On May 16, 2013 Kaizers Orchestra played a concert in New York City, and I was there with two of my best friends. If you've never heard of Kaizers Orchestra, here is a sample of just what they can do:
The concert was the most amazing experience. We came to the museum early to walk around, and happened to head to the auditorium early to see where the concert would be. To our surprise, we could hear Kaizers Orchestra playing a rehearsal. We stood outside the door, hyperventilating, crying, and singing along until the museum closed. We then waited outside until they let us back in. At first, the museum staff was very strict with us. We needed to sit in our ticket's seats, and we could not approach the stage to take pictures before the concert began. When they came on, we went crazy and tried to dance in our seats. After two songs, Janove invited us to come forward to the front! I'm not sure that the museum staff expected that, but it was too late! We rushed up and got to experience the concert right next to the stage, without a barrier. They spoke in English, and even altered En for Orgelet, En for Meg to "One for the pump organ, one for me!" so we could sing along! During Evig Pint, Janove looked directly at us and sang along with us, looking right in our eyes. Terje would often approach where we were standing, right next to the stage, and was so close that we could have touched him. My friend was given a nod to touch his guitar. They played a variety of old and new songs, almost all of our favorites. They came back for a finale after we sang the part from Bak et Halleluja that people always sing for them to come back on, and they then played Begravelsespolka and Die Politzei. Janove shook my friend's hand four times, my other friend shook his hand twice and the hand of everyone but Helge, and I shook Janove's and Terje's hands. I had really wished to see Helge more closely, but he kept his mysterious ways toward the back of the stage, slowly pulling out Martin Luther's picture from a briefcase, turning his head in odd directions, being his usual wonderful self. After they left, we were able to take, along with the oil drum, two set lists, guitar picks, and some stickers from Konzertjunkie. We were so glad to meet her!!! She also helped us get the oil drum out of the museum. On our way out, we were interviewed for a Norwegian documentary on Kaizers Orchestra. We were told to look for it on the internet in the future!
The first song of this clip was the first song I heard from them. I instantly fell in love.
Yes, it is Norwegian. You may not be able to understand the lyrics, but how can you not start to understand the music? I'm now one of those crazy fan girls that studies the music so much that I know entire songs in Norwegian, along with their plot lines, and carries an oil drum through NYC with my other crazed fan girl friends...
That is me, on a train from NYC to Jersey City where our hotel was, with an oil drum. My friends are off to the side. In case you don't know, oil drums and tire rims are important percussion instruments for Kaizers Orchestra.
Dieter Meyers Inst. Wait for the end, its worth it.
Basically, Janove banged on that oil drum right next to our heads!
So we asked the stage manager for it twice, and were given it. We were taken through the basement of the museum by the event manager so the security guards wouldn't tackle us. We carried it down the street, and a concert-goer called a cab for us. We took the cab to the train, the train to Jersey City. A nice man helped carry it for a few hundred feet when I thought my fingers were going to fall off. We then forced it into our car's back seat, and I sat there back there, squished into the door, because I'm littlest. Today, I rode all the way back home in that same squished position. We plan to share it, taking turns.
There are just too many things to describe, and it is getting late, so I will post some pictures courtesy of Cassie, and review this post tomorrow.
