Mr. Kalkbrenner's Sónar Reykjavík set did not disappoint
This is being written a few days after Paul Kalkbrenner’s set at Sónar Reykjavík, I’m still kind of blown away. I needed time to recover. Paul Kalkbrenner’s first set in Iceland was a complete success, plainly put: the gig overwhelmed me. The atmosphere at SónarClub that night is hard to describe, but I will say that the chemistry between Paul and his audience was just perfect.
As an enthusiastic concertgoer, I’ve learned from experience that you always have to be at the venue a bit before showtime. This is different in Iceland. Everyone comes a bit late, and there is no stress, anywhere. We thus had ample time to enter Harpa’s biggest venue for one of the festival’s headlining acts. When we arrived, the floor was covered in empty plastic cups and beer cans from the previous show. While venue staff cleaned up (or rather: shoved everything into a corner), we secured a good spot in the front row.
My dream was coming true. Me, in the front row for Paul Kalkbrenner, next to the speakerboxes.
Paul’s set started on time. This was really great, because it was already half-past midnight on the festival’s second day. All my energy came rushing back when he played his first track and the audience went crazy. I’d usually have a hard time of standing next to those speakers for more than ten minutes, but my ears somehow managed.
The tracks from ‘Berlin Calling’ reminded me of my school days. They reminded me that I’ve been a Paul Kalkbrenner fan for such a long time. And speaking as a fan, I can tell you: Everything was perfect. He interacted well with the audience, and he knew what we wanted to hear. It was evident to all present hat he didn’t start yesterday.
I danced for the entire set, an hour and fifteen minutes, without a break. Most of the audience did the same, and when he played two bonus tracks for an encore, the audience just freaked out. On his first set in Iceland, Paul Kalkbrenner somehow managed to pick exactly the right tracks for a Reykjavík audience.
Hopefully, he’ll be back some day.
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