For someone who listens to as much music as I do, I rarely go to concert. I think the last gig I went to was a good 5 years ago, when Anniken and I saw Biffy Clyro raise the roof back in 2013.

I’ve used Spotify for a decade now, and it’s years and years since I bought a CD. While Spotify is a great service for listeners, lesser known artists doesn’t exactly get rich from the Spotify royalties. So going to their concerts is a great way to support them. Tickets are usually ridiculously expensive, though, so I’ll have to be a wee bit selective.

Here are some of the bands and artists I regularly listen to that will visit a venue near me in 2019:

• February 3: Mastodon (with Kvelertak)
• February 16: Skambankt
• February 22: The Midnight (sold out)
• March 12: Florence + The Machine (sold out)
• March 20: Dave Matthews Band
• May 19: Mumford & Sons
• June 8: Ólafur Arnalds

Hard Choices

Mastodon might be a tad too much as my first concert in years. I’m not that much a fan, either, with only a couple of songs from the band’s impressive backlog on rotation. The same goes for Skambankt, to be honest. So let’s skip that.

Next up is The Midnight, which would have been absolutely killer, but the show’s been sold out for ages already. Florence + The Machine would have also have been a blast, cause, boy, she can sing. Unfortunately, Florence and her Machine sold out in minutes, which was not very surprising.

So the first realistic option is Dave Matthews Band on March 20. Being a Dave Matthews fan is not something you should admit in public. While I wouldn’t really characterize myself as a fan, I think a lot of the bands live material is great. The concert is not sold out yet, so I might give it a shot, but I think I’m staying on the fence for a little while longer.

Mumford & Sons on May 19 is not an option because I might be otherwise occupied on that date. That leaves us with Ólafur Arnalds, an Icelandic artist I discovered via Nils Frahm. Ólafur mixes strings and piano with loops and beats crossing over from ambient/electronic to pop. You can’t go wrong with that kind of combination.

A June concert with Ólafur at Oslo Concert Hall sounds pretty neat. First dinner, then some quiet beers, before Ólafur takes it away in the early summer sun.

Yes, let’s do that.