The Savage Rose

The Savage Rose. Vega, Copenhagen 26/11/06

The first time I heard The Savage Rose was in the mid 80's. It was a song called Det er tid nu, from the through and through political album Vi kaemper for at sejre. I have rarely reacted to a single song like I did that time. Not only was it a great song. It was performed with such intensity. Even if you disregard the lyrics the message was made so obvious through the music. But most of all through the vocals. The song was performed by the most outstanding voice I had heard up to that time and it has yet to be matched. I bought the record and I bought some more records. Savage Rose became one of my favourite bands at a time when political music were totally out of fashion in Sweden. They have remained favourites ever since and - they have continued to deliver great recordings, even though new releases have been increasingly infrequent. During all this time they have never made me disappointed, in fact there are very few bands or artists with such quality assurance in the world today.

Savage Rose has had a lot of members through the years (they started way back in 1967!), but has always been centred around the song writer and keyboard/accordion player Thomas Koppel and the singer Annisette (born Hansen, later Koppel as she and Thomas got married). Thomas was a true genius, not only writing great pop songs through four decades but also classical music and other stuff. His death in February, 2006, at the age of 61, was nothing short of a tragedy. I usually don't grieve the loss of famous people - they are "only" humans - but this was one such time. Annisette is, according to me, undoubtedly the greatest female pop/rock-singer of this planet. Not only does she have a phenomenally strong voice, she also sings like she means everything the songs stand for. One can hear elements from legendary singers like Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin but above all it's just Annisette, as close to a singing goddess it is possible. The combination of Thomas and Annisette is unique and has made The Savage Rose one of Scandinavia's most important acts - for me, in fact, THE most important act.

Following the death of Thomas Koppel, Annisette decided the show must go on. A tour was planned for the autumn of 2006 and yesterday was the final show of the tour, at Vega in Copenhagen.

First question: How would the new keyboard player, Palle Hjort, cope with "replacing" Thomas Koppel? Palle did the only right thing, he didn't try. He went in and played in his way. He didn't try to copy anyone. He played mostly organ, compared to Thomas who played a lot more accordion. And what an organ player! It takes a lot of courage to take the place of a legend, but they couldn't have found anyone better.

Second question: How is Annisette's voice? After all she is now 58 years old. The answer is that she has never sounded better. This woman is absolutely unique. For more than two hours she (together with the great, great band) kept me in a state I never or very rarely has experienced before and yet I have been to several hundreds of concerts through the years.

The set list was great. Wild Child, Black Angel, Dear Little Mother, Your Daily Gift (outstanding version with only keyboards and vocals!) and also a couple of new songs. Maybe, if anything, I had hoped for some more tunes in Danish (a great language for pop/rock-music, highly underrated!) from the political period but we got a great version of I kan ikke sla os ihjel as an encore together with a heartbreaking version of Smile, this one also with only keyboards and vocals. What could be expected to be a sad evening due to the tragic death of Thomas ended in the completely opposite way. Everyone was smiling while walking out of the arena. Not only due to the fantastic playing and singing by the all through great band (yes, Annisette is of course the star but this is very much a band where everyone is performing), but also due to the big emotions surrounding this concert. The fact that they turned the death of Thomas Koppel into something this great makes me consider this as one of my best concert nights ever. This band has not only a great past, they also have a great future! Rating: +++++, without a shadow of a doubt!

The Savage Rose in 2006 is (from left to right in the third picture above): Palle Hjort (keyboards), Peer Frost (guitar), Annisette (vocals), Moussa Diallo (bass), Naja Koppel (backing vocals), Klaus Menzer (drums), Aisha Thorsen (backing vocals) and Raul Rekow (percussion).

Ethiopia

Birdwatching trip to Ethiopia 3-24/11

Earlier this autumn I was asked to participate in a bird watching trip to Ethiopia, arranged by Avifauna, the travel agency of the Swedish Ornithological Society (SOF). As this was a trip I wanted to do for many years I accepted immediately.

The trip was a great success. We found all of the 30 endemic bird species (that is, species that only occur in a certain area) to Ethiopia that we had a chance to see. The only two endemics we didn't have a chance to see was a lark in an unsafe area close to the Somalian border and a nightjar that never has been seen alive (the species is described from one found wing!). In all, we saw 509 species of birds and several nice mammals, for example Leopard, Serval and the very handsome and rare Ethiopian Wolf. We experienced extremely beautiful sceneries in both savannas and mountainous areas and we met lovely people in small villages. Usually very poor when it comes to material standard, but they seemed proud and happy in their poverty. I didn't witness misery in the same way I have experienced in, for example, some parts of Asia. And wherever we came driving in our Landcruisers people waved to us like we were pop stars. Why don't we do the same when we have guests from Africa visiting Sweden? I really liked the country and hope to go back again someday.

In three weeks, we only spent four nights at hotels. Instead we camped out in the nature, in order to be able to start birdwatching directly after breakfast in the mornings. We had the privilege of having an excellent guide, Håkan Pohlstrand, who has established a tour company with a very comfortable tent camp including great cooking facilities, hot shower and everything else one can ask for. He also speaks the language, Amharinja, fluently as he lived in Ethiopia for more than 20 years.

The pictures above show 1) Ethiopian Wolf at Senete Plateau, Bale Mountains, 2) The rare and endemic Sidamo Lark at Negelli Plains, 3) Harwood's Francolin in Jemmu Valley, the last of the 30 endemics we saw on the trip, 4) Abyssinian Owl in Dinsho, 5) a Northern Carmine Bee-eater resting on the back of an Arabian Bustard at Alledeghi Plains and 6) yours truly looking for birds in a dramatic environment outside Ankober.

Dramatic change in weather

Nabben, Falsterbo 1/11/06

My second last morning this autumn as a bird observer in Falsterbo, will not be remembered for any birds. Instead, the "talk of the day" was one of the most extreme changes in weather I have ever experienced. The morning was relatively calm with a south-westerly wind of about 4 m/s, some clouds but also some sun. The visibility was good and we saw all the way to Stevns klint in Denmark, somewhat 30 km away.

Then, at around 9 A.M., dark clouds came rolling in from the North. The waves on the sea increased in strength and the wind became strong, blowing in from the North. In fact, in five minutes' time, the wind went from SW 4 m/s to N 16 m/s. The sky went all dark, making it feel like the last moment on earth had arrived. And then came rain, and then came snow. We gave up and went home. The walk back to the car was in brutal headwind and intense rain, and I tell you, it wasn't nice. Anyway, I got some pictures from the actual weather change, and I think they show the contrast between the two weather systems in a good way.

Ringed birds in Falsterbo

Ringed birds in Falsterbo, Autumn 2006

From 11th of August to the 2nd of November I worked as a bird observer in Falsterbo. In the lighthouse garden, which is close to my observation spot, other people worked with ringing birds. With this, it's much easier to find out which routes the birds migrate and where they spend the winter. Also, by doing it the same way each year, it's a good way of telling if species are getting more common or more rare.

Among all the common birds, some more or less uncommon birds are caught each year. Some of these are shown here. In order from top it's Great Reed Warbler 14/9, Yellow-browed Warbler 30/9, Firecrest 1/10, Red-breasted Flycatcher 1/10 and Ring Ouzel 14/10.

Toumani Diabate & The Symmetric Orchestra

Toumani Diabate & The Symmetric Orchestra. KB, Malmö 31/10/06

Toumani Diabate from Mali is probably the most famous Kora player in the world and together with his West African All Star band called The Symmetric Orchestra he visited Malmö this cold and windy October night.

The concert was somewhat uneven. The band consists of about 17 people, of whom four are vocalists. As the songs were extremely long due to drawn-out solos by, for example, drums and kora, each singer just got one or two songs each. I think the concert consisted of just 7-8 songs although it lasted for more than two hours (which maybe was a little too long)!

In some songs, this was West African music at its best, that is an explosion in rhythm. In others, I found myself starting to think about other things due to too many and too long-winded solos. And even though it was interesting to hear about the story of the Kora as an instrument told by Toumani between two songs, the long speeches between the songs harmed the intensity of the concert. But in all, this was a sympathetic evening with a sympatetehic and symmetric band:-). And the record Boulevard de l'independence is definitely worth buying. Rating: +++ (but in some parts it was close to 5).

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!:-(