shantel & Bucovina club orchestra

The Year in Review: Best Concerts of 2013, Denmark

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment

The Year in Review: The top 10 gigs of 2013 in Denmark 

1) Sigur Ros, Roskilde Festival, July 6

I didn’t see Sigur Ros, I experienced Sigur Ros. The Icelander’s music is some of the purest, soul-searching music you will find for miles around; a trance-like journey that rekindles deep-hidden fond memories with an edifying caress that no other band can muster. Sigur Ros were shamanic at their show at Roskilde.

2) Charles Bradley & his extraordinaires, Lille Vega, June 17

The Screaming Eagle of Soul rocked Denmark to its core on his encore at Lille Vega this year. For a man in his sixties who only just rocketed to fame, Bradley’s teary, nervy, sweaty, emotional soul trip is the story of a man who made it in America, after decades of bad luck and strife. James Brown would be proud.

3) Crystal Castles, Store Vega, March 2

Crystal Castles pulled off a seismic show at Store Vega towards the end of the winter, a chaotic, cathartic experience that saw lead singer Alice Glass crowd surf her way to what looked like the middle of the audience at Store Vega. I have never seen anything like it before or since

4) Modeselektor, Store Vega, Feb 14

Berlin’s Modeselektor have been making music since the wall came down a good while ago. As driven today as they were back then, the electronic duo are a symbol of the German capital and frontrunners in the world of electronic music. Props for their party-starting credentials and props to Vega for a very well organised show (which included an ‘artist chat’ session in ideal bar).

  1. Chinese Man, Roskilde Festival, July 4

French turntablists Chinese man were on cue at their show at Roskilde Festival, taking the audience on a journey through dubstep, drum & bass, hip hop and everything in between with a prowess that made it seem as if the genre of turntablism has been around since the dawn of time. Witty, daring and exceedingly cool.

BEST OF THE REST

  1. Shantel & The Bucovina Orchestra, Lille Vega, Nov 28

  2. Reptile Youth, Lille Vega, March 8,

  3. Of Monsters and Men, Roskilde Festival, July 5

  4. Tame Impala, Store Vega, Aug 9

  5. Animal Collective, Roskilde Festival, July 4

Shantel & The Bucovina Orchestra, Lille Vega, November 2013

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment

If Balkan Beat is your fancy then Lille Vega was a pilgrim’s temple on Wednesday, set alight by Shantel and the Bucovina Orchestra. Though the show did not sell out, the crowd that showed up was a very enthusiastic bunch, hyped-up from the word go and loud to the very end, somewhat of a marvel considering the concert’s midweek placement.

The Bucovina Orchestra is one of the exciting projects of German DJ and producer Shantel. Many are familiar with their jolly, uptempo Balkan sounds that awaken memories of the film Borat. A boundary breaker from the  techno stronghold of Frankfurt, Shantel draws from the likes of Balkan greats such as Fanfare Ciocarla and Goran Begovic himself and is no stranger to these parts, having performed at the very same venue just over a year ago.

Chaotic at times, Shantel and the Bucovina Orchestra deliver pure party msuic, played with the intent of causing a riot.  Wednesday’s midweek shenanigans at Lille Vega were no different.

After a slow start by their own standards, Shantel & co kicked into gear midway through the proceedings, as signature track ‘Disko Partizani’ rang out to a raucous response. This was followed by a neat ream of back-to back brass-laden tunes that saw T-shirts flung with reckless aplomb as the crowd rekindled memories of Roskilde Festival’s mosh pit moments.

With the night coming to a close, merry, anthemic songs such as the comical ‘Citizen of Planet Paprika’ and the well-known ‘Bucovina’ were but two peaks in a series of late-show antics that worked the crowd into a frenzy. The highlight of this was the entire audience squatting and kneeling on two occasions before flinging themselves upwards for particularly epic chorus moments. In fact, having gone off stage, Shantel & Co were cheered back for an encore from a kneeling crowd that may well have been in downtown Belgrade as opposed to Vesterbro.

Six or so songs later and it was all over after one last wave of bombastic action wrung the crowd into a final furore. Whilst the long encore was a novel move, it did drag on towards the end, way beyond the climax of it all.

With winter closing in, more Balkan action at Vega can be found in the form of Gogol Bordello’s concert on December 6, which promises to be even more enthralling that Wednesday’s show was.