the oh so quiet show

For some reason, during the few days up until last night’s Royksopp concert I was thinking, “Uhh Royksopp concert…again? Man.” Not that I saw them yesterday, but it was just a few months ago that I saw Royksopp with CJ. And we went. AGAAAIN.

…Which was a good thing because last night was awesome. I couldn’t tell what the concert would be like right away since Royksopp were situated much farther away from the audience than usual: back more on the stage with a barracade to separate us even further (although it didn’t completely work; more on that later).

Royksopp concerts are definitely better in large-ish venues with a crapload of people jumping around. I think the first time I saw them at Irving Plaza was the most fun for reasons I don’t know, but last night was better than the show in July. More energy, more insane people, more smoke and lights. GOOD TIMES.

First off was the opener, Annie, accompanied by a guy playing drums/guitar and a DJ. Even though I like her music, I had heard so many bad things about her that I didn’t have many expectations. I thought her live performance was alright; not necessarily exciting, but not bad. I couldn’t really hear what she was singing but I figured that had something to do with the acoustics of Webster Hall (it was easier to feel the music making your organs explode than to actually hear it). She may not have extruded excitement but she looked happy. CJ basically kept saying, “SHE’S HOT!”, a sentiment that is surely shared by many other people. Norway breeds hotness, by the way (in addition to loads of music talent).

During the time between Annie and Royksopp, a seemingly drugged out/insane tall guy wearing a shirt that said “ENGLAND” with a white backpack came out of nowhere and slowly plowed through the front row where I was standing while proclaming, “Passion, passion” or…god know’s what. I felt really bad for the two women next to me, who looked like they were about to get injured. This guy grabbed onto the edge of the barracade for dear life while swinging around haphazardly, a really bad idea when you’re surrounded by a bunch of people and don’t have any room to swing around, unless you want to piss off a bunch of people. And that’s pretty much what he did, until the security guard took him away.

Before that at the end of Annie’s set, a guy near me had his digital camera’s memory card taken away. (“A guy” being Chris, very recognizable as “the guy front and center dancing his brains out”, pretty awesome. Too bad about the camera thing though. His review for Annie.) I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen to anyone before…erp. Lots of people were taking photos so I’m not sure what was the big deal, but I figured I wouldn’t take many photos after that.

And there wasn’t much point, as they’d all come out crappy anyway from the vibrating floor. There was also the super-mega-vibrating bass that made my organs buzz. You get used to it after a while, for better or worse.

Royksopp came out in completely different outfits compared to the last times I’ve seen them in the form of matching gray slacks, red collared shirts, and black ties; a homage to Kraftwerk? (They were also shoe and sockless.) Sitting at the back of the stage was a ginormous Royksopp cassette tape.

They pretty much played the same way as before, so I think the main difference this time was with the audience. Obviously, it was…larger. Another difference was that there was a female singer for some of the songs. While the concert didn’t get hopping right away, things picked up (for me at least) when they played stuff from Melody AM. “Poor Leno” was the clear winner with the audience. There were other great ones but I can’t remember what they were; even though I wore earplugs, I still feel like some bits of my brain broke off. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT! I hope. (pokes brain) I’m pretty sure it was because I actually moved, and it takes a lot to make me move. Really, I don’t listen to other music like Royksopp’s and I’m not very animated unless situated near a bakery, where I can point and shout with glee at the mountains of cookies and bread.

After the first encore, a young woman ran from the left side and was almost able to throw herself onto the stage . She was so close, about halfway there…before the security guard came and lifted her away. The whole thing happened in about five seconds so it was a short, “What the…” moment. WHOA, CRAZY ROYKSOPP FAN!! There was also a very enthusiastic woman standing behind me, belting out the words to the songs (or just “ooh aahs”) not so on-key. The concert ended with Svein knocking down all his keyboard and drum stands, assumedly not on purpose, but it made for a funny way to leave the stage.

That was a good night. I’ll definitely want to see Royksopp when they come back again.

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