Festival report: by:Larm 2008

It's very early morning back in January when I get an email out of the blue inviting me to give a keynote talk at by:Larm as part of their seminar. My son, ever the astute observer, rags on me: "I can't believe you get PAID to go to Norway and listen to rock bands!" I can only say "neither can I, I only hope you'll be as lucky one day."

Wednesday

I arrive on a Wednesday morning. Not long thereafter, I'm in the main tent the night before the festival officially launches, overwhelmed by the 170 bands on the program and ready to overindulge.

First up are UK act The Kooks who play a short acoustic surprise set which is great fun, though I have to admit it's already faded into a hazy memory.

The Lionheart Brothers are next. They've got a lot of buzz amongst the Norwegians, who seem quite proud of their perceived UK success and great reviews. Their sound is much harder live than I'd expect and never manages to gel. At points their harmonies are so off-key, it makes me wince.

Tingsek follow doing their pretty whiteboy soul/reggae thing. He is a pretty boy, and he works it, and I have to admit that they play quite well even if it seems a bit too designed to make girls swoon. I didn't.

Last band I catch that night is Familjen, who doesn't disappoint with a super-energetic performance including a shirt that says "Det snurrar i min skalle" in dayglo letters that shine in the light. I'm told by someone who'd seen him a month ago that he's much better tonight, and I leave a little frustrated by the brevity of the half-hour set all acts are limited to, but feeling my faith in him is well-invested.

Thursday

There wasn't anyone I was eager to see this night. I start at the main tent, which seems to be the congregation area. Metal band Harpiks open and are truly awful (even some of the metal fans I talk with think so), though I will give them credit for being the first band I've ever seen use chainsaws on fire as instruments.

Then I wind up following others' recommendations. I see Je Suis Animal, who have pretty good buzz, but whom I find so bad, I walk out and go next door to the church where the tranquil acoustic people are performing. Liev Reed is in the middle of his set. He's got a lovely voice and is a terrific guitar player, but he's kind of boring and I'm getting sleepy.

I head back to DagA where Lukestar side project Truls & The Trees are on stage. You'd think that with 9 people on stage, they could make some noise, but they've got almost no energy and I am seriously unimpressed. I leave again for the church next door where I catch Oslo's Therese Aune who blows me away completely. She's a tiny and incredibly sweet humble looking little girl who pounds the piano and sings like a banshee - beautiful, powerful, moving, and completely original.

Then back to DagA where Benni Hemm Hemm offer up a performance that's very well received, even if I find them boring. Again, you'd think that many people could make more noise and offer more energy, but it's a highly competent if slightly cold and languid orchestral set. The final act of the night is Ungdomskulen who are very nice men, but whose "punk prog" music is definitely not for me and who are so loud that the vibrations make my stomach cramp, sending me home to bed.

Friday

By this point I'm a little concerned, 11 bands and only 2 that really impressed me. But fear not, from here out, it's one slice of heaven after another.

First up is The Fine Arts Showcase at Park Teatret. They're my favorite Swedish band and despite the bad sound quality, they don't disappoint, playing a set that includes a lot of "Radiola", the singles from "Sings Rough Bunnies", and a couple of new songs to boot. Gustaf dedicates my favorite of his songs "Brother in black" to me, and I'm thinking I could head back to Kansas content at that point.

Then I catch a couple of Looptroop Rockers songs at Sentrum Scene, but Swedish whiteboy hip-hop is just not for me and I leave in hopes of catching Katzenjammer, but they've just finished their set, so I head back to Sentrum Scene where I see Salem Al Fakir. He's got a happy energetic performance style, and though it's not my genre, it's well worth seeing and the crowd loves him.

Then it's off to the small club John Dee where Bergen girlband Miss Motor put on a very fun show of 3 minute pop-punk numbers. I'm beginning to suspect that the women are going to rule this conference, a sense that's confirmed when I see Miss Li next. She's amazing - so radiantly joyous that my friend's headache disappears along with my own fatigue, and we leave happy to our very cores.

I tried to see Lykke Li next since she's got so much buzz, even if I'm far less than sold on her, but the line is long so I pop back to Sentrum Scene and catch The Violent Years' last 2 songs which leaves me regretting that I didn't see it all. What I heard sounded a bit like they might be thinking "what worked for Madrugada might work for us," but hey, that's fine with me. I'll be investigating them further.

The night ends with a power performance by what might be the most-buzzed artist, Ida Maria, who is all energy and has the crowd eating out of her hand. She's very fun, but not really very original and most of her songs seem to be one lyric repeated over and over. She's really good but I'm unconvinced.

Oh yeah, during the day I gave my keynote which was very well received. I talked about online fan community - how the internet has transformed fandom and what that means for artists and labels.

Saturday

Now it's the last day and I'm starting to get really sad realizing this is going to end so soon. In the afternoon I'm invited for "a surprise adventure" for international delegates. A dozen of us are taken to Oslo's well-kept secret, Emmanuel Vigeland's mausoleum. He's the little brother of the guy who did the sculpture park and his life's work was to paint the entire inside of this brick inverted-U shaped building with paintings so similar to his brothers' sculptures, I wonder what happened in their childhood to give them such common issues. The building has the unusual acoustic quality that all sounds reverberate for 12 seconds. There are no windows, and by the light of 2 candles, folk singer Unni Løvlid gives us a gorgeous voice-only performance of traditional Norsk folk that gives new meaning to the term "drowned in sound," which is kind of ironic since moments later I find myself talking to the fellow Drowned In Sound has sent to cover by:Larm.

I'm on a panel about digital music later that afternoon that again goes well and I meet several great people and learn several cool things I didn't know before. Fellow panelist, Jone Nuutinen, from super-cool about-to-be-Europe's-biggest street team site Urbanited, easily takes the award for person-who-looks-most-like-a-rock-star even if he's not one.

Madrugada fan that I am, the first act I catch that night, at John Dee, is Charlotte and the Co-Stars, who Madrugada's Frode Jacobson is producing. I can see the connection and am favorably impressed and look forward to hearing the record that results.

Then I race a few blocks to catch I Was A King who I just missed the night before. They're really good and make me feel good about having bought their record on eMusic before coming.

Floored as I was, I then take my friend Marika to see Miss Li, who's now at a much bigger club with a much bigger but equally adoring audience. Once again, she lights up the room with her smile and I leave bouncing and completely enamored.

There's no one really exciting in the next time slot, so we take a chance on the horribly-named All That And A Bag of Chips. Despite the funny name and humorous t-shirts that say things like "The Bass" and "The Guitar" and "The Vocals" their sound has no humor at all, and they're ok, but not that good, so we leave and head to Mono.

There we catch Miss Motor again, who are equally fun the second time. They're followed by another badly-named band, Harry's Gym, which is fronted by the woman who plays guitar for I Was A King. She's a very compelling character with more pedals for guitar effects than I've ever seen except for the Wrens' Charles Bissell, and they're really good, but their songs are very similar to one another and I'm glad the set is only half an hour.

Then we head back to Sentrum Scene for Superfamily who turn out to be expat Americans (who knew?). The place is so crowded and I'm so short that I can't see for the first half. When I finally find a spot where I can see, I realize seeing them without SEEING them is missing the point entirely. They're a fun live act, that's for sure, but the songs are nothing special and I start thinking that it would have been better if the two dancing backup guys could actually dance as well as the people they're spoofing.

Now, alas, it's 1 in the morning and the festival is way too close to being over. I head up to the delegate-only club Stratos which is located on the top floor of the old opera house with a walk-around terrace. Someone offers me a glass of champagne, and I sip it, shivering, looking at the view and thinking that this is just about as good as it gets. Slagsmålsklubben give the final show and, just as Stacey promised when she told me I HAD to see them, they are extremely entertaining and danceable. It's a perfect end to a fantastic weekend.

Final analysis: Well planned, well organized, well run, and wonderful festival. If the best band is to be judged by who leaves you happily humming their songs and ready to buy their complete collection, the festival belongs to Miss Li, someone I'd never given a second thought beforehand and could easily have missed entirely (thank goodness my friend who'd seen her told me otherwise!). Oslo's a great city. 23 bands in 3 nights and only a few of them disappointing. It's one of the best weekends of my life.
- Nancy Baym