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author BV date 01/05/15 venue Tivoli, Copenhagen, DEN

At this particular point in time it can no longer be deemed a secret (if it ever could) that I am extremely fond of Spids Nøgenhat. I won’t lie; I’ll take any chance I get to see their live show even under the dodgiest of circumstances – which is exactly what I would call last night’s gig at Tivoli at the weekly Fredagsrock event. Infamous for the constant threats from the neighbors who frantically try to keep the sound levels in Tivoli to a minimum, it is not exactly what I would call an ideal location for a band well-known for playing loud. The strangely unique surroundings, however, could be deemed quite a match though, I’ll admit to that.

Spids Nøgenhat

In keeping with Fredagsrock traditions there was no support act for the show, meaning that it was a no frills type of thing, when Spids Nøgenhat entered the outdoor stage in the light of the now fully visible moon and their mind-bending visuals. With the screens that usually show close-ups of band members covered in warped imagery of mushrooms I’ll have to admit it was stranger than I could ever have imagined – the sheer juxtaposition of Tivoli’s general imagery, paired with the druggy visuals of Spids Nøgenhat was something I’d never actually thought I’d see, but as I was gazing into the visuals on stage it all seemed to make perfect sense. Opening with “Mere Lys” it was evident that I had secured myself one of the sonically favorable spots in Tivoli where the volume was most definitely loud enough. It’s always strange to see a band you’ve never really associated with mass appeal standing on stage in Tivoli playing for a horde of people, but as far as that particular thing goes, Spids Nøgenhat seemed to have full control over it. With a surprising amount of audience interaction from front-man Lorenzo Woodrose in particular, the band made sure that the audience was never lost along the way when songs like “Hobbittens Flyvetur” and “Giv Slip” evolved into fuzzy onslaughts of oscillating, psychedelic madness.

Throughout the night it was clear that the band is remarkably tight these days. Minor technical glitches aside, the band was in more or less full control of the situation and even though drummer Anders Grøn had to step out to retrieve something for his drumkit – which he had pounded mercilessly up until that point – the band kept going with spaced out intro to “Mit Psykedelisk Tapet” devoid of drums but filled with buzzsaw fuzz, farfisa organ, echo bubbles and a dominant bass laying down the low-end the way a proper bass is meant to. Returning to stage once more, Anders Grøn elevated the track to withering heights when the drums finally appeared as if all they had really been doing was building suspense. Inevitable crowd-favorite “Den Gennemsigtige Mand” had the first few rows (and possibly more) singing along to the highly memorable chorus while standing perfectly still in complete awe when guitarists Morten Aron Larsen and Henrik “Hobbitten” Klitstrøm reached massive heights with their beautiful pairing of trebly fuzz guitar leads and bubbling, highly rhythmic echo-wah guitars. Which would again be the case when the band launched into my own personal favorite, “Hvad Har Du Taget?”, where the band, as per tradition, went completely off the rails into sonic freak-out territory commanded by the steady grooves of Anders Grøn and Anders Skjødt while Lorenzo Woodrose constantly shifted from strolling and marching down the photo-pit with the stick of magic as if he was conducting a highly successful shamanistic ritual before the whole thing inevitably winded down and the band left the stage to great applause.

Having realized they had only played for an hour, the band went on stage once more and promised no less than four more tracks – opening their set of encores with a great rendition of Gasolin’s seventies classic “Langebro” to even greater applause, possibly due to its massive public appeal. Proceeding then to play a track they’d never played live before, front-man Lorenzo Woodrose remarked; ”This is another seventies classic. We’ve never played it live before, so for those of you who know it – this song is for you” before they ventured into a marvelous rendition of Green Grass’ completely underrated “Du Er Min Allerbedste Ven” complete with psychedelic visuals, Woodrose’s haunting voice, the sheer force of the rhythm section and the incendiary qualities of the guitarists doing what they do best. Closing their set with a pairing of crowd-favorite “Ud På Landet” and the heavily trippy “Udkoksning I 3 Satser” I’d easily say that Spids Nøgenhat at Fredagsrock was more of a success than I could have imagined. I have no way of speaking for those who stood further back from the stage, but for me personally Spids Nøgenhat and Tivoli seemed a great match – an unlikely one, but great nonetheless.

Setlist:

• 1. Mere Lys
• 2. Hobbittens Flyvetur
• 3. Giv Slip
• 4. Lever Vi Nu?
• 5. Mit Psykedeliske Tapet
• 6. Den Gennemsigtige Mand (Furekåben)
• 7. Spids Nøgenhat I Græsset
• 8. Lolland Falster
• 9. Vand, Brød og Te
• 10. Hvad Har Du Taget?
• --Encore—
• 11. Langebro (Gasolin’)
• 12. Du Er Min Allerbedste Ven (Green Grass)
• 13. Ud På Landet (Aron)
• 14. Udkoksning I 3 Satser (Cinderella)