The
Sage is one of those really special venues. It’s an odd looking
building; Private Eye once referring to it as a “shiny condom” but that
doesn’t detract from the magic that happens inside. Everything inside is
tailored to get the best sound out of whoever is there and if that
someone can utilise that, it creates something magical. Efterklang, with
the help of the Northern Sinfonia, did just that.
The three piece indie darlings from Copenhagen/Berlin take to the
stage dressed in their finery as they play the entirety of their latest
album Piramida. The story behind the album is interesting enough.
Recorded in an abandoned Russian base somewhere near the North Pole,
Piramida began as just a few noises and was slowly built up into the
lush, exciting record that was released; another notch in the belt of
fantastic Efterklang records. You would think that the promise of this
alone would be worth the trip over the Tyne but no! There’s more! They
felt the sweeping orchestral sounds were not good enough being played
through a soundsystem, they wanted an actual orchestra there to perform
it. Bring out The Sage’s house band, the Northern Sinfonia, with
arrangements written specifically for the orchestra.
They are by no means a backing band either. They play a pivotal part
in the piecing together of these already beautiful songs, adding a new
depth to the album. It all works in perfect harmony like a painting
coming together. Intricate melodies weave perfectly with the
off-the-wall sounds recorded in that abandoned Russian settlement and
create something truly entrancing.
And it’s not just us that are entranced. Efterklang frontman, Casper
Clausen, spends much of the concert (and it is much more of a concert
than a gig) with a huge grin on his face; his band’s songs taking on a
new form that he perhaps could not imagine. As they fly through
Piramida, from the wonderful Apples to Monument, Casper spends the time
between singing, when the Northern Sinfonia are left to do their thing,
either flirting with the singers or first few rows, or looking in
admiration as the Northern Sinfonia go at it.
A closer of Modern Drift sees much of the audience on their feet,
both lost in the joy of the song and in applause of the effort of the
Northern Sinfonia and Efterklang themselves. This is the kind of concert
The Sage is designed for.
