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February 29, 2008 - Spektrum - Oslo, Norway Concert review by Mr. Sweet (asweet at hmi-inc dot com) I made the trip to Oslo from sunny LA and could not have had a better time. First and foremost, a big thank you to all the people of Oslo for being so kind and generous; you have a truly wonderful city filled with magnificent art, architecture, and tasty beer! A winning combination if ever there was one. Now onto the show.. I scored a ticket the morning of so I was stuck in the back. Luckily, the venue isn't too big so my seats were actually pretty good. Would have much rather have been on the floor but what are you gonna do? The crowd was slow to fill the Spektrum and the opening band didn't have quite the support they may have liked. I'm not sure who it was but they were ok. It was easy to hear why they were chosen to open; they had many similarities to the pumpkins in terms of structure, tone, and over all delivery. Not saying they ripped 'em off or anything, more so were heavily influenced. It was all good though, they got up did their thing and took off. The pumpkins popped on stage and immediatly hit the list they've been doing throughout the tour. I can't say I'm sorry about that as hearing Porcelina for the first time live was totally worth knowing kind of what was coming. It's really hard to put into words how beautiful and powerful that song is! They moved throughout the set and Billy seemed in good spirits interacting more so than I've seen in the past. He told a story about he and Jimmy going to ice skate in downtown Oslo, asked fans about the flags they had, listened to requests and would answer back, "we don't play that anymore." or, "that was written by my evil twin." Billy even went as far as to say "You know why we don't play that one anymore? We don't want you to like us. That's why you keep coming back, 'cause you don't like us. See? Reverse psychology!" I totally dig his sense of humor but not sure if a lot people do. For instance, during the encore they came out and did a Scorpion's song(sorry, don't know the name). As they finished Billy remarked, "that was horrible. We actually only planned on doing one song but because that was so bad we'll do another. Do you want to hear something sensitive? Or, wait, how about some ski jumping music? Or cross country skiing music!" I thought it was hilarious but not sure if anyone else did. (Sorry Oslonians, I don't, nor do I think Billy meant it in a negative way). Anyways, I've read other reviews of past shows and one thing did ring a bit true; some have commented that the set is a bit choppy, almost weird. I would agree that the continuity of songs was strange by Pumpkin standards, but at the end of the night while reflecting back on the set I can say nothing except amazing. The medley at the end of Cash Car Star consisting of Boston, Essex, and Iron Maiden was brilliant and seeing Billy perform My Blue Heaven was like finding $20 in an old pair of jeans. Just puts a smile on your face no matter what the day has given you in return. I'd also like to give a shout out to James and D'arcy. You guys are missed! No knock on the current Pumpkin crew as you guys are carving out a sound all your own and I, dare I say we, love it as well. I hope you guys make it back to the states and until then - cheers to you and to the wonderful people of Oslo. Takk!
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