Kongsberg in the rain

Jonas Fjeld's visit to Saturday's poetry oasis was a damp affair, but the audience held their own under the canvas roof in the backyard of Christian's basement. Neither the popular artist nor the "adult youth" who had turned up were stopped by the cloudbursts that appeared over the arena. Some of the drenched audience members were even invited up on stage to escape the rain.

Fjeld began his storytelling from the time when, as a newly divorced man, he bought a small yellow house "off the beaten track" in Konnerud in the early 90s. Something that was the prelude to good collaborative projects both professionally and privately, and the beginning of the more successful part of his career as a musician and songwriter. Fjeld has collaborated with many other artists, including Ole Paus, Rick Danko and Eric Andersen, Mikael Wiehe and Henning Kvitnes. Several of the songs he presented were taken from these productions.  

He delivered what the audience came to experience; a warm and humorous look at life's small and big events, and stories and anecdotes connected to the various recordings we all know so well.

For Fjeld and "Tordensky's brother", i.e. his brother-in-law, Ben Basgård on guitar, delivered well-known songs, and at times the sing-along factor was high.

For him came like an angel and disappeared – along the black river to Drammen.

Text: Ann-Mari Lofthus / Photo: Gunnar Brekke and Tommy Johansen