Echoes, amazing duets and seeing the bright side

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Ragnar Ólafsson – Kulterkeller, Limbach-Oberfrohna; August 2nd, 2022

After a few Patreon house gigs, Ragnar’s show in Limbach-Oberfrohna was a public one, organized by Conny, who would also sing with him that night. It was an interesting venue to say the least and a pretty cool setlist with many duets and good vibes. 😀

I’d decided to travel on local trains only, since there is generally a good connection between Nuremberg and Hof which covers about half of the distance. Sadly, due to construction, there was no direct train between the two cities and all in all with waiting times and many changes, it took me 7 hours to get to Limbach-Oberfrohna. Luckily, I had started early. Rested a moment at my hotel, got ready and grabbed some food on the way to the venue. The falafel was amazing, but my stomach didn’t agree with it so I wasn’t feeling my best when I arrived. However, hugging Raggi, Marta and Conny instantly made me feel better and I was looking forward to the concert. it took place in a basement that was still partly under constructions and thus the acoustics were a bit strange and echo-y.

It was a free gig, so many people showed up, wanting to check out someone knew. A quick poll showed that most people in the room had not seen Raggi play before. Conny introduced him and he started with ‘Wine’ all unplugged. For the first few songs there was a lot of noise coming from the bar which was just across the room from the stage, but it got better after Raggi pointed it out. We got an introduction to what to expected and to my surprised he continued with ‘Water’ to warm up his voice. Wow.

As always, he told us about the many bands he plays in. It amuses me every time how the number changes and gets more outrageous every day. We are at several thousand now. 😉 Conny joined him for ‘Dozen’ and it made me so happy to finally see them sing together. They had a couple of times and she’d always enjoyed it. It was amazing. I knew this time, Conny had also suggested some songs to try with harmonies so I was curious what the setlist was oing to be for this and the next show.

She stayed for ‘Minor Scratch’ and it was a s perfect as can be. Of all the duets this is my absolte favorite and I really love them all. <3 They went straight into ‘Deva’ where Conny added brilliant harmonies. 🙂 After that Raggi explained that playing in different bands is like being an actor who plays different roles and how his technique for writing different songs is traveling. Before he got there, however, he brought up the most Icelandic image he could think of: Sitting under the Northern lights in a jacuzzi with dried cod to eat. Marta and I grinned at each other as he exaggerated. 😀

‘Bravery’ followed and sounded great with the echo in the room. He continued with “a song about myself”, ‘Time’, followed by ‘Hugsanir’. <3 Of course we got ‘Örlög’ next and of course we wanted to sing and we did so nicely. “Noch einmal!” (once again) he instructed us in the end. It always makes me feel like being part of something bigger than myself. Singing together is really a community building experience.  <3

Raggi asked Conny back to the stage for more duets and they delivered a brilliant version of ‘Message’. It still sends shivers down my spine. <3 He spoke about all the feelings you can have when you are heartbroken and introduced ‘Petals’ as a super-sad love song. Super sad and super beautiful. It was perfect. 🙂 During the song there was some commotion in the back of the room with a woman fainting, so Raggi asked if she was OK and was assured she was fine now. Phew. It was probably the heat. Conny stayed for ‘Southern Nights’ as well, adding some lovely harmonies to the song and leading us in the sing-along. Then ‘Dragonfly’ brought the set to an end and Marta got her moment in the spotlight on the glockenspiel. 🙂

We were surprisingly loud in demanding an encore and got the murder ballads. They worked well, people even sang along to ‘Where the wild Roses grow’. We would not stop clapping and Raggi decided to play some more. He went for ‘Hero’ and made up some story about naked Enrique Iglesias writing the song and running out of words. It was very funny, but why this obsession with being naked? 😀 Unexpectedly, we got ‘Always kook on the bright Side of Life’ too and that really brought the house down. What a show!

Afterwards, we chatted for a bit, sharing hugs and drinks. Raggi had liked the show overall, but felt that ‘Hero’ didn’t go as well as in Poland. I agreed. Maybe some German guilty pleasure song next time. Soon it was time to pack and say goodbye. One last show to go!

pictures of this concert

Setlist

Wine
Water
Dozen
Minor Scratch
Deva
Bravery
Time
Hugsanir
Örlög
Message
Petals
Southern Nights
Dragonfly

Where the wild Roses grow
Sleep now
Hero
Always look on the bright Side of Life

Endatafl, new duet partner and post show barbeque

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Ragnar Ólafsson – house show, Spalt; August 1st, 2022

After the birthday concert in my living room on Saturday, I got another one on my actual birthday. It took place at C.’s home near Nuremberg and I would not have wanted to miss it for the world. It was a relaxed evening with a few song surprises and good vibes overall.

Until the day before the show I had believed it was taking place in Nuremberg and then found out that it was actually in a smaller town in the greater Nuremberg area. Therefore  I decided to leave Dortmund earlier than I had originally planned and book a hotel closer by. It later turned out I could have stayed in Nuremberg after all, but it was nice to not have a long train ride ahead after the show. Either way, it was a long trip, but it all went smoothly and I arrived on time, happy that I had been invited. Their house was lovely, I was greeted by their daughter, who excitedly showed off some drawings. 😀 Drink in hand I greeted Marta and Raggi, then sat down and waited for the show to start.

When all guests had settled down, Raggi stepped up to the mic and started with ‘Wine’ – it made everyone listen and quiet down. 😀 As he had been doing, he introduced himself in Germany, but then stuck to English “for the sake of the stories”, continuing with ‘Deva’. I quite like the structure of the show that gives me a framework to hold on to and tells a continuous story, yet leaves enough room for changes in the setlist and surprise songs. 😀

He asked who had never seen him play before and when many raised their hands he joked “Why? Shame!” making us all laugh. After telling us about all his bands and specifying that this was his solo stuff he made an exception and played Árstíðir’s ‘Endatafl’ – on guitar no less. It was just as beautiful as it is on piano. <3  Wow – I certainly did not expect that one!

It was time for a democratic love song and spoke about there always being two sides of the story when a breakup happens. He used Dylan as an example and how we will never know who the woman was that “wasted his time” – Marta and I smiled at each other, because he was clearly referencing Grace Petrie’s ‘No woman ever wants to be a Muse’ here. 😀 Since there was no singer available for the night, Marta helped out, joking she was no singer, but the only one he could afford. She did a wonderful job on ‘Dozen’. <3

With the breakup song out of the way, there was room for travel song and speaking about the inspiration that comes from writing songs in different places. He joked how the weather and the food was shit in Iceland and thus Icelanders write sad songs in minor keys. He then corrected that you also get northern lights and natural beauty. However, he needed new places to inspire them and one of them was the Rocky Mountains and we got ‘Bravery’. 🙂 From Colorado we went to the highlands of Mexico where the “chevy to the levy” type of car broke down and gave him time to write ‘Time’. I really enjoyed it that day.

Raggi talked about not being able to tour during the pandemic and about Patreon, saying that the online shows are not like the real thing. Good thing there was a soundtrack to write. ‘Hugsanir’ was beautiful and then he played ‘Urðarþráður’, the Icelandic version of ‘Water’. I loved it. <3 He even promised to translate the lyrics after the show, but nobody asked. We wanted to hear another song in Icelandic, so ‘Örlög’ was next and again, people sang along nicely. 🙂

C.’s kids were amazingly quiet throughout the whole gig, sitting on the sofa, being absolutely enthralled. Unfortunately some of the guests were not and decided this concert was a god tie to talk until Raggi called them out on it and suggested they move to the kitchen. everyone else was very appreciative though and and C.’s husband M. was the perfect hosts, taking care that everyone had enough drinks at all times.

‘Muddy Waters’ rocked and then we got ‘Winona’ too. That is always a treat for me and I’m happy we (the Patrons) collectively talked him into keeping that song. 😀 Afterwards he introduced us to his friend H., who happened to be in Nuremberg that day and is a bartender in Reykjavik at the English Pub. They joked about the three words “skál” (cheers), “ras” (butt) and “takk” (thank you) guaranteeing you an interesting evening at any bar in Reykjavik.

We stayed with river songs, got a cover of ‘Proud Mary’, including everyone singing along on the “rollin'”-part and the last verse played “Tina Turner style, then ‘Southern Nights’ with another great sing-along. 🙂 For the encore we got the murder ballads, ‘Were the wild Roses grow’ and finally ‘Sleep now’. Always a good end to the show.

Afterwards we sat outside in the garden, having some barbecue and chatting until it was time for H. to catch a train and I hitched a ride to my hotel. It was fun and even included a chapter read from Raggi’s book. What a great birthday that was and none of the guests even knew. 😀 Raggi had said he’d sing me ‘Happy Birthday’, but after already doing that at my place, he did not and I’m glad he didn’t since this was C.’s gig and not mine. He then made up for it the next day by sending me a video. <3

pictures of this concert

Setlist

Wine
Deva
Endatafl
Dozen
Bravery
Time
Hugsanir
Urðarþráður
Örlög
Muddy Waters
Winona
Proud Mary (CCR cover)
Southern Nights

Where the wild Roses grow
Sleep now