Gas Giant and On Trial - Studenterhuset, Kobenhavn 9/12/03
Uploaded to Aural Innovations: September 2003
This was a release party for the Gas Giant CD, Mana! There was 100 liters of free beer starting at 10 until it ran out and a lot of people showed up. Most of the bands friends and family came to the gig. I arrived at about 6:30 and they were just setting up the gear for soundcheck and having a few beers. On Trial had just arrived. I have a chat with everyone and the spirit is good! After a bit I set up the merchandise stand and Jesper helps me out. Ralph is really having some trouble with the soundboard and one of the monitors. Gas Giant has quite a short soundcheck and play two versions of "Mana". On Trial will use Gas Giant's drums and amps but it seems that they spend 30 minutes on the sound. Sound is good and loud in the end. Everyone is hanging out as more and more people come. Jepser is playing DJ with a bunch of cassette compilations that he made. Really good stuff. It turns out that his cassette deck and box of tapes was stolen after the show from the backstage room as it was gone when they came to get the gear the next day. Shit.
Anyway, At 9, the whole MANA CD is played but at quite a low volume. I am not even sure people noticed it. On Trial hit the stage at 10:15 and this is only the third show with the new guitar player, Rasmus, from the Danish band, Weed (www.weed.dk) and drummer Anders from the Swedish band, Mother Superior. The band opens with a couple of songs from the new CD, Blinded By The Sun. Next was a couple of new cover songs that I had never heard before. "Had You Ever Had A Feeling" and the Troggs number "When Will The Rain Come". The last was really great. On Trial are really excellent and doing cover songs and bringing their own unique vibe to them. The oldest song in the set, "Lovecraft" was next. They speed things up with "Do You See Her" and "Flashinghast" from the great New Day Rising CD. The band play a much more rock set and not as much of a psychedelic feel. It was great to see both Guf and Anders (Baby Woodrose), the former guitar and drummer at the gig. They were clearly enjoying it. After "Everything", they played a new song, at least I think it was a new song called "It's Gonna Be Like That". The set ended with a really fast blast of "Pot Of Gold" into "Long Time Gone". The new members are great and provide a solid punch for the band and they prove they can still perform a great rockin' show.
Set List: Miles Away, Blinded By The Sun, Had You Ever Had A Feeling, When Will The Rain Come, Lovecraft, Do You See Her, Flashinghast, Everything, Its Gonna Be Like That, Pot Of Gold>Long Time Gone
After a 15 minute break, the singer in Gas Giant, Jesper, his brother John came up and performed 4 solo acoustic songs. Damn, this was a cool thing. It was a nice break and he writes good songs. The last song he played was a really excellent song. Neil Young should cover it!
Gas Giant hit the stage about 12 or so and were in an altered state. Jesper had been sick the whole week and had a bad back and was taking painkillers and was in a strange state. Thomas and Stefan had been drinking beers with all their friends for the past many hours and were quite high. I did not hang out in the backstage that much but I am sure more than a few joints were smoked as well. Tommy, had left for a few hours and came back fresh, having eaten some food (which the others never did!) and showered. The set opened with a FreeFlow version of "Mana". This song just keeps getting better and better live. Really a floating version. The guitar is too low and the drums too loud. I hope this gets settled out. "Dragons Cave" is next and quite good. The band play a short spacey version of "Green Valley". The guitar parts are played very loosely and Jesper can't seem to remember the correct words to hardly any of the songs. He sings the lyrics in quite a mixed up way. "Never Leave This Way" is next and a long jam, which the band just does not seem to know where it is going. What is happening?? "Moonshake" is really mixed up. The band recover a bit with "Back On The Headless Track" and they get spaced out and really slow things down and Torben from Magnified Eye joins in and sings some improve vocals and the band jump into a rock and roll groove and Stefan rips off a cool solo. The band ends the set with "Too Stoned" into another jam. Jesper's brother joins on the conga drums. The crowd really want more and the band are not sure what to do. They go for "Storm Of My Enemies" and a strange version it is. Stefan is really too out of it to play this song.
What a night. I sold a few LPs and CDs and pins and then packed up the gear and had a nice chat with everyone. What a night. Fun but not your usual ass kicking Gas Giant show.
Set list: FreeFlow Mana, Dragons Cave, Green Valley, Never Leave This Way, Moonshake, Back On The Headless Track>Jam, Too Stoned>Jam, Storm Of My Enemies
Reviewed by Scott Heller