In these dark days of lockdown we have at least been able to witness some pretty impressive ‘virtual’ gigs, performances in kitchens, bars, gardens, libraries and most extraordinary of all, a municipal swimming pool, thanks to Norwegian band Ocean of Lotion.
Det Skandaløse Orkester’s recent June gig at Madame Felle in Bergen was a limited ticket / socially distanced event, but they also streamed and recorded it, so i guess it was still semi-virtual. And whilst they had no diving boards to precariously balance on, their performance was right up there in extraordinariness (if that’s a thing) with virtuoso musical performances, outrageous flamboyance and some pretty nifty tunes thrown in for good measure.
Readers from those dark NMR days back in 2018 may remember Det Skandaløse Orkester, because we wrote about their album ‘Tenk om noen ser deg’ (rough translation ‘imagine if someone sees you’), a release which somehow makes Frank Zappa influenced progressive jazz not only be accessible, but hugely entertaining. It was the 2nd album from the 8-piece band, who formed back in 2011.
Their performance at Madam Felle is worthy of the full widescreen cinematic TV experience, accompanied by your favourite French truffle and chilli pizza with a pint of finest Schorschbock. Just check out new track ‘Regelrytteren’ (translates to someone who is a ‘stickler for the rules’) which starts about 15:30 into the performance, a remarkable mix of Mariachi, country, western, prog, rock and everything else thrown in. It’s worth watching just for the brilliant trumpeting. And the dancing.
The good news is there’s another performance, tomorrow, at the same place. If you live in Bergen there’s rumoured to be a few of the strictly Covid limited 60 tickets available at this link, but if you can’t get there, you should find a live stream on the bands Facebook events page here. Hopefully.
I promise the performance will brighten up your evening, so please watch.
Find the band on their website.