Kings of Convenience - live in Warsaw

June 10, 2022
Palladium, Warsaw

If you ever talked to me about music, I most probably told about the Pantheon of my all-time favorite bands. Perhaps I might have even mentioned it here. Kings of Convenience definitely belong in the Pantheon. Moreover, they might as well be the best band in the world. Nobody of my friends shares this passion. People are usually surprised that I love Kings of Convenience that much, as they are so far from the gloomy postpunk and dreamy noise music that I generally admire. But I never had any doubts and loved the band since their debut in 2001. “Quiet is the New Loud” is also one of the best albums of all time. In fact, any of their records could be there. I don’t know any other band with such quality control. Kings of Convenience literally don’t have a single bad record. They don’t even have a bad song recorded in their entire catalogue. Oh, and they also have gorgeous vocal harmonies and exceptional knack for beautiful melodies. There is something in those waters of Scandinavia that helps creating most beautiful songs in the world.

I was lucky enough attend their gig a long time ago. It was in 2010 when their winter show in Toronto was rescheduled to a summer one. I still lived in Ukraine then but managed to sync my visit with their rescheduled concert. I don’t remember much from it, but I know I loved it. I still have a couple of songs recorded from then and I will definitely rewatch them. Back then KoC still toured to support their 2009 album “Declaration of Dependence”. It took them 12 years to finally release a follow-up. A year later they started touring and Warsaw was a stop on their tour.

I love KoC and I also love Warsaw. It gets quite a bad rep, especially from Cracovians, as they consider their native city a true cultural and spiritual capital and centre of Poland. Yes, no argument from me but I still find Warsaw a great and wonderful city. It’s definitely my top5 city in the world that I’ve ever been to. It has everything you need, it’s big enough but not overwhelmingly big (for example, like Toronto), it’s quite affordable and has lots to see. Even though we all know that everything historic in the city is a reconstruction, I could not care less, it’s still beautiful to me. There are some people who say that you can see Warsaw in a day or so. I’ve been there many times, but I still have not seen everything you need. In fact, this time me and my wife finally went to visit a famous garden on top of the University Library. Unfortunately, it was closed for some private event. But even then, we had a wonderful time in the capital again. I got an excellent deal for a new modern hotel and it was such a lovely day, followed by an anticipation of a show.

The venue is called Palladium and it’s right in the centre of Warsaw, just a short stroll from the main

train station. It used to be a cinema back in the days but now it’s quite a modern space for hosting

various events and concerts. But most of all it resembles Phoenix Theatre in Toronto – a venue where I first saw Kings of Convenience 12 years ago. I saw so many great shows there and I instantly loved Palladium which has more or less same layout and capacity. My wife is definitely not a concert-goer. I can’t even call her a fan of music. We’ve been together for over a decade and I could never persuade her to attend a show with me. But this time I proved to be successful due to the soft and quiet nature of KoC music. But still she was quite wary as it was a standing gig and the day was extremely hot. We managed to find a space to lean against the wall not far from the stage. 

There was no opening act which can be a good thing in many cases. At first it was just Erlend and Eirik on stage with their acoustic guitars. And, frankly, nothing else is needed. They have perfect voices in total harmony. They sang a few songs off their latest records, as well as some of the old ones. At some point, Erlend apologized and left the stage to change into shorts from the pants he was wearing. Funnily enough they did not perform Failure that has a line “you’re gonna get those trousers changed”. Later on, Erlend had to get the guiar pick from Eirik, as he left his own ones in the trousers’ pockets. Another memorable and special moment was Homesick, dedicated to all Ukrainians who left their homes during the war. The lightning created a blue-yellow flag behind the band during the song.

At some point the band was joined onstage by their frequent collaborators - Tobias Hett on violin and Davide Bertollini on bass and double bass. It made the live act even better. I can’t single out any of the songs, I loved them all. Boat Behind and I’d Rather Dance were played as long extended versions and both me and Tanya loved it so much. Overall it was a wonderful show and we enjoyed every minute of it.