Kaizers Orchestra

02.03.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Sentrum Scene, Oslo)

Sunday, March 25th, 2012
02.03.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Sentrum Scene, Oslo)

12.03.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (Centraltheater, Leipzig)

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

Well, and way too soon the tour is over for me already. =:-( However, that means I’m at my usual computer again, I got a (more or less *grmbl*) reliable internet connection, and therefore I can write a “normal” report again. =;-)

I had heard some rumors before the concert that said: Centraltheater in Leipzig has seats. The concert junkie assessment, however, said: Well, they’ll surely have another hall without seats, or they’ll take them out or whatever, they can’t have Kaizers play in front of a seated audience.

At least that’s would you would think:

(Sorry for the bad quality – I didn’t take my camera, so my mobile was all I had to take pictures.)

Until the bell rang before the show started at eight o’clock (I’m NOT kidding, there really was a bell!), I’d been going back and forth between hysterical giggling and a worried “oh shit”. The whole situation was just so absolutely absurd – we were sitting in our chairs, waiting for the show to start. Or maybe for popcorn and the supporting movie? And after the amazing concert in Düsseldorf, I just couldn’t imagine how this could work in any way. Kaizers in front of a seated audience? How should they motivate themselves, and then deliver a show on stage that would sweep the audience away? And in addition, this was also the very first concert in Leipzig, and a first concert in a new town is always very difficult anyway. I sensed that this wouldn’t end well… =:-/

But then, I was sitting in the second row, pretty much in the middle, so that was cool. Hardly ever happens to me at concerts. Especially since I like to keep out of the worst crowds. *g*

So I quickly typed the first two songs of the set list into my phone, because they are always the same anyway, and then the lights went out and Kaizers entered the stage, without the Russian Dance or anything.

And started with Philemon Arthur & The Dung. Uh, what? What the hell? Was I in the wrong place, or at the wrong stage? *g* Anyway. Around me, everyone was grinning a bit embarrassed (me included), a slightly tense orchestra on stage played their first chords, and in the back of my mind, the awkward thought: “We can’t be sitting here, that’s impossible, that cannot work, we have to get up …” And right then, one guy at the side just couldn’t stand it any longer and jumped up, we joined in, relieved, and before the end of the first verse, the whole audience was standing in the aisles … Puuuh! The first row moved up to the edge of the stage, other people came and stood behind them, and we were in the second row of seats with no one crowding in and plenty of room for dancing, and the atmosphere was great – considering the circumstances and the fact that it was a first concert.

Of course, it took a few songs for the band to warm up and for the audience to understand what was happening on stage, but in the end, I left the concert with a gigantic smile and I was totally thrilled.

At least for me, that was not only due to the great concert, but even more because I realized that this amazing concert had been played by the same band that got the wild punk rock / gypsy crowd to dance and clap and go crazy the day before in Düsseldorf. So these were two absolutely fantastic concerts in a row – and they couldn’t have been more different! And if a band is able to deliver two such different concerts in the middle of a tour, despite all the stress, and manage to do so perfectly, then I can just take my imaginary hat off … terrific. Absolutely terrific!

The set list was completely modified and adapted to the situation – there was not one single gypsy song on it, but instead lots of ballads and of course a lot of “visual” songs, where a lot was happening on stage. I actually got På ditt skift, which I had desperately been waiting for – YEAH! -, followed by Fra sjåfør til passasjer. They played De involverte again, a couple of Hellraizer songs, and Bris … hach! Probably I should shut up now, so I don’t make everyone who didn’t get to see this concert too jealous, but then … pff, your own fault, your really missed out on something! =;-p

However, I have to say that I have no idea how “Kaizers newbies” perceived the show. Because this concert had NOTHING to do with the image of Kaizers that you probably have if you heard a couple of gypsy songs before, or saw Kaizers at a festival. But the “usual” kind of concert surely wouldn’t have worked in the theater … this way, it DID work. Kaizers couldn’t play the gypsy and party card this time, but instead they shone with their music and the visual expression. And they definitely managed to convince me that this is Kaizers Orchestra as well!

There was hardly any audience interaction this time; I suspect that the band hadn’t expected the audience to be so enthusiastic. And to try and convince a seated audience to sing along would have been a bit out of place – therefore, I could fully understand this and didn’t miss it at all. However, I could understand it if someone who has only seen Kaizers a few times and expected a “normal” Kaizers concert was a bit disappointed.

There’s not much details to report, because Kaizers played through their songs quite tightly. The Jackal admitted that it might be difficult to dance in the seat rows, but we should just try our best. Before they played De involverte, they talked about Johnny Cash; because they had dedicated this song to him the day he had died. The Jackal said Kaizers had been playing in Groningen that day. At that moment I realized that it doesn’t even help to stand RIGHT in front of the Jackal and shake your head and protest vehemently … *lol* They played in Munich that day, not in Groningen. That was my second Kaizers concert, and on the way to Munich we heard about Johnny Cash’s death on the radio. Pff, Groningen … =;-) But they did play De involverte in Munich, that part was true. (Oh, and they also played Salt & Pepper, just looked it up on the set list – so I did get to hear that at least ONCE. And still I want to hear it again, grr!)

I ett med verden was incredibly impressive. They played it after Din kjole lukter bensin mor this time. The song is nice as opener – but at that position in the middle of the set, the audience took off completely. Wow! I mean, WOW! The band seemed to be overwhelmed by the response as well – and surprised. The beginning just rocked, and the quiet part was phenomenal with the fantastic lighting … awesome.

Then we even got Bris. Before they played that one, the Jackal told the story from the book, about the girl in Paris – but he asked us to please not cry afterwards. =;-) During Svarte katter, Helge cleaned his gas mask, and the part where he bewitches his lamp and Thunders conducts the Jackal’s singing looked even more impressive than usual on the theater stage.

Hach … a “slightly” enthusiastic report. =;-) Overall, the concert wasn’t the “concert of concerts” – as mentioned, I wouldn’t be surprised if some people didn’t like the concert at all. But it was just so different and so unexpected that it totally blew me away.

Here’s the complete set list:

  1. Philemon Arthur & The Dung
  2. Enden av november
  3. Femtakt filosofi
  4. Far til datter
  5. På ditt skift
  6. Fra sjåfør til passasjer
  7. KGB
  8. Støv og sand
  9. Tusen dråper regn
  10. De involverte
  11. Jævel av en tango
  12. Dr. Mowinckel
  13. Rulett
  14. Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  15. I ett med verden
  16. Bris
  17. Hjerteknuser
  18. Svarte katter & flosshatter
    ———
  19. Medisin & psykiatri
  20. Dieter Meyers Inst.

After the concert, we went for a drink at Vodkaria (no kidding, the place was really called Vodkaria!), and celebrated the conclusion of the tour… And it was just amazing! Fantastic. Guess I should stack a supply of chocolate now for the inevitable tour hole. I’m pretty sure I won’t get to see a certain orchestra again until at least the end of April…

11.03.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (ZAKK, Düsseldorf)

Monday, March 12th, 2012
This entry doesn't exist in English.

Deutsch:

English:

Norsk:

Kvite russer (after the band had left!):

Setliste:

  1. I ett med verden
  2. Tusen dråper regn
  3. Delikatessen
  4. Djevelens orkester
  5. Støv og sand
  6. Di grind
  7. Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  8. En for orgelet, en for meg
  9. Diamant til kull
  10. Dr. Mowinckel
  11. Señor Flamingos adieu
  12. Blitzregn baby
  13. Drøm videre, Violeta
  14. Svarte katter & flosshatter
  15. Maestro
    ———
  16. KGB
  17. Sigøynerblod
  18. Bak et halleluja
  19. Resistansen
    ———
  20. Min kvite russer

10.03.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (Tivoli, Utrecht)

Sunday, March 11th, 2012
This entry doesn't exist in English.

Deutsch:

English:

Norsk:

(Please note: skjorte, ikke skjørta, of course. Uhem. Don’t want to be spreading rumors here. *gg*)

Setliste:

  1. I ett med verden
  2. Tusen dråper regn
  3. Knekker deg til sist
  4. 9mm
  5. Støv og sand
  6. Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  7. En for orgelet, en for meg
  8. Diamant til kull
  9. Apokalyps meg
  10. Jævel av en tango
  11. Bøn fra helvete
  12. KGB
  13. Tokyo Ice til Clementine
  14. Hjerteknuser
  15. Maestro
  16. Svarte katter & flosshatter
    ——
  17. Sigøynerblod
  18. Bak et halleluja
  19. Resistansen

09.03.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (Union Halle, Frankfurt)

Saturday, March 10th, 2012
This entry doesn't exist in English.

Deutsch:

English:

Norsk:

Setliste:

  1. I ett med verden
  2. Tusen dråper regn
  3. Hevnervals
  4. Container
  5. Støv og sand
  6. Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  7. En for orgelet, en for meg
  8. Diamant til kull
  9. Bøn fra helvete
  10. Far til datter
  11. Sigøynerblod
  12. Bak et halleluja
  13. Resistansen
  14. De involverte
  15. Drøm videre, Violeta
  16. Maestro
    ———-
  17. Medisin & psykiatri
  18. Svarte katter & flosshatter
  19. Dieter Meyers Inst.

02.03.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (Sentrum Scene, Oslo)

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012
02.03.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Sentrum Scene, Oslo)

The third and last day with a Kaizers concert in Oslo, and this time, the report will be a bit shorter. Which doesn’t mean that the concert was bad, not at all! It was just a bit different from the other two concerts. Kaizers put more focus on the songs, didn’t talk that much (hardly at all, actually) between the songs, and the setlist was a bit more “traditional” as well.

The special thing about this concert was that there was no age limit on the gallery. This means that the gallery was full of kids who were experiencing their very first Kaizers concert – and that was really great! The atmosphere on the gallery was much better than the other days. I was down in front of the stage, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the atmosphere up on the gallery was (even) better than down in front this time! In any case, the Jackal didn’t have to ask them even once to get up, and of course they were joining in and singing along all the time. Cool!

Apart from that, there’s not a lot report. The setlist didn’t hold that many surprises (but the suprises that were there were even better – Bris and Evig pint, yay!). As always, the Russian introduction won the vote before Hjerteknuser (even though Kaizers had planned so many great specials for the French introduction, like the rockets…), but this time, not only the Jackal got a shot of Vodka, but he also gave one to Killmaster and one to Thunder and one to the audience (which the security obviously didn’t like to see at all, uhem). As always, they dragged out the break in Svarte katter (while Omen was combing his beard and found out that he didn’t have hair to comb), and there was another very long break in 170.

The conclusion of the concert was a bit strange – not because of the band, but because of the audience. Omen and the Jackal came out again to play Kvite russer. But the audience wanted to hear Die Polizei instead – and so they didn’t really sing along loudly, and started to shout for Die Polizei in the middle (!) of Kvite russer. Which – of course! – the Jackal didn’t like too much. At least they finished the song before disappearing. I could have understood it as well if they had just left… =:-/

But still: a great conclusion for three amazing concerts in Oslo!

Here’s the full setlist: I ett med verden, Tusen dråper regn, Knekker deg til sist, 9mm, Støv og sand, Ompa til du dør, Prosessen, Diamant til kull, Din kjole lukter bensin mor, En for orgelet en for meg, Kontroll på kontinentet, Bris, Evig pint, Bøn fra helvete, Philemon Arthur & the Dung, Resistansen, Svarte katter & flosshatter, Hjerteknuser, Maestro. First encore KGB, Drøm videre Violeta, 170. Second encore Min kvite russer.

This time there will also be photos of the concert, but it’ll take a few days, I guess…

01.03.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (Sentrum Scene, Oslo)

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

Seems I got through my birthday rather well! At least I was asked for my ID at the door this time… For a concert with an 18-year age limit. On my 33rd birthday… Well, I’ll just take that as a compliment!

This time, we were there just after the doors opened and managed to find a nice place in the front on the left side. The support Jenny Moe was… well, not that spectacular, I gotta say. But then, we only saw the back of her piano, actually.

And then the concert started! Unselfish as I am, I had sent in my birthday wish setlist beforehand, and it almost looked like Kaizers would actually play it – but “only” for the first couple of songs and a few other highlights, the remaining songs were different in the end. But the setlist was great! Except that I really really missed På ditt skift… =:-( Pretty pretty please, play that tonight, yes?!

The setlist: I ett med verden, Tusen dråper regn, Djevelens orkester, Señor Torpedo, Femtakt filosofie, Di grind, Støv og sand, Delikatessen, Psycho under min hatt, Philemon Arthur & the Dung, Gresk komedie, Bøn fra helvete, Apokalyps meg, Den andre er meg, Din kjole lukter bensin mor, En for orgelet, Diamant til kull, Svarte katter & flosshatter, Hjerteknuser. First encore Medisin & psykiatri, Drøm videre Violeta, Dieter Meyers Inst. Second encore Prosessen.

The atmosphere was great – not quite as enthusiastic as the first night, but then we were standing in front of the stage this time. And to save some time, here are the details as plain list instead of long text:

  • During Delikatessen, Omen was very busy passing time again. With his suitcase (which obviously contains lots of interesting things that need to be checked out) and with his gas mask (you can screw off the filter and stow it in the suitcase!).
  • The beginning of Psycho under min hatt was quite bad, because Omen started playing when poor Hellraizer wasn’t ready yet! That’s what happens when the organ player has never seen a guitar before and doesn’t know that it needs to be tuned once in a while. Actually, they wanted to fire Omen on the spot – but the audience voted for giving him another chance. And maybe a third, they might need it, the Jackal added.
  • Hellraizer took over the microphone a bit later. They didn’t want to do a duet, because – who of them should sing the girl’s part? This just leads to arguments. And also, they both have the same length of… ties!
  • They did do a duet lateron after all. But it almost didn’t happen, because the Jackal dropped the microphone just before they could start! Hellraizer wanted to pick it up, but then they remembered that this is the reason they take a crew along on tour. And the crew managed to fix the problem professionally. =;-)
  • Bøn fra helvete is a song from the times when Kaizers didn’t know how to play any instruments yet. Except for oil barrels, of course!
  • At some time during the concert, the Jackal decided that we were just too nice to them. He wanted some opposition. And booos! “Don’t just cheer everything!” … And right after, they played Apokalyps meg. They should have announced that before, THEN I would have booed as well. =;-)
  • Helge = THE man. All said. And this time, the Helge chants were actually audible, yeah! =:-)
  • Of course, we got the Russian introduction again for Hjerteknuser. Even though we were screaming and begging for the French one! And even though we would have seen someone open a bottle of champagne with a sword instead! But well, so we got the vodka again, and poor Helge had to wipe the glass afterwards.
  • Kaizers Orchestra played Drøm videre Violeta because their management had advised them to do so. And the manager is always right! He had also advised them that Hellraizer should get a red guitar, and Killmaster a new deodorant…
  • And last but not least, it was time to celebrate! Kaizers had just received a Platinum award for Vol. II. Congrats!

And for the rest of the report, I hand over to my friends, since I might be a tiny bit biased… =;-)

After a fantastic pre-show dinner with birthday cake and ice cream to celebrate Susi’s birthday, and after the fantastic concert, the evening climaxed when the Jackal entered the stage for the final encore holding two champagne glasses and a champagne bottle. This was, of course, to celebrate two things. First, Violeta Violeta vol. II has sold to platinum in Norway. Secondly, it’s someone special’s birthday! This very special fan, who turned 33 this evening, and has come all the way from Germany! And of course, this special fan had to come up on stage and answer a few questions. The 1700 fans in the audience cheered wildly as Susi was lifted up on stage! And the Jackal thought this would be a perfect time for a small interview…

– How did you become a fan? “Well, I saw a concert, and I just fell in love…”

(more wild cheers from the audience)

-WOW, you speak Norwegian fluently!!! Why is that? “To understand the lyrics, of course!”

– How many concerts have you seen? “I’m not sure, about 130-something…”

– 130 concerts!!! Now THAT’S a FAN!!!

(and the crowd goes wild…)

So, this is why he had TWO glasses – one for Kaizers Orchestra, and one for Susi, the number one fan! Hellraizer opened the champagne bottle, filled the glasses (and of course had to spray some champagne on the front rows) and the last song of the evening was of course dedicated to Susi! She sat on stage through Prosessen, and disappeared off stage with the band afterwards… We can’t write about everything that happened after that – but we CAN say that it was a great birthday party!!!

(Let’s do it again next year!)

And now that we’ve finished off this last part of the report in English, it’s time to translate it to German… Except, at this point there’s only one person left writing, and I really don’t know German… So bear with me – but I’ll have to ask Google translate for help. So if the German version is completely unintelligible, please try to read the English one instead… *gg*

And one last thing, that can’t be repeated enough:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSI!!!!!

– written by Lena with a little help from Mox –

29.02.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (Sentrum Scene, Oslo)

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Three concerts in Oslo! Just perfect, and a chance for me to celebrate my birthday in Oslo. Something that hopefully won’t have too much negative impact on my reports, but well… let’s see. =;-)

The first night already had a couple of “firsts”. I mean, I’ve seen this band well over a hundred times by now, but still it was the first time that I:

  • was considerably late – hey, how can a band go on stage in Oslo at half past nine?! We were sure they wouldn’t start before ten, and so we had planned to be at Sentrum Scene around nine thirty. Which ended up being almost ten in the end, of course – and thus almost half an hour late… *cough*
  • stood in the very last row – since we arrived so late we had to go up to the gallery to have a chance to see anything at all. And there, high up and in the very back, we had a fantastic view! With a great overview over the whole audience, the complete stage was visible, we could really enjoy the light show for once, and in addition, there was so much space for dancing and having fun. Yay!
  • took out my earplugs a couple of songs before the end of the concert – not because it wasn’t loud (it was!), but because you don’t hear the audience very well with earplugs in. And the audience was singing so loudly and so impressively that I just HAD to listen and enjoy that!

And actually, that already says a lot about the concert. The atmosphere was just amazing, the band seemed really enthusiastic, and the audience was having a great time. OK, of course a bit less up on the gallery (since, according to the Jackal, all hardcore fans were down in front of the stage – ey! -, and people on the gallery are sitting and only standing up when requested) – except for the very last row, of course. In the end, Kaizers just kept coming back – very unusual for them, but they just HAD to this time! According to the set list, they had planned four songs as encore – and the last one of these was “Sonny” – yay! After that, they came back once more for Resistansen, which really got the audience singing and dancing. And then, after they went of again, the audience kept shouting for “Die Polizei”, so that they didn’t really have a choice – any yes, we got that final song! And we kept singing for at least ten minutes after the band went off. Sooooo nice! =:-)

As mentioned, we missed the first couple of songs and arrived during Støv og sand. But here’s the complete set list: I ett med verden, Tusen dråper regn, Knekker deg til sist, 9mm, Støv og sand, Kavalér, Blitzregn baby, Philemon Arthur & the Dung, Prosessen, Enden av november, Far til datter, De involverte, Jævel av en tango, Diamant til kull, Bøn fra helvete, Din kjole lukter bensin mor, En for orgelet en for meg, Svarte katter & flosshatter, Hjerteknuser. First encore KGB, Tokyo Ice til Clementine, Drøm videre Violeta, Sonny. Second encore Resistansen. Third encore Die Polizei.

A couple of details: Almost everyone at the concert had seen Kaizers before. The other ten were welcomed to the family by the rest, of course. *g* According to a student study (uh… sounds weird in English *g*), Kaizers are the band that is played most at concert “vorspiels”. The poor Jærbladet journalist who had wondered before if people in Oslo can sing along at all during a Kaizers concert, since they don’t really understand, was easily convinced: Oh yes, people in Oslo sing along just as much as people in Stavanger! And Kaizers will never be serious, because that ruins a concert. Actually, they are all about “tull og tøys”, thus fun and nonsense. =;-) Hellraizer even won a silver medal at a kidding-competition in Germany! Once more, the “Russian opening” for Hjerteknuser won; even though the French opening is so great – with parachutes and so on… *lol*

And as always, the hero of the day was Helge! Under Far til datter, he stood there emotionless and not caring, hitting the oil barrel without squinching, and then as always under Svarte katter. Our “Helge” chants didn’t really have a chance to spread since we were on the gallery – but well, new day today… *g* Helge thanked the audience for the applause, through the Jackal – “He just asked me to say that. It’s… hmm, not telepathy, but it works through the beard!”

Yay, such a great opening concert! And tonight it’s time for my birthday concert. Maybe we’ll even make it in time tonight… *cough*

17.02.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Samfundet, Trondheim)

Sunday, February 26th, 2012
17.02.2012 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Samfundet, Trondheim)

19.02.2012 Kaizers Orchestra (Trønderhallen, Levanger)

Monday, February 20th, 2012

After the rather small Samfundet in the rather big city Trondheim, it was now time for a concert in a huge hall in a tiny town. The hall in Levanger had place for a few thousand people, and almost 2000 were actually there in the end. Wow, pretty impressive! In the beginning, we were a bit skeptical, because the hall was divided into two parts: one without age limit and one with an 18-year limit. As a result, the “free” part filled up quickly, while there was hardly anyone in the other section. But until the concert started, both sides had filled up nicely, and the atmosphere was great.

The concert started with the support band Blomst, who had won the competition to get to warm up for Kaizers. And rightfully so! The music was really good, and they managed to warm up the crowd, with their own songs and a strategically placed Raga Rockers cover. =;-)

Kaizers didn’t have to do much afterwards to conquer the crowd – in the beginning, the Jackal joked a bit about how more and more of the people on the stands in the back (thus the parents *g*) would stand up the more Kaizers would be playing. Lateron he didn’t even have to mention it anymore; everyone got up on their own, and in general, everyone participated and was engaged in the concert, singing and clapping along, in the front and in the back. Yay! As a result, the audience was really loud as well, and the atmosphere was amazing. When the Jackal lost his microphone at some point in time, he took a looooong time to find it and get it to work again, so that the audience “had to” take over the singing in between. Which we gladly did, of course. =;-)

Before they played “Din kjole lukter bensin, mor”, the Jackal explained that they had practiced a duett with an artist from Trøndelag, but well… he got sick, so Hellraizer had to jump in and take over. No problem!

Hjerteknuser got the Russian introduction again, and Helge had the shot glass for the intro in his jacket pocket. (Who knows, maybe he also did in Trondheim, but I couldn’t see it there. *g*) This time, I could see Helge much better and could watch him throughout the concert, suddenly going into slow motion, bewitching his lamps, or going completely crazy during Svarte katter. Hach, so cool!

At the end of “Drøm videre, Violeta”, there were “2000 wolves in the hall”, howling at the moon – really impressive. At the end of Maestro, the Jackal changed the chorus into “Sving din hammer, Levanger!”, and after the encores, he dragged each of the band members (and Helge a couple of times) into the spotlight so the audience could applaud – which we did, of course!

There’s not really a lot more to report in addition to that. As mentioned, the atmosphere was great; so it wasn’t necessary for the band to talk a lot. We were standing pretty much in the center in the front, so of course we had great fun. And even though the setlist didn’t contain many highlights for me, the concert was awesome! Entirely different from the one in Trondheim, but great (and with much better sound)!

The full setlist: I ett med verden, Tusen dråper regn, Knekker deg til sist, Delikatessen, Støv og sand, 9mm, Din kjole lukter bensin mor, En for orgelet en for meg, Diamant til kull, Prosessen, Bøn fra helvete, Enden av november, Apokalyps meg, Den andre er meg, Evig pint, Kontroll på kontinentet, Svarte katter & flosshatter, Hjerteknuser. Encore KGB, Drøm videre Violeta, and Maestro.

After the concert, it was snowing strongly outside, and it was quite chaotic. So we didn’t have a chance but to change our plans and drive to Oslo the next morning instead of that night… Which made it much more exciting to see if we’d make it back in time for the Sonny play that night. But it was much easier driving during the day than in the dark of night with huge amounts of snow in the air and on the ground…