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Denmark’s ten must-see concerts in September

From grime to indie rock and American hip-hop to Danish ska, here is a rundown of the gigs we're looking forward to this month.

Published: 29 August 2015 08:14 CEST
Denmark's ten must-see concerts in September
Action Bronson is the sole hip-hop concert to look forward to this September. Photo: Tom Gould/Atlantic Records

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September is a month synonymous with the buzz of the back-to-school rush and new beginnings for many. As we head into a late Indian summer (which we all hope will last just a bit longer), there are quite a few shows popping up on The Local's gig radar. 

The Charlatans
Amager Bio, September 2 at 8pm
Amager Bio have pulled off a major coup here, reeling in a band whose contribution to rock music for over 20 years has been nothing short of seminal. Despite not being able to steal the Madchester scene's heart with as much aplomb as contemporaries such as The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses did in their heyday, this is a band that has had all 12 of its studio albums chart amongst the UK Top 40 (three of which have graced the number one spot).

 

Foals
Store Vega, September 10 at 8pm
Probably the only genuine rock booking on Vega's calendar this September, Foals are a quintet that hail from Oxford, England. Stalwarts in any good modern-day rock playlist, theirs is an upbeat and raucous on the genre that features indie-esque vocals in high, jittery pitches. A refreshing addition to late summer.

 

Parquet Courts
Pumpehuset, September 10 at 9pm
Strap in for a whizzing ride through rapid-fire rock laden with a hefty dose of summer campfire material. Originally from Texas, Parquet Courts sound like a a hybrid of Blink 182 and Vampire Weekend tipped with a psychedelic sting from the 13th Floor Elevators. 

 

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Soundvenue Session: Stormzy & Big Narstie
Pumpehuset, September 18 at 9pm
The prodigal son of genres such as garage, hip-hop and drum and bass, grime epitomizes the uncut, rude urban underground of London. Now enjoying a renaissance of sorts following a slight fade over the past years, grime's rise has been picked up by Denmark's Soundevenue magazine, which has booked two of the genre's ambassadors, Stormzy & Big Narstie, for an evening of underground action at Pumpehuset.

 

James Zabiela
Culture Box, September 19 at 9pm
In the world in which superstar selfie DJs such as David Guetta and Steve Aoki are one-eyed men with the stature of kings in the land of the blind, technical maestros like James Zabiela are a refreshing reminder  that good things are hard to come by. Zabiela's musical strengths are expressed through introspective, technically-astute explorations of the electronic music genre. Even by Culture Box's standards, this is a great booking.

 

Vega Club & Borneland presents: Les Loups
Ideal Bar, 19 Sept at 11pm
The Borneland brothers (Jonas and Micki) have become a permanent fixture on the Copenhagen disco and house scene since they made their advances into it half a decade or so ago. Making the transition to music production, Borneland look to be taking other talented outfits under their wing – in this case, Les Loups. Prepare for an evening of pop-inclined house and nu disco.

 

Baby Love & The Van Dangos
Loppen, September 25 at 9pm
Arguably not the most well-known of bands, Baby Love & The Van Dangos churn out the sort of ska that would be at home on a Caribbean island. That they are, in fact, from cold and dreary Denmark only makes them more interesting and with a gig in Christiania, expect them to be entirely in their element.

 

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Seasick Steve
Amager Bio, September 26 at 9pm
Seasick Steve epitomizes what music should be about. A self-trained musician, Steve fled a home eroded by alcohol at the tender age of 14 and lived the life of a wandering hobo for many years (he has since settled in Norway). Now an old and discerning man, Steve performs his spontaneous blues renditions using home-made instruments that lack acoustic perfection and are wholeheartedly brilliant by such virtue.

 

Reptile Youth & Abby Portner
Bremen Theatre, September 29 at 8:30 pm
When I first saw Reptile Youth a few years ago at the Roskilde Festival's Pavilion Junior stage, I was blown away by their immense stage presence and thought to myself, “this band is headed somewhere.” Fast forward a few years and the Danish rock band are playing a more mature, settled sound backed by Mercedes Benz, who've jumped at the content marketing opportunity to support a group that could easily become the latest cult phenomenon. For this particular outing they will be joined by Abby Porter (known for her exploits with psychedelic pioneers Animal Collective), who will take care of the visual and stage setup.

 

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Action Bronson
Store Vega, September 30 at 8pm
The physical appearance of Action Bronson bears a strange resemblance to the hirsute, hip-seeking types of hoods such as Vesterbro. An astute-as-they-come rapper and the son of an Albanian Muslim and an American Jew, Bronson epitomizes the plurality of New York's Queens where he hails from. In under a year, he has gone from being a Lille Vega floor filler to a full-grown stage killer. We have yet to see the best of Action Bronson.

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MUSIC

The Danish death metal band that became reality TV stars

The Aarhus band Baest is poised for an international breakthrough thanks to a recent documentary and an injection of taxpayer money.

Published: 19 August 2019 09:39 CEST
The Danish death metal band that became reality TV stars
Baest is Sebastian Adildsten, Svend Karlsson, Lasse Revsbech, Mattias Melchiorsen and Simon Olsen. Photo: Nikolaj Bransholm
Death metal is a genre defined by growling vocals, blistering distorted guitars and blast beats. The sound is typically accompanied by dark imagery that borders on the downright evil. In a music world dominated by sugary pop and hip-hop, it’s about as far away from the mainstream one can get. 
 
But a young Danish death metal band is upending all of that. The Aarhus-based Baest found its way into the homes of ordinary Danes nationwide thanks to a documentary series on public television that chronicled their attempt to make music their full-time gig.
 
The series, ‘Den Satans Familie’, follows the young band as they leave Aarhus and embark on their first real European tour. It paints an intimate picture of the five members’ relationships, both with each other and the families they left behind while on the road. Baest only formed in 2015, so the documentary captures how members Sebastian Abildsten (drums), Svend Karlsson (guitar), Mattias Melchiorsen (bass), Simon Olsen (vocals) and Lasse Revsbech (guitar) in some ways still seem to be working out how to co-exist, something that's not always easy when crammed inside a small tour van. 
 
The DR3 series meant that these young, long-haired, heavily-tattooed metal dudes were suddenly reaching a much larger audience, including many who were not necessarily fans of their sound but couldn’t help but be drawn in by their personalities and their raw struggle to make it in the music business. 
 
 
But getting featured in a reality TV show wasn’t the only boost for Baest. The band was named 'best new Danish act' by highly-respected music magazine Gaffa, which also declared their debut album Danse Macabre the best metal or hard rock album of 2018.
 
Baest was also granted 250,000 kroner from the Danish Arts Foundation, a state-run fund for supporting Danish arts abroad. The financial boost is likely to come in handy as the young Aarhusians prepare to hit the road again in support of their upcoming second album, Venenum, which is due on September 13. 
 
Following the band’s standout performance at Copenhell, the annual heavy metal festival in Copenhagen, I caught up with guitarist Lasse Revsbech to talk about the band’s whirlwind success. 
 
First of all, I really enjoyed your performance at Copenhell. What was that like for you? 
 
“We’ve never played a crowd that big before, it was amazing. We’ve been building up over the past few years in Denmark, so to see where it’s gotten to now makes it all worth it. At Copenhell, we shared the stage with some fucking true legends. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. It’s insane.”
 
How do you describe Baest?
 
“Baest is an intense band, with high energy and raw power but with an enormous smile.”
 
How did the reality show come about? 
 
“Our manager was in a dialogue with [public broadcaster] DR and they decided to send a crew to cover one of our gigs at VoxHall in Aarhus. We told them we were on the verge of going on this tour and everyone just thought it would be fun to do it.”
 
The metal world can often seem overly concerned about image and authenticity and in the documentary you come across as this group of really nice, down-to-earth guys. Did you have any concerns about how this might affect your image? 
 
“We were definitely nervous about the metal community’s reaction and how things would be edited and presented but fortunately we really think that DR hit the nail on the head. There’s been such a great response. A lot of true metalheads and touring musicians have told us that it painted such an honest picture of the music industry. A lot of metal bands have a hard time with this concept of selling out but we’ve not been told once – not yet, at least – they were are sell-outs.”
 
You also received a grant from the Danish Arts Foundation. Isn’t it a bit crazy that public money is going to a death metal band? 
 
“Haha, it makes you happy to pay your taxes! It’s so Danish! But really, it’s all about people supporting people and it’s something I think other countries should do.” 
 
What are you hoping to achieve with the release of your new album? 
 
“First and foremost, we’re hoping it allows us to tour more. This autumn, we’ll be heading out for our biggest European tour thus far, as main support for an Entombed AD & Aborted co-headling tour. Entombed are one of the pioneers of death metal, so it’s insane to go on tour with those guys. 
 
“Even if the new album doesn’t make us explode, we hope it will get us one step closer to that. We’re a band that likes to dream big, so we want to play on the biggest stages all around the world. Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction.” 
 
 
Baest’s tour in support of Entombed AD and Aborted kicks off on October 18 in London and will take them to 28 cities throughout Europe, including a November 1 stop at Vega in Copenhagen. Venenum will hit stores and streaming services on September 13 and lead single ‘As Above So Below’ is out now. The four-part documentary on Baest is available to stream here.
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