The Rammstein concert at the Bjerke track on Sunday this week is probably the biggest concert Norway has ever seen.
The German, industrial metal band arrives in Oslo with 108 lorries of equipment, and the call started a full eleven days before the concert starts.
Up to 60,000 people are expected to move to Bjerke, a district where, by comparison, 35,000 live.
– This will be the biggest concert in Norwegian history, if you talk about spectators and the scope of the concert, Mark Vaughan in All Things Live, who is the organizer of the concert, tells Dagbladet.
PYRO: Rammstein are well known for their extensive use of pyrotechnics in their concerts, and reportedly use around 1,000 liters of fuel per concert. Photo: Gonzales Photo / Sebastian Dammark / NTB
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Heard the sound 18 km away
For those who are not familiar with Rammstein, it may seem surprising that a band that plays within the relatively unknown genre of industrial metal draws a record number of people to Bjerke trotbane.
However, the band is legendary for its live performances. In June, Dagbladet’s music writer Torgrim Øyre mentioned the reason for the band’s popularity in the following way:
– The obvious answer is that Rammstein delivers a show so spectacular that few have seen anything like it.
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However, it is not only concert attendees who notice it when Rammstein visits.
When the band played in Aarhus earlier this year the organizer sent out 5,000 neighbor notificationsand Da the band played in Coventry in England, it was reported that the sound from the concert could be heard 18 kilometers away from the concert venue.
However, Mark Vaughan in All Things Live states that the event at Bjerke will follow all rules, and believes that the reports from Coventry sound somewhat exaggerated.
– We follow all the rules when it comes to decibel level, so that the concert should be able to be heard 18 km away sounds like a slight exaggeration. But, it depends on many factors, such as atmospheric pressure, temperature, wind and so on, says Vaughan.
The administration in Bydel Bjerke also say they feel that things go deliberately ahead of the event.
– We find the cooperation with the organizer to be very satisfactory. They answer our questions and we got involved well in advance, says Olav Noraker, health consultant in Bydel Bjerke, in an e-mail to Dagbladet.
LARGE PRODUCTION: To play in Oslo, Rammstein brought 108 trucks with equipment, and the set-up takes eleven days. Picture from a concert in Turin earlier this year. Photo: Matteo Chinellato / PA Photos / NTB
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Warned against the concert
However, the sound level is not the only challenge with an event of this size, and Dagbladet’s press contact in Ruter, Øystein Dahl Johansen, can tell that they initially warned against the concert:
– Ruter’s starting point has been to recommend that such a large event not be held at Bjerke race track. This is because there is no infrastructure in the area to accommodate such large crowds, says Johansen to Dagbladet.
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Johansen further says that it is beneficial that the concert is held on a Sunday and during the public holiday, but that it will still be felt that Rammstein are in town.
– It’s nice that it’s happening at a time when many people have traveled away and there are fewer people using public transport, but it will probably still be felt throughout Oslo that there is a concert at Bjerke, he says further.
The Oslo police also confirm that transport to and from the trotting track is one of the biggest expected challenges at the event.
– One of the biggest challenges we have seen ahead of time is the transport of the public to and from. And especially from, as we expect that most of the audience will want to leave the concert at the same time, writes police superintendent Thomas Wold in the Oslo police district, in an e-mail to Dagbladet.
The train company Vy has the same message.
– Vy would like to remind travelers that there is limited capacity in transport by train this summer. Both the Østfold line and the section Asker – Drammen are closed to train traffic due to maintenance work. The trains have therefore been replaced by buses, which provide less transport capacity.
– Especially after the concert, there will be limited capacity, as there are few ordinary departures, and limited space. We therefore recommend the public to the concert to consider which means of transport is appropriate to and from the concert.
NOTE: Even those outside the concert venues will probably notice that Rammstein is in town. This is what it looked like when Rammstein played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on 4 June. Photo: Christoph Soeder / DPA / NTB
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The police nevertheless state that they have approved the application for the concert, partly on the basis of previous experiences with the organiser, and say that the cooperation in advance has been good.
– We have experienced the collaboration as good. Both the organizer and the company responsible for security are major players with whom we have interacted on a number of different occasions in the past, with good results, says Wold.
Ruter points out, however, that there may be traffic challenges for those going to and from the district on the day in question.
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– Do everything we can
Organizer All Things Live themselves believe that they are doing the necessary preparatory work to warn neighbors and transport concert participants to Bjerke.
– We are doing everything we can to prepare the neighbors and the area for the concert. We have had meetings with the neighbors and have invited them to information meetings to explain how we transport people to and from Bjerke, says Mark Vaughan on behalf of All Things Live.
Among the measures All Things Live has planned are shuttle buses that go directly from central Oslo to Bjerke trotbane.
