Reinder Dijkhuis Does ArtA few weeks ago, someone on a Discord server I'm on asked a question about music to which "Kaizers Orchestra" was the correct answer. The question was "what music has people hitting regular objects really fucking hard as part of its signature sound?"
Kaizers Orchestra, from Bergen, Norway, had it in their tour rider that venues had to supply oil drums and hubcaps, which they would beat to smithereens as an integral part of their sound, and the theatrics of their performance. Their high-energy sound worked well on record, but the live shows were something else. Despite not actually playing rock music, they were very rock'n'roll, sweaty, bombastic, swaggering and loud.
Their music was a kind of gangster polka, enriched by their use of the oil drum and hubcaps as percussion instruments. Taking one live song out of context diminishes its effect, because you miss how they'd come on stage as well-dressed gentlemen and leave as the absolute scum of the earth, but here's the tender ballad '170' from their live DVD 'Viva La Vega":
Kaizers Orchestra: 170 (Live @ Vega)
I saw them live at least three times, and heard them live a fourth time, when they were playing an open-air gig right behind my apartment. Loved them each time, including that last night, when I was really trying to sleep.
But by around 2010, the magic had started to wear out for me. I posted a negative review of their fifth album on my blog - it wasn't bad, it was just the same as all the others.
In hindsight, I needed a break from them.
And I got that break, because they called it a day in 2013. But after answering that question, I started thinking how right now would be a good time for them to come back for a bit.
And then I found this trailer video from 2023:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Fw8fNghFw
I had no idea! No one told me!
Dine gamle dager er nå
So, since they aren't touring outside of Scandinavia and the US right now, I'm talking to the fam about taking a trip to Copenhagen in September…
#Kaizersorchestra #Ompatildudør
#Kaizersorchestra #Ompatildudør