Jamming the audience to its feet

Before anything else, I must state the writing a regular review of this concert will not do it justice. I will do my best, but as I also discovered upon asking others after the concert, speechlessness was a prevailing factor.

As he enters the stage, applause and cheers drown out Bernhoft's first words into the microphone. The atmosphere is electric as people lean slightly forwards in their chairs in anticipation.

Foto: fg.samfundet.no

He sits alone on the stage, surrounded by two guitars, a guitalele, a piano, a tiny keyboard, two microphones and an assortment of effect pedals. He steps on a pedal and drums a beat on his guitar. Upon stepping on it again, the now recorded beat starts playing in a loop and he starts strumming a melody over it. Step, a second guitar, step, a melody, step, the first vocal into the microphone. As the sixth track is sung on top of the others the harmonies and beats have every head in the room nodding to the music, many mouthing the lyrics even if they don't know them perfectly. No one minds.

-Having to sit at this concert is an outrage, the girl sitting next to me exclaims through the roaring applause between two songs as she looks out across the floor filled with a seated audience. Sure enough, after the third song a small group of people has leaped out of their seats and are grooving to the music at the back of the room.

The energy in the room is palpable as a whole hour of grooving rhythms and wonderful harmonics has suddenly passed. -I hope you've had a good time, Bernhoft says. I've enjoyed it like an excited puppy. As the last song starts sounding, the audience can sit no longer and rush forward to swarm the floor in front of the stage.

Foto: fg.samfundet.no

The huge smile on Bernhoft's face reveals his delight as the whole room jumps, claps and sings along with the music. As he leaves the stage, music loop still playing, the crowd doesn't bat an eye, but just keeps on dancing. A minute later, the music stops, only to give way to a seemingly never-ending applause. Another two minutes, and Bernhoft returns to the stage to play another song. Certain that the crowd will give up, it takes a whole seven minutes of intense clapping and chanting before he returns for a final tune.

Humbled by the attention, he expresses his gratitude to the audience for giving him such a wonderful experience as he plays himself out leaving an incredibly satisfied crowd with sore palms, tired voices and an experience to remember.