Green Day

Green Day live at Ullevål Stadion in Oslo last night! 

Photo by: Stormel

School bands

May is the month when all the school bands come out to practice marching and playing. They want to be all ready for May 17th. As yesterday is the date when WWII ended in Norway, it was marked by a couple of bands playing for a nursing home near where I live. This band actually played quite well.

But I'm wondering about that person in the fourth row. Why on earth is he only wearing underwear and sneakers? Strange. :)

Christmas Day

We hope you're all enjoying a peaceful christmas time.

Here's a beautiful song you probably know, sung by Jussi Björling (Swedish tenor singer, 1911-1960). Warning: Goosebumps and tears may appear.

The night before...

Tomorrow night, the Scottish singer Fish will be having a concert in Oslo at the Rockefeller music hall. I can't wait! I've been a fan of this artist since he was the lead singer of Marillion and have followed him during his solo career which so far has lasted for nearly 20 years so far.

His latest album 13th Star is fabulous, probably the best solo album he's made.

Before the concert there will be a party at a pub called Andy's in Oslo. The bagpipe band I used to play in will be there too. We'll all be parading to the music hall, and if we're lucky; Fish will join us! He did two years ago when the photo above was taken of myself and my hero.

I didn't take any of these photos myself, but I hope the photographer(s) will forgive me for posting them.

Almost all the tickets are sold for the concert tomorrow so this will be a great party!

Not quite Oslo...

I know I'm supposed to submit photos only from Oslo, but I hope this can count as "a piece of Oslo". This is Oslo Caledonian Pipe Band, the band where I play. This weekend we were at Otta in Gudbrandsdalen, approximately 3,5 hours north of Oslo. Gudbrandsdalen is a beautiful valley! Many tourists go there to see the wonderful nature, and this weekend was really nice as the weather was lovely.

Each year a very special event is marked in this area: The battle of Kringen in 1612. Norwegian farmers ambushed and killed Scottish soldiers marching through their area. Here is a bit of the history:

In 1612 a force of some 550 Scots arrived in Gudbrandsdalen under the command of Colonel Alexander Ramsay with a company of Caithness men lead by Captain George Sinclair of Stirkoke. They were simply passing through the valley intent on reaching Sweden, which was then at war with Norway and Denmark over the territory of Kalmar in the south of Scandinavia. Their passage through Norway had been peaceful since their landing at the Isfjorden on the coast of Romsdal and Møre, and they could not have anticipated what awaited them at Kringen. They did not know that young men conscripted from the valley had been massacred in the Kalmar conflict, and that the farmers from Gudbrandsdalen were determined to resist them. Plans had been laid for an ambush, and the ambush was to be triggered by local girl, Guri, who was to watch the column as it made its slow passage along the old King’s road.

To further distract the Scots from the ambush preparations, a man rode sitting backwards on his horse. Once the right moment arrived, Guri, watching from the mountain top above Otta blew a blast on her lur, a long wooden horn, traditional to the area. Tradition has it that the ambush started with logs and rocks crashing down on the Scots from the steep mountainside and blocking the road preventing advance or withdrawal, and tradition also has it that Captain Sinclair was felled with a silver bullet from a single musket shot fired by Berdon Sejelstad. 450 farmers fell on the Scots with their axes and scythes and fierce hand-to-hand conflict ensued that left the river running red with blood.

It's a bloody story and not a very proud moment, as the farmers later executed most of the captured soldiers. And now, nearly 400 years later the event is remembered with concerts, art exhibitions, music and dance. It has been a tradition for the pipeband to take part, as to symbolise the Scots, I guess.

The photo is taken at Kvam, one of the places we played.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones visited Oslo this week, and I was there!! I had never seen them live before, and my expectations were high. And they delivered! They gave us a great show and concert! :o)

"By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of the Beatles in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock…..read more"

Photo: by Stormel

Ila Auto: Bluegrass in Oslo

We're getting closer to the election which is on September 10, and last night one of the political parties of Norway arranged a street party with several bands playing. I went there to finally get to see this band; Ila Auto. They're a great bluegrass band who have won a Norwegian Grammy Award. If you follow the link you'll get to hear a few of their tunes. Sunday Girl is one of my favourites.

I'm really so impressed by this band, I hope they'll continue to succeed at what they're doing so well.

Nyckelharpa

The last few days we've had a wonderful summer weather in Oslo, and thus we went to Norsk Folkemuseum yesterday. I've been meaning to go there all summer, but uptil now the rain had stopped that idea.

This museum is a large outdoor area with old houses from all over Norway. You can also experience people making traditional food or playing traditional music.

I soon discovered this woman with a strange instrument. It is a "Nyckelharpa" (= key harp), an old instrument widely known and used in Sweden. I wish I could share the sound with you, it's so beautiful. If you're interested in reading about this instrument, please visit this really good page from the American Nyckelharpa Association. I found a lot of "nyckelharpa" on Youtube, you can listen there.

I hope the woman doesn't mind me putting her photo up here, but this is the one that best show the nyckelharpa. I think it's such a beautiful, fascinating instrument with a pleasant, melancholic sound.

Later, I could hear her playing again, this time she was walking first in some sort of procession:

Bagpipes in Oslo

From yesterday's Music Festival in Oslo; the Oslo Caledonian Pipe Band playing on the first summerday this year. A lot of bands were performing on 30 stages in Oslo - for 12 hours. All free to those who wanted to take part.

These photos show Egertorget, a square on the main street of Oslo: Karl Johan's street.

To hear an example, just click here to see a video on YouTube. My 11 year old son took the photos and the video.