Kaizers Orchestra

Just a couple of weeks ago what many would consider Norway's pride and joy in terms of modern music played their final concert. The band of which I speak is Kaizers Orchestra from Stavanger and they are without doubt the biggest band in Norway or at least certainly among all the circles I have found myself in. I was first introduced to them by my girlfriend shortly after we met. While many would say they have gone a little more mainstream in recent years as a general description I would say they are indie rock band with big gypsy style influences. They have always sang in Norwegian which has naturally limited any international appeal but I believe they have done very well across many areas of Europe as well as of course Scandinavia. I have never listened to much non-English speaking music but these guys are without doubt very talented and I have always really enjoy there stuff.

After my first few visits to Norway it became quickly clear that the passion for this band was not limited to my girlfriend although she would call herself a very early adopter. The big "thing" with Kaizers Orchestra that everyone says is they are a band that should really be seen live. Several people I have spoken to have said that while they enjoyed their music they would not have called themselves fans. However once they had gone to see them live they were awed by there energy and stage presence. I have seen many good bands sink on stage and disappoint so to hear of a band with such a reputation is always a pleasure and I made it a mission to get to see them. I missed one great opportunity the summer before I moved to Norway as I had to start Uni but Marianne and many friends all went. I recall singing along in an empty house in England when they called me from the concert and this made me ever more keen to go.

I had not been living in Norway long when the opportunity finally looked like it had arrived when a huge new tour was announced. The defining characteristic of this tour that was pointed out later however was it would be their final one! We bought tickets immediately but the show itself was not for over a year and I constantly found myself forgetting about it and then getting excited again when I remembered.

Just a couple of weeks ago the day finally came, and in a massive field in Bergen I finally got to see an epic and long 3 hour set from Norway's best band. I have to say I was not disappointed. The atmosphere was great and the band put on a hell of a show. They also came out with a famous point which has been told to me literally dozens of times by people from Bergen. This is that Kaizers say that although they are all individual from Stavanger, they consider their band to be from Bergen. This is very simply because Bergen is where they first started to become popular and they have always had a particularly large and enthusiastic following here. That being said they did play their last concert in their real home town of Stavanger which was probably the way to go.

You may wonder why I would point out a band now whos most appealing aspect is there live presence and who have now stopped touring. While a good point I still think that their music is fantastic and people should give it a good listen, not to mention that almost everyone I've spoken to doesn't believe for one minute think that they are really done. But I guess we will have to wait and see on that one.

This was a performance they did at the Norwegian music awards. Great song, brilliant performance and it was no surprise they won several awards.

This is at the same concert I was at. It is not bad quality and gives some idea of the atmosphere.

This is from a couple of years ago in Oslo but this song is traditionally their final song which the crowd always continue to sing long after they have left the stage. Its a great tradition that Im pretty sure started in Bergen. I think for fear that people would never leave this was actually played second last and everyone only had around 5/10 minutes to carry on singing before they played their actual final song. A slight shame but probably a good call if truth be told.