2024 has again been an active year for me with several festivals of different genres, and also many concerts. Most of th festivals and concerts were in Norway, but I also attended a festival in Denmark, and my usual yearly Austin, Tx festival, SXSW. (Picture above: Madam Radar from Ray Benson’s Birthday Party during SXSW in Austin.)
Since I spent most of January in Spain, I didn’t shoot any concerts until February. My first was the band Spidergawd at the Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo.
My next concert was a double – TNT plus Cocktail Slippers at Rockefeller.
On February 23 I photographed Jason Derulo at Oslo Spektrum. A well choreographed and highly professional show.
My last February concert was with the bands Dragonforce and Amarantha at Sentrum Scene in Oslo.
Every year since 1997 (except for two years plus the pandemic year of 2021 I have been in Austin for SXSW. 2024 was no exception, and I attended on average two concerts every night during my three week stay.
The Continental Club is one of my favorite clubs in Austin,nd when James McMurtry plays his regular Wednesday gig, I am there.
Another newer tradition for me is Chuck Prophet’s visit to Austin during SXSW, where he åplays several sold out concerts at the Continental Club the first weekend of the festival.
My good friend and soul sister Leeann Atherton had updated her backyard since last year, and the first weekend of my stay she held a Soul Barn Dance with THe Jones Family as the headliner.
Another tradition for me in Austin, is Ray Benson’s Birthday fundraiser fo HAAM on the Monday in the SXSW week. He performs with his band Asleep At The Wheel with guests, and for the last years also with a band that opens for them. This year’s opener was Madam Radar, while his guests afterwards were Ruthie Foster and Jimmie Vaughan.
After the birthday party I went over to the Continental Club to see my good friend Patrici Vonne. She always presents a spectaculr show.
I saw Madam Radar several times this year, also the day after the Ray Benson concert, this time at the Saxon Pub. Here is Kelly Green from the band.
During SXSW there are literally around 1500 bands playing at different venues. But during the festival, there is also one or more free concerts at the Auditorium Shores. This year with among them Ian More, Patrice Pike, Vallejo and Joe King Carasco with Patricia Vonne as a guest.
The day after was the day for the ABGB party, which used to be the Yard Dog party at anotheer location. This is a yearly happening with Jon Langford in a prominent position, playing in two or three differet settings, culmonating with the Waco Brothers.
At the last Saturday of SXSW Little Steven’s Wicked Cool Tour stopped at the Continental Club. Several bnds played, among them the Norwegian band Cocktail Slippers.
The Sunday when SXSW is over is the day for Leean Atherton’s Barn Dance. During the years I have been there, several Norwegian bands and artists have played there, and this year Cocktail Slippers and Ask Carol were the Norwegian representatives.
The week after SXSW I was mostly at the Saxon Pub and some of the other clubs like C-Boy’s Heart & Soul, Donn’s Depot, Backstage at El Mercado, but the last day before I went home, I attended the birthday concert for Marcia Ball at the State Theatre on Congress. This was a big production with several artists celebrating Marcia Ball, among the Delbert McClinton, Ruthie Foster, Shelley King, Carolyn Wonderland, Johnny Nicols, Earl Pool Ball, Sue Foley, Eve Monsese and several more.
After the concert I still had time for more, and when Brannen Temple played with his band at the nearby Elephant Room, the choice was easy.
Back home in Oslo just in time for Easter arrived and the yearly Inferno festival. Four days of metal on two stages at the Rockefeller Music Hall and John Dee. I photographed 19 of the bands, here are some of them: The crowd for Finntroll, Høst from the band Tåke, Adam “Nergal” Derski from the band Me And That Man (he also plays in Behemoth), Arthur Brown from The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Galder from Dimmu Borgir. A great time was had!
After Inferno I had one of my favorite gigs at NRK, photographing KORK with guests. This time it was the pomenal jazz band Jaga Jazzist.
Melissa Horn is Swedish singer songwriter who writes and performs beautiful songs. She performed at Rockefeller in April. The pther photo is her holding a bottle of Jojjes Vita, a very good white wine with my photo of the legendary Jojje Wadenius on the label.
May was a relaxed month with only a few concerts for me. One of them was with Mayhem at Sentrum Scene.
I also attende the Halden International Music FIlm Festival (HIMF) – where I am also am onee of the organizers in April. I didn’t do much photography there, but I got the chance to do some portraits of the legendary Don Letts.
Another May concert was with Paal Flaata at the beatiful venue Parkbiografen in Skien.
June is always a busy year with several festivals. This year I attende five festivals in four weeks in Trondheim, Bergen and Oslo. The first one was the one day festival Trondheim Rocks, Here I photographed, among others, Rival Sons, Five Finger Death Punch, and Alice Cooper with his guitarist Nita Strauss.
Neon is another festival in Trondheim, straight after, and at the same venue as Trondheim Rocks. Her I photographed Jason Derulo again, Loreen, Astrid S, the very acrobatic Benson Boone and Kaizers Orchestra plus 13 other artists.
From Trondheim I went home for a couple of days before going to Bergen for Bergenfest. A four day festival in great surroundings and with a very good and diverse booking. I photographed 26 different artists, and here are Fontaines DC, CMAT, PJ Harvey, Gabrielle and Raye.
Back again from Bergen and straight to OverOslo, which is locetad literaally over Oslo with a great view over the city. Here I photographed 17 artists, and here are four of them: the legendary Chaka Kahn, Melanie C, Carola and Di Derre with Jo Nesboe and Unni Wilhelmsen.
The day after OverOslo I had the great pleasure to do promo shots for the band This Better Be Good. A lot of fun, and theyb are also a great band!
Many of my concert photos in 2024 were shot for Getty Images. You can see them all, plus photos from earlier years here.
More photos from 2024 in the next post.
