Concerts | minside

CONCERTS

When Air On Fire, an unknown band from Moss, did their first show, most people in the audience thought it would be a reggae concert, due to Victor Dos Anjos’ appearance. As the band took the stage, the rasta hairstyled singer sang the first few lines of Bob Marley’s “Redemtion Song,” you know: Old pirates, yes, they rob I/Sold I to the merchant ships/Minutes after they took I/From the bottomless pit, mostly just to f**k with the audience. But the hard core the band played was so far from reggae you could get. As soon as they hit the heavy chords, the anger and emotions swept across the singers face. Capturing him in his purest on stage was the highlight of that evening. It was all about freezing him in time and envelop him in the darkness that surrounded him.

Before El Mapache, it was The Coons. But as soon as they realized the mistake, how utterly wrong and bias it sounded, El Mapache, or The Raccoons, was born. I have shoot the band a few times, and it’s always a joy both seeing them live and taking their pictures.

On one occasion I interviewed the band before a concert in Fredrikstad and learned that one of their guitar players had played in a band with Hank von Hell from Turbonegro in a short-lived project called Alcoholocaust, during Hank’s rehab in Lofoten in the early 2000s.

The series of pictures on this sit is from a concert at Båthusteateret in Fredrikstad, 2017. I went there to support the band and take some pictures, with my then girlfriend, a Filipino mestiza that had grown up in Norway. We shared the interest in photography, and on occasions she was my photographer on freelance jobs. She had a keen eye for taking pictures and it was fun seeing the joy she felt from having them published in the newspaper.

I went to Oslo to see Combichrist and Mortiis on their "Monsters on Tour" through Europe in 2011. I went there to finally see Håvard Ellefsen, the front force behind Mortiis, as I had known him for a little while. I remember befriending him at an A-HA concert in Fredrikstad, him being there to see Apoptygma Berzerk, me covering the concert for Demokraten. I had no intention of freelancing the Combichrist/Mortiis concert, but as I announced my attendance on Facebook, Fredrikstad Blad contacted me, asking if I could cover the gig, mostly because Combichrist had been touring with Rammstein the year before. I said sure, but did not want to do an interview, besides, the band did not have time for me as the concert ended. Getting home I had no idea what to do with the piece I had promised, and I didn't like any of the pics I had from the show, so I started playing with both text and pictures. The result was an article I still hold as one of my favorites and a few pictures that ended up much better than anticipated. Usually the best result comes when you are clueless on what to do.

I spent some time freelancing for the newspaper Demokraten in 2016. When Albert Hammond played in Fredrikstad that April I got the job of covering the concert. I did an interview with Hammond on phone before the concert, which was most pleasing, to say the least. A nice conversation with an open and forthcoming artist. During the concert I worked all around the stage looking for the right picture, that one shot that would make me tingle. I usually get my picture, and this was it, from the guy with "The Free Electric Band."

I've had the pleasure of shooting Oslo Ess on stage twice. It’s a sort of nostalgic fun with a band doing their stuff in their native tongue, rather than going to the more popular English choice. Just like Jokke & Valentinerne, Kaizsers Orchestra and Seigmen, just to mention a few that sparked their music with Norwegian lyrics. In 2016 Oslo Ess played at Månefestivalen, in the early afternoon, usually a bad festival spot, but not in Fredrikstad. A sea of cheerful people with beer in hand and smelling heavy of sunscreen, filled up every nook and cranny in front of the stage. Under the great fireball a party was unfolding. Photograpers pushing their way passed people in search of their great shot. Journalists wet from heat and excitement rushed to the press booth as soon as the concert ended, scribbling away with eager. As did I, gulping down water and trying to find the right words, but feeling the camera did the band more justice than my writing did.

After having seen Unni Wilhelmsen, Sol Heilo & Hanne Mari Karlsen trio play in a steamy festival tent in Fredrikstad, on a rainy evening, I spent an hour taking with the band. Usually journalists don't take time to really talk to the band, Unni Wilhelmsen told me, as I let them talk and talk, having a conversation rather than asking random questions that would be boring and pointless. I've always had a thing for Sol Heilo, as I've seen her palying in Katzenjammer a few times. After an hour of too much talk, giving Heilo a framed picture, I went home and wrote a homage to the girls.

Frida Børli Solaker

I remember standing on Tøihusplassen at Månefestivalen during the summer heat in 2014, with my then Chinese girlfriend, attending the festival for the joy of being there and taking her to her first music festival, ever, despite having lived in Norway for seven years. It had been a while since my last attendance, so I thought I’d bring my camera to shoot some pictures. “I like you so much better when you’re naked” is my favorite Ida Maria song, one that I find utterly sexy. It was a hot summer, one that I spent on the beach with my Asian girl, her making me feel like a David Bowie song. At one point during the concert I was looking for a shot of her in the crowd, as I wanted to capture the joy I saw in her face. My focus was on her for a couple minutes, as I shot a few pictures of her. When I lowered the camera and looked back to the stage, to my amazement, and to the rest of the crowds excitement, both Ida Maria and her side-kick, Frida Børli Solaker, was suddenly topless on stage. Sporting a black tape cross their nipples in a “Free the nipple” protest, or what to call this moment of showmanship, I threw my camera in position. But as I started to shoot, I realized I did not want topless pictures for the sake of them being topless. I had to use it them a better way if I wanted to share this with people. Finding another way to display this moment. The only result I was happy with was the combination I did of Frida Solaker. It was the only picture I felt was okay to use.

Three months later my Chinese girlfriend walked out on me. The last song I played before she left my apartment was Onkl P & De Fjerne Slektningene with Admiral, singing “Se Deg Gå” (See you leave), which might have been a factor for her understanding that this was the end. But I guess we both had lost interest by then. By then it was time to move on.

Eddi B Saxegaard