I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some great live music here in Oslo. When I first arrived I thought I was missing out on a lot since bands will tour Copenhagen or Stockholm but frequently skip Oslo. This is no doubt true, but we still do get some really good smaller acts touring here. For example, a couple of weeks ago I saw Animal Collective, this week Antony and the Johnsons, and next week Squarepusher. That’s a pretty good set of artists by any measure, and bloody good for such a small city.
Norway seems to have a soft spot for Antony either with his Johnsons or in disco mode in Hercules and Love Affair. Or perhaps Antony has a soft spot for Norway. His show was sold out in a matter of hours, and a couple of days later it was announced they’ll be coming back to be part of the Oslo Jazz Festival, playing on top of the new opera house along with support from an orchestra.
By the time I heard that Antony was playing Oslo, the gig was long sold out, so I was bummed out for many months. On the day of the concert, I went to the venue hoping to score a ticket for myself and a friend, but alas, there was nothing to be had. Then, by miracle, literally 30 minutes before the concert, my friend happens across two tickets that her friends can’t use due to stricken with sudden sickness. Score!
The concert was absolutely beautiful. Antony is witty, urbane and intelligent throughout and you really get a sense you are in the presence of skilled musicians. Old songs are played in new ways and the new songs sound fantastic. I don’t normally notice it, but the stage lighting was also very well done; there seemed to be an arc from darkness to lightness back to darkness again, synchronised so that “Daylight and the Sun” was the brightest point. Or maybe that was my imagination. I saw Antony in 2005 when he was touring for the “I Am A Bird Now” LP, and while he is now playing larger venues, there is still a very special intimate environment that you don’t get with many artists. You come away feeling that you’ve had a personal experience. That’s what live music should be about.
