Euroboy, Turbonegro's lead guitarist
and Guitar Führer
Photograph: Gwladys Fouché
It's the Øya festival this weekend in, Oslo, Norway, and we've sent three adventurous souls - Neil Perry, Gwladys Fouché and Hildegunn Soldal - up there to keep an eye on what's happening. They'll be blogging for us over the next few days. Here's their first post:
Welcome to Øya festival, a bijou little happening in Oslo, designed to showcase the best Norwegian bands alongside well-known international acts.
The site itself can be crossed in three minutes tops. There are three stages, bordered by a little lake, a cute organic market in the middle and an IKEA tent. Our favourite Swedish shopkeepers had dotted the site with odd bright red sofa/bed hybrids, which soon became giant sponges in the pouring rain. Still, nice thought.
The Norwegian music industry has taken off lately, with acts getting a lot of attention abroad. Over the three days of the festival, Norway can, among others, boast metal band Satyricon, pop queen Annie, princes of mellow Kings of Convenience, and the emperors of excess Turbonegro.
The latter headlined the main stage on Thursday night, a triumphant gig in their hometown. The great thing about Turbonegro is that they shouldn't work - six high camp sexual deviants, all lip gloss and sailor hats, who run the risk of sounding like a punk Village People. The reason that they do work is a wicked sense of humour and the songs, sharp Ramones-on-steroids anthems that have the whole crowd singing and punching the air. The sight of sweet 14-year-old blond girls mouthing the chorus to "Blow Me (Like The Wind)" can be unsettling (and Turbonegro also take great pride in their Spinal Tap-esque song titles). Pure genius.
This was in sharp contrast to the previous act over on the second stage, Kings of Convenience. Not exactly the most energetic act to start with, the duo was in danger of being drowned out by the crowd's chit-chatting. Quiet really seems to be the new quiet.
Today's fun discovery on the tiny third stage was a spiky female rock trio from Trondheim, Mary Me Young, whose set included a paean to chocolate consumption - "Brown skin, brown teeth, brown eyes, chocolate baby, yum, yum, I love you and I hope you love me".
On the second stage Chloroform made an endearingly bonkers racket, featuring a double bass, the drummer from The Muppets, loud electro-squelches and a crazed vocalist - these unpromising ingredients turned out a surprisingly listenable (and danceable) experience.
On the main stage was the other side of the bonkers coin, The Polyphonic Spree, who tried hard and successfully to cheer the now-drenched crowd.
Today we are looking forward to Babyshambles, Annie, Death From Above 1979, The Magic Numbers and Satyricon. More soon ...
