Grace Jones + Fay Wildhagen
Icon Grace Jones takes to our new main stage Kvarten with an exclusive Norwegian concert! Now Fay Wildhagen is also coming!
Not only is the icon Grace Jones taking over the summer evening at Kvarten, now Fay Wildhagen is also coming! What they both have in common is a unique presentation and coolness, where they both define their own expression in a sometimes narrow mold for female musicians.
Welcome to a fantastic evening filled with delicious contrasts in a perfect structure! Moonlight on the plateau and smoldering volcanoes, acoustic and electronic, down-to-earth and eccentric.
Grace Jones
Grace Jones is a towering and transcendent figure in pop culture and has always been shrouded in a mystique of her own, both musically, as a fashion icon and on the big screen. With a distinctive charisma and uncompromising attitude, she has moved between different scenes and pop cultural expressions with an unique integrity.
After studying theater in New York, she started her modeling career which brought her to Paris. Her androgynous, striking look was quickly picked up by designers such as Yves Saint Laurent and Thierry Mugler. Her ambitions, however, extended beyond the catwalk. In the late 1970s, she moved into music, signing with Island records in the midst of the company's golden age. First and foremost, she embraced the explosive growth of the disco scene, but the first albums tell of a versatile and all-consuming musical approach, with clear ramifications towards reggae, gospel, jazz, fusion and electronic music.
In the early 1980s, the artistic breakthrough came with the albums WARM LEATHERETTE (1980) and NIGHTCLUBBING (1981). Produced by the legendary reggae rhythm section Sly & Robbie, Jones now moved towards a fusion of reggae, new wave and electronic music, represented by major hits such as "Pull Up to the Bumper" and "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)".
One of Grace Jones' trademarks is theatrical and innovative stage showsWhether she performs in a cage, dances with a hula hoop while singing, or dresses in surreal costumes, she transforms every concert into holistic art experiencesShe has enchanted Norwegian audiences with such performances several times, and now it is finally possible to see her, 77 years old, in free expression with the river Lågen as a backdrop.
Decades after her debut, Grace Jones remains relevant, uncompromising, charismatic and iconic. She steps onto any stage and into any context with the same authority as in Paris in the early 70s, or in New York's fierce Studio 54-era a few years later. Her work, across genres, disciplines and decades, amounts to one of the most extraordinary careers in pop culture. When she stands on stage at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival's new arena, Kvarten, the audience gets a rare opportunity to experience an artist who has time and again redefined what it means to be precisely iconic.
Photo: Andrea Klarin
Fay Wildhagen
Fay Wildhagen played two fantastic concerts to full houses at the Opera in February, a concert Dagsavisen believes "had it all". She then quickly followed up with an extra concert on March 8th, to just as great success. We are incredibly happy that she is now performing on Saturday's big concert evening at Kvarten!
The contact and communication Fay Wildhagen has with her audience is something completely unique. The fact that she is also an incredibly raw and cool lady makes every concert experience a highlight you don't want to miss!
Fay Wildhagen made a name for herself across the country when she signed with Warner Music, and released her debut album SNOW in 2015. She was nominated for Newcomer of the Year of Spellemann Award og P3 Gold, and VG's reviewer wrote that we were dealing with a great artist who would assert himself in the futureBy the time she followed up with BORDERS (2018), Wildhagen had already positioned herself as one of our most exciting songwriters and guitarists, and was nominated for Producer of the Year og Indie/Alternative at Spellemann, while also playing concerts all over Europe.
On her latest album LET'S KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY (2024), she has written, produced and arranged all the songs and instruments herself. Focusing on the magic that occurs between musicians when they interact, has resulted in spectacular soundscapes – with depth, life and storytelling she has not shown us before.
Photo: Johanna Siring
Night buses 2025:
We have extra bus services both in the direction of Drammen/Oslo, Notodden and locally in the Kongsberg region. Read more about this here .
About Saturday at Kvarten:
– A further association will be announced as soon as this is clear.
– The ticket will be valid for all concerts combined.
– We also sell 2-day tickets to Kvarten!
– Festival pass and Day pass on Saturday also give access to Kvarten.
– Admission starts at 18:00 PM, more details about the concert start will come when all the artists are ready. Jones will close the evening.
Questions about our new outdoor stage Kvarten? Here We have created an overview with practical information about the venue.
