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| Turid Jorgensen |
Wholly egalitarian, mildly eccentric, fully fervent and alt
with a capital ‘A’, are perfect slogans for describing the live version of
Katzenjammer. On this opening gig of a latest attempt to breach the UK market, these
four highly talented ladies, morphing into one of Norway’s finest musical
exports, gave a timely reminder as to why they have been tearing up mainland
European venues for a while now. With an extraordinary display of
interchangeable musicianship, Marianne, Turid, Solveig and Anne Marit flit
across every shade of the roots spectrum in genre defying proportions. A packed
Rescue Rooms in the heart of Nottingham city centre was in a frivolous Friday
night party mood to dance, sing and clap along to a lengthy set exceeding an
hour and a half, which is above par for a curfew restrictive weekend venue. Many
came to marvel and were well and truly exhilarated by this energetic Katzenjammer
performance.
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| Anne Marit Bergheim |
The eclecticism was sheer head spinning for the mere mortal
observer with each band member rising to the challenge to deliver in creative
ways and rarely failing to succeed. Few would dispute the demonic delving of
Marianne on keyboards as a moment of pure emotion when she poured out a series of memorable pieces. All three of the band’s albums were extensively represented with the
excellent recent ROCKLAND release getting an airing in its entirety to propel it
onto a superior plane. Whether the miniature pink piano was the tenth,
fifteenth or twentieth instrument used on stage, it sure housed the stand out
song of the evening as ‘Shine Like Neon
Rays’ made it a double favourite after heading the fine rollercoaster of
rockin’ tunes on the new record. For many present, the opportunity to join in
with ‘Rock Paper Scissors’ raised the
heat on the evening, although the frenzied activity on stage did that
adequately on its own.
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| Solveig Heilo |
The freshness, frivolity and charismatic chemistry from the foursome
was aplenty with subtle humour from Solveig, and a more serious interlude from
Marianne as she explained the background to the track ‘Lady Gray’ and its link to the relationship between music and
dealing with Alzheimer’s. We were also reminded of the origin of the term
Rockland and the song itself was one of the few tender moments on an evening
that was firmly defined by the other end of the tempo scale. Solveig’s encore
entrance armed with trumpet crowned an evening of supreme musicianship that was
totally underpinned by the band’s trademark cat faced contrabass balalaika.
It would be remiss for a critic not to attempt to pin some
kind of label on the sounds of Katzenjammer and the presence of banjo, Dobra
and harmonica give an intrinsic folk-Americana feel to a number of their songs.
Anne Marit opened up on banjo and was comfortable playing a variety of string instruments;
likewise Turid started on bass and frequently went back to it after various
instrument excursions. Vocally the band was entirely democratic with its
distribution of lead roles although Marianne showed the greatest range with ear
splitting pleasure when the vocal chords were suitably stretched, especially as
the show reached its crescendo.
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| Marianne Sveen |
While ROCKLAND goes from strength to strength with its
acclaim, the latest featured track from it went down a storm with the crowd as ‘My Dear’ saw the band move into a full on
feel good mode. This wander into the world of refined pop is a peep into the
flamboyant side of Katzenjammer and the evening also saw sporadic outbreaks of Balkan
style folk, accordion hip hop and rebel rousing mid European bar music. The
band members had recently spent time apart and soaked up the musical
environments of places such as London and Nashville. It was quite vivid to
imagine the band going down a storm in the famed Ryman Auditorium and
delighting many a roots enthusiast in the Americana community.
The underlying theme from this totally enthralling and
awe-inspiring gig was that simplicity is king or perhaps queen in this context.
The passion was burning intensely and the micro focus was a constant stream of magnificence.
Katzenjammer is a jaw dropping must see act and retain an air of credibility in
whichever direction they head. They produced the most memorable of stunning
live shows and long may they keep UK venues on their horizon.
www.katzenjammer.com