Magne Furuholmen and Martin Terefe at Roskilde, July 5th

Apparatjik entered the Orange Stage at Roskilde like this last night, wearing bodybuilder suits, with silver capes and Martin Terefe masks.

“Considering our experience with fame, this is interesting to explore. Martin is the least famous of us. Therefore we’ll all go on stage looking like him tonight”, Magne and Jonas told Dagsavisen in an interview before the concert.

Starting out in silhouette behind four large screens, before moving onto the stage, the band performed songs like “Time Police” and “Do It Myself” for the first half hour. Then DJ Aretïve appeared on top of a cube out amongst the audience, doing a 20-minute set accompanied by the alien fashion show that Magne mentioned in Wednesday’s interview. This was followed by a guest appearance by Lowell, a young Canadian singer who has been working in the studio with Apparatjik lately (more info on that collaboration here). By now, the guys had changed into their combat disco uniforms, and the concert ended with songs like “Tell The Babes” and “Blastlocket”.

Other songs played during the show apparently included “Combat Disco Music” and “That’s The Thing About Us”.

Magne on stage at Roskilde 
(Picture from gaffa.dk)

Apparatjik are getting mixed reviews in social media and in the press after last night’s unique performance.

Reactions on Twitter ranged from “who can review this bizarre concert without getting nightmares?” to “the most amazing thing the world has ever seen” to “mega fail”.

Here are some quotes from the various press reviews that have been posted so far:

“One of the most ambitious “concerts” you can imagine. Visually an amazing experience, musically more uneven, but when it worked it was actually really great.” – rockfoto.nu

“Something was constantly happening on and around the stage. Furuholmen doesn’t spare any expenses when he invites the audience to party – and it was fun while it lasted. It was generous and playful, but unfortunately also easily forgotten.” – adressa.no

“More circus and show than real content.” – gaffa.com (3/6)

“Giving a summary of the events that took place Thursday night on the Orange Stage would take at least a few pages, but describing it as a concert would definitely be an understatement. It was more similar to performance theater or an art installation.” – soundvenue.com (3/6)

“Apparatjik’s show was quite spectacular, but too often seemed like a Nintendo game out of control.” – gaffa.dk (3/6)

“The spaced-out effects often appeared too messy and incoherent, and rarely contributed to creating the artistic total experience that had been prepared.” – undertoner.dk (3/6)

“Apparatjik are known for their unique visual style and well-made music videos. But their music is less fascinating.” – politiken.dk (2/6)

möllan.nu (3/5)

stpaulslifestyle.com (audio review)

metroxpress.dk (gallery)

philipbo.tumblr.com (gallery)

Rehearsing for Roskilde last week; Magne, Jonas and Martin (plus Tor Einar Jensen on the drums?) 
(Picture posted by Aretiive on Twitter)

Apparatjik are set to perform at Roskilde’s main stage tomorrow night. This will be the first time Magne performs at the festival, previously he’s only been there as a guest.

In an interview with Aftenposten today, Magne says that this will be an opportunity to present Apparatjik’s music to a broader audience than before:

“The Orange Stage at Roskilde is an iconic arena for everyone who’s into music. We see this as an opportunity to further expand on our format. The music has always been a natural part of Apparatjik, but has until now been integrated in an audiovisual language and hasn’t been allowed to play the leading role. This time it will get a more natural main focus.”

“It will be quite a multifaceted performance, in which we want to use the cube in new ways. I think I can say that we have a fair amount of madness planned.”

This will include guest-appearances by fans and new artists who are collaborating with the band.

“We have also entered into a collaboration with the renowned Danish visual artist Tal R, who will create a sort of absurd fashion show/costume parade for tomorrow night. It will be a lovely chaos.”

Magne feels that Apparatjik now are ready to reach a larger audience:

“The music we make isn’t particularly demanding. It has a typical pop-melodic structure and can even be quite catchy at times. The experimental part lies perhaps in the fact that we don’t adapt the material to any existing formats.”

But he admits that he doesn’t like all the music that Apparatjik have created:

“I don’t feel that I necessarily have to like all the music we’re performing. Why do I have to like everything we do? We all have to perform tasks that we are more or less comfortable with here in life.”

Still, they are in the process of opening up a bit more:

“It’s not like we’re going on a strike if someone decides to play our music on the radio, it’s just that we don’t promote our material through normal releases, so the chances of that happening are considerably smaller.”

There will be more Apparatjik concerts later this year, including a big event in Oslo:

“We have been invited to make an installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art [in Oslo] in the autumn, which will be accompanied by a slightly absurd choral work. We are also planning quite a spectacular outdoor performance in the middle of Oslo city at the end of September, which I can’t go into detail about yet”, Magne says.

Apparatjik are scheduled to go on stage at Roskilde late tomorrow night, at 1:00 am. Guy Berryman is on tour with Coldplay in the US at the moment, and won’t able to join the others this time.

Update: In an interview with VG, Magne provides more details about the Oslo concert – which will be free and take place by the Astrup Fearnley Museum at Tjuvholmen on September 29th.