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Live at Gaardsrokk Gjovik gaard Norway 24.08.04

Headlining this years Gårdsrokk were the Hardrockin’ Proginfluenced 4 piece that we’ve praised on this site (see elsewhere on this site for reviews) for a long time.
So what’s new in the Glow-camp then, you might ask? The band have been working hard on new material since Rock Of Norway’s last encounter with the band, so it’s safe to say that they haven’t been inactive despite their lack of liveaction in the recent months.

“Push” opened tonights show, a tune that is one of their absolute highlights in my books with it’s special beat and catchy arrangement. “King of nothing” is next up, coming from the first demo which contained some really good songs, and to make my point clear this is just one of the many! So how about including a few of those in the liveset guys??? In the bands defense there was a time limit at this gig, being outside in a central part of town and all and therefore also a limit to how on how many songs they could perform at this festivalgig. 
Movin’ on we got a couple of downtempo numbers in “Close our eyes” and “Masters of the universe” with the latter one being the best of them, this time. “De Ville in disguise” is one of the aforementioned newbies in the set. A Hardrockin’ badass Hendrix type-groove is the focus in this song which is one of the hardest songs by this bands ever... An awesome jawdropper of a track!
Second newbie is “What tomorrow brings” which is completely different all togehter, pinpointing the band’s progressive roots. At times the riff and the arrangement reminds me of Saga, sprinkled with a touch of early Phil Collins era (speaking vocally of course late 70’s -early 80’s) Genesis. Sorry Gizzer’n, but it’s true ;-) Again the guys have created another great track, that worked extremely well live. So lets see them on a release soon please..!?!?
Showstoppers this night were “Insomnia” and “Too far gone”. Insomnia is a delicate melancolic ballad, while “Too far gone“ is a midtempo Hardrocker which really comes more to it’,s right live than on record. The band had a good live appearance at Gårdsrokk even if I would have preferred that at least one of the ballads had been replaced with a rocker. As I said the first demo has got plenty of them; “Flashboy”, “Freedom”, “Into the blue”, “Walk through walls” or from the record; “See the light” or “Living on borrowed time”.... 
Not to mention what happend to the phenomenal “Look away”, which has proved to be a standout livetrack before? I really missed that one!

I’m eagerly awaiting the new material from the band, and there’s no doubt in my mind that the two tracks I heard this night will do extremely well on record as well. Am I sensing a comeback to a more “in your face” approach of the first demo??? Judging by the two new tracks I think there’s a bit of that, as well as keeping their Progressive Hardrock edge of the album “Flipside of reality” intact; and I love it!

Setlist (highlights marked with *):

Push *
King of nothing
Close our eyes
Masters of the universe
DeVille in disguise *
What tomorrow brings*
Insomnia
Too far gone*

Review and photo’s by Roar Kleven

Click here for photos.