Yesterday I went to a show with the intention of not writing a review. I did not ask for accreditation, I did not buy tickets, but for some weird luck of mine I actually won two tickets to see Audrey Horne. I decided to have fun. I was not gonna pay attention to all of the things that I am usually aware of when reviewing. But here I am 24 hours later writing about last night experience.
It all started with me and my friend being there 15 minutes until show-start. But they did not enter the stage until 30 minutes laters, which really annoyed me at the moment. Why did I stress so much after work to get to the venue in time when I did not need to stress at all?
My annoyance magically disappeared as soon as Audrey Horne entered the stage. Was it because it has been so long? Or was it that they opened with “Redemption Blues”?. Whatever the reason I could not help but smile and sing along. My smile lasted the whole evening.
Toschie Rød is a man with a great stage presence. He owns it. He doesn’t just only own the stage but the audience as well. He interacts with the crowd and at the same time making us shout and sing along. He even dedicated a song to all the girls in the crowd “There goes a lady”. I was hoping for “Pretty little sunshine” which they did play that one later on.
If you haven’t experienced Arve Isdal and Thomas Tofthagen playing their guitars, you sure have missed something spectacular. The way they sound so perfectly together will one day make my heart stop. I use the word perfect, because it is flawless.
The highlight for me was “Threshold”, this was the point when most of the audience sang (well, shouted) along, including myself. Right before “Waiting For The Night” bass-player Espen Lien made sure we knew the words to it, probably because we did such a great job at “Threshold”. The majority of the setlist were songs from “Pure Heavy” and “Youngblood”, and they performed them amazingly. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t play more from “Le Fol” or “No Hay Banda”. I personally would prefer a more balanced setlist from all five studio albums. That does not mean I don’t enjoy “High & Dry” and “Cards with the devil”. I love them, but some oldies would be nice for once.
This was the 11th time I saw Audrey Horne live. A new edition to the set was a drum solo from Kjetil Greve. I don’t remember that from the previous shows, but I am getting old so I might be suffering from amnesia (and lets be honest, there is always a beer or two involved). I have to say that I am deeply impressed. Toschie Rød kept on calling Greve a machine, which he truly is. I gasped. He is a machine, and it was truly incredible to watch him. Wow.
My goosebumps and smile kept on all the way to “This Ends Here”. I could not ask for a better ending to such a great experience. Audrey Horne, there is a reason I’ve seen you live so many times. Don’t let it be two more years until you visit Oslo again.
