Eric Burdon & The Animals - Live @ Notodden Bluesfestival, Norway, August 5th., 2011


I attended this show, but I didn't bring any equipment with me to capture it. The weather was absolutely horrible this day, and many of the other concerts (among them Tony Joe White) suffered badly from this. Fortunately, it had stopped raining by the time Eric and the band hit the stage, though it didn't matter much, as the stage was set in a huge tent. You can hear Eric comment on the weather at the beginning of Don't Bring Me Down ("Yeah, summer in Norway!"). Even though he's from Northern England himself, I bet he's not used to "summers" with pouring rain and about 10 degrees C.

Anyway, the concert was absolutely fabulous, perhaps one of the best times I've seen him. The band seemed much more together than the last time I saw them (Newcastle, almost to the day a year earlier), and Eric seemed energized by the hugely enthusiastic crowd. This was actually the first time I saw Eric in my home country, and I was surprised by the reception he got.

Like I said, I didn't bring any recording equipment, and I'm sort of glad I didn't, because it was announced explicitly from the stage before they entered that absolutely NO taping/filming was allowed. Eric being as bootlegged as he is, I guess it's just his paranoia for this shining thru a bit, or maybe he's road-manager and wife... Anyway, I was glad I didn't have to keep an eye on my recorder, making sure not to get caught and get so preoccupied with this that I'd forget about what was really going on.

However, it turned out that parts of the concert were being broadcast by national radio! It's been broadcast on three different occasions, sometimes with some songs (unfortunately) overlapping. I don't know whether Eric & co or the radio station did the editing/approval of the songs to be broadcast, but whoever did it left out some of the true gems of the evening. What's "left" is the same old, same old parade of greatest hits (although performed with a rare level of energy this evening) + the old standard Before You Accuse Me.
I wrote down the exact setlist, but I seem to have lost the sheet it was written on. However, I clearly remember them playing I Believe To My Soul, and (to my HUGE surprise) Trying To Get To You. The latter hasn't been included in setlists since 1983 when The Animals played it on their reunion tour. I've noticed that this has turned up on the San Janvier DVD from July 22nd (good thing Eric didn't play in Norway on that date...), but that version is somewhat bleak compared to Notodden. Unfortunately, this has not been broadcast (and will not, as far as I know). They also played Boom Boom (I think) and Crawling King Snake as an acoustic intro to House of the Rising Sun. Both of these have also been left out.

The songs that WERE broadcast, however, are:


01 - When I Was Young
02 - Don't Bring Me Down
03 - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
04 - San Franciscan Nights
05 - Before You Accuse Me
06 - River Deep - Mountain High
07 - It's My Life
08 - We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
09 - House of the Rising Sun

Brannen Temple - drums
Red Young - keys
Billy Watts - guitar
Terry Wilson - bass
Eric Burdon - vocals

Recorded in lossless PCM wave direct from the radio broadcasts with a Zoom H4 stereo recorder. Edited together to a complete show (some crossfading, removing radio hosts, etc.) with Cubase SX3.

Pics included, cover art appreciated if anyone feels creative!


Enjoy,


M.