2025-04-05 – NO, Oslo – Sentrum Scene

[otherdemon]

An interesting tidbit about Saturday’s gig:

They played 0 – zero – covers.
Big contrast to Rockefeller 2023 where they played 4.

EDIT: And a big thank you to whoever uploaded their recording to Archive

[Devotional]

@suntripper Thanks for the heads up! I’ve tried to post several times without success lately – probably because my posts are way too long (I’m rambling too much)…

But I’ll try a repost and split it in two. Wrote most of this when I came home, then fell asleep while writing, then added a few more comments…

(1/2) “A real lift and a relief” could be a headline for me. After already having extremely low expectations for this tour, the recordings that have been shared so far only served to dampen them even further – especially on the drum front. I think Olaf has lacked flow and consistency, stiffened up during jam sections, lost momentum in the build-ups, and since he doesn’t have the energy of Ingvald, the passion of Geb, the playful wildness of Kenneth, or the next-level genius of Tomas, he has ended up – during the earliest leg of this tour – in a slightly pedestrian space between Killer and Jacco, even though he’s undoubtedly a better drummer than either of those two. Maybe the sheer responsibility and challenge of this gig has made him somewhat temporarily “scared shitless” (to quote Bent at Roskilde ’93)?

That’s why it was such a big and pleasant surprise for me to see him do a truly respectable job tonight. He played like he had something to prove, and both energy- and groove-wise, it was often genuinely good. Granted, the insane micro-dynamics the band had with Tomas are gone. And for some (myself included), that’s harder to let go of than for others. But I’m glad to see that people on the forum have been so positive about Ingvald and Olaf, because having the nauts behind you is important – especially during transitional phases like now. And tonight I think Olaf deserves the praise he’s been given.

I also think we got lucky with the setlist – considering the tour so far. It was nice to avoid “Lady May” and “Neotzar,” which just absolutely haven’t worked imho.

“Three Frightened Monkeys” and “The Quick Fix” was a pretty lovely opening, and Olaf was very solid here, with some energetic fills. Both Bent and Snah were vocally on the plus side tonight, and Bent’s bass playing was divine from the start. Reine worked hard to dial in his volume, and there was a lot of signaling on stage – also from Bent and Snah – so it probably took a while to get the onstage sound right. The front-of-house mix improved steadily throughout the show – minus Olaf’s nearly inaudible bass drum(s). The audience was friendly and responsive, with jazz-style cheering after every solo in “Whip That Ghost,” which was, by the way, far better than in 2023. “W.C.A.” may have been better than on the album, but for me it’s just the definition of filler – also live. “Balthazaar,” on the other hand, was an early highlight – as it has been earlier on the tour. Hypnotic, krauty, and cool.

I don’t think any drummer since Geb has played “Manmower” well, and tonight’s version was also weakened by Olaf’s rather sloppy overplaying on the cymbals, which he unfortunately tends to do during the quieter and more “jazzy” sections in general (not that there were that many of those tonight). It feels like he zones out. I agree with @toresan that the twin guitars on “Lucifer” were killer. And once again, Olaf was more solid in the build-up than earlier in the tour, and that gave it a good hypno/motorik vibe. “Mountain” was rock solid, and it felt fresh to place it here in the set. I love that Reine plays guitar and not keys on this one. Bent was absolutely fantastic on bass, raw vocals from Snah, and Olaf completely on point. Beautiful!

Then it dipped a bit for me with “Stanley,” which I maybe just don’t connect with (yet), and “Kill Some Day” (they also played that at the soundcheck with much more brutal screaming from Bent), which was a decent enough version, but pretty far down the list of old songs I want to hear again. “Patterns” once again had a lovely solo from Snah, although the rest of the version was just OK.

[Devotional]

(2/2) The upswing came quickly with a FANTASTIC “Psychotzar.” Wow. An unexpected highlight. And it was a massive kick to hear Olaf rule such a heavy landscape. Great twin work between Snah and Reine too. I just loved this version. The joy continued with “577,” which grew to near-ecstatic heights midway through. I would’ve liked even more fierceness from Snah here (he was brilliant nonetheless), but Reine’s spacey synth work was perfect, and by the end the whole band had that classic “melt”-feeling they get when they’re really in sync.

“The Nerve Tattoo” is by no means easy to pull off well, but I think they managed it tonight. Reine was amazing again on both guitar and keys, and Olaf threw himself into it with tons of energy, which lifted the song. The ending kicked ass (as it usually does), but this version was definitely on the plus side overall. Why they then barreled straight into “Hyena,” and even ended the main set with it, I have no explanation for. They’ve done some small, smart tweaks to it, which at least I think made it less grating, but it’s still pretty meh live (as it always has been, imho) – kind of like “Kill Some Day” without the shoegaze vibe.

“Elysium, Soon” wasn’t exactly a great first encore either. It felt a bit “flatlined,” and the fantastic Snah solo midway couldn’t quite lift the overall impression for me. Going from earlier shows on the tour, I would’ve preferred “A.S.F.E.”. But I have to say that “Core Memory Corrupt” was another boost. Way, way more intense than on the album, and played with buckets of energy. Snah was running out of power vocally going into “Gullible’s Travails,” but it was worth trudging through the verses for that gorgeous psych-out in the middle. Tasteful and musical drumming from Olaf again, Reine was the spacemaster on keys, Bent a machine on bass, and Snah in classic God-mode. These are the most engaging Gullible’s ever imho.

And then it was over, and I wandered out into the Oslo night with a good feeling in my chest. I wouldn’t call it a magical concert, but it was very, very uplifting. Not only was it miles better than Rockefeller 2023, but the band feeling was present, and Olaf deserves a lot of the credit for that tonight.

[Author]

Posts