more fun! more noise! more kaizers! [edited]

the title of this blog post refers to a blog entry of september 2005 and my first encounter with the marvellous kaizers orchestra - arguably the best live band on the planet. having missed their last concert in vienna, because it was sold out before i realised they'd be playing here, i'd been looking forward to yesterday's concert since i reserved the ticket way back in december. having preached the greatness of the six norwegians, i did not have to go alone: sabine and valerio, both kaizers newbies, came along to arena. just like on the 28 september 2005, i was feeling under the weather - i have had a nasty cold for the past few days. but. miss a kaizers concert? nah. no way. so what if my voice was all but gone around 4 this afternoon. (as long as it's back by thursday, everything's fine. *g*) so what if i went to bed at 01.30, because i was too hyper to sleep. kaizers rock. quite literally, too.

janove aka "the jackal", charismatic frontman and responsible for most of the band's songs, has grown his hair and certainly hasn't lost any of his scandinavian sex-god-liness (see blog post of 09/2005). helge "the omen" kaizer deserves his own fan club for his unique, almost bizarre appearance (tailored suit, moustache, and gas mask) and inimitable way of playing the pump organ (sometimes he reminds me of a half-asleep, moody rowlf - yes, the one from the muppets show). drummer rune "mink" kaizer is a beast; in the best possible sense. øyvind "thunder" kaizer loves his bass, and it loves him back. and the guitarists geir "hellraizer" kaizer and terje "killmaster" kaizer, well, let's just say their nicknames aren't a coincidence. and those guys know how to rock. oh yes. in addition to more traditional instruments, oil barrels and hubcaps cannot be missing on a KO stage - it does get noisy. and that is a good thing. the guys give everything they have - but they get a lot back from their fans.

it's quite fascinating, really: a band sings in norwegian, and maybe a handful of the 1100 people in the audience understand more than a few bits and pieces of the lyrics, but from the moment they appear on stage, janove has everyone wrapped around his little finger. for the band it must be quite amazing to have an austrian audience take over and sing a chorus in norwegian at the top of their lungs (sving din hammer / til din papa drar deg inn / trekk et rom nummer / men ikkje bland din med min - maestro)!

kaizers played songs off their new album as well as many of their classics - maestro, blitzregn baby, kontroll på kontinentet, mann mot mann, delikatessen, ompa til du dør, dieter meyers inst., bøn fra helvete ... but of course KO is not a band to just play their songs, they celebrate their music - and so do their fans. and janove is not one to keep quiet between songs: he talks and asks questions and jokes and fools around. it's pure joy to watch a band have so much fun at work. this is what their fans love them for. and i cannot for the life of me imagine any fan actually going off them again.

the great news is that they announced another appearance in vienna in october or november. and guess who's going?

valerio and sabine totally loved it, too. :)
v was the man with the camera, i hope to have a couple of photos to share some time soon.

i just had to watch the kaizers live dvd today, plus all the bonus material. they're a lovely bunch of guys. may they be around for a long, long time.

and here's some kaizers for you. enjoy.



editing in for a p.s.: geoff berner was the support act - worth checking out. gypsy folksy klezmer punk sort of music from vancouver, canada. ;)

editing in once more: i've sneaked into valerio's facebook photo album and nicked a couple of pictures (which i am sure is perfectly okay if i tell you that they are NOT MINE, they are VALERIO's, and he is not only nice and talented, he also has the most beautiful hair!):









song of the day: maestro by kaizers orchestra.