Field Report: Bethlehem, Pa. June21, 2009 – Trettioariga Kriget (NearFest)

It’s a Sunday morning, the clouds have formed over New York City, and anxiety has struck my being with the force of a ten ton nuclear warhead. I was leaving the city that I had just begun to fathom in theory for Newark, New Jersey en route to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania via train and bus, respectively. As if taking on the New York City terrain and subways alone wasn’t a daunting enough task, now I was embarking on a journey across state lines that I was completely unfamiliar with.

Sign of the cross, silent prayer, and . . . break!

I’ll spare you all the boring travel details, but in short, I took a train to Newark, hopped on a bus to Bethlehem, and hoofed it on foot up many a hill to Lehigh University to check out one of my favorite prog-rock bands. Yes, Trettioariga Kriget were back in the States for only the second time in their history and performing on the last day of NearFest, the annual festival that throws a blinding spotlight on all that is progressive in music, especially rock. Most of you know that I’ve had a fascination with these Swedes from the moment I first heard “Lang Historia” off of their 2004 release, Elden Av Ar, so it should come as no surprise that being a mere seventy miles away that I was gonna’ do everything possible to check them out. Again, I have no plans to bore you with every minute detail of me getting to the University, finding the hall, and locating my seat assignment . . . so let’s fast forward to the show, shall we?

The lights went down, the new visual projections were flickering across the back of the stage, and the band made their way to the stage to the massively tense build up of “I Krigets Tid I.” The sound was a little rough in places, but for the most part, Trettioariga Kriget sounded as good as anything one might hear on the live War Years album from last year. Even as singer Robert Zima and keyboardist Mats Lindberg were motioning to the sound crew to increase various levels in their monitors, the band powered through the first two tracks from the brilliant I Borjan Och Slutet. The bass work of Stefan Fredin drove through the sternum, drummer Dag Lundquist hit the skins with primitive force, and guitarist Christer Akerberg showed fluid grace throughout the entire performance, and through the initial songs, powered their way by sheer force of will to get the bands point across.

After the first two songs were complete, I noticed that this NearFest crowd was far from an exuberant bunch, clapping briefly in between the songs, and almost acting like this gig was some odd sort of classical recital. Last time I checked, prog-rock was a derivative of rock ‘n roll, which was all about rebellion and playing music at extreme levels, so in natural rock ‘n roll form, I belted out blood curdling screams of appreciation each and every time that I could. Walk with me or get left behind, NearFesters! TK turned in a blistering rendition of “Lang Historia,” and it was during this song that I recognized the phenomenal playing style of Christer Akerberg. My God . . . his right hand was like water as he half picked and half strummed the passages, his left hand practically had a mind of its own, weaving its way through the complex array of notes. And the band was tight! Throughout the near eight minutes of dips and dives, odd ball time changes, and textural shifts, these guys were on it! Highly technical work with a soulful foundation . . . Trettioariga Kriget showed that they were well prepared to capture the imagination of all in attendance.

For the next hour and a half, these prog-masters filled the air with tunes spanning their entire career though practically eliminating all selections from the more pop oriented Hej Pa Er and Mot Alla Odds, which makes sense. TK were performing for a group of folks who would argue to the death about the greatest moments of King Crimson’s first album, so it makes sense that the bands most technically complex moments were going to be on full display for the mathematicians to contemplate. Tunes like “Kriggsang” and the rarely performed “Roster Fran Minus Till Plus” garnered the loudest responses from the crowd as TK powered through these progressive epics like a group of men with something to prove. But, it was the stunning performance of “Jag Och Jag Och Jag” that knocked the room on its ass. Robert Zima’s heartfelt execution of the vocals, accompanied by the smooth arpeggio’s from Akerberg, took the crowd to their happy place, and once Fredin and Lundquist stepped up to the mic to add vocal harmonies, the crowd damn near passed out from sheer pleasure. Highlight of the show? To many, the answer is, most certainly. If you weren’t there, you can hear the song on War Years and get a strong sense of what we all got to witness first hand.

The band followed up with a couple of tracks from I Borjan Och Slutet in the title track and “Benke.” Again, Akerberg killed me with his playing on “Benke” as he tastefully and gracefully plucked notes from the ether. His accompaniment with Zima’s acoustic guitar playing was also an item of note, and a musical connection that I had either not noticed before or simply took for granted. Go back and listen to the studio version on I Borjan Och Slutet to hear what I’m talking about and then imagine it tenfold as these two worked together like the appendages of the same being.

Trettioariga Kriget wrapped up the show with a tune from their first album called “Ur Djupen.” Mats Lindberg’s keys shimmered across the airwaves and laid down a glimmering plate for Zima’s unique vocal stylings to be served upon. The tune weaved and wound through the various time changes and before we knew it, the band was walking off stage, returning mere minutes later to a joyous cheer from the suddenly ecstatic and boisterous crowd. The band then closed the show with two more fabulous tunes from the first album, “Fjarilsattiyder” and “Kaledoniska Orogenesen.” Both songs are as complex as brain surgery and were what this seemingly critical group of music fans were waiting to hear. The heads were bobbing in an odd off time fashion, the hands came out from underneath their seats, and there were scattered looks of amazement. As the band made their way back stage, I looked at the faces of the exiting crowd and saw smiles, hearing bits of conversation that they had to track down the bands stuff, and I ultimately felt that TK left a well deserved and hard fought footprint in the sand.

Personally, I was so damned satisfied with the show that even if there was bad sound and a lack of initial excitement from the crowd, well . . . it just didn’t bother me. Getting the chance to see Trettioariga Kriget live was an experience that won’t easily be forgotten, and finally getting the chance to shake hands with the band afterward felt like one chapter with the band was complete. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to meet chief lyricist Olle Thornvall who ended up cancelling his trip at the last minute, so that tells me there will be at least one more chapter in my relationship with this group of outstanding musicians.

If you couldn’t make it out to the show, I hope that this review helped paint a picture of what went down. There were no crazy explosions and balls of fire . . . it wasn’t that kind of a rock show. It was an hour and a half of solid prog-rock played by five exceptional musicians with no frills outside of their own God given abilities. Okay. There was the projection screen in the background for some added flavor, which did add a nice mood to most of the songs. If you do get a chance to see these guys do their thing live, I highly recommend it. You’ll be treated to a very entertaining and professional performance. - Pope JTE

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www.trettioarigakriget.com

http://www.nearfest.com