|
BAO! in Concert: The FULL Report from Paul Carter This year I was at three of the concerts on the BAO! tour, in Stockholm, Örebro and Helsingborg. The weather was perfect for each of the open-air concerts, and while there is of course an dancefloor at Skansen, there was a portable dancefloor that was put down at the other venues. Here's the track listing, composers, and some commentary on the various songs, this being based on what was played at the Örebro concert: The first act: 1.Hardangervidda (Benny Andersson) from Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001) 2.Cirkus finemang (Benny Andersson) from Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001) I was sure that this year they would start with "Glasgow Boogie", but it turned out to be these two tracks as normal. The introduction to "Hardangervidda" was rather different in that Göran Arnberg did this really long, slightly mystical sounding, keyboard introduction while the band members were coming on stage. Really liked this. 3.Vitalins vals (Benny Andersson) from BAO! (2004) 4.Nya manvalsen (Benny Andersson) from Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001) 5.Scottish schottis (Olle Moreaus) from Ödra (1998) 6.Schottis i Tyrolen (Benny Andersson) from Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001) The first new song from the BAO! album to be played. On "Nya manvalsen", I've noticed that there seem to be lyrics of some sort of another to this melody, as Benny and the rest are singing along something for most of the song, but just inaudibly. I also recall that Benny offered 100kr (?) to the first people who got up to dance at both the Örebro and Helsingborg concerts, and he handed this out later in the show. 7.Riks 1:an (Benny Andersson) from BAO! (2004) There was a big surprise here as Jörgen Stenberg, who plays the drums for BAO, was instead playing the main xylophone part for this song. So, someone else was needed for the drums and percussion - step forward Benny "Ola Brunkert" Andersson! Quite something to see him do that... 8.Gladan (Benny Andersson) from Klinga Mina Klockor (1987) 9.En dans på rosor (Benny Andersson) from BAO! (2004) Though possibly this one could be credited to Andersson/Ulvaeus, considering the melody part that's been lifted from "Sång till Görel"... 10.Skenbart (Benny Andersson/Peter Dalle) from BAO! (2004) This began with an extended instrumental intro, during which Benny introduced the entire band, and finally Helen, who came on stage for her first song. I really like this, one of the highlights from the BAO! album and this would have been good as the single chosen for radio, I think. The 40s/50s feel comes off really well, as does the plodding bass part and the saxaphone. Helen sang two choruses through a megaphone, which replicated ther studio effect of the 'dated' crackly radio noise. 11.När tvenne hjärtan slå samma slag (Jules Sylvain/Gösta Stevens) 12.Drömmen om elin (Carl Jularbo/Peter Himmelstrand) The first song is a duet between Helen and Tommy, and is apparently a song from the 1933 Swedish film "Kära släkten". The second was recorded by Tommy back in 1969, and I think a big hit for him at the time. 13.Lätt som en sommarfjäril (Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus) 14.Sway (Pablo Beltran Ruiz/Norman Gimbel) This is a well-known song first recorded(?) by Dean Martin and a hit for him in 1954. Tommy was on vocals, partly in Swedish, and given that there's not a piano or accordian part, Benny was playing castanets, and Helen and one of the Moraeus' were adding on various other hand-held percussion sounds. 15.Lauren (Benny Andersson) from Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001) 16.Golfswingen (Pererik Moreaus) from Ödra (1998) 17.Blickuspolska nr.III (trad.) from Fiolen min (1990) 18.Hjortingen (trad.) from Fiolen min (1990) 19.Lottis schottis(Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus) from Klinga mina klockor (1987) 20.Slängpolska efter Byss Kalle (trad.) 21.Something Stupid (Carson Parks) 22. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do (Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus) from ABBA (1975) These last two are duets with Helen and Tommy. The ending of "I Do" was the same way that ABBA did it when performed live. 23.Köp hjärtan (Jules Sylvain/S.S Wilson) 24.Ring Ring (bara du slog en signal) (Benny Andersson/Stig Anderson/Björn Ulvaeus) from Ring Ring (1973) The first one is sung alone by Helen, and has a lot of lyrics about telephones. So a natural lead in to "Ring Ring", which is a duet with Tommy. Benny was really into this one, and great to see him doing the clapping in the right places! And that was the end of the first half of the concert.... Act 2 25.Födelsedagsvals till Mona (Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus) from Klinga mina klockor (1987) 26.Snedseglarn (Benny Andersson) from Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001) 27.New Delhi (Perkerik Moreaus) from Ödra (1998) 28. Glasgow Boogie (Benny Andersson) from BAO! (2004) Fabulous to hear this wonderful piece live - although the tuba intro was a little subdued compared to how it is on the album. Definitely one of the most popular songs with the audience, and faster paced and more jazzy than the studio version. The electric guitar part on this song is especially effective. The whole band were really getting into the vocal part as well. 29.Aj-aj-aj, vilken röd liten ros (Jules Sylvain/Gösta Stevens) Time for Helen to return to the stage for this song, and with backing vocals from Benny and the band which they seemed to be enjoying a lot... 30.Midnattsdans (Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus) from BAO! (2004) This duet with Helen and Kalle was performed on stage in the roles of a courting couple, perhaps from another century, and was really well received by the audience as there was an element of comedy in it as well. 31.Cadillac (Michael Brown/Don Gibson/Graham Johnson/Vince Taylor/Ian Mallett) from We And Our Cadillac (1965) A great idea to go from a medieval minuet to this rock'n'roll song, sung by Tommy, to highlight the diversity of music that BAO are into. Wonderful to see Benny bouncing up and down on the piano and going wild playing the Hep Stars again. He was definitely having a fantastic time on this one! 32.Money Money Money (Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus) from Arrival (1976) This seemed to be a little different from before in that there was a bit more accordian than previously 33.Trettondagspolkan (Benny Andersson) from BAO! (2004) 34.Bälter Svens paradpolkett (Olle Moreaus) from Orsa Spelmän (1988) These two songs have been performed as a pair at each concerts for quite some time and they really work well together. Both are a lot faster than the studio versions, really getting everyone going. There's some extra vocal accompaniment that isn't on the studio version of "Trettondagspolkan". One of the highlights of the concert, definitely! 35.Moon River (Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer) 36.Sommaren är här (Martin Ljung) These two are sung by Tommy. "Sommaren är här" is a new one this year, with lyrics about the Swedish summer. 37.Inledningsvisa (Benny Andersson) from Klinga mina klockor (1987) 38.Anitas polska (Benny Andersson) from Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001) 39.Badinerie (Johann Sebastian Bach) 40.Jehu (Benny Andersson) from BAO! (2004) I had been really looking forward to seeing "Jehu" live, and it was sounded as good as I thought it would. As Jörgen Stenberg was on the xylophone again, and Benny on piano, the drum part was this time played by Tommy. The whipcrack effect was also present as well. Fabulous! 41.Gamle svarten (Michael Carr/Hamilton Kennedy/Sven-Olof Sandberg) This is the Swedish version of an American song called "Ole' Faithful" and they've performed it in previous years, sung by Tommy. 42.Du är min man (Benny Andersson) from BAO! (2004) Helen returned to stage for the promotional track from the new album, and it did sound good, though I am still not that convinced about it. But it went down well with the crowd. The saxaphone/bass/piano part really reminds me quite a bit of "Why Did It Have To Be Me". 43.O Sole Mio (trad.) Seemingly no BAO concert is complete without this from Kalle... 44.Oh What A Thrill (Chuck Berry) Introduced last year, sung by Tommy. Another rock-piano jumping about song for Benny, and he really gets into it here. Kalle is on the electric guitar. 45.Hawaii (trad.?) I don't know the proper title of this song or who wrote it, but it's know by BAO as "Hawaii", and is Tommy and Helen singing what seem to be nonsense lyrics. Benny accompanies them on the ukelele. 46.True Love (Cole Porter) As performed last year, duet from Tommy and Helen, and Benny on piano. 47.Vår sista dans (Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus) from Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001) And that was the last song of the main concert, before they all returned on stage for the traditional medley of: 48.Vårat gäng (Nils Perne/Sven Paddock) 49.Säg det med ett leende (Nils Perne/Sven Paddock/Helge Roundquist) 50.Bättre och bättre dag (Mark Strong/Karl-Ewert Christensson/S.S.Wilson) For the very last encore, Benny and the band appeared from the side of the stage playing their instruments and then came down on to the dancefloor itself for the two last tracks, before slowly returning back offstage. The two songs were: 51.Cirkus finemang (Benny Andersson) from Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001) 52.Trettondagsmarschen (Hjort-Anders Olsson) from Fiolen min (1990) All in all, each concert lasted over three hours, and the amount of songs they fit in is quite something. There seems to be a core of songs that are kept year-on-year, but this year was especially interesting with the release of the new album. There are also quite a few reviews and other articles about the tour, from different stops along the way. Most of these articles have pictures too. Here are the links if you want to check them out: www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1323&a=296413 www.hd.se/ArticlePages/200408/06/20040806112130_-Alla_anvandare-784/20040806 112130_-Alla_anvandare-784.dbp.shtml www.nyalt.se/artikel.asp?id=1057220 www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=286&a=176566 www.bohuslaningen.se/artikel_pm_standard.php?id=147378&avdelning_1=101&avdel ning_2=133&avdelning_3=0 www.sodran.com/artikel.asp?id=1034061 Thanks to ABBAMAILer Paul Carter London, UK |