PUNKT Fest goes back to its roots in Kristiansand

It was almost demolished a few years ago, but there were people in Kristiansand who wanted to save the former Agder Teater, which had been unused for several years. It has been reopened now a while ago as Teateret. There have been some changes in the foyer, there is now a chic bar and delicious cuisine. But in the large concert hall, the old seating, which was already in need of repair, has remained unchanged. The theatre is the home of PUNKT. This is where it all began in 2005. For seven years, this special live remix festival took place there. After that, it was a matter of looking for and finding new venues. Many things were tried out. The brand-new concert hall Kilden, which was opened at the time. Or a music club. For a year, PUNKT also played in the local cinema and its halls, and in Corona times in the conference hall on the top floor of the longstanding festival hotel.

But entering the large hall in the Teateret again for the first time, the wonderful memories of the past come flooding back. And this is where PUNKT belongs! And then, right at the start of the festival, there is an evening with great emotions, with a tribute concert on the occasion of Sidsel Endresen's 70th birthday this year. The Norwegian singer has left her mark on PUNKT over the years, with unforgettable performances. This time she sat in the front row in the hall and saw various companions of her long career on stage, such as the two PUNKT masterminds Jan Bang and Erik Honoré, Bugge Wesseltoft, Solveig Slettahjell, Nils Petter Molvær, Stian Westerhus, Django Bates or David Toop, who delivered a touching homage in different, smaller formations.

There was an exciting premiere the next evening. With the ‘Punkt Editions Label’, the PUNKT team has now founded a sub-label at Bugge Wesseltoft's record company Jazzland to release PUNKT-related music such as solo recordings by the two festival founders, live recordings or collaborations in the future. The debut album of the new label is already out: Jan Bang and Dai Fujikura presented ‘The Bow Maker’ in Kristiansand in a big label launch concert, which in the second part of the concert already looked ahead to Bang's upcoming solo album ‘Reading the Air’, which will be released next February or March. The stage was full of exquisite musicians who covered a wide range, from magical soundscapes to the soft, pop song-oriented songs of ‘Reading the Air’, where electronic guru Jan Bang shared the vocal mic with singing colleagues like the German Simin Tander or the German-Norwegian Annelie Drecker.

Trio Heinz Herbert (photo by Alf Solbakken)

The live remixes at this festival are still fascinating. And as in the past, you have to run quickly from the big theatre hall to the small basement room where the respective live remix has already started on your arrival. Great what Eivind Aarset, Jan Bang and Erik Honoré made out of the structured but rather free-spirited concert by Estonian pianist Kirke Karja and her new trio. Slowly building up, fragments of the original concert were skilfully interwoven with an electronic cosmos of sound that swelled into a rousing ocean of gripping sounds at the end.

A very special project on the big stage was Avant Joik by singer and electronic artist Maja S.K. Ratkje, singer Katarina Baaruk and visual artist Matti Aikio. Joik, the traditional singing of the Sámi, the indigenous people of Lapland, meets experimental singing and electronic sounds here and unfolds a great, almost spiritual energy in the interplay, also thanks to the haunting, powerful voice of the Swede Katarina Baaruk.

What else is memorable about PUNKT 2022? The very invigorating Swiss band Trio Heinz Herbert (pictured above). Curious band name, totally refreshing music that sits between genres. Interesting morning seminars, for example with birthday girl Sidsel Endresen. And of course, the always so pleasant, family atmosphere at this unique festival in southern Norway.