The talented trio hailing from Stavanger that is Poor Bambi performed a short, concise, and utterly explosive set at Bergen Street Food in the heart of the city on Friday night as part of the always interesting Vill Vill Vest festival. As it turned out, the gig was the highlight of this scribe’s evening and one that left a lasting impression.
Merging punk rock with noise and a subtle dose of indie rock of the dark variety for good measure, Poor Bambi have a distinct sound to them, and they were simply on great form at Bergen Street Food and delivered plenty of standout moments and memorable tracks. The energy in the room was palpable, and the appreciative crowd and band were locked in a tight embrace, one that constitutes a superb concert experience. Their latest offering titled Skyscrapers Soaring, Yet We’re Drowning, which came out via Apollon Records back in February this year, featured prominently in the setlist, and the two highlights of the evening, namely the moody and brooding ‘You Were My Lifeline’ and the heartfelt 8-minute epic ‘I Don’t Want You to Die’, were lifted from said record. Intense and hard-hitting yet strangely seductive and refreshing, the compositions fared even better in a live setting than they do on record, which is saying something. It takes skill to craft something that feels dense and sharp on the one hand and then sprawling, playful, and accessible on the other.
The size of the stage, the stark image projected by the group, the use of strobe lights, the muscular riffs and emotive melodies, and the beautifully layered fragility that roams within their tunes all came together rather magnificently, and it was lovely to experience an outfit that seemed to constantly teeter on the brink of total collapse yet never lost control or focus. Talk about conjuring up an atmosphere riddled with excitement and danger. Poor Bambi never lost the plot and the concert almost felt like a powerful demonstration of how to set music to raw emotion and blend youthful chaos with perfect introspection. Unfiltered honesty has rarely sounded better.
