The Pipettes (support: Monster Bobby)

The Pipettes (support: Monster Bobby). KB, Malmö 26/10/06

The Pipettes is an English vocal group consisting of three young women. They have come to bring the Phil Spector sound into the new century. They sing short, brilliant pop songs with great melodies and lots of harmony vocals. I hadn’t listened very much to them before this concert but as I had heard rumour about them being a good live act I decided to go to this concert.

The support act was Monster Bobby, who actually is part of the band behind The Pipettes. The most funny thing about him was that he looked like the Swedish prince Carl Philip (see picture above). He was alone on the stage with guitar and some pre-recorded sounds. His short songs were relatively similar and easy-to-forget. But as I wasn’t too concentrated I don’t make a rating.

The Pipettes sang most (or was it all?) of the songs from their only album so far. It was a show that made me happy. Even though it sounded very much like the record, it was great to see these girls in action, dancing and laughing. And although the sound is quite similar to the girl groups of “real 60’s” (Ronettes, Shangri-La’s etc.), there is still some modern touch which make this more than just fun. It isn't music that changes the world, but it makes you smile and feel good. For the girls, I think the dark-haired girl, Rose, was the cutest. My friend Michael, however, preferred Gwenno:-). Rating: ++++

Promoe vs. Helt Off

Promoe vs. Helt Off. KB, Malmö 25/10/06

A night with two main acts. I saw Helt Off at their first gig ever, at Swea Reggae Festival this summer and they almost tore the house down. I wanted to repeat that feeling and went away this evening with big hopes and expectations.

Promoe (also a member of the Swedish hiphop band Looptroop) started the evening. He has a great voice and has done several great songs on record (for example Long Distance Runner, the new Headache (with a superb sampling of Julie Driscoll's wonderful song A Word about Colour) and of course These Walls Don't Lie), often performed brilliantly in a sort of half-singing/half-rapping way. He is usually more or less political and on record this is very obvious. The problem for many hiphop artists is however that they always want to party on stage, even if they have important things to say. So the political message disappeared during the concert and made this, unfortunately, "yet another hiphop gig" if you understand what I mean. It was ok for the moment, but I prefer the records. Rating: ++

I had big expectations on Helt Off, the band from Lund who has members with background in both funk, pop and hiphop. Together they do reggae in Swedish, but the vocals often tend to be hip-hopish as both Chords and Timbuktu are involved! The records, which I bought after the super gig at the reggae festival, are both ok but not fantastic in any way. Live is something else which may have something to do with the addition of a brilliant organ player (Måns Mernsten of Damn!) and a lead guitar (Magnus Tingsek). Of some reason, which I don't know myself, I didn't find this concert as good as the one in July. Maybe it was the expectations. However, it is still a band which is much better live than on record as they really give everything. If you get the chance to see them, do it! Rating: ++++, after all.

Hidden Cameras (support: Joan as Policewoman)

Hidden Cameras (support: Joan as Policewoman). Mejeriet, Lund 21/10/06

The support act, Joan as Policewoman, is a New York-band consisting of Joan (vocals, piano, guitar), Ben (drums) and Rainy (bass). Having listened to them on Myspace I found them a little interesting. The single Cristobel is really good! Some other songs this evening were quite nice too but the audience seemed quite uninterested and there was no tension to talk about. The piano songs were generally better than the guitar tunes. However, this gig as support for Hidden Cameras wasn't anything that made history. Rating: ++

Then it was time for the main act, Hidden Cameras from Canada. Nine people on stage, including two guys playing violin. They played a great show, both concerning the music but also with a good connection with the audience. The violins added a lot to making this more than an ordinary pop concert. Even some songs which on record are a little anonymous sounded great in this environment. Their big indie-hit from a few years back, Ban Marriage (about a gay couple getting married), was played as encore. I really love that song! It is catchy, fun and political at the same time! I missed a few of my favourite songs this night but it didn't matter much as it was great anyway. As seen in the last picture they also invited some of the audience onto the stage during the final songs. Rating: ++++

Marit Bergman (support: Steso Songs & The Consequences)

Marit Bergman (support: Steso Songs & The Consequences). KB, Malmö 15/10/06

There are few things better than big, positive surprises. In company with two friends I went to KB this night, more because I felt hungry for live music rather than that I actually wanted to see Marit. I've seen her a few times before and she is a good live artist, but the shows have always missed something to make them really great. This night, however, became much better than I had expected!

First act this evening was a girl from Malmö, performing as Steso Songs. I actually heard her on the radio some weeks before the concert. It was a tragical and beautiful song called The O.D., and I had some hopes on this support gig. She mostly played piano and sang beautiful tunes in a somewhat fragile way. In one song she had pre-recorded music and danced on the stage. A little weird, but I liked it and I bought her record afterwards. A good start on this evening. Rating: +++

Next on stage was a new Swedish band called The Consequences. Two of the members of Marit's band are also members of this band. And in front they have a charismatic guy named Jonas Heijkenskjöld. At some of the songs the horn section from Marit's band also joined. Already from the start this sounded good, actually close to great. Good songs, great playing and a great confidence by especially the singer. He showed a real "we are the best"-attitude, in this case only meant in a positive way. Me and my friends looked at eachother and said "wow!" or something like that. Then, with one song left, it happened. The horns had entered the stage. Jonas, the singer, presented the last song, saying modestly (in Swedish): "This one's called Parasite, listen to this". And then they blew me completely away for about five minutes with this monster of a song! The song in itself has a great build-up to the chorus, the arrangements for both horns and backing vocals were superb and the singer sang like his life depended on it. Some of the greatest minutes of the live music year 2006, delivered totally unexpected by an unknown support act! Rating: ++++ (a strong one!).

Marit was better than ever. Her band is very tight, having played together at several tours. And now, after the new record, she has enough great songs to fill an entire show. I like many of the earlier tunes, such as This is the Year and From Now On, but for me the highlight tonight was the new Forever Doesn't Live Here Anymore, beginning with Marit sitting on the stage floor singing the first verse. Beautiful! I loved this show, as well as the entire evening, and only bad note is that I still hate the song Adios Amigos, which was played as encore. Rating: ++++

Emil Jensen

Emil Jensen (Spoken Word-show). Cafe Barbro, Malmö 12/10/06

This was the second of two nights where Emil was recording a "sound-book" (I don't really know the differences between this and a CD but never mind). One and a half hours of spoken word, but it wasn't boring for a second!

Emil is very entertaining and rarely fun at other people's expense. If anything it's his great self irony which makes him fun to listen to. It's far from classical stand-up comedy as this is much more intelligent. Some of his work are actually referred to as stand-up tragedy, but it's still very entertaining. Some jokes are told through brilliant poems, others in true stories from his own life and often with a political touch. For example, one number was about the riots in Gothenburg in 2001 and the scandalous juridical process that followed. It's amazing to create a laughter from something like that, but Emil did.

His work are generally both thoughtful and easy to laugh to at the same time. And that is because the words in themselves are as important as the punchlines. The record ("book") will be released in the beginning of December. You won't find a better christmas gift to give away this year (if you, unlike me, still give presents)! A great evening! Rating:+++++ in a Spoken Word context (impossible to compare it to a concert).

I forgot the camera once again!:-(