An Amazing Show

Last night I had the opportunity to see The Antlers in Concert, and it was absolutely fantastic. On the website, it said that the doors opened at 8, so my friend Jo and I made sure to be there on time, but when we got there the doors were locked. After talking to a guy inside we found out that the doors didn't open until 9. We ended up going to a cafe near Blå (the venue where the band was playing) and had a kebab, which was delicious. At 9, Jo and I made our way to Blå to stand amongst the other spectators. Blå is a really neat venue. The outside is covered with insane graffiti and it wasn't too big, which made for a nice intimate concert.

The doors did indeed open at 9 and the opening act took the stage at 9:15. This is something I found to be absolutely amazing. Concerts in Norway are INCREDIBLY punctual. When they say the show starts at a certain time, they mean it, which is super nice considering no one wants to stand around for an extra 45 minutes before a show starts (like in Sioux Falls haha) Anyways, the first band, Sleep Party People, was from Copenhagen, Denmark and had been opening for The Antlers while they toured Scandinavia. I had no idea what to expect because they're name was not listed on the tickets, so I didn't get a chance to listen to them before the show...which made it even more exciting. The guys took the stage but when they got to their instruments, they put on these felt bunny masks that they had made. To be completely honest, it was a little creepy...that is until they started to play their music. There was a piano player/singer, a guitarist/keyboardist, a bassist/synth guy, and a drummer who played a drum pad. The music was very low-fi and ambient but the vocals added to their costumes. They used a vocoder making the vocals sound somewhat mechanical and high pitched...almost like a chipmunk, or in their case, how a rabbit would sound if it could sing. I really enjoyed their set, especially when they played some of their more upbeat songs because when they would move around, their bunny ears would flop to the beat haha I'm a sucker for merchandise at concerts so I ended up buying one of their cd's :)

The Antlers took the stage at about 10:15. Their album Hospice is a concept album, meaning each song tells a certain part of an overall story, so they played their entire album, which was epic. Although the album is pretty low key and quiet, it's a little deceiving in comparison to their live set. It was full of so much energy and passion and was pretty loud, which only added to the experience and caused me to have my fingers stuck in my ears for most of the set haha Their performance was incredible and they're a great band to see live. It's always great to listen to an amazing CD and then to see the band live and realize that they take it to a whole new level. That's why I love concerts so much. It's like a living breathing thing; an intimate moment shared with a group of people. After the show I bought a vinyl copy of their album Hospice, and as if I didn't have enough souvenirs, Jo snatched the set list from the stage and gave it to me hahaha

The concert was epic and it was quit a wonderful experience. Now all I have to do is figure out how I'm going to get all of this stuff back with me lol