Czwartek 17 Lip 2008, 8:38

So, Ane Brun played at MoldeJazz yesterday, and as a fairly big fan, I was obviously there. Before the concert started I felt some trepidation, as it was a double concert, where both Ane Brun and Patti Smith would play the same stage the same evening, pretty much one just after the other, and I feared that if Patti Smith were to play first, Ane Brun would have one hell of a job to top Patti.

Luckily, the festival people aren't utter fools, so Ane got to play first. Unfortunately, the weather was rather shitty, with a cold wind coming in from the North Sea to the west, blowing with it quite a lot of rain. Additionally, the stage at Romsdalsmuseet was somewhat too big for her, as her songs fit much better on more intimate stages. I imagine that Bjørnsonhuset or the basement of Kulturhuset would have fit her better, but there it was. She's currently one of Norway's most famous and best-selling musicians, so MoldeJazz has had her as one of their main attractions.

Still, though, with the material Ane Brun has at her disposal, she can pretty much play any stage, at any time. The problem yesterday was of course the weather, in combination with her choice to play mostly her slower, softer songs. Had the weather been better, it would have been quite nice to just sit or stand around, listening to her sing her beautiful little tunes for a couple of hours, but in the cold and the wet? Not so much. Still, when she played a Saint Thomas that brought up the pace a bit, the audience woke up, too, and if she'd chosen to play some of the more up-tempo songs from Spending Time With Morgan, this could have been a very memorable affair. But when what she chooses to do instead is to slow down the rather up-beat Song No. 6 to an almost dirge-like pace, I can't help but get the feeling that she hasn't played semi-large outdoor venues much.

Oh well. I got to hear her do Balloon Ranger, Rubber & Soul and a couple of other favourites, and while I'd be happier if she'd done Temporary Dive and/or her cover of PJ Harvey's The Dancer as well, I can't help but being satisfied. Happy or extatic would of course have been better, but satisfied will do, too.