Review: Madrugada at Oslo Spektrum

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Resolved

The beauty of the latter is that the seven songs – along with the last two before the break – save the four on the dice. «Strange blue color» And “Majesty” finish the regular set after an hour and a half. These are songs that many have been waiting for, and now the intensity increases dramatically as well. In the end, Sivert is alone with the acoustic guitar. And then it’s kind of over. Namely, Madrugada found it too good to perform seven encores. is against normalas Leif Juster would say.

It’s as if they talked for the two minutes they waited in the wings, and then decided to intervene properly. Because they do. The concert takes on new life, and this is liberating. But it’s obviously planned, even though it may seem spontaneous.

Anne Brun!

There is some tension related to whether Ane Brun will show up, and she does. Ane and her voice help take the concert to great heights on stage. But the whole band follows along well. With twentysomethings «Bloodshot adult commitment» Madrugada are suddenly a full-blooded rock band after an almost “endless” string of ballads. Of course, this also applies “The boys are in the High Street”but there is always a winner, who arrived late, but very well.

Spectrum quiver

It’s been two hours now. It’s the last half hour of the concert where it gets more interesting. In the end, Sivert is down with the crowd and Spektrum is boiling. She’s a star and looks like she’s having fun! She could have reached him much sooner if she wanted, because the audience is always with the notes.

The setlist spans 23 years, with some songs from the debut and some from this year’s album – occasionally well-known and lesser-known material from the group’s other four studio albums.

Finally back

It’s a large production, with two giant screens overhead framing the large stage. The light on the back wall creates atmosphere, and is needed on a stage where most things are otherwise fairly quiet.

Sivert is a quiet fellow who doesn’t say much between songs, but says he appreciates being back at Oslo Spektrum. The band split after a farewell tour in 2008 after guitarist Robert Burås died the previous year. But – one of Norway’s biggest bands simply had to come back, both to Spektrum and many other places – to Norway and Europe.

14 years

What it eventually became 100 concerts in 2019 to celebrate the release of the 20-year-old debut album “Industrial Silence” added flavor. 14 years after the previous album and three years after the reunion, Stokmarknes’ band in January this year released the comeback album “Chimes of Freedom”, recorded in Los Angeles during two weeks just before the pandemic.

“Majestic” was the title of Dagbladet’s review. The following tour was scaled back due to the pandemic, still at Oslo Spektrum, but I’m now almost halfway through a concert tour that continues with three concerts in Stavanger and three in Bergen over the next few weekends.

Majestic from Madrugada

Dark and heavy

Madrugada as a band is completely dependent on an outstanding vocalist of the caliber of Sivert and some songs that stand out. But she has good support in the back. On stage, the “remnants” of Madrugada, Jon Lauvland Pettersen (drums), Frode Jacobsen (bass) and Sivert (vocals/guitar), were joined by Cato “Salsa” Thomassen (guitar), Christer Knutsen (keyboards), Freddy Holm (violin etc.) and Erland Dahlen (drums). Only guitarist Cato is introduced. The others also deserved the credit for providing the “boss” with a dark and heavy sound blanket, solid to the core. We are talking about a “machine” that grinds and goes, where Cato Salsa is the one who “shows off” the most. The sound is also good, and this is not a given in the Oslo Spektrum.

After tomorrow’s concert, the tour continues to Stavanger and Bergen for the next two long weekends.