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Bad news, @Be
The tour is finished just before #nonutnovember
@zomzom82 This is almost exactly what I am thinking about that topic! Thanks for the write up.
Same here!
@zomzom82: I’m a bit concerned for that glove puppet now…
ZomZom82 “…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.”
To me this is pretty accurate description of 85-90% of MPs output the last 20+ years. After the second round of Tussler-gigs in 2003(?) it went downhill and with only the occasional glimpse of brilliance. The Tower sounded fresh when it was released. I’ved liked some of the gigs and records, but it’s har to pinpoint highlights. From a broad perspective, most of the last 20 years have sounded the same. Very little variation in quality, mood and energy. Grey sameness indeed. Not all bad, but very few songs or albums or tours stand out for me.
A lot of interesting views and opinions in this thread. Thanks!
I recently saw the three shows in Stavanger, Haugesund and Bergen, having seen them regularly since 93. Of course there has been ups and downs along this journey, and right now we seem to be in a kind of a crossroad once again. The comparison with 2006 is quite a good one, except that I think from now on the band won’t have a permanent drummer anymore. My guess is that they will bring on whoever is available for different tours/shows, or maybe I read that somewhere?
The Norwegian shows this time have been quite “identical”, it seems, at least regarding setlists. Not that many changes as we might have seen in the past, but in a way it makes sense too, since Olaf has not had the chance to learn the whole catalogue…
The show in Stavanger (where I live) was very up and down, I think. All in all an ok show (with highlights in Babylon, 577, Lady May (!) and Taifun).
Haugesund on the other hand was so much better overall. Setlist still quite similar, but the playing and mood on stage was a lot better!
Bergen was somehow a mix of these two, up and down, but with a better overall feel to my ears than Stavanger, at least.Regarding style changes and directions of our boys, there are always never ending opinions or tastes, like it should be. My preference will forever be the 90s, but I also like later years albums, even if I don’t pick them out and play them very often, like the oldies.
To me it feels like MP is progging for the sake of progging. The song writing is just not at the sky high level it used to be back then. I like a lot of prog, but the endless noodling just because they can do it, doesn’t weigh up the fact that they wrote better songs before. Yes, I know that tastes differ, and a good example is NOX, which I don’t like very much, but others love. And don’t even mention the Unicorn….
The latest album Yay! is also quite forgettable. Nothing can make Dank State or Cold & Bored good. I will still forgive them for releasing it.Hopefully we will see many more good years in the future. I wonder what will be next!
I’m with zomzom, ijustpop and mefisto on this. I never thought it would come to that, but I even stopped buying their records. I never lose hope though, because I know what they are capable of. And I will go to Oldenburg and Zwolle. Shows are something else. Hoping for a lot of nineties songs, I have to admit….
How different perceptions can be. I think that they have just reached new heights with “Ancient Astronauts” and “The Crucible”. And for instance songs like “Cold and Bored” or “Delusion” touch me like some of the great emotional songs of the 90s.
This discussion has taken off on a tangent – my observations were strictly about the gig in Trondheim and the current status of the band, and not really a reflection on the past 20 years. Indeed I think there are opportunities and a shift away from the more technically proficient Kenneth/Tomas years could turn out very fruitful. But I didn’t really hear the seeds of that last Saturday. Too soon to tell, probably.
I fully understand those who drifted away after Geb left. There are all sorts of reasons for this, both changes in the band’s sound and approach, but probably just as much changes in one’s own preferences. I find that any band throughout history has a peak, an era to which I connect more strongly than others. You could say it’s the musicv they produce during that era, but it’s probably also timing; when do I discover the band vs my musical preferences at the time. Motorpsycho themselves are very aware of this; they are aware that they broke through in the 90s and that was the time when their musical relevance was at its highest. They are forever condemned to being compared with their own peak, both stylistically and qualitatively.
I have realized I have to temper my own stubbornness on this subject – personally I think the 90s albums are all at the top, and only at #5 or 6 I can consider something outside of the 93-99 peak. But then I speak to other fans who rate HMF as their #1 album (an album I don’t particularly like). So I might think I have it right (and I will certainly voice my opinion), but always have to consider the possibility that there’s something I’m missing.
All that said, I think it will be silly to argue against the notion that after Gebhardt’s departure, Motorpsycho has shifted more towards a technically proficient and more overtly “prog” approach. It’s right there in the side-long epics with silly names, the multiple Yes, Crimson(and Sabbath) references etc. OTOH, it’s easy to point out the Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and Stooges references of the 90s. Some of it also comes down to age and maturing on the part of Bent and Snah as well. They made 90s music when they were in the 20s. Now they are in their 50s. It’s going to be different.
I think the potency and urgency of their records were at a peak from 93-99, and they were most consistently weird and unpredictable then, but I have been knocked out and surprised enough times since then that I know to never, ever, ever count them out and consider them “done”. The knock-out rate for me, was at its lowest with Kenneth, I’m afraid (Child of the Future gig at Slottsfjell being one exception), but for me the flame was rekindled big-time with Tomas. So much wonderful and different stuff during those years (Ship of Fools, Bartok, NOX), even though I agree the epic count was a bit too much (how many side-long epics does one band need?).
I never bothered to comment on Ancient Astronauts when it came out. I liked it, but felt they didn’t quite do justice to some extremely promising songs. That razor-sharp focus they had in the 90s has given way to some bloat over the years, I do agree with that, at least on record.
Live, it was a different story. With Tomas, I felt they could tap into everything that made them great in the past, as well as unleash a barrage of technically proficient wankery. I was first in line to be jizzed on when it felt that good…
So there you have it, my confused ramblings just to say; they were great before, I’m sure they will be great again. Bring on Ingvald and we’ll see.
In my opionin the most interesting part is how many different perceptions there are. This also shows how versitile MP is, which probably is the reason why they are as relevant as ever today.
To me it is all about the long far-out stuff, just like the intro to Un Chien on the Kristoffer Lo tour, represented as “Köln” on roadwork 5. Or take the brilliant song Ratcatcher, to seldom played, but insane good. 🤟🏾
I regard Motorpsycho as an organic entity that oscillates between the poles of well-written alternative pop songs, heavy grooves and psychedelic to almost freeform-jazzy excursions into space. No need to nail them to just one element. I have found joy in almost any MP phase, although it took me quite a while to digest the “screamy vocals” period at the beginning. But then before that was “Maiden Voyage” – and here you go. Enjoy the moment if you can. Albumwise I find musical gems from 1991 on, though my favourite live concerts probably were in 2013 (Darmstadt), 2017 (Cologne!) and 2019 (Wiesbaden). But for nothing in the world wouldt I have missed the gigs beween.
Btw: would be a great title for an extensive live documentation or a self-reflective retrospective lyric: “There were gigs, there were gigs, and there were gigs between…”This thread slid a little too fast into the old “everything was better before” vs. artists need to change faux argument, it started out as sharing thoughts about the state of the (live) band right now, that is much more interesting, imo.
„Enjoy the moment if you can“
That’s extremely difficult at a show when your head is full of preferences and analyzes that span a period of 30 years, 30 albums and 100 shows.
I like this thread, it’s very funny and interesting to read, it says a lot about us fans and nerds, but less about…
I try to say it in other words:There is no bad weather, only bad clothing. There is never a bad Mopsy concert, just a bad attitude. For example, a lack of tolerance or a lack of empathy for the current situation
I would like to mention that i have not been to any of those last concerts but enjoyed watching the tromso recording from the show before trondheim a lot. I even watched it twice. It surprised me musically and i liked the relaxed mood and interaction between the musicians a lot.
I‘m with boomer. If the (real)Trondheim-gig was only half as good as the Tromsó bootleg, it must have been great!
As someone mentioned before, we must be thankful. that this norwegian leg of the tour was possible. And I even like to say „I love Olaf“
(BTW: What a fantastic Dank State version !)
This is how it’s done, Olaf Olsen. ;-)
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