AIRBAG/OAK
VENUE COSMOPOLITE, OSLO, NORWAY
DATE 10/02/2024
It’s quite something when fellow Oslo prog bands Airbag and Oak join forces for two 90-minute homecoming shows. Formerly a support band for Airbag, quartet
Oak
are now presented on an equal billing, and when they walk onstage the standing area in Cosmopolite is rammed.
This is the first time Oak have showcased their material from their recent album, The Quiet Rebellion Of
Compromise, in their hometown, and it goes down well from the start, particularly the slow-building Ulveresque Sunday 8AM. Frontman Simen Valldal Johannessen, one of Norway’s finest vocalists – and this from a country that has already offered up Andreas Prestmo of Wobbler and Einar Solberg of Leprous – sits at a grand piano and plays a few chords, complemented by masterful mallet drumming from Sigbjørn Reiakvam. The rest of the band gradually join in and an immense stage energy is created by Johannessen rising to his feet and pounding the piano keys, guitarist Stephan Hvinden fully bending his whammy bar while raising the instrument above his head, and bassist Øystein Sootholtet headbanging while somehow not missing a beat. It would be a fitting encore, but the last song is Psalm 51 from False Memory Archive, which evokes Damnation-era Opeth. As it ends, the cheers are rapturous and it is clear that Oak have evolved far beyond a support slot.