Ditt Skift", which worked out much more fluently this time. And it's a great song! In the middle it seems as if the next song would start, but then they take up the melody from the first part again. The setlist was the same as for the concert in Nijmegen, after "På ditt skift" they played "Ompa til du dør" and "Bøn fra helvete". After that, the Jackal welcomed the audience. Then came "Hevnervals", "Container", "Veterans klage", and "Evig pint". In between the Jackal had to make sure that we love Kaizers Orchestra, of course. Cause on stage one would always fear, that "oh, they hate us, we traveled a long way for this, I miss my mom... but, do you like Kaizers Orchestra? Do you LOVE Kaizers Orchestra?" Well, of course we do! So we were told to forget about his mom and think about our moves instead, cause now they played "Mann mot mann" and of course we had to dance... During the solo part, the first excursion into the audience took place (okay, some time before the microphone holder had already landed in the audience and on my feet, ouch! *g*). The Jackal picked up Hellraizer, set him on his shoulders and marched through the audience while Hellraizer played his guitar solo. Cool! "Mann mot mann" somehow ended with "Billie Jean" then, no idea how that could happen... =;-) And as the people of Munich liked to dance (Jackal: "You owe me 50 bucks, Hellraizer!", which Hellraizer didn't like to hear, somehow... *g*), the next song was another danceable song, namely "Di grind". The Jackal couldn't really decide why the atmosphere was so great that night: because it was a Monday night? Or because it was Munich? Anyways, we were a good audience: "You know when to dance, you know when to clap, you know when to sing, you know when to shut the fuck up... good audience. So, what's your name? Pascale?" *lol* As always, "Kontroll på kontinentet" contained the traditional introduction of the band. Except that Hellraizer decided to stand facing the back of the stage when he was introduced, and this time I had my camera ready... *grmbl* =;-) Anyways, the Jackal made up for this by running around through the audience, causing a total chaos with his microphone and cabel... *gg* After that, they played the second new song, "Medisin og Psykiatri". Then the Jackal announced a song from the time of the depression, or, more precisely, from the dark ages, as Hellraizer corrected. Yep, exactly, from 2003, like, last year. So, a song from the "new" album, and this album is so depressive, so dark, so sad, so melancholy... Turbonegro is nothing! Three nights before, a man died during this song, and the Jackal didn't want this to happen again. So, all people who had problems with their heart were supposed to step back two steps (which Hellraizer obediently did *g*). And then, of course, they played "De involverte". Afterwards they switched places on stage, Hellraizer took the place in the middle in front of the microphone, the Jackal took hold of the crowbar, and Killmaster took the rattles and other rhythm things. The Jackal started to talk about how he envies James Hetfield of Metallica because he can stand on stage in front of 10000 people and sing "oh yeah", and then Thunder had to give a short impression of a Metallica-song - which sounded really good! As a result, "Dr. Mowinckel" ended with a Metallica guitar riff. Commentary by the Jackal: "If you could be Metallica for just 15 minutes, what would you do? Sing 'oh yeah' in front of 10000 people and play this riff!". Of course, we had to scream "yeah" and "hell yeah" throughout the concert, but this time very short and cut off, "that sounds like a Kaizers audience!". After "Dr. Mowinckel", the Jackal advertised Hellraizers radio show on Radio Eins: "Hellraizer solves your problems! Call 00112233, every Monday 5 to 6, never on Sundays, no problem is too big!" *rofl* The audience then cheered Janove's introduction for "Katastrofen" so much that he already wanted to stop after the introduction (it can't get any better anyways, or what? *lol*), but of course they played it in full length. The next song was about... a beautiful girl lying on the beach. She's walking into the water... and it's really cold. Cause this is Norway! Then she realizes that she is pregnant. Her husband left her the day before, to fight in the war. He left her, he fought in the war, they lost, he died... sad story. Aehem. *rofl* And his "name" was "170", of course. Then they were done with their official set, and as always they returned, not only with the finale, but with the "Gypsy Finale". And again, Janove went down into the audience, climbed over pillars, speakers and tables and was surrounded by his fans and followers. Hell yeah! They are soooo great, ingenious and impressive! After the concert, Helge Kaizer discovered his love for music on the dancefloor =:-o, until Kaizers started off for Potsdam. We spent the night in the cold car and watched some strange German pop-band in Nürnberg the next night, a band which actually turned out not to be that bad... *g* Susi S.
When Susi_S. and
I climbed into the car to drive to Amsterdam we couldn't have known that we
were going to see such memorable concerts. In Amsterdam we met Joyce, Niels
und Martijn from Groningen. They all work in the "Vera", where Kaizers
have already played twice. Together we set off for the "Melkweg" which
is quite a big venue, packed with people, when we arrived, so what else can
you want? Unfortunately we missed Pål Jackman this evening, but at least
we got to see Stuurbaard Bakkebaard for the umpteenth time - organizers probably
have come to think of them as THE perfect support band for Kaizers. Anyway,
one glance at the setlist left us breathless (it has its benefits to stand in
the first row). Yes, they were going to play the new song "Medisin og Psykiatri"
and all in all 18 songs!
The concert in Amsterdam was just wonderful, Kaizers were in a great mood and
infected the audience immediately with their groovy performance. Jan Ove, who
was freshly shaven (shave me Kaizer!) and charismatic as ever, conducted the
audience without any problems. Our beloved Hellraizer was just divine when he
changed places with Jan Ove to sing "Dr. Mowinckel". While Terje and
Jan Ove beat the crap out of the barrels, 'barrelinos' and 'cow bells' and whatever
else they had, Geir bewitched the audience with his exceptional voice. Kaizers
liked the audience so much, that they bombarded them with compliments: "You
look even better than the last time!" and "We love you so much, we
want to invite you all over to the tourbus!". There, as Jan Ove informed,
stood a posh sofa with a leopardskin patterned lining. Well, I hope for the
band that the audience did NOT follow the invitation. It might have gotten a
bit crowded!
Come to the concert, Unbelievable but true: Kaizers managed to top the Amsterdam
gig. Maybe the reason why I think this is that I brought myself to watch half
of the show from farther back in order to take pictures. Again - like in Tilburg
- I had to realize how perfect the Kaizers' show is. This is something you don't
see when you stick to the front of the stage all the time :-) Kaizers move in
perfect harmony so that the general picture is a feast for the eyes. Karsten,
who joined us in Nijmegen, and Susi insisted on staying in the first row though.
This time we also got to see the mysterious Mr Jackman and his guitar with a
very cool interpretation of Goethe's "Erlkönig". The Wunderkammer
singer definitely puts up a great one-man-show!
Kaizers opened the concert surprisingly enough with another new song called
"På Ditt Sjift", which is like "Medisin og Psykiatri" going
to be released on the third album in 2005. This was of course a challenge for
both band and audience since it was a premiere. So the song had a bit of a rehearsal
to it and you could see it was played live for the first time. It sounded very
promising. From what I remember it started as a loud and fast gypsy rock song
and ended in a long balladesque part. However, it will be interesting to follow
its development on stage.
Setlist to Heaven After this surprise the Kaizers made an attempt to test our
stamina: they played one dancable song after the other (see setlist), so that
in the end we were all soaked in sweat and full of endorphin. After a short
breather with "Evig Pint" it went on with "Mann Mot Mann":
"I want to see you shake your dutch asses!" The band and the audience
formed a team. Jan Ove said thank you to the audience for coming to the concert,
though there must have been a nice Arnold Schwarzenegger film on Dutch TV. In
the course of the Gypsy Finale he also tried to do a bit magic, but in spite
of the drum roll and absolute silence in the audience, the knot in the cable
that was supposed to disappear into thin air got even tighter. The rather polite
audience clapped their hands anyway.
Now I really have to congratulate the man for the lighttech Nils who allowed
me to look over his shoulder. He always puts up a cool lightshow and thanks
to him we can see Kaizers look good in red, green, blue, violet and whatever.
(well, the lightechnician can make you look good in any colour..harrrharrr).
Great job Nils!
Killmaster Flash by the way played his guitar solos like a young God, while
the dancing Kaizer Hellraizer alternately gave his guitar and Jan Ove a good
rub. Helge seemed to feel so good he refused to go back to the pump organ after
one of his barrel orgies, so the others had to use a bit of gentle force to
get him back. Rune of course found everything a bit too slow, so he asked the
band to play "Sigøyner Blod" faster and was supported by the
audience in this. "Faster!"
This was my 20th concert and I insist on that it was the best concert in my
life (yeah, like most of the Kaizer concerts.. :-). I hope for even more concerts
to come and as far as I know Kaizers I think this won't be a problem. Kaizers
forever! Shirin
The crazy ones Hoping for Salvation and their friends once again packed their things and set out on their journey to Holland. Three concerts in the Netherlands and one in Belgium were planned. The first one was going to be in Groningen, a city in the north of Holland, where last year Kaizers gave their first continental concert ever. With a Kaizermobile full of food and other necessary stuff the journey began.
Being on the road for Kaizers involves loads of troubles (like waiting for hours, sleeping in cheap hotels and cramps in your legs, because sitting in the car sucks) but the worst thing is to be massacred by weirdo fans (some might say we were weirdos, but I can tell you there are different ways of being a weird fan). We had our encounter with them in Groningen. As we were in Vera in time we were able to stand in the first row. But then! two highly ambitious, big girls from Norway sporting their well-developed fronts in a very obtrusive way actually managed to hoist us away with the aforementioned body-parts just to be near Jan Ove's knees. I guess I will never fully understand the powerful attraction that young girls feel at the sight of a star's knees. However traumatic this encounter was, it is time to go to the more important subject of this report, which is the concert itself. Kaizers opened their first gig for this year with "Evig Pint", the song on their second album with the same name to be released here soon. We think it a bad choice to open the concert with a song that is so doomy and dark, since it rather irritates the crowd that mostly doesn't know it anyway. But it might have something to do with the upcoming Evig Pint tour. Anyway, the more playful and cheerful the songs became the more playful and cheerful the crowd got. People found out they could actually dance, so the place soon turned into a pogo-sauna where heads, feet, thumbs and other extremities were highly endangered. And if, as it was in our case, half of the audience is actually drugged or wasted in one or the other way you can imagine the hell Those Hoping for Salvation were in. But actually we didn't really mind joining the devil dance! The conductor of the devilish orchestra seemed by the way to be a bit tired, addressing the audience only seldom and not looking at it at all. As we found out later he had just come from a trip to Egypt which might also give an explanation for the new beard that seemed to irritate some ladies in the hall (the big Norwegian girls didn't seem to mind though). All in all, this first concert was a solid and impressive one with an extraordinarily spacey audience. We would also very much like to thank the Vera crew, all voluntary workers who did so much to make this concert complete.
Strange PlaceAfter the wild concert in Groningen, we were totally surprised by what we saw in Antwerpe. A big cultural event called "De Nachten" found place in a huge building, featuring a variety of different art-related activities. People interested in culture had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to watch TV screens showing sleeping cats or people doing very interesting things like running around and rummaging in drawers. And the vistors actually did sometimes keep standing in front of the TV screens to watch this! You could also participate in workshops that were supposed to help you find your inner self or something by brain-storming and creative writing. There were so many exciting, unbelievably modern and avantgarde and intellectual things to do and see... and among all this arty-farty stuff Kaizers were supposed to play?? Oh, yes, and in a hall with chairs into the bargain. I mean, one of this auditoriums where ambitious music students give their first concerts and make their parents cry tears of joy. The only thing we could do was to sit down in the first row and wait for farther things to come. And there came three young poets who honoured us with their lyrical effusion. I don't understand Dutch very well, but I feel weird when a young man with stylish hair and hip clothes tries to make us believe he is an intellectual Nietzsche-lover and when the audience laughs hysterically whenever a dirty allusion to sexual subjects is made. Get a life, people! Anyway. After this very alien encounter Kaizers finally entered the stage. Thomas and Karsten couldn't hold it back and the rest of us (three girls) didn't hold on to our chairs either. The audience was probably very amused by the five crazy people dancing in front of the stage but we didn't care. They deserved it. Just imagine this: A bunch of guys in suits, one of them with a gas-mask, hammering madly on barrels and wheel-bars on a huge stage and before them a bunch of loonies screaming their guts out. It MUST have looked strange, even for the band, who was facing a sitting audience. However, more and more people followed our example and started standing up and dancing on their places. Some of them even came to the stage to join the anarchist front. And as Jan Ove finally asked the audience to stand up, everybody obeyed like hypnotized rabbits. So, happy end at last! Since Kaizers were only given 40 minutes, they just played the faster stuff, leaving out "170" and "Evig Pint", and mastered this strange situation with a good deal of professionialism. The organizer of the festival said after the concert that in all the years he had been organizing this festival he had never seen the audience stand up and dance. Well, he didn't know the Power of Kaizers!
Tilburg, your record-shops rule, e.g. you sell Kaizers! Here we were, waiting in a new unknown city and trying to kill time until we could watch the Kaizers' shoes (this time the stage was very high). After a hearty breakfast, some coffees, beers, looking around in record-shops, more food, beers and coffees we could finally roll towards the 013, where Kaizers where to play in the course of a folk festival. The audience was a bit older then the normal Kaizers audience and probably only few knew Kaizers or were there because of them. For the first time we also met the manager of the band, Eivind, who had come to see how the guys were doing abroad.
The first surprise and highlight of the evening was Bjørn "The Stringmachine" Berge from Norway, a giant man with a never-ending smile who enchanted the audience with his smoky "look-girl-I-am-a-cowboy-and-I'm-gonna-give-it-to-you"-voice and his unbelievable string-inferno. The true Blues, yeah! These Norwegians seem to do everything a better way. Like our beloved Kaizers did, when they performed in front of a huge audience in the biggest hall of the venue. Most of all Ersatzbassist Kristoffer aka Prince William Kaizer, who had to replace Øyvind Thunder for a couple of days, used this opportunity to show what you can get out of a stand-up-bass: namely Sex! As smooth as an eel the tall nobleman glided around his bass and looked a bit like an actor in a soft blue movie. Grand!! Watching the concert from farther back for the first time I had the opprtunity to see how Kaizers' performance works as a whole. It is actually a bit like looking at a living room where every family member has his own place. Every move is so well coordinated without looking artificial. Who could wonder at that perfection after nearly 250 gigs. The other advantages of this concerts were an absolutely grandious sound and a cool ligh-show. The front of the stage was crowded by fans and (other) young people, while the older part of the audience (including me) stood on the back stairs. This concert was without doubt a full success for the band!
And now we come to the last concert of this tour which was witnessed by those Hoping for Salvation more or less consciously (I was tired like hell). After we, most of all Karsten, had to concede to the fact that you can get rrrrreally hot food in the Chinese restaurants of Haarlem, we moved on to the last venue Patronaat. Here Kaizers were for the third time supported by the Dutch band Stuurbaard Bakkebaard, which unfortunately looked a bit lost on the stage this time. Maybe it was because the audience was obviously waiting for Kaizers and didn't feel like their melancholic but still very charming music. The concert in Haarlem was a typical Kaizers concert with a typical Kaizers audience, young, dynamic, naughty and open-minded. Even "Evig Pint" as an opener couldn't really stop them from being frenetic. Again the prince made love to his bass, Killmaster gave it to the barrel, Jan Ove let some young girls drum on his buttocks and was very much into interaction with the audience, Hellraizer seemed to have a very good time anyway, Rune sat on his drums (a good sign for him which means that he feels good) and Helge gave us some of those spooky transylvanian vibes. What can I say? This was my seventeenth concert and I am still looking forward to the next one. Either I am mad or Kaizers are just the best live-band in the world (I expect it is a combination of both). I know all my reports sound nearly the same, being full of praise and approval. But it's true! Kaizers rule!
FAZIT: Oh, Mister Ryan Air, get me to Oslo safe and sound! :-) Shirin
It is unbelievable!!! Kaizers did it again: they actually managed to bring the
Prime Club to explode for the second time. It is fascinating that a band featuring
a harmonium and a double bass actually manages to create a punk-concert-like
atmosphere. There is no need for me to write that much about the concert, since
Kaizers - like always - were brilliant, and the audience was - thanks to Jan
Ove's oh-my-god-he-is-so-charming looks and behaviour - as always WILLING. While the Holy
Trinity of The Jackal, Killmaster and Hellraizer made a noise in front of the
stage, The Unholy Trinity (the Transylvanian harmoniummonster, the "minky" ashtrayist and the
new and absolutely genious bass-player) prepared for hell accordingto the principle: Det kan bli
jævli varmt der nere!!!
It was astonishing to hear so many people sing along with Kaizers although there
were only four Norwegians in the audience. So, after Kaizers taught us how
to dance (shake it like a Polaroid picture!!!) and how to say "oh yeah",
-sorry I meant- SCREAM "oh yeah", and
after the calories burning gypsy finale was over, they gave us a very special Christmas
gift: One of the loveliest Kaizers songs ever, played very rarely with the title
"Die Polizei". Unfortunately this song was never published on an album
and probably will never be. So it will always be a blessing to hear it in
concert. With a gradually subsiding "Herr Polizei, Herr Polizei" chorus
Kaizers and the audience said farewell to each other, knowing that they will
meet again soon.
Those hoping for salvation went out with Kaizers for a couple of beers and had
a really nice time. The Kaizers AND their crew (you should never forget them!)
are wonderful, open-minded people, very far away from dumb rock star attitudes. That's
the spirit!
Röck ön. Shirin
