All photos by Patrick Larsen Holseth.
Skambankt is a band that arguably belongs in the elite of Norwegian Hard Rock bands. This position has been obtained through the release of five strong albums and touring relentlessly over the course of the last ten years. 2014 marks the tenth anniversary of their self-titled debut album, and the band celebrated it by releasing their fifth album entitled Sirene this year. It’s a band that should be counted as a heavyweight in Norway.
Hold Fast
Before Skambankt went on stage, Hold Fast was there to warm up the crowd. Hold Fast is a Punk band with the old and dirty sounding songs of the original Punk era, but mixed with groovy riffs and more Hardcore vocals.
The band was invited along as special guests and they really delivered. The vocalist even jumped the barriers and went into the crowd while singing. The crowd was relatively small at this point, but the band played as if this was their biggest show ever. Mark the name Hold Fast! You’re going to hear it again for sure!
Skambankt
Skambankt went on stage and dove right into “Anonyme Hatere,” one of the highlights of their new album. Next up was sing-a-long favorite “Skambankt”. The song has a call and response based chorus where the crowd participated with all their lungs could bear. This really laid the foundation for the concert.
Vocalist Terje Winterstø Røthing interacted with the crowd in a loving manner and the crowd loves him back. He really owned the stage and had complete control. At one point he talked about how the song “Sort Blod” was a song from the new album, and then went on to challenge the crowd to say the name of the previous album. And the one before? And the one before? It was as if he was trying to see how far he could take it before someone shouted the wrong name. Then he announced that the next song would be from the oldest album and someone from the crowd shouted “Skambankt!” and Røthing answered “No we’ve already played that one!”
During “Me Sa Nei” the crowd was challenged to do the wall of death, and they actually sang the first verse instead of shouting back “hei” on “Dynasti.” The show consisted of short and intense songs, but they toned it down a bit with the ballad-like “Gamle Spøkelser” before taking it up a notch again with “Voodoo” and “Malin.” After “Stormkast”, they walked off the stage but entered again for the obligatory encores.
Skambankt is among the better bands in Norway and with the new album they’ve reinforced their position. On stage they show they are experienced but play with passion too. If you live outside of Norway you can see Skambankt live in Prague (CZ) at the end of April or at the Roskilde Festival (DK) in July.
Setlist: Anonyme Hatere / Skambankt / O Dessverre / Vår Bør / Som En Sirene / Slukk Meg (for eg brenner) / Sort Blod / Me Sa Nei / Dynasti / Gamle Spøkelser / Voodoo / Malin / Tanker Som Mareritt / Stormkast #1
Encore: Mantra / Min Eliksir
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