In the Woods
(December 2000, Oslo - Last ever gig)Seeing as though it was their last ever gig, and I'd not yet seen them, I thought I'd better go all the way to Norway to see In The Woods.... Yes, it cost a lot of money, and yes it was worth it. I had the coolest three days of my life (or should that be "the coldest three days of my life"?).
We arrived in Oslo very late on the 27th, leaving us with only the next day to do a nice bit of sight-seeing as we couldn't really see much at 11o clock at night. So, we spent the next day walking around in circles round Oslo, spending as little money as possible because everything is so damn expensive in Norway and we had a limited economy. Still, that didn't stop me buying two nice CDs from an excellent second hand shop whose name I have forgotten. We ended up at Elm Street Rock Cafe later that night where we managed to meet Simen Hestnaes of Arcturus/Dimmu Borgir/Borknagar fame and Blasphemer from Mayhem, which was fun. On the way back to our hotel at 4:00am in the morning we past the Royal Palace and came across a Royal Guard who appeared to actually be guarding something that looked more like a Greenhouse than anything. After watching us fool around for a bit, he eventually gave in and spoke to us, admitting that he wasn't actually allowed to talk to anyone but he was "fucking bored" and he had to stand there for another hour and a half - hahahaha!!Anyway, I seem to be losing the whole point of this review here... so let's move on a bit to the actual gig. We arrived at the Caledionian Hotel at about 8:30 and spent the next two hours patiently waiting for the band to come on. We'd found ourselves a nice spot at the front with a good view of the stage by the time anything started happening which is always a nice thing isn't it?
Suddenly, the first note of the intro to 'Yearning the Seeds of a New Dimension' came through the speakers and the action began (about 10 minutes later, when the intro was over). Five members of the band came on stage (3 guitarists, the bassist and the drummer) and when they started playing the sound was absolutely crystal clear. So perfect that I got one of those shivers up my spine. Then Jan, the vocalist, came on the stage wearing the oddest clothes I've ever seen - A pair of bright red flares with black skull and crossbone symbols on and one of those 70s tracksuit top things over a white tee shirt. He was a lot smaller and different to what I imagined he would be like and I worried it was actually someone else, but when he started singing in his God-like voice, I realised it was still the same guy and I worried no more! The crowd, although obviously into it, didn't seem to be very active; with just a few people at the front doing any head banging. Perhaps they were too mesmerised by the amazing light show which consisted of the usual blue, green, red lights and a huge circle at the back with loads of weird trippy light effects on it - very cool!
After finishing a completely changed version of 'Yearning the Seeds...' they went on to play 'Heart of the Ages' in which Synne came on stage and gave us a nice dose of her divine voice. Jan didn't do any screaming on these songs, which was a bit disappointing but didn't really make them seem much different.
They then played their fantastic rendition of 'White Rabbit', originally by Jefferson Airplane which had everyone cheering. Then they played a new song which had no title so Jan named it 'Beer'. It seemed to be pretty cool, in the same kind of psychedelic style of 'Strange In Stereo', only better.
Then came the spine tingling version of 'Mourning the Death of Aase' from '3x7 on a Pilgrimage' in which Synne put on one of the most stunning vocal displays I have ever heard in my life which got everyone whistling and cheering at the end. By this time I had decided that this was the best gig I have ever been to in my life, and probably the best one I'll ever go to. And it got better still...
Jan then announced that for the next hour they were just going to play 'Omnio' all the way through, which was just fine with me as it's my favourite album ever. So, although they did not have the String Quartet playing, they managed to pull it off pretty much perfectly, obviously loving every minute of it.
They played a longer version of 'Kairos!' which was quite cool, because if you read the lyrics book for 'Omnio' you actually notice they only play half the song on the CD. After they had played the first part of the song "Omnio?" they announced they would be having a break for 30 minutes.
During this time they played some of Christer's solo project (the name of which I've forgotten -sorry!) over the PA, which seemed to be pretty dark, atmospheric, sleepy stuff which I'll have to get my hands on at some point. The second half of the gig, for me was not as goodas the first half and some people had actually left before the end, but never mind.. it was still amazing :)
Back they came with part 2 of 'Omnio?' and this time the Botteri twins were playing instead of two of the others, and damn, they look weird. They just stood there most of the time, not looking at the crowd, but looking at their feet, standing perfectly still. There's something really eerie about them, but I can't think what.. maybe it's because they look like owls? Synne and Jan were really into it though, doing some cool dancing which Christer did too whenever he wasn't playing the guitar. The drummer was really energetic too, putting on an amazing drumming display. Definitely one of the best live drummers I've seen.After finishing 'Omnio' they started playing more stuff from '3x7 on a Pilgrimage' and 'Strange In Stereo'. I've forgotten the order of most of it, but they played the following songs (I think): 'Karmakosmik', 'Empty Room', another new one which was extremely good(!), 'Let There be More Light', 'Dead Man's Creek', 'Generally More Worried Than Married', 'Titan Transcendence', then after thanking us (the crowd) for our attendance they played 'Path of the Righteous' and left.
A minute or two later, the whole band, past and present, was back on stage (all 9 of them) and Jan gave a little speech about how the next song, 'Closing In' must have meant something at the time they wrote it, although they didn't realise... or something. After playing 'Closing In' which was alot more energetic than it is on CD, they all sat down and looked very relaxed and threw bits of paper and things into the crowd whilst Jan, Synne and Christer played a cover of Syd Barret's 'If it's in You'. Then after many hugs and thanks etc etc. they left the stage and the gig was over, 4 hours after it started, leaving everyone feeling extremely satisfied. It's a shame that that was their last gig, because they are the best live band I have ever seen in my life and knowing I won't see anything as good as that again is a little annoying. The night was not over for us though!
I'd been in contact with Jan for about a year before the gig and he said we should meet him and said my friend could interview him for his Zine. So I introduced myself to him when we eventually got through the hysterical fans to meet him, hoping we could get the the interview done quickly and then get some sleep, as we had to be up about 5 hours later. Anyway, he ushered us backstage where we met all the rest of the band and chatted with them for about half an hour or so before one of the bassists told us they were all going to some pub on a boat and we should go too. So, off we went! What nice people they are!
At the pub, Jan came over to us with Christer and chatted to us for a bit and then the interview began! 2 hours later, after he'd given us a dose of his amazing intellect, it was closing time and we all had to leave. So, we thanked them for their time and an amazing gig and left knowing that we'd just had the coolest night of our lives. Heh, so if you want to read the last ever interview with In The Woods... you should contact :
Gavin Parkinson, 31 Westfield Drive, Lightcliffe,
Halifax, West Yorks, HX3 8AW,
England
(Price: 1 £)
- Col Butler
(07 March 2001 )
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