Review: Morten Abel & KORK in the Oslo Spektrum

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There’s always something special about anniversary shows, especially because as an artist you always go a little further than that. A concert with Kringkastingsorkestret, KORK, is something many artists want. Tonight it’s Morten Abel’s turn.

“Local Band”

He brought with him a “popular local band,” as he put it. And KORK is really doing something with both the artist and the audience. Conductor Red Gilji and the NRK Orchestra ensure that we can Feel they. Good songs get better and bad songs get better. He’s mighty and powerful – and it’s very hard not to like him. Cork is making a big difference tonight.

The big stage was completed by the Safari Gospel Choir and musicians Christer Slane (keys and guitar) and Thomas Gallatin (drums and keys), both of whom also play in the Americana group Darling West. Everyone is doing something with these songs that wasn’t there before.

stories

Abel chose a slightly surprising editorial, called The Five-Minute Youth Story skeptical (sweet dreams) From his new album Final Victory, illustrated with simple caricatures.

The evening’s only guest soloist, Stavanger artist Eva Bjerga Haugen, sings “I’m two always go alone” From the 41-year-old Mods’ debut Revenge, it’s clear that Abel will be embracing his entire career this evening. It “happened” in Norwegian and English and then Norwegian again, with an emphasis on the latter here.

He himself begins with the song The September when, “crying like a baby” From 1994 – and follow it up somewhat more recently “old man”. Not that the 60-year-old feels old, but it’s a personal song that feels totally right to sing on a night like this.

Abel dazzles

ups and downs

Abel shines on stage, dressed in elegant black with a hat – the gorgeous and slightly superior Abel, the fashion-conscious artist with “new” clothes and chic inclinations, the “king of pop” with the ups and downs of his career, the scandal-maker. Yes even the carcass Birmingham is From 2003, after an unforgettable trip to England, he earned a spot on the retrospective playlist – served with a heavy dose of sarcasm and nautical humor.

As Abel himself says about ups and downs: – It becomes boring if it becomes flat. And the songs will come out of it.

He also has a sense of humor when it comes to Mods’ most famous song, “Tore Tang”, which is presented in several versions. The evening is quiet and “gracious”, a far cry from the jubilant handball stars.

blitz and napalm

For those of us of the same age, Abel has been there the whole time, even if we weren’t keen on Mods back in the early ’80s. The band was probably a local phenomenon that in recent years celebrated concert victories in a spirit of nostalgia.

Only with September when the big national breakout happened in 1987. The band lasted until 1996, but reunited in 2008-2011 and 2019. “bullet” It’s the only song from there besides Cries Like a Baby, here in a dramatic arrangement that makes the great song many times more exciting. Peltz didn’t make it a huge hit, and he jokes about it too, but it’s instrumental “Napalm in the morning” They get as little as four minutes in the spotlight.

Morton Abel the Soft and the Weak

Through his solo career, Abel has established himself from 1997 again as an artist to reckon with – first in English and in recent years in Norwegian. “Lydia” He is a good actor from his debut single “Snowboy”.

filmed

20 years ago, Morten Abel Spectrum spent two evenings – with a total of 17,000 audience members. Maybe it says something about the direction of his career almost “just”. 1500 members of the audience get to experience the anniversary show in the main hall in Oslo – set up in the Mini-Sketrum. But it was filmed, so more people could see and hear. It’s worth all the 95 minutes a 60-year-old has given us who isn’t quite done as an artist – and he definitely has “head over water”. Yes, the song from his debut as a “handpicked” actor – in the film of the same name – also came out. There is no reason to doubt (to go back to the beginning).