IMM

Skambankt + Emergentsea

Info:

Concert Venue:	Date:	Writer:	Photographer:	Photo Gallery:	Language:
Blæst, Trondheim www.isfit.org www.blaest.no	24.02.09	Magnus H. Blystad	Sanna Drogset Børstad	Skambankt	English Norwegian

Concert Review:

Emergentsea was a bit out of luck, or perhaps they were in a great deal of luck, depending on how you view their warmup gig last friday. The Skambankt concert they were warming up for had sold out, and quite a lot of people had gathered in Blæst when they enter the stage, but a lot of those people was more interested in other things than the music. Several times the lead singer called people to come forward, closer to the stage, but no one seemed to care much about that. Personally I think that such behaviour is really inapropriate and perhaps even rude. But it was obvious that the people there were there to see Skambankt, they didnt bother with Emergentsea.

The band didnt seem to be much afflicted though. Their songs relied heavy on the percussion, and when this was coupled with calm guitar segments intercepting the more aggressive and chaotic parts. It all created a nice contrast that worked in their favor. By using both a clean and a growling vocal they further emphasized the earlier mentioned contrast. Now, add a highly active and engaging band with good technical knowledge of their instruments and you've got yourself a great metal show! Unfortunately the metal audience failed to show. Emergentsea were chosen to play this gig after they won last years Bandkrieg (a local band competition). Still, I hope that they manage to get themselves some new fans there.

Their set was really short, at 2220 they exit. In my mind they could very well have played a couple of more songs, because it would almost an hour before Skambankt started playing. Most of the time the stage was empty so I have no idea what they were doing. Perhaps they were waiting for the rest of the audience to show up? Anyways, the wait was more than long enough, and it would get even longer, because when they finally got up there they discovered some technical issues with their guitar. Instead of staying onstage, and do some improvised entertainment they left the stage leaving the poor guitarist there alone to figure out what was wrong.

But when they do make their triumphant return, or actually before they return as the guitarist calls for them to come back, the audience was brought to its boiling point. And from this raging atmosphere there would be no relief during the show. If one were to measure a concerts popularity in the number of stage divers, then this surely was an exceptional show. I don't think you ever were more than 5 minutes away from a stage diver during the entire set.

Skambankt's punk infused “in your face”-rock was just what the doctor had ordered, judging by the reactions all around me. Everyone sang all of the lyrics all of the time, like at Kaizers Orchestra concert (which would not be that weird considering that Terje Winterstø Røthing, with the stage name Ted Winters in Skambankt, plays in both bands). To be standing there, in front of the stage, feeling the crowd roar all around you, jumping up and down was in essence what any rock concert could ever hope to be. The solo parts of the guitars were a bit different on stage, in a refreshing way, and some other segments were made even more audience friendly as they paused and let us do the singing. Ted Winters knew what needed to be done in order to please the crowd, and their experience was noticeable during the whole of the set.

Their stage etiquette between the songs was not the best, but then again it was quite annoying to play on such a small stage (which was commented on by mr Winters). And the stage doesnt get any bigger when several drunken trønders (people from Trøndelag/Trondheim) decide to get up to jump down from it, and in many other ways lean onto the stage. But the audience didnt seem to mind it much, they probably only cared about their songs, and they were quite immaculate.

It was quite a display of contrast between the two shows that night, which was obvious for those of us who managed to catch both of them. But Emergentsea really did their part, showing that they had really deserved their victory during last years Bandkrieg, and hopefully managing to catch a few new fans in the process. As for Skambankt, well, I think I speak for all attending there that they simply rocked.

Konsertomtale:

Emergentsea hadde kanskje en smule uflaks, eller flaks, litt ettersom. Skambanktkonserten de varma opp på var nemlig utsolgt, og det var en del folk inne når de går på, men mange av folka på blæst hadde andre ting å ta seg til enn å høre på musikk virka det som. Flere ganger ble det oppfordret fra scena om at folket måtte gjerne trekke litt nærmere, men effekten av det uteble. Personlig synes jeg det er dårlig insj fra de oppmøtte, men det var jo også klart at Emergentsea ikke helt var av typen band som matcha de som var der for å se Skambankt.

Men dette la ingen demper på bandet virket det som. Låtene var veldig tromme drevet, og når de slo inn rolige gitar segmenter funka det hele ganske så bra. Ved å ta i bruk en clean og en growlete vokal fikk man enda mer kontraster. Legg så til et super engasjert band, og god teknisk traktering av instrumentene og du har en god metal konsert. Dessverre var det som sagt ikke et metalpublikum som var oppmøtt denne kvelden. Emergentsea ble valgt ut til å spille der som vinnerne av Bandkrieg konkurransen(LINK) i fjor Allikevel håper jeg at noen fikk øynene opp for dem, for det vil jeg virkelig si de fortjener.

Settet deres var kanskje en smule kort, allerede 2220 ca går de av. De kunne godt tatt et par spor til, for det går omtrent en time før Skambankt går på. Mesteparten av tida er det tomt på scena, så hva som tok såpass lang tid vet jeg altså ikke. Kanskje ventet det på at publikum skulle få fyllt opp stedet, men jeg vil tørre påstå de ventet litt for lenge. Og dette ble enda mer uthevet når de først går på, begynner å spille introen på «Vår Bør» også må gå av igjen grunnet tekniske problemer. Visselig kan de ikke noe for det, men det var jo klart at det ikke var helt optimalt for hverken bandet eller oss i publikum. Uansett kunne de kanskje underholdt på andre måter mens de fiksa gitaren, istedet for å bare stikke backstage igjen.

Men når de da kommer tilbake, eller før egentlig, faktisk med en gang gitaristen sier «kan vi få Skambankt tilbake på scenen» så begynner salen å koke. Og den ga seg ikke før sista låta var ferdig. Om man skal måle stemning etter antall stagedivere, så var dette klart en eksepsjonell konsert. Det gikk ikke lenge i mellom hver gang noen fløt rundt oppe foran den tettpakkede scena.

Skambankt sin rett i trynet rock med punk influenser var akkurat det som kvelden trengte. Tekstene satt til hver eneste sang, det var som å være på en Kaizers konsert (noe som ikke er så rart med tanke på at Terje Winterstø Røthing, kalt Ted Winters i Skambankt, spiller i begge), å stå foran scena og kjenne trykket fra alle rundt seg, å synge med på alle sangene var nettop slik en optimal konsert skal være. Solopartiene var litt annerledes live, de låt mye bedre, og enkelter partier ble gjort om slik at publikum skulle synge. Ted Winters visste hva som skulle til for å engasjere folket, og hele konserten bar preg av lang tids erfaring.

Så får det så være at de kanskje ikke hadde verdens beste scene etikette utenom de musikalske. De var jo også på et i utrolig trang scene, som ikke ble noe bedre når flere hundre fulle trøndere lener seg mot den/legger seg oppå den. Det kommenterte de jo også på under settet. Men for publikum så var dette nesten ikke umerkbart når det låt såpass bra som det gjorde.

Kontrastene mellom kveldens to konserter var jo helt åpenbar for de av oss som var der når Emergentsea spilte, dog de som faktisk fikk med seg begge fikk nok enn mye bedre kveld enn de som avskrev oppvarmerne. Det var en grunn til at dem vant bandkriegen på Isak i fjor. For Skambankt, vel, jeg tror jeg taler for hele salen når jeg sier at de rett og sletta rocka!