Downhere - one more concert....

For the second time in my life I had the chance to attend a concert of one of my favourite bands, Downhere from Canada. This time in a sport hall in Vikeså in Rogaland. Not the best of locations, not the best of sounds. Not the biggest of audiencens, either, there could not be more than a couple of hundreds inside. And very few of them my age or older. Maybe people had not heard. Or maybe they did not care. And surely they'll never know what they missed. But the ones who were actually there, got the treatment of kings.

There's just something about this band. The lyrics, the melodies. The authencity, the honesty. It is real music made by real people. Not by superstars or superstars' songwriters. Although they tried to act as evangelists a couple of times during the concert, it was clear that this was not their best. But the band, well played together, giving their best to a luke warm audience that came most to life when Marc Martel bragged about the Norwegian countryside and the Norwegian people.

Surely, there were songs I missed. And there were songs I wouldn't have missed if they chose not to play them. I wonder why they played "Living the dream" from their latest album while they did not play the beautiful "Holy" and the rocky "Only the beginning". And as their extra number they chose to play "Bleed for this love" instead of all the other wonderful songs from "Ending is beginning". But it's ok. They came. They played. They entertained. And we all felt richer afterwards. This band is a secret that is hidden from too many.

Maybe that is changing, though. Marc Martel has appeared on YouTube and The Ellen Show, with his "sound like and look like Freddy Mercury" act. And he has a blending voice. But the band is so much more than that.

The band took time to write autographs and talk to people afterwards. My "perfect British speaking" brother-in-law talked to all of them for quite some time, as I talked with Jason Germain a bit about songwriting and why they didn't play their best songs (in my view anyway) in concert. Now it's much about the Queen stuff, he said. And didn't sound too pleased with that. Or maybe that's just my interpretation. I still had a blast. And the next time they come, I'll be there, too!