Tommy Tokyo and Major Parkinson definitely deserves to come back and play the big stage, but it might be a bit soon to invite them back in 2010? I know I wouldn’t mind..

Future of the Left
Some might know them from the Welsh noise-rock band Mclusky that ravaged the British indie scene in the early 2000s with three releases; My Pain and Sadness Is More Sad and Painful Than Yours, Mclusky Do Dallas, and The Difference Between Me and You Is That I’m Not on Fire. The band split up in 2005 due to some interband drama. Welsh electro-punks Jarcrew released two albums in the same period, Breakdance Euphoria Kids, and Jarcrew. They also split up around the same time that Mclusky did. Mclusky bassist Jon Chapple formed the band Shooting at Unarmed Men, while  guitarist/vocals Andrew Falkous and drummer Jack Egglestone formed a new band with the former Jarcrew singer and keyboardist Kelson Mathias and bassist Hywel Evans. After some formative problems that lead to bassist Evans leaving, the remaining trio debuted as Future of the Left in late 2006. Their first singles Fingers Become Thumbs and The Lord Hates a Coward were released in the start of 2007. More followed, A Dead Enemy Always Smells Good and Small Bones Small Bodies were released the same year. Future of the Left’s debut album, Curses, was released in the fall of 2007, and was followed by Travels with Myself and Another and the live album Last Night I Saved Her From Vampires, both released in 2009.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Probably best known for going on tour with The Strokes and the White Stripes, this art punk trio from New York were the subject of massive hype a couple of years ago. They played a garage rock/avant punk hybrid, Then things sort of fizzled out, and we didn’t hear much else from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for a while. In 2003, the long-awaited debut Fever to Tell finally arrived. The follow-up Show Your Bones arrived in 2006, and It’s Blitz! came out earlier this year. In addition to these full-length albums, the group has released several EPs.

Life in a Blender

“If They Might Be Giants got hammered and picked a fight in a bar with Tom Waits, if carnivals didn’t suck, if dancing were permitted on your boss’s desk, if Mark E. Smith were articulate and friendly, if instead of “mosh pits” rebellious teenagers congregated in “swoon pits” at rock concerts, if if if — then a brief glimpse of something akin to the experience of hearing Life in a Blender might be achieved. They are a band that is passionate about finding the absurdity that lurks within the marginalia of mundane everyday existence. And also rocking out. They make me feel like transcendence is constantly achievable.”

—Francis Heaney

Eels
The alternative/experimental rock outfit Eels is often referred to as a band, but most of it’s brilliance is derived from the leader/singer/songwriter/magician “E.” E is the alias of Mark Oliver Everett. The 1971 death of his father hit him hard, and after battling drug and alcohol problems throughout his teens, he dropped out of school and took a job pumping gas. But Everett’s interest in music inspired him to turn to record reviewing, and from there he moved into engineering and production. Settling in California, he adopted the “E” artist name and began pursuing a solo career. Two solo albums were released, but it wasn’t until E hooked up with drummer Jonathan “Butch” Norton and Tommy Walter that a band was formed and some success was accomplished. The name “Eels” was apparently chosen so that the band’s records would be close to E’s solo records in an alphabetical ordering. In 1996 they released Beautiful Freak, followed by Electro-Shock Blues, Daisies of the Galaxy, Souljacker, Shootenanny!, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, the live album Eels with Strings, and finally Hombre Lobo, which was released in 2009.

The Sounds
This swedish “New Wave” rock band was formed in the late 90s, and owes a lot to bands such as Blondie, The Cars, the Epoxies and Missing Persons, inspiration that is evident in their extensive use of synthesizers. Their debut album Living in America gave them some initial success, and the band has reportedly gained a celebrity cult following in the US. The second album Dying to Say This to You followed in 2006, and the third, Crossing the Rubicon, came out earlier this year.

Jarle Berhoft
Bernhoft is best known as the former vocalist in the Norwegian rock outfit Span. But after the solo release of Ceramik City Chronicles from 2008, he’s been described as Norway’s new prince of soul. I’ve seen him perform live earlier this summer, and the description fits nicely. He owned the stage, with charisma, voice and songs strong enough to make everyone attending the concert smile. Jarle and his ensemble of artists certainly deserve a bigger audience, and Bukta 2010 is a perfect venue.

The Veils
Finn Andrews grew up in the world of music, his father being the keyboardist Barry Andrews from XTC and Shriekback. After moving to his mother in New Zealand, he found an interest in the folk scene, and discovered Patti Smith, Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. He returned to England in 2001, and formed the indie/alternative rock band The Veils. A number of problems arose, first with the record label, then within the band itself. In 2004, Andrews declared that the three other members of the group had left, and he recruited some of his old friends from New Zealand who moved to London to join the band. The band has released three studio albums; The Runaway Found, Nux Vomica, and Sun Gangs, but it is probably on the stage that the band really shines. Descriptions such as “it reminds us less of Nick Cave as is often said, and more of people’s accounts of watching Ian Curtis, at once uncomfortable and impossible to look away” and “probably the most moving, unsettling and unexpectedly haunting thing I’ve seen in rock music this year” has left me rather curious.

Fleet Foxes
This five-piece Seattle-based band has harvested rave reviews for their numerous performances here in Europe during the last two festival seasons, and warrants no further introduction. It is high time that they came to Tromsø, where they would really feel at home. They describe their own music as “baroque harmonic pop jams”, and is unlike anything else I have heard. All that is needed is some midnight sun, some beer, and a green patch to lie down and enjoy, because the Fleet Foxes would provide a concert unlike any other.

Peter Doherty
Probably best known as the front man in Babyshambles and The Libertines, as well as his relationship with Kate Moss and problems relating to his rampant drug use. His solo album Grace/Wastelands that was released earlier this year has reached great critical acclaim, and a number of successful gigs after it’s release has renewed my faith in Doherty as a reliable live artist. Either alone or with Babyshambles, Tromsø deserve to experience his music.

I have put together¹ a Spotify playlist with a selection of songs from these artists.

1. painstakingly put together, if I might add

TELEGRAFBUKTA (Main stage) - Thursday

17.00 BOB HUND (SE)
Although I can’t say the same for myself, this was the highlight for many of the people I spoke to at the festival. A highly energetic bunch of swedes led by a caped crusader that obviously drank way too much coffee back stage. Either that or he was trying to keep warm in the freezing summer air.

18.30 MOTORPSYCHO (NO)
This was a surreal experience. One of the most experienced rock band in Norway invited us to sit in on their hour-long jamming session. A steep contrast to the front man of the previous band, who engaged the audience with theatrics and energy, these rough, crazy-bearded guys let the music speak for itself. I speak for more than myself when I say we ended up in a trance-like state, somehow losing grip on the world around us while listening to Motorpsycho this afternoon in july. Perhaps it was the numbness of the cold climate, but I think it had more to do with the hypnotic, heavy rock that pumped out from the stage.

20.05 THE SADIES (CAN)
I don’t know quite how to describe The Sadies. These Canadians were supposed to play before Motorpsycho, but had to reschedule because of travel delays. They came right off the airplane and swooped us right off our feet. I knew nothing of The Sadies before the concert, and I have to say that this band was one of the big surprises for me this year. The crazy catchy, dance-inducing mix of up-beat alternative country and americana sprinkled with garage and surf rock put the warmth back in our bodies, and for a little while everything was alright. There’s a live record on Spotify, which is probably the closest to the real thing you’re going to get without seeing them in person.

21.40 KAISER CHIEFS (UK)
I vaguely remembered some of their hits like Ruby and I Predict a Riot, but I didn’t have any particular feelings about Kaiser Chiefs one way or the other before this concert, so I went there with an open mind. They certainly pleased the crowd with their hit parade, and all in all an enjoyable concert. They also seemed to enjoy themselves this far north.

PARADISBUKTA (small stage) – Thursday

18.00 THE CONSIDERATE LOVERS (NO)
I’ve Seen them before without getting too impressed, so I didn’t put effort into catching this concert.

19.30 EL CUERO (NO)
This concert was lost between the time spent socializing, taking a bathroom break and the buying of beer.

21.05 PETER PAN SPEEDROCK (NL)
Hard and heavy, this fast-paced band from the Netherlands introduced the Fjord of Death. Basically, people in the mosh-pit split up to each side of the stage and ran as fast as they could towards each other, creating a massive crunch. This was probably the most hard core performance this year.

TELEGRAFBUKTA (main stage) – Friday

17.00 DE LILLOS (NO)
A cozy hit-parade from Norwegian veterans De Lillos. It might have worked better had the weather been warmer, because De Lillos is the definitive Norwegian summer band.

18.30 MARK OLSON & GARY LOURIS [from The Jayhawks] (US)
Low-key and cozy experience from two country legends. They didn’t quite manage to get the crowd into it, and I think they might have had better luck if the weather had been on our side. This concert would have been ten times better while slouching in the grass on a warm, sunny afternoon.

19.50 TALIBAN AIRWAYS (NO)
Taliban Airways is a legendary local stoner band, and had to step in for Fu Manchu, who canceled their concert in the last minute. But who needs a band who thinks it’s cool to ditch a concert on the other side of the world a day before they are supposed to play? Their excuse was even better. Apparently, they wanted to head back into the studio. A douche move in my book. Anyway, Taliban Airways. They always deliver, and this time they were fucking fantastic. So who needs Fu Manchu?

21.20 THE WOMBATS (UK)
I’d only briefly heard a few of their hits through Spotify, but it was cool enough I suppose, even if they apparently are the hot new thing to like for indie-minded seventeen year-old girls. They kept the crowd warm, and definitely had the crowd in their hands. They made a  good  show of it, even though their back catalog of hits is still somewhat limited.

22.50 ROKY ERICKSON (US)
Roky Erickson’s story is somewhat fascinating. Many people will recognize his songs, but not many know the name behind them. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre with the 13th Floor Elevators, Erickson has had a difficult life. In the 1960s he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and sent to a Houston psychiatric hospital, where he involuntarily received electroconvulsive therapy. Treatment that he never really recovered from.

Trouble with law enforcement and several stays in mental institutions followed, and in 1982, Erickson asserted that a Martian had inhabited his body. He later reported to friends that aliens were coming to Earth to harm him, and asked a Notary Public to witness an official declaration that he was himself an alien, hoping that this would convince the aliens to leave him alone. In an unmedicated state, Erickson began a years-long obsession with the mail, often spending hours poring over random junk mail, writing to solicitors and celebrities (dead or living). Erickson picked up mail from neighbors who had moved and taped it to the walls of his room.

Erickson never really recovered from the experiences in his early life, but in 2001 his younger brother Sumner Erickson received legal custody of Roky, and established a legal trust to aid his brother. As a result, Roky received some of the most effective medical and legal aid of his life, the latter useful in helping sort out the complicated tangle of contracts, which had reduced royalty payments to all but nothing for his recorded works. He also started taking medication to control his schizophrenia. In September of 2005 Roky Erickson performed his first full-length concert in over 20 years. Since then, Roky Erickson has gone through a remarkable recovery, and has in the recent years started to tour again. His concert at Bukta 2009 enabled the Tromsø audience to experience a living legend, and I think his performance introduced a lot of people to Roky Erickson’s impressive list of accomplishments. A documentary about Roky Erickson was released in 2005, and it’s called You’re Gonna Miss Me.

PARADISBUKTA (small stage) – Friday

18.00 THE REVOLT (NO)
This hardcore band from Harstad did not impress me at all. The vocalist was angry, disappointed in the crowd or just frustrated with their  performance. This was probably the worst concert of this year’s festival.

19.20 MUCK & THE MIRES (US)
This relative unknown was a pleasant surprise. They play straight up rock with the following attitude, and gave us pretty good show.

20.45 SHAM 69 (UK)
Geriatric punkers are not really my thing, so I stayed at the back for this concert. I don’t think I missed much.

22.15 TOMMY TOKYO & STARVING FOR MY GRAVY (NO)
Tommy Tokyo and his band has probably been hyped to death in various newspapers and TV commercials this last year, but sometimes there is something to the hype. There is nothing quite like this band in Norway today, and they literally stuffed the rather limited area in front of the smaller stage they were booked on. If they ever come back, I certainly hope they will, I think it will be smarter to extend them both more room and time to unfold their peculiar brand of music.

TELEGRAFBUKTA (Main stage) – SATURDAY

12.55 BARE EGIL BAND (NO)
Egil Hegerberg is pretty famous for his alter ego Bare Egil Band (Only Egil Band), in where he humorously rambles on about politics, vandalism, shoes, unrequited love, marijuana, and stuff he makes up on the spot. This day was no different, and I had a blast. I didn’t catch the rest of the daytime program.

18.00 SENJAHOPEN (NO)
Senjahopen is one of those novelty bands the festival leadership booked for their own enjoyment. I certainly didn’t pay them much attention, but I guess they were amusing enough for those that did. Certainly no worse than Hellbillies, the band they replaced. Hellbillies’ vocalist fell off the stage the night before and broke both his wrists and a bunch of other bones, and was told not to play for weeks.

19.30 MONEYBROTHER (SE)
Moneybrother is the alter ego of Anders Wendin, and he had quite the ensamble of people with him on stage. I lost count after a while, but they had a trombonists, percussionist, trompetist, and several other musicians. I don’t really know where to place them, but Moneybrother’s live performances have frequently been hailed as near-legendary events. His voice resembles that of Strummer and Springsteen, and they play classic pop and soul and delivers a sort of rootsy rock with the passion of his past punk escapades. Wendin apparently enjoyed it so much that he declared from stage that he was going to cancel his flight home and spend his vacation in Tromsø.

21.05 EAGLES OF DEATH METAL (US)
This Josh Homme and Jesse Hughes cooperation project does, despite their name, not play Death Metal. Eagles of Death Metal is often characterized as a side dish for Josh Homme’s other, more famous band Queens of the Stone Age, which hails from the same music scene.  They delivered a fast-paced and energetic performance, while trying to keep warm they also kept the audience’s temperature up, and Jesse Hughes is certainly charismatic enough to liven up the crowd. One of the best concerts of this year’s festival, and even though it’s hoping for a bit much, I’m hoping Hughes might convince Homme to come here one day with his band.

22.40 RAY DAVIES (UK)
We have a saying here in Norway; The old are the oldest. It basically means that old people kick ass, and that’s what old Ray did this night. It started in a bit of a slump, with Ray seemingly a bit frustrated that the crowd wasn’t as into it as he would have liked. But during his performance the crowd eased into it, and as the hits started rolling out, so did the mood. And when they started playing Sunny Afternoon it might as well have been one. A nice finish for a nice festival!

PARADISBUKTA (small stage) – Saturday

20.30 JOE PUG (US)
This relative unknown singer-songwriter is hailed as the next Dylan, and it was a pleasant concert. One man sitting on stage with his guitar; mellow, yet surprisingly powerful.

22.10 MAJOR PARKINSON (NO)
Major Parkinson was probably the band I had the biggest expectation for beforehand. Their debut album from 2008 was probably one of the better releases that year for me personally. They have been described as a mix between the musical experimentations of Mike Patton, Kaizers Orchestra and Tom Waits, and their eclectic and live performance deliver an unconventional and strange sound, coupled with sudden bursts of energy and a rather surreal experience. Their concert was the definite highlight of the festival on my part, and I hope they come back to Tromsø soon!