All photos by Patrick Larsen Holseth
The venue, Parkteatret Scene, is located in the heart of Oslo. It’s actually an old cinema from 1907 now functioning mainly as a concert venue with a capacity of 500. The venue was completely sold out and the crowd was in for three real treats. This night all was set for a great night with the Norwegian Blackjazz band Shining as they shared the stage with the up and coming Punk band Honningbarna and the Heavy Metal/Metalcore band Insense. They’re all Norwegian bands, but within totally different genres. However, that diversity actually worked out great!
Insense
Insense plays what they call “Norwegian Correct Metal”, and to agree – there’s nothing wrong with their Metal. In fact it consisted of great riffs and great vocals, both clean and screaming. Their heaviness might bring your thoughts to In Flames or Meshuggah without the crazy technical stuff.
These guys have been around just as long as Shining and it shows. They’re really tight and perform the songs with precision. However, the three guys in front of the drum kit turned their backs to the crowd between every single song to tune their instruments. That kind of disrupts the nice flow of the show. But, it’s also the only criticism that should be hurled against the band after this performance. A new album will surface this spring and you should be on the lookout for it!
Honningbarna
Honningbarna is an entirely different band from Insense. The band has achieved much in Norway despite their brief existence. They’ve released two albums and one EP since they formed in 2010 and have gotten a lot of air time on Norwegian radio, played some big festivals, and won a Spellemannspris (Norwegian Grammy).
They play music that’s on the borderline between Punk and Hardcore and they also have a really good connection with the crowd. Vocalist Edvard Valber takes a lot of time to interact with the crowd in-between the songs and he always wears a smile. He even plays (or should one say beats) a cello on a few of the songs. The band came crawling through the crowd and onto the stage and most of the band members were crowd surfing and out dancing with the fans at some point during the show. The guitarist even pulled a guy up on stage and let him play the second half of a song while he jumped into the crowd. They undoubtedly knew the guy, but that’s the kind of stuff Honningbarna will pull at a show.
They differentiate themselves from the other two bands on another area as well; they sing in Norwegian. But their Punk is catchy and to the point. You can sing along even if you haven’t heard the band before. Honningbarna was beyond doubt the most energetic band of the evening.
Shining
Shining is a band that has moved away from pure Jazz to an experimental Avant-Garde/Progressive/Jazz/Metal hybrid they’ve called Blackjazz. This year is their 15th anniversary, and even though they didn’t really get their break until their 2010 album Blackjazz, they are now heavy weights that returned last year with their sixth album One One One.
Front man, vocalist and saxophonist Jørgen Munkeby was really the king of the venue this evening. He was in complete control and was smiling and interacting with the crowd both when playing and not. The rest of the band was right behind him at all times and guitarist Håkon Sagen even climbed onto a shelf that’s a bit above the crowd and played most of a song there. He also kept playing like nothing had happened even after taking a nose dive from said shelf.
Shining’s music is technical Metal with a high Jazz influence. It’s hard to follow all the odd-metered time signatures at times but Munkeby did his best to guide the crowd through the songs safely; and succeeded. The band is incredibly tight and plays with such precision that is remarkable. The highlights of their set were arguably “I Won’t Forget,” off the new record, and “Fisheye,” and the King Crimson cover “21st Century Schizoid Man” off Blackjazz.
Shining is a band that’s starting to outgrow Norway. They’ve already toured Europe and North America and are definitely a band to take notice. If you have the chance to see them live, it’s highly recommended.
Be the first to comment