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Bad news, @Be
The tour is finished just before #nonutnovember
This is turning into something quite different than where it started, but what the hell. I like the sound of my own pen sometimes it seems, and it’s pertaining to my overall enjoyment of the Verkstedhallen gig.
I wouldn’t call Un ‘Chien wanky, Suntripper, rather the opposite: A quite simple core that the band patiently develops for as long as it takes. The Wheel is another clear example of this: Just one or two stellar riffs that rolls effortlessly, brilliantly, builds and collapses. It was actually precisely this aspect of the band, and the related improvisations, that drew me in to begin with, with me seeing A K9 suite in the bargain bin of my local record store and just had to figure out what this 30:46 business was all about.
On the other hand, take Nox, Chariot, The Crucible, Hell 1-forever, etc. etc. Individually not bad songs at all (not all of them at least), but together they just form a sort of grey mass of behemoths which in comparison to the earlier monsters sounds cramped, overwritten, an yes … a bit wanky. After a while, and taken together with a lot of the musty leanings of the rest of the material, I just wanted Bent to write a god damned tune again. And while almost every record since LLM have had glimpses, they’ve been few and far between.
The above linguistic and musicological (?) confusion is probably my fault though, and the drawback of attempting to irreverently summarize 15 years of history. And all is subjective of course. One man’s wank is another man’s gold or something.. Wankery Iz A Poze, Hardt Rock Iz A Laifschteil? Also, we haven’t yet gotten to the goofy and persistent nods to Sabbath, Zeppelin etc, but that will have to wait for another day.
The main point was that MP used to be many things, before turning into something more fixed and less fun (for me). Now that the doors are kicked wide open again, I’m really struggling to understand the fans that focuses on the snare sound, counts the BPM and clocks the variation in fills of someone who probably didn’t have all that much time to learn a whole mess of songs. Rather: This reminds me of 2006. The backs are against the wall, and our favourite (yes!) band has to fight a bit again.
These are the struggles (either involuntary or self-imposed) that have previously sparked some of the bands best work. I’ll take that uncertainty over another lukewarm courting to the readers of Classic Rock Magazine any day.
Oh! Absolutely no shade intended on Tomas. As mentioned, I absolutely adore his playing, I just think the introduction of more technically inclined and über-proficient drummers in MP unlocked some tendencies within especially Bent that I find less interesting than the 90s and early 2000s stuff. Mostly preferences this, but I do miss the band that were switching up their stuff from album to album.
And as you rightly mention, there are indeed valid exceptions to the tendencies I mention, witch mostly serve to illustrate that Tomas were brilliant at all the stuff they put him to. I also really enjoyed quite a large portions of The Tower, and think that The Crucible might be their best album since Little Lucid Moments. I also prefer the overall output with Tomas over the records recorded with Kenneth.
I just miss a bit of the songs, and the fun, and the nerves, and joy. And while this weekends concert were far from perfect (who’d want that anyways), I just think the band is in a more interesting place than they have been in a while. I would of course have loved if they found this place again with Tomas, Kenneth or Geb, but for now it seems like I prefer my MP on more uncertain ground.
Funny how perceptions differ!
After being quite bored by the bands seemingly endless drift into reference heavy and technically proficient wankery, I have been in dire need of something else. Yay! was the perfect album at the perfect time for me, and this concert also mostly scratched the same itch.
Absolutely love Tomas and all he does, but for this night the change really appeared to have relaxed the whole operation. Especially Bent appeared considerably more casual than I’ve seen him in quite some while. While I was expecting him having to work overtime as drum director as he did with Jacco, everything was just fun. Technical issues? Slight fuckups? No worries! Motherfucker speeding up as he’s grooving on Überwagner? I absolutely love that shit!
Rather than the slightly removed herculean instrumental efforts emphasized from the dawn of Kenneth, this was now just a collection of incredible musicians with a vast back catalogue having a good time. Sound was also good where I was standing, and even Go to California grew from tired novelty act to something vital and vibrant. Cold & Bored-> Kill some day almost killed me, and Sinful, Wind-Born? Holy shit!
Also, for a fan that really prefer the 90s output, it was just a joy to see the band shifting focus from the more demanding side of their catalogue. The only thing that could really improve upon this Saturday would be a wholesale exorcism of the more technical mothball prog, like especially The United Debased (The new Neverland?) and Gullible. Not only because these songs were a poorer fit for Olaf, but also as I’ve never enjoyed this aspect of new-ish Motorpsycho to begin with. And what’s the deal with all the covers? As encore?
Anywhoo! Not posting much these days, but were actually flabbergasted with the lukewarm takes up in here. And as for people leaving concerts early – I actually left early on Tomas’ last gig in Trondheim. That shit was horrendous!
Oh! Been putting this off for ages, lost my dime-account, and is desperate to hear the recent 577s. Is it possible to send me an invite to m.anfinsen[at]gmail.com?
Well this is a tad messy, shipping prices all over the place, and a less than pleasant ordering experience. Payed 200,- within norway while others pay 149,- Some pay 50,- for Europe, while others gets their orders cancelled. Hope they are able to smooth this out somewhat for what seems to ultimately be a nice treat for the fans.
