Festival report: by:Larm 2009 - Day 2
Not only is it constantly snowing in Oslo but there's also some kind of snowboarding even going on outside the city somewhere, which means you're constantly bumping into some guy in full ski gear walking around with a snowboard – quite bizarre I must say, especially since it snows all the time! I was very tired when I woke up on the morning of the second day of by:Larm 2009, and after working all day from my hotel room I wasn't really in a gig mood, but come 7 pm and I ventured to Sub Scene to check out Merlin, a Norwegian Dead Kennedys-sounding band that also has something psychobilly about them. Not exactly the greatest start of the day for my sore head, but Merlin's playful rock'n'roll put me in a good mood and I got hungry for more gigs.
Next up was Kaja Bremnes who to my pleasant surprise played at a seated venue! "Hooray!", my lazy legs screamed in unison. Unfortunately Bremnes couldn't live up to the great interior arrangements at the venue, and despite being quite good at what she does, her Tori Amos sounding songs just didn't penetrate my skull.
For a second day running, I tried to get into the venue called Mono, this time to check out Sweden's First Aid Kit, only to be turned away at the door by the same lusekofte-wearing bouncer that turned me away almost exactly 24 hours prior. Just like the day before I quickly scanned the festival program and any future plans and decided to go and see Matias Tellez who performed in the vicinity of the next gig I planned to go to. Tellez turned out to play tired cheesy pop rock. What a waste of time!
Leaving Rockefeller where Tellez played, I only had to walk around the corner to see Frida Hyvönen play a majestic set, in that lovely seated venue that I previously saw Kaja Bremnes at. Hyvönen seemed to be in a great mood, and she charmed everyone who was there to see her. I'm glad I went to see her play a "proper" show a few weeks ago, this 30 minute show was good but it also made me want more.
Lo and behold! Trying to get into Mono for a third time, I hit the jackpot and managed to squeeze in to see Retro Stefson once again. Yesterday I called them an Icelandic teenage Vampire Weekend, which I must say is quite inaccurate. This gig had a different vibe to it, and now I'd like to dub them Iceland's teenage Bee-Gees. Their disco grooves almost tore the roof off!
From disco to hip-hop, and the lovely 11th floor of Stratos where Danish hip hop crew Majors tried their best to charm a room half full of skeptics with their party hip-hop, with varied results. Full marks for effort though!
After Majors I went to the Dagbladet tent across the road to wait for Jenny Wilson. While I waited, John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen played. I believe he's tipped to become Norway's own Håkan Hellström. His melodramatic performance, dedicated fans and sing-a-longs were all quite charming, but I couldn't stop thinking that most of his songs sounded like Tom Robinson Band's "2 4 6 8 Motorway".
A bit after 11:30 pm Jenny Wilson went on stage. I'm no great follower of fashion, but judging by Jenny Wilson and thousands of girls in Oslo, I would go as far as saying that dressing like an old lady is pretty hip right now. Wilson looked very stylish though, I must say. It might have been due to fatigue, but I had serious problems engaging with her set. I'm a fan, so I'd like to think that it was me that underperformed and not her. Next time I see her I'll try to come with a fresh mind in tow, and hopefully I'll also have had the chance to listen to her forthcoming album by then.
The last gig of this second day at by:Larm I saw was Parken who played at the for me infamous Mono. By this stage my brain was frazzled and despite Parken playing a couple of corkers that drove the crowd nuts, I had given up on gig experiences for the day.
Words and pictures by Simon Tagestam