Blood Sweat Drum ’n’ Bass

After a little rest we walked back into the town center to the fair area to grab a bite to eat at one of the booths. I had some kind of curry rice wrap, Beth had a kebob. Then it was off to the Tubaloon. We didn’t arrive too early but there were plenty of decent seats left so we set ourselves close to the sound board where we could see well and I suspected we would get the best sound mix.

The Blood Sweat Drum ‘n’ Bass Danish Big Band came on shortly after 8 PM. The concert started with guest artist Palle Mikkelborg (he is a older Danish trumpet player who is pretty famous in Europe) playing his flugelhorn through an echo and reverb unit, some very atmospheric stuff. Very subtly the band came in with some lush background chords, and then the tune slowly grew in sound, complexity and energy - it was a great beginning to the concert.

The write-up in the program suggested that this band could get wild, and sometimes they were indeed wild and raucous, but at other times they were subdued and melodic - always they were surprising. I really enjoyed the times that Palle Mikkelborg interacted in am improvised way with others in the band like a trumpet player, or the female vocalists, or even rhythm section. I also enjoyed watching the conductor who directed with much energy and unique hand gestures (my favourites being when he wiggled his fingers or when he stabbed his arm in the air). Before we knew it the band was leaving the stage after an hour. I had to check with someone to know that this was the intermission not the end.

After the intermission a different guest artist, Jørgen Munkeby, joined them on stage (someone whose name I didn’t recognize). This guy looked wild, like some kind of cross between a Fonzie character and a Viking. He was listed as a saxophonist, but in the first song of the second set he started by picking up a electronic wind instrument (EWI). When he started playing this instrument I realized that this was the sound I had thought earlier to be a synth keyboard. It was very nice soloing; strong, fluid and melodic - but as he played he prowled around the stage like a caged wolf (or some kind of rock star). In the next song he picked up an electric guitar at one point and proceeded to do some power chording and fast soloing… just like a rock star! On the third song in this set Jørgen actually played the tenor sax, with the same fierce intensity he showed on guitar - fast and powerful!

There was some tight ensemble playing with this group, some interesting interplay between various musicians (who took turns coming to the front of the stage to be featured). The band has two female vocalists, who sometimes sang wordless parts as part of the ensemble, and sometimes like a lead singer out front. Overall I thought it was a great concert, complete with musical humour (that most of the audience didn’t seem to get - my favourite being one song called I Have a Cold which began with two female horns players honking on their horns).

We didn’t get to hear the end of the concert, because we needed to get to the Kino and the Tord Gustavsen concert, which was the main reason we came to Kongsberg in the first place. So with the band still blasting out a tune Beth and I headed out of the Tubaloon and down to the Kino, the sound of the band slowly fading into the evening.