BENDIKSBUKTA
Quart festivalen, Kristiansand
Saturday, July 6, 2002
An Erected Comeback
In other situations I surely would've gotten a little sweaty if six thousand men were standing
behind me shouting "I got erection!"!. As a boring heterosexual that's not exactly what I'm dreaming of.
But not this night. Beacuse we were all shouting; as were the women, as were the men. It's
nearly midnight at the last night of the Quart festival 2002. Turbonegro has already played the shirt of us
all for one hour. The Duke has just made it clear that he "never will die" and announced that the only thing
keeping him alive for the last four years is pussy(!). With anyone else it would have sounded quit bad, but
when you're talking about the true definition of a rock'n'roll singer, it's just damn wonderful! Turbonegro
is back and with a hell of a show!
It was said that around 8000 people (mostly male Turbojugend) had pressed themselves into
Bendiksbukta saturday night. And by that I mean pressed. Even behind the fence on the side of the scene
where the photographers and myself were standing, there were so many people one could barely breathe. The
anticipation could physically be felt in the air. We were about to see the comeback of one of the greatest
bands Norway has ever seen. The concerts of The Team Spirit, JR Ewing, Division Of Laura Lee, Amulet and
The (International) Noise Conspiracy were all politely applauded by the audience. But there wasn't any doubt
about who they really were there to see.
At precisely 22:49 they suddenly stand there: Through a wall of flames the denim demon himself,
Hank von Helvete, turns up. As if he had just come back from the underworld and back to us ordinary mortals.
The sound was supposedly bad at this point. But who cares? Turbonegro is back!
And what a comeback it would become. It's only these guys who can make songs about erections,
asses and pussies sound cool, not stupid. And turning them into sing-a-long stadium powerpunk songs. Jugend
from all over the world sang happily along with songs like "Prince Of The Rodeo", "Back To Dungaree High",
"Sailorman", "Good Head", "Get It On" and "I Got Erection". On "Erection", Hank managed to split the audience
into two halfs, were one half would sing "Ooooh-ooooh", the other would sing "I got erection". "Impressed",
was the reaction from the reborn duke.
The charisma of the man is unbelievably strong. Alongside Happy-Toms gayflirting arrogance
and to a surtain amount Euroboy's guitarstarlook, he stands as the true core of Turbonegro's deathpunk from hell.
The band plays as tight as a rat's ass, with choruses that sticks like glue. With a charisma no other norwegian
band has ever been close to. No wonder the guys got their own tribute record with contributions from some top
international names. Because Turbonegro is everything all other bands long to be. And more. They're the definition
of rock'n'roll!
With what must have been one of the biggest concert happenings on norwegian soil ever, the end
of the Quart'02 became just what we had hoped for. But should we hope for more? Or should we just remember
Turbonegro for what they were on saturday? Extremely tough, thankful and with a demonic lust for entertainment
that few others will do them after. Hail to the kings, is what I say...
6 out of 6
Frode Jørum, PanoramaMusikk © July 2002
Original article:
www.panorama.no
