There are many ways to celebrate the summer solstice; say a little Litha prayer, build a bonfire, head down to Stonehenge and have a party with some rocks. Or you could take a leaf out of Shining’s book and fly a PA system and a power generator 700m above ground to record a live show. You can watch a fan-filmed clip of the performance above.
The concert was held on Norway’s Troll’s Tongue, a narrow outcrop of rock on the side of mountain. The show was recorded as part of their video series Live On Location where the Norwegian Blackjazz collective perform in strange locations, which, according to Shining’s driving force, Jørgen Munkeby, is in order to “test our musical strength against uncontrollable elements – and what’s more uncontrollable than a huge rock and a 700-metre straight drop to the ground in the middle of the Norwegian mountains?!” Not a lot, Jørgen, not a lot at all.
Shining performed for a crowd of 300 attendees who had undertaken a five hour journey to the summit. This all comes just days after playing to packed tents at Hellfest and Graspop, making this summer an extremely successful prelude to their seventh studio album which comes out in the autumn.
Speaking to Norwegian TV, Munkeby is reported as saying, “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever been a part of! First of all, I’m happy that we’re all still alive! But I’m also happy that we got all the technical aspects of this to work, as it’s no easy task to plan a full rock and metal concert on top of a freaking mountain!” No it isn’t, Jørgen, no it isn’t. You can check some pictures from the show below, all credited to Jarle H. Moe. You can find more pictures from the performance here.
