OK, so I guess it's time to write something here. The Øya Festival is over, and I'm still tired. Generally it was a pretty weak year with alot of bad Norwegian bands, over-hyped foreigners, and a lot of repeats; but there were some highlights. Pictures below!
Wednesday
The festival really started on Tuesday night at Last Train with an excellent set from local heroes Bungelow Ranchstyle. They probably will be playing the main festival next year. They get better every time.
The festival really started on Tuesday night at Last Train with an excellent set from local heroes Bungelow Ranchstyle. They probably will be playing the main festival next year. They get better every time.
First up Wednesday was Mogwai, who I've possibly seen to many times, cuz it really wasn't all that exciting. It didn't help that it rained and the band looked bored. It did pick up at the end, but I've seen better Mogwai shows. I'll still buy the new record that's out soon on Matador Records.
The Mae Shi was disappointing. They called themselves the dumbest band at the festival and well, it showed. I like some of their stuff, but it didn't work with the constant spastic screaming. Maybe it was the bad sound. Good stage show though.
I could continue writing about all the bands that disappointed me at this festival, but as you know, I'm all about positivity you assholes!
No negative thinking.
Grinderman (sort of pictured above) also suffered from bad sound, and me being too tired to enjoy myself at this point. Enjoyed the Bad Seeds show earlier in the year more.
Thursday
One of the few surprises of the festival was Lightspeed Champion (who includes one of the guys from Test Icicles) It was one of the few shows where I stuck around for the whole set.
The other ones were Best Fwends and The Death Set. Both bands I've listened to before, but never really got into. Man was I wrong, they both put on fantastic shows. I saw them 3 or 4 times during the festival...they seemed to play everywhere. I skipped Sonic Youth to see The (motherfuckin') Death Set, if you know what I mean.
Thursday night I went to Rockefeller to catch Original Silence. This is a "Thurston Moore side project". He should just drop the Sonic Youth thing and do this full time. I saw Original Silence at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival without him, and the energy was even higher now. This band includes the best musicians playing right now: Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) Terrie Ex (The Ex), Mats Gustafsson (The Thing), Paal Nilssen-Love (The Thing, Atomic etc.) and Massimo Pupillo (Zu). The big surprise of the night was the Japanese trio Nissennenmondai who opened the show and blew me away. Noise grooves straight outta Compton.
Friday
Health played a frantic set; not as good as at Spasibar, but still worth seeing. That was about it at the festival Friday. (No negativity here folks!)
I did however finish up the night at Blå where Noxagt and Årabrot (pictured below) put on a good show.
Friday
Health played a frantic set; not as good as at Spasibar, but still worth seeing. That was about it at the festival Friday. (No negativity here folks!)
I did however finish up the night at Blå where Noxagt and Årabrot (pictured below) put on a good show.
Saturday
Saturday was all about seeing The Sonics. Being a former Seattlelite, it was fun to see them, even though the energy wasn't all the high. They did get a mosh pit going from their greaser fans though.
Saturday was all about seeing The Sonics. Being a former Seattlelite, it was fun to see them, even though the energy wasn't all the high. They did get a mosh pit going from their greaser fans though.
The Night Marchers (ex Hot Snakes) did not start out so good, but I stuck it out, and it turned out to be a good rock and roll show (with some guitar strap modifications).
A great supprise saturday was Janelle Monaè. Mark my words, she's gonna be huge. Outcast style funk, soul, r&b, rock and a fantastic live show, with dance moves that even got me going.
Several mediocre bands later it was time for another show by The Death Set. This time at camp indie; the smallest stage. This turned out to be the best show at the festival. They played Operation Ivy (Bombshell) and Nirvana (Tourette's) covers and constant samples from the beastie boys and dizzie rascal mixed with intense electro-punk madness. Ok, it might sound stupid, but it was stupid good. I was lucky enough thanks to The Death Set, to get into a private party for the volunteers that worked the festival and both The Death Set and Best Fwends played again. By this time I had reached blackout (due to champagne and cheap drink prices at the party) and I lost my camera. I also (almost) lost my molded earplugs earlier at camp indie where Johnny jumped me at the start of the set. The rest is a blur. If you want a real professional recap of the festival, you've come to the wrong place.
Maybe some videos and a recap of the Kongsberg Jazz festival later...maybe.
Dj at mono tomorrow.
Health at Spasibar 
Årabrot at Revolver.
