Øya Festival Showcase
Live @ the Bell House, Brooklyn 03/16/2009
Co-presented with NYC showlist stalwart Oh My Rockness, the Øya Festival brought burgeoning Norwegian pop acts The New Wine and Casiokids to the city on their way down to Austin for SXSW. Casiokids had built up some hype in the fall after heralded CMJ performances; however this was the US debut by The New Wine, who played slick pop music with a danceable beat and easy comparisons to NYC's Tigercity. They got the crowd moving with their catchy songs and standout vocals and keyboards. Casiokids closed out the show with a set of dance-pop and delivered a very high energy set, both in terms of tempo and stage movements. I had also been unfamiliar with them prior to attending, and the only song I recognized was their encore cover of Familjen's mighty "Det snurrar i min skalle". Overall, this showcase did well to promote the music happening in Norway at the moment and give the audience an idea of the more localized acts playing at Øya in August.
- Matt Giordano
