aaamusic | On 11, Jun 2012

London, 23rd May

23rd May 2012, East London. Absolutely not like “Mary, a loser to be” in a Bar in Amsterdam.

“Katzenjammer’s joy at XOYO”.

Katzenjammer shake the London stage again after not long ago. The Norwegian girls have recently been in London, only in March this year. Yet the tickets for the May gig in Old Street are sold out.

Both the stage and the area for the audience to stand are very small, at least compared to the Scala in London, which is where the band was back in March.

It’s a hot Wednesday, the venue is sultry, and people are tired because of work and, most likely, an early alcohol intake. Nevertheless, it doesn’t take a whole song for the public to go from zombie mode to a jubilant jumping mob. The band opens with the intro “A Kiss Before You Go” followed by songs like “Ouch”, the crazy track “Demon Kitty Rag” and the amazing single “Rock Paper Scissors” taken from the latest album “A Kiss Before You Go”.

Marianne, Solveig, Anne-Marit and Turid are absolutely fantastic tonight and all the tracks from the setlist are a journey through the beauty of music: jazzy piano sounds that can be idiosyncratic, wailing, melancholic or groovy; discordant Irish-reminiscent compositions; tuneful cabaret melodies infused with Eastern European folk music; everything orchestrated with a myriad of instruments played, in turns, by all four. It is so difficult not to fall in love with a musical menu of this kind. Songs like “Cherry Pie”, “Mother Superior”, “Cocktails And Ruby Slippers” and “A Bar In Amsterdam”, just to name a few, are among those songs you would never be fed up with listening. The moment the crowd gets hit by the beautiful notes of “Lady Marlene”, I can imagine goose-bumps on everybody’s skin.

This astonishing night ends with the song “Hey Ho On The Devil’s Back” and a double encore with “God’s Great Dust Storm” and “Ain’t No Thang” leaving the whole crowd wondering when the next London Katzenjammer’s gig will take place; and so do I…

 

The band, which formed in 2005 at music school in Oslo, released their first album (Le Pop) in 2008. A Kiss Before You Go, their latest creation, is out now.

 

For info on about this amazing band, check the official website katzenjammer.no

 

 

SETLIST

 

A Kiss Before You Go

Ouch

Demon Kitty Rag

Rock-Paper-Scissors

To The Sea

I Will Dance

Lady Marlene

Cherry Pie

Mother Superior

Land Of Confusion

Loathsome M

Cocktails And Ruby Slippers

A Bar In Amsterdam

 

Author: Francesca

 

Photos: Luca Viola