Verftet Online Music Festival
This spring we should have met at concerts, at cafes, at festivals and at other social arenas. Suddenly this is no longer possible. With the world in Lockdown, and social distancing in practise, the live music experience looked to be an impossibility for the foreseeable future.
However, this situation gave rise to a new way of thinking about live music, and it was not long before the Verftet Online Music Festival - Bergen's largest virtual concert festival - was formed. Established not only as a way to turn despair and frustration into innovation and positivity, Verftet is also helping to sustain the music and arts communites. In collaboration with the Bergen venue USF Verftet and the production company M12, eleven concerts will be live-streamed for ten days. Main sponsor Sparebank Vest covers the fees of the artists and the crew. Festival trucks and food vendors are also part of the experience, for those local to Bergen. More information is available on the website here.
The free festival has brought together artists across a multitude of genres - from indie, rock, pop, hip-hop, electronic and jazz - and has a number of well-known headliners: boy pablo, AURORA, Enslaved and Datarock are some of the artists which will contribute towards creating an online festival despite of their audience being in their own homes. Mikal Telle from Made Management (Sigrid, AURORA, boy pablo) and Ivar Chelsom Vogt, general manager of USF Verftet in Bergen, are the organisers behind the initiative.
"The response from the artists has been fantastic. The same goes to the response and interest of the artists who have not been able to participate because they are elsewhere in the country. The festival is dependent on the artists being in the Bergen area as we want to contribute to the current efforts of people staying at home." says Mikal Telle from Made Management, who got the idea for the online festival just two weeks ago.
SET A REMINDER BELOW TO WATCH DATAROCK LIVE AT 7PM GMT TONIGHT APRIL 6TH
More live concerts are planned through the coming week, beginning tonight - 6th April, 7pm GMT - with beloved electronic rock band Datarock. Unable to hit the road in celebration of 15 years since the release of their self-titled debut album, they jumped at the chance to perform live again. Tuesday features synth-pop from Moyka, before Norwegian hip-hop from Kjartan Lauritzen.
You will be able to view this week's performances, as well as all previous concert streams, on youtube here and twitch here.
Full line-up below
March 27: Kakkmaddafakka
March 28: Miss Tati
March 28: KREAM
March 29: AURORA
March 31: iris
April 1: Enslaved
April 2: Boy Pablo
April 3: Vossajazz presents: Reformasjonen
April 4: Silja Sol
April 5: Dårlig Vane
April 6: Datarock
April 7: Moyka
April 8: Kjartan Lauritzen
Pictured: AURORA | Download hi-res here
Pictured: Enslaved | Download hi-res here
Pictured: Datarock | Download hi-res here
Pictured: Moyka | Photo credit: Hildur Guðrún Ágústsdóttir | Download hi-res here
Would you like to give a donation?
You can donate via Vipps or the Ticketmaster homepage.
Our Vipps number is 598995.
All artists and personnel who are a part of Verftet Online Music Festival are paid. Your donation is welcomed by all who participate, and will enable us to engage more artists and extend the festival.
The Culture House USF Foundation is the organizer of the Verftet Online Music Festival, and is supported with funds from Sparebanken Vest's social benefit.
All donations from the audience will go into a dedicated account earmarked for the festival.
Verftet Online Music Festival is a collaborative effort between Sparebanken Vest, USF Verftet, Made, Vossa Jazz, Bergens Tidende, OK Kontor og M12 Kultur.
In accordance with guidelines from FHI, the concerts are recorded at USF Verftet without an audience to prevent spread of the COVID-19 virus. Join us for a relaxed and safe festival with great concert experiences.
View previous concert streams, and set reminders for those upcoming, on youtube here and twitch here.
Find Vertfet online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | Twitch