Those Crazy Norwegians...
Last weekend saw the ‘spellemann’ awards, a Norwegian version of the Grammy Awards, held in Stavanger for the first time. In the days leading up to the big night the city was flooded with showcase concerts of all the bands nominated for awards. Here is a review of the highlights: The evening started out with the magical Tommy Tokyo, who never translates into recordings, but in an intimate live setting completely captivated the packed room. Standing in the front row, next to his wife, was absolutely stunning (the show, not his wife). I believe this was the first time he had ever played a gig with shoes on:
We then migrated to another venue to catch a glimpse of the mysterious Monica Heldal, before the room filled for the evenings headline act: a 40 minute only showcase concert from Mikhael Paskalev. The room resembles more of a bingo hall than a concert hall, complete with tacky chandeliers and curtains that looked like they had been made out of the material your grandmother used to drape over the sofa. Lined with rows of stackable seats, the bingo hall quickly fills with Norwegians (mostly girls aged 18-25), who sit patiently in lines, waiting for the show to start. Once Paskalev enters alone, the reception is huge. Kicking off with two acoustic solo tracks: ‘Woman’, and ‘Come On’, before the band joins him on stage to belt out the terrific ‘Sayonara Saigon’.
The first thing that strikes you about this musical collective surrounding Paskalev, is the sheer talent of every member of the group. Paskalev and Alaska first met in arts school in England and have since lived together in Oslo, along with Billie Van, although it is never really certain whose girlfriend she is. Along with other musicians picked up along the way, the collective plays together to provide the music behind Paskalev’s debut album, both of Alaska’s albums, and Billie Van’s single. In reality, it is more or less a single band that records under the names of the individuals who pen the tracks. Tonight though, it is immediately obvious that there are a few changes to the team. Jonas Alaska, folk musician turned gym junkie, is again not present most likely due to the fact he was off promoting his new album. Either that or he couldn’t manage to pull himself away from his intense fitness regime, as shown in the music video for his new single. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmh16ayg65Y Billie Van, much to my dismay (and my wife’s relief), is also missing, probably promoting her new musics elsewhere, perchance on her knees, or arms akimbo, with a group of suspicious frat boys, as shown in her strangely infectious new single here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5d9XWXxoM4
Guitarist Joe Wills is also missing (maybe off with Billie Van?) leaving only the bass player, and the Drummer Fabian Prynn to compliment a number of new unknown musicians. Van is replaced by two backing singers, who shall be known only as “who the fuck are those girls?” Wills’ replacement, equipped with his very own Paskalevesque mustache, immediately proves his mettle with the album’s title track: ‘What’s Life Without Losers’. At this point Paskalev invites the audience to abandon their chairs, by politely stating that (roughly translated) “You have my permission to get up and dance”. Everyone does. The band ensures this as they bang out ‘I Spy’ at breakneck speed.
Somehow, it is Prynn (the drummer) who easily managed to always be the most charismatic person on stage. His already towering height is magnified by his ridiculous haircut, but the boy has enough energy to make Patrick Carney tremble in his skinny jeans. At one point, in the build up to the chorus of ‘I Spy’ one of his drumsticks explodes, sending shards rocketing into the air. Nevertheless, he proceeds to bang away with the stump, like child on acid, also managing to replace the drumstick mid-song without missing a beat, done so deftly, that a less observant audience member wouldn’t have even noticed the drama.
Paskalev, who seems unusually nervous, admits: (roughly translated) “I was so worried that tonight was going to be shit, but you guys have been fantastic”. The crowd applauds gratefully, and a change of pace ensues. The slower tracks provides a relieving moment of respite, and it is here, that Paskalev shows his diversity for song writing by crafting sweet sounding folky tunes. However, if more than two were played in a row Paskalev would run the risk of inviting the audience to sit back down again, and so they pick things up again with the highly anticipated ‘Jive Babe’. As a means of introduction Paskalev informs us that they have been asked to perform a shortened version of ‘Jive Babe’ for their first-ever televised gig tomorrow night, their biggest gig to date, and that we would be the guinea pigs. Of course, they pull it off. In the songs climax, I cringe as the audience attempts to join in singing and doing the Jonas Claps™, however, it works, it fucking works, and it is magic. I don’t care what you say: Jive Babe is the best song I have seen live in many years.
As an encore, Paskalev returns alone to grant us with a solo version of the seemingly very popular ‘Susie’, before the band returns to close the night with ‘I Remember You’. At this point, to not dance and sing along to the “hey hey heye-he-heeys” would resemble some form of insanity. For the uninitiated, here is a delightful youtube version of the song put to old-skool footage of 1980’s B-boys dancing in red spandex suits, just because… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxpTX5bPYVU
It might be worth mentioning that (thankfully) Paskalev didn’t win a Spillemann Award the next night, the prize went to the insanely popular Kaiser’s Orchestra. Paskalev assures us that the record is going to make its way to the rest of the world. Being signed to a subset of Universal Records is a double edged sword: on one hand, the record company will take care of him, and make sure he gets the best deals he can, on the other hand... these things take time. Maybe, this is time worth taking. Posted below is the shortened version of Jive Babe they played the next night on National Television. It is not yet clear whether Paskalev is going to become something big, or if he is just another comet in the Nordic skies. What is very clear, is that this guy has a talent for writing catchy tunes, the musicians he surrounds himself with ooze talent, and I will always, always go to any Paskalev gig I can get tickets to, and I think you should too...