Copenhagen Psych Festival- Christiania July 13-16th, 2016

The first day of the festival was sold out today and it was pretty easy to find your way to get wristbands, etc. Only two stage today. The small and smokey Børnteater (Children’s Theatre), which hold about 75 people and then Loppen (400 people). We met up with a lot of friends from around Denmark and Europe (Lau, Guf, Lone, Jürgen, Jaire, etc….)….

Sekel, are a young Swedish band that were described as kraut post rock but it was pretty much straight up indie rock stuff and not psych at all. We did not like it.  A small crowd was watching.  Polyfeen, a Danish band that recorded one record back in 1972 and just started to play shows again. I was not sure what to expect but this was excellent. We really liked them a lot. It looks like all except the drummer were from the original band. The singer had a great voice. Sometimes he would do some spoken word stuff as well.  They played a mix of old and new songs. Great organ and guitar player. Real 70s classic rock with Danish lyrics. Not psychedelic but a great band. The audience liked it as well.

Polyfeen

Set List: Leve Livet, Pigen I Skoven, Campingturen, Nattens Nar, Drømmen, Vesterhavet, Håbet, Silhouetter

Cult of Boydah was like 7-8 people crammed on the stage. The place was pretty packed so we did not stay long. The place was getting stuffy and smokey now. The Soft Moon was next at Loppen. This was a three piece band with some sampled drums, keyboards, etc at times and other times just a guitar, bass and drums. The opening track was pretty cool with the bass player playing a drum pad and playing along with the drummer and the guitar player was just singing with some delays and samples… Then it all sort of became this 80s indie new romantics music. The young people love this stuff but we did not like it much after 20mins and not really what I consider psych. The audience was digging it.

Soft Moon

Sigurd!

Sigges Hjørne, is a fun project by Sigurd from Tidsguesten. He sits and makes loops and tells funny stories and some very dark lyrics (Ghost Stories) as well while making percussion and guitar loops and playing over it. IT was a small crowd and people sitting on the floor and really stoned. It was fun… He plays again at the festival as well.

We did not see any of Danske Spor but the Setting Son was next at Loppen. They have not played a concert in 3-4 years and I don’t think anyone knew they even really existed anymore. I think they might have had a new bass player and drummer. This is real authentic 60s bop-pop-psych love songs stuff, with all these 3mins songs. They do it very good and the crowd was enjoying it. I wonder if they did any new songs??

The Setting Son

Set List: Running Demons, Obsession, Eat my Fear, Spring of Hate, All I want, Candy, Le Sacre, I love you, Soulmate, Winter turned to Spring, Depression, Are you the One, Desperate Soul, Laughing again, Certain Way

Adama

Adama, were the last band in the Børneteater and were from Sweden. This was pretty spaced out music. Very dreamy with this droney organ sound on most of the songs. They had some great parts but the guitar players just never took the music to the next level for us and it became a bit boring after a while. They started 15mins late so we saw about 20mins or more and then off toe see the last band of the day, Orange Revival. This was three guys (two guitar, one also did some synth drones) and bass playing along to a drum machine. Some of this was really excellent, especially the opening number and a few numbers towards the end of the set when the singer played a lot more cool guitar parts. They reminded me of the more mainstream songs but Sundial but without the amazing Gary Ramon guitar. The drum machine became very tedious and made the songs sound too much the same in the end. We saw all but the last song. Cool first day….. Great vibe and nice to see lots of people from around Europe (Spain, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Finland, France…)

Orange Revival

Day 2

We were up late but I have to get to the venue at 17 at the latest for the soundcheck. I will be playing with Julie’s Haircut featuring Damo Suzuki this evening. Originally we were to be on at 21:30 but not it is 19:30 instead. This should be quite fun. Lots of great bands today. Telstar Sound Drone, Endless Boogie, Kaleidoscope (UK).

I rode my Christiania bike with my keyboard stands, modular and Octave Cat to the venue. Not a lot of people around yet but some confusion. There was not on sound checking yet. Kasper said that Damo had missed his flight yesterday and was still not on the way today and his girlfriend was not answering the phone so they were stressed and not sure what was happening.  Julie’s Haircut was off somewhere as well and not here. Kaleidoscope had arrived from the UK and was really nice guys. I remembered Simon, who was working with them from the previous Psych Fest as he was here. Anyway, what was happening at Loppen was not certain so Kaleidoscope and Telstar Sound Drone did a soundcheck.  Finally, Julie’s Haircut was back and there was a lot of discussion about if we should just play with out Damo or not and in the end that was what was decided. A bit after 20, we did a 40min set of some of their songs with me as a special guest. It was three songs and was really fun to play with them. The audience really enjoyed it a lot as well. We might play again on Saturday if they can get Damo here. We will see. It was very stressing for me for some hours and I missed all the early bands so I could not report on that for you all. Sorry.

Kaleidoscope

We did catch the entire Kaleidoscope gig. IT was fun to hear some of these old 60’s songs but as Sue and I discussed it seems like they did not hold the time as well and were maybe written just before the 60 pop psych thing had really found it’s sound. There were for sure some great songs and the only original member was Peter, the singer. The rest were a bunch of young musicians backing him. Audience loved it and gave them a great response. Super cool visuals by the French guy Robert.

Set List: A Dream for July, In my Box, Snapdragon, For Annie, The murder of Lewis Tollani, Sun Side Circus, N.. Goodrich, Cries, By your Bedside, Monkey, Song for Jon, Dive into Yesterday, Glorious House of Arthur, In the Room of Percussion, Bordeaux Rose, Faintly Blowing, The Sky Children, Flight from Ashiya, Music

Zerione

We missed Low frequency in Stereo (Norway), Deadpan Interference (DK), and Bug Chaser. The next band we saw was a bit of Zerione, which was a Danish male and female noisy, drone rock duo. There were not a lot of people there but it was ok. Now we had to choose between Telstar Sound Drone, whom I had seen many times and Sue had seen last summer at Kildemose Festival or Our Solar System from Sweden, which sounded pretty strange and interesting. We choose to head to Byens Lys and just relax in the theatre and wait for Our Solar System. And did we have to wait. More than one hour before they started at like 23:45. It was a 10 piece band all-star signs or something in long white robes. They had two bass players, drummer, two guitars (which you could never hear), flute/clarinet and the sax, and two keyboard players were female. Huge band. They started off with a very Hawkwind like track. The drummer played just like Terry Ollis! The sound was not very good though. Lots of bass and drums and slowly the sound guy figured it out. There was some singing and strange chants between songs, etc. Bizarre but pretty cool music, very early Hawkwind inspired but such a pity you could never hear any of the guitar instruments. I was so disappointed with the sound that after 3 songs we left, as Endless Boogie should start at 00:30 but they were also late.  Our friend said that We are Wood (Sweden) were really great. Pity we did not see them.

Our Solar System

Set List: Solen, Merkurius, Venus, Jorden, Mars, Asteroidbältet, Jupiter, Saturnus, Uranus, Neptunus, Pluto

We saw about an hour of the Endless Boogie show and I really like this band. The singer and lead guitar player says some really fun and strange stuff between the songs. They for sure boogie. A lot of Rolling Stones like stuff but with really long guitar solos. The old guitar player from the Swedish band Union Carbide is playing with them when they come to Europe. Fun day and night but it started out all fucked up….

Endless Boogie

Day 3

Tales of Murder and Dust

Suns of Thyme

Cloudy again and just been sitting at home relaxing today and waiting for it to all begin again. The schedule is moved around a bit so we had to print a new one from the Internet. Sadly, Monomyth cancelled but the rest of the schedule is the same.

We arrived in time to get a beer and sit down to see Tales of Murder and Dust. They started 10 mins late. It is a Danish post rock band. There were about 60 people watching them. Great sound and songs but nothing new or inventive. Female keyboard player making these pad, organ, drones and melodic dreamy guitar. They had some build ups but it did not do much for us. Great visuals by Lars.  We went over to see some of Papir in the large Den Grå hall. Wow. The visuals were great but a bit washed out from the way too light stage lights. They played great and Nicklas had a new Ibanez guitar. We saw most of the rest of the concert.

Nicklas from Papir

Dean Allan Foyd

Suns of Thyme from Germany was on a Byens Lys but we sat there for a long time. They started about 20mins late, I guess. We saw the first 3 songs. The 2^nd song was really excellent but due to them being so late we left so we could see Dean Allan Foyd, a Swedish band that I have never seen before.  This was a great concert. I think we missed the first song but it was a great set with some cool jamming and they played a few new songs. The band is a trio with a really good chemistry. IT was pretty packed. You could tell there were a lot more people around today.

Set List: Tidal Wave, Black Reflection, Laid Bare, On my Mind, Endless Repetition, Sisters, Hypnotized, When She Takes

We never managed to get into the Børneteater to see any bands but there was some cool acts playing like Dead Vibrations, Hortene, Catch the Breeze, a surprise act called June and ET Tumason.

De Underjordiske was excellent! We only saw the last 3-4 songs of their concert but it was good. They are a 5-piece Danish act singing in Danish but they sound like the 80s band the Cult with a bit of Black Angels inspiration. Pity they don’t have any guitar solos to speak of. Great vibe, sound and singer. Cool band.

De Underjordiske

Set List: Flammerne, Under Skyggernes, Svet Ulve, Temper, Kralek, ?, vi kommer Nu, Vilde Kaniner, Pismeskæld, Næd og Klør

Spectrum was so packed. Peter (Space man 3, Sonic Boom) had another guitar player and played along to some pre-recorded synths and Peter also played guitar most of the time. A lot of effects on the vocals that made it quite psychedelic. It was a bit too boring after 3 songs so we took off to catch some of Red Lama. Wow.. They were great but we only saw the last 2 songs. I had seen them twice before. They did not have their album, which surprised me. I guess it is sold out??

Spectrum

Childrenn

We saw a few songs of Childrenn, a band with the Ravonettes guitar player. They had a pretty big crowd but the music did not catch me. A bit too mainstream rock. The guitar player on the left was a real rock star, or at least he thought so!! All the moves.    

Set List: Black Unicorn, Handcuffed, Animale, Neural Oscillations, Its time to Leave, Year of Complaint, Submission, Dancing on the Ashes, Where's the Door

We went now to see Flowers must Die in the Byens Lys.  Wow… this was a fantastic concert and I think the best we have seen at the festival. They had two female members now. One on trumpet and effects and the other played violin, Theremin and sang. The Theremin was insanely loud and maybe blew out the left PA speaker as it was making a terrible distortion. When she played Theremin you could hear almost nothing else, it drowns out the entire band! What the sound guy was thinking I don’t know… But they played 4-5 long tracks, very Hawkwind and spaced out..  Great…

Flowers must Die

 Now, we headed over to see a bit of Electric Eye but ran into Fred, his son and Jon from Earthling Society and were a bit distracted so we did not really get to focus and get into Electric Eye. The place was pretty packed and people were into it… A bit like Tame Impala??

Black Mountain

We saw about 45mins of Black Mountain. They started late, which is usual for them and it was the exact same concert as Roadburn to start but way better visuals, which they had none at Roadburn. A great sound and vibe to their music but I don’t like their short melodic pop rock songs much. They are great at the epic songs and should stick with that instead of the radio rock stuff…  It was another great day and cool to see so many people from around the world.

I spoke to Kasper and no Damo Suzuki tomorrow.. Still not sure if we play tomorrow with Julie’s Haircut or not??  Good night..

Day 4

I had to get to the festival early to soundcheck with Earthling Society. We were on at 19 today, so I expect few people as Fribytterdrømme were starting at 18:30. I sadly did not get to see them at all but I heard it was a great concert and Lau later said it was amazing to play to so many people.  Anyway, I arrived at 16:30 and Elevatorfører were doing their sound check. Narcosatanicos had already soundchecked. About 17, the Earthling Society guys arrived. We did our soundcheck, had some great food and we were ready. I ran out to see if I could find Agusa but did not but saw one song of Skalkeskjul in the Børneteater. IT was some sort of indie rock, from what I could tell.

The gig was pretty cool but the crowd was small. I think we played for about 50 people. I had never played with Earthling Society at a live concert before. We had a good chemistry. I had a great sound on the stage but I heard that the sound was not very good in the audience. (The recording I made in front of the soundboard was good but I was a bit low in the mix). Maybe Lars’s ears are going a bit after 3 days of loud shows. Anyway, we had a good time and were satisfied.

Set List: Mountain King Blues, Tartuga, Outside of Time, We're not gonna Make it..

AGUSA

After I packed my gear down I went and dropped off some record with the Agusa guys and saw half of a song. Sound was a bit improved today in Byens Lys and nice visuals for Agusa. The place was pretty full. Agusa has played every single Psych Fest, almost the house band! I wonder if they played any new songs or the same set???

Electric Orange

Electric Orange started like 20mins late so I hardly saw any of them. I said hello and asked if they had the new album but the vinyl was not out for a few more weeks. They had the CD but I did not get a copy. There were a lot of people and it was so hot in there, the sweat was rolling down my face…

Spids Nøgenhat was on at 21 and something was telling me this was going to be the last show ever for them. They did not even rehearse for this gig and the last time they played was last October. They are great musicians and it all the same songs they played for the last couple of years with little change, so I am sure they will remember it well.  Seb was doing the lights and this was the best of the entire festival, no doubt. Especially, because of them turning off the very bright side lights. Made a huge difference. It was a standard set but the order was different from October. They played about 65mins and then took 10mins but did come out for one last song. Lorenzo said in Danish that it was amazing and how would have thought 15 years ago that there was a Copenhagen Psych Festival with 2000 people! Amazing… The audience was big and loved it. It was a success for Kasper for sure.

Set List: Mere Lys, Gi Slip, Psykedelisk Tapet, Den Gennemsigtige Mand, Jørden Kalder, Lolland Falster, Vand, Brød og Te, Hvad har du taget?, ?, Fred, Ud på Landet

Spids Nøgenhat

I was pretty beat so only caught a bit of Elevatorfører and then we headed home.  It was getting packed for their party. Cool band. and super nice guys…. They have a brand new album as well.  Anyway, lots of great bands later this evening with Moon Duo in the main hall, URan, Tross, Second Oracle, Presolar Sands, Late Night Venture (Silvana said they were great)…

Elevatorfører

Tillykke.. Congrats Kasper….  A great festival. Sure, there were some things that did not work that well and they can improve upon next time but people had a great time, many great bands and a cool laid back vibe…. Great festival.....