One
can safely say that Thursday was dominated by acts from the so-called
Loddefjorden scene. Fjorden Baby!, Ungdomskulen, The New Wine and John
Olav Nilsen were all on the Thursday bill, which also contained acts
from – among other places – Stavanger, Nigeria, Scotland, England, the
US and Sweden.
Fjorden Baby! opened the second day of the
festival on the Enga stage, the biggest stage the band has ever
performed on, followed by Huntsville and Le Corbeau, on the Odden and
Vika stages respectively. Both bands offer complex music that demands
active listening on the audience’s part, and the crowd seemed to listen
intently, even though it was still early in the day.
I Was
a King have quickly become one of the most reliable Norwegian acts
around these days, and after their wicked self-entitled debut album
they simply can’t do anything wrong. And their performance on the
Seaside stage was brilliant indeed, and so was the audience.
Marit
Larsen’s second Øya concert after her festival debut back in 2006 was
just as charming as last time. Her two albums more or less qualify as
Norwegian classics, and the tidbits came like pearls on a string, with
“Don’t Save Me” as the grand finale. No M2M oldies this time around, unfortunately, but that didn’t in any way diminish the experience for those present.
After
Marit Larsen, Wilco opened like they open their latest album: with
“Wilco (The Song)”. When they stated that “Wilco will love you, baby”,
most everyone in the crowd was completely in the palm of their hand,
and from there on out there were a lot of nostalgic moments and solid
musical craftsmanship. Jeff Tweedy possesses a magical ability to block
out everything else, significant or insignificant, with his voice, and
that he once again managed from the Enga stage.
Florence
& The Machine are the big British hype of the year, and Florence
clearly showed us why. Some people are simply just born with what the
British call “it” and the French refer to as “je ne sais quoi” – or in
plain words, charisma and a radiant presence on stage. However, what is
most stunning about this redhead, who entered the Seaside stage in
sky-high heels and the shortest skirt of the day, is and remains her
voice.
Øya has made a habit out of including acts from
parts of the world where the indie rock genre isn’t very predominant.
Seun Kuti came all the way from Lagos, Nigeria – together with his
father’s legendary band, Fela’s Egypt 80 – to make stiff and hesitant
Norwegians dance. The musicians outperformed most everybody else, the
female backing singers completely outdid Beyoncé when it came to
shaking their hineys, and Seun himself was all over the place, often
with a saxophone strapped to his neck. Afro beat from beginning to end!
The
sunset last night was accompanied by tender male voices, bass, guitar,
brass, Victoria Legrand from Beach House and a whole sea of people when
this year’s critic faves Grizzly Bear rounded off the evening at Vika.
The New York-based act included everything from low, almost inaudible
noises to booming voices in order to show Oslo just how to conclude an
amazing day at the Øya Festival.
Fever Ray is about much
more than just the music – which in itself is magical and dark like
very little else these days. When you add the costumes and the light
show to the music, however, the entire experience becomes a spectacular
display of just how consistent and well carried out a live show can be.
In her performance, Karin Dreijer Anderson alternated between innocence
and darkness like it was the most natural thing in the world – while in
reality it was flat out supernatural.