December 11, 2001

Royksopp : Stockholm Barkarby Motorstadion

Their repertoire of dreamy fjordic lullabies leaves even the biggest bikers out into the cold winter's night with a twinkle in their eye...

There are few weirder places to end up by chance, than amidst Sweden's fashionistas and glamorous social elite, in a sweaty, sleazy Hell's Angels den (Home to the notorious Swede Sofia Hogs gang) on the outskirts of Stockholm.

Hidden alongside us, amongst the grease and cycle bits, hogs and huge bearded bikers, behind the parade of scantily clad and semi-nude and unfeasibly beautiful Scandinavian models put here to display Levi's finest new vintage wares are Royksopp.

Norway's finest dance exports in living memory, the duo have been bussed in by the big brand denim company to entertain us all. Given the circumstances and oddly matched throng, it's all going swimmingly.

Whilst many dance acts of their ilk, seem to fall foul in the live arena, tonight Svein Berge and Torbjorn Bruntland embrace the enormity of the task ahead of them to create a spectacle worthy of the sum of their glorious debut album 'Melody A.M.'. They do this by bemusing and wooing both the chalk and cheese of tonight's guests by bashing their electronic drums, warbling through vocoders and providing warmth and love with tracks like 'Eple' and 'Poor Leno'.

By the end of the night, their repertoire of dreamy fjordic lullabies leaves even the biggest bikers out into the cold winter's night with a twinkle in their eye. Wonders will never cease.

James Hopkins

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