Satyricon at Rockefeller
2006-05-16 04:26 CET
The way this is heading, this blog will belong to my nephew before long, for it seems he is mentioned in more and more of the still few entries here. So, what did he do this time? He got tickets for the Satyricon concert at Rockefeller last Saturday (13th of May)! Neither him nor I were aware of this concert until he, through some chance of fate, got his hands on the tickets an hour or so before the venue opened it's doors.
There was a bit of a queue outside Rockefeller when we got down there. This placed us in the firing line of the television team from Rikets Røst. Fortunately they targeted the guy in front of us with their embarrassment assault. Lady Luck was certainly smiling to us on this day, rather than her usual trick of laughing at us. This became more apparent when we reached the door and was to be patted down by the security. I realised that I, in my hurry to get out the door, had forgotten to take my camera and phone out of my jacket. A large sign told me that cameras and also phones are strictly forbidden at Rockefeller. Now, it could be that it's just a long time since I went to a concert. It does seem a tad impossible to ban cellphones from any venue in a country where people buy more cellphones than clothes, but I was still half expecting the security guy to mention them when he patted me down. Instead he wanted to see my pack of cigarettes ...
Once inside we found one of the many bars before scanning the crowd. The biggest surprise must have been the lack of familiar faces. After all, Satyricon is a band from my metal youth. I guess all the others are too busy with their own bands. Seems I'm the only one who dropped out. Be that as it may, the place was filling up with black clad people of all ages, though I saw at least six people wearing some real colour or another!
Warming up was Keep Of Kalessin, a decent enough band, but it was their drummer who stole my attention. Never before have I seen anyone play that fast with such limited effort! A superb demonstration in drumming technique. The only drawback is that from our gallery vantage point he looked more like a sedated danseband drummer than the speeding metal drummer that he was. It's OK to have splendid technique but it doesn't hurt to add an ounce of showmanship. On the other hand, far too many drummers master showmanship prior to technique, many of whom are left without proper playing technique forever. And once again, this guy had the technique down. It's the most impressing thing I've seen since Hellhammer showed off his new kit at Mayhem's practice studio in Skippergata back in '93 or thereabouts.
And then it was Satyricon's turn. A massive assault of sound as Frost let lose his energy on the poor drum kit! Oh, and there were some guitars and a bass, even a keyboard there as well, but the opening was all Frost's. The sound engineer had done an above average job on the drums. And if the first drummer impressed me with his technique, Frost was no less impressing with his endless energy. Then Satyr entered the stage, and it was all Satyr. Norwegians tend to be a bit reserved unless we're watching crazy person running through the forest on skis, with foaming mouth and possibly a gun strapped to their back, or our National football team has just beaten Brazil. Satyr was nothing short of brilliant in his communication with the crowd. In a couple of songs he had won the crowd and he kept on leading the show towards yet new heights all the way through. This was quite another experience from the first time I saw Satyricon at Lusa Lotta's some 13 years ago or so. Back then it seemed Black Metal was supposed to be appreciated standing perfectly still, with a stern expression beneath the corpse paint. This time around the crowd lost themselves, and the Norwegian reservation tendency, in one after another of Satyricon's superb songs.
I could probably have written in more detail but words just can't do Satyricon justice. If you ever get the chance to see Satyricon live, and you believe your immortal soul might survive seeing an inverted cross or two, then go for it! This was one of my best concert experiences ever. One of those nights one wishes would never come to an end. Thanks again, Yrjan!
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