Kaizers Orchestra live in the Melkweg, Amsterdam

You can listen to 'Evig pint' here.

For those already familiar with Kaizers Orchestra, they are as good as they have ever been, if not better. For those unfamiliar with KO so far, shame on you! May your hamster turn blue! They have found the perfect mix of modern rock music and eastern European traditional music years ago, but on Violeta Violeta 3, their latest album, they have added opera to their mix of styles. At their latest concert in Amsterdam (Melkweg, February 28th) they obviously played songs from their newest album, with great success. Although their songs are getting more complicated, with a loyal, mostly Norwegian crowd, there were enough people who could sing along (or hum along in the case of Dutch nationals) creating a special atmosphere once more.

While writing this article I still do not have a clue what I actually heard at the concert. KO sings everything in Norwegian, and although there are bits that are easily understood for those who speak Dutch ("Eg legger mi sjel i det", in Dutch: "Ik leg mijn ziel er in", or in English: "I put my soul in it"), other parts are as incomprehensible as the meowing of my cat ("Både du og meg har sett koss din vei blir lagt ner", or in English: "Both you and I have seen how your path has been laid out"). So judging whether the music fits the topics they sing about, is difficult when not having a translation at hand. Yet, I can assure you, having access to internet while writing, that style and lyrics are congruent.

The music is very solemn and stately, KO does not write any cheesy pop songs anymore. The songs on Violeta Violeta 3 are the story of a man and his daughter, who ran away from home, fleeing a drunken mother. The girl starts to wonder where she comes from, who she is, and what happened in her past. She finds out that she is part of a plot in which the devil plays a role too, although the devil has the idea that he is the one arranging her story, she somehow creates her own story. The album does not treat an easily accessible theme, which does indeed influence the melodies and instruments used.

The concert was less stately. Of course the songs from Violeta Violeta 3 were played, and created a special atmosphere, older songs, olden goldies, were played to lift the mood too. All in all it was a special concert, especially if you do not know what is going on for lack of a dictionary. My incomprehension did not harm the awesomeness of KO, and I would go there again 8 days a week!

Joes