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• Gazpacho ( art rock band from Norway )
• Gazpacho ( rock band from Argentina )
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Fireworking Europe Tour

Gazpacho at prog en beauce edition ix.

• The Walk, Part 1
• The Walk, Part 2
• Hell Freezes Over I
• Dream of Stone
• Chequered Light Buildings
• Upside Down
• Defense Mechanism
• Tick Tock, Part 1
• Tick Tock, Part 2
• Tick Tock, Part 3
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Gazpacho at De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands

• I've Been Walking (Part 2)

Gazpacho at St.Croix-huset, Fredrikstad, Norway

• Emperor Bespoke

Gazpacho at EartH, Hackney, England

• Winter Is Never

Gazpacho at Petit Bain, Paris, France

Gazpacho at hedon grote zaal, zwolle, netherlands, gazpacho at mezz, breda, netherlands, gazpacho at kantine, cologne, germany, gazpacho at columbia theater, berlin, germany, gazpacho at colos-saal, aschaffenburg, germany.

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• Upside Down ( 110 )
• Winter Is Never ( 94 )
• Bravo ( 87 )
• Dream of Stone ( 79 )
• Chequered Light Buildings ( 76 )

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Marillion Bruce Springsteen

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300 people have seen Gazpacho live.

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GAZPACHO LIVE 

• OCT 20, 2023 Poppodium De Boerderij Zoetermeer, Netherlands
• OCT 21, 2023 Prog en Beauce festival / Salle Maurice Leblond Pierres, France

GAZPACHO’S INTIMATE LOCKDOWN FILM ‘FIREWORKING AT ST.CROIX’ NEWLY REMIXED FOR THE PHYSICAL RELEASE ON KSCOPE

“Plenty to marvel at in the ensemble and individual playing of these musicians” - Louder Sound

Due to reasons which most fans will be well aware of by now, Gazpacho’s “Fireworker” 2020 album tour was cancelled. Stuck with the predicament of having a well honed show rehearsed and the prospect of a long period off the road, the band had a decision to make. The idea of a live stream which would reach fans far and wide quickly presented itself and the band had a perfect setting in their very own rehearsal space in beautiful Fredrikstad.  

The resulting film is a very moody trip into the world of 'The Fireworker’, captured on the 25th October 2020. No fixes, no polishes, no light show and no nothing. Not even catering. Just the pure rendition of the music along with a surprise or two for those of you who have been with the band for a while.

In Thomas Andersen’s own words “ Gazpacho has always been an ‘anti band’, in the sense that we strive to do things differently. For this reason we wanted an ‘honest’ live stream where we decided not to play the gig on an empty stage with a light show. Instead we decided to perform   it exactly how we play when we record or rehearse in the actual room we use .”

The original stream has now been completely re-edited and expanded with 30 minutes of additional material not included in the original broadcast, all remixed in glorious 5.1 surround sound. The Blu=Ray edition also contains 2.5 hours of bonus material including promo videos, interviews and a bonus concert filmed at the last night of the Soyuz Tour in 2019.

The band are now back on the road, but these recordings offer a fine historical nugget from the bands already sterling catalogue.

Fireworking At St Croix is out now on multiple formats all of which are available to order HERE.

• Deluxe 4 disc hardback book edition – with the whole show on double CD, Blu-Ray and DVD as well as 48 page coffee table book including extensive liner notes about the Fireworker concept and the history of Gazpacho, including never before seen photos and alternative album artwork.  
• Blu Ray – which features the re-edited and expanded original stream with 30 minutes of additional material not included in the original broadcast, all remixed in glorious 5.1 surround sound. Plus 2.5 hours of bonus material including promo videos, interviews and a bonus concert filmed at the last night of the Soyuz Tour in 2019

The streamed show soundtrack will be available on CD, double LP on black vinyl and as a digital album.

Gazpacho are:

Thomas Andersen – keyboards, programming Jan-Henrik Ohme – vocals Jon-Arne Vibo – guitars Mikael Krømer – violin, additional guitars Kristian “Fido” Torp – bass                                                                                      Robert R Johansen – drums

Follow Gazpacho online:

• https://www.facebook.com/Gazpacho.Official.BandPage
• https://www.instagram.com/gazpachoband
• www.gazpachoworld.com  

GAZPACHO, THE KINGS OF ATMOSPHERIC AND AFFECTIVE ROCK RETURN WITH NEW ALBUM FIREWORKER

For nearly twenty years, Gazpacho have reigned as the kings of atmospheric and affective art rock. That’s certainly no small feat, as the subgenre is full of wonderfully moody, ornate, and emotional artists; yet, none of them manage to achieve the same level of exquisite baroque resonance and hypnotically introspective weight as the Norwegian sextet. As a result, they never fail to provide awe-inspiring examinations of the human condition, and their latest observation, Fireworker , is no exception. It is undoubtedly among their greatest achievements, as well as one of the most profound pieces of music you’ll hear in 2020.

Conceptually, the album follows the band’s tradition of blending grand philosophical quandaries, stimulating literary leanings, and haunting personal turmoil. In a way, it acts as the culmination of the themes and techniques that’ve decorated earlier collections, combining the fatalistic isolation of Night and Missa Atropos ; the ill-fated narrative drama of Tick Tock and Soyuz ; and the hefty theological/scientific contemplations of Demon and Molok . Beyond that, its central premise (that humanity has always been controlled by an infallible and omniscient creature determined to propagate at any cost) means that Fireworker comes across like the overarching umbrella under which all of its predecessors occur.

Keyboardist Thomas Andersen elucidates: “ There’s an instinctual part of you that lives inside your mind, separate from your consciousness. I call it the ‘Fireworker’ or the ‘Lizard’ or the ‘Space Cowboy.’ It’s an eternal and unbroken lifeforce that’s survived every generation, with a new version in each of us. It’s evolved alongside our consciousness, and it can override us and control all of our actions. ” In order to get us to do what it wants, he clarifies, the “Fireworker” will silence the parts of our mind that feel disgust or remorse so that we’re unable to stop it. The conscious part of our mind, Andersen notes, will actually “rationalize and legitimize” those thoughts and actions so that we never discover the beast behind-the-scenes. No matter how we feel about ourselves in terms of identity, accomplishments, and value, we’re all just vessels—or “Sapiens”—that the creature uses until it no longer needs us. “If you play along, ” Andersen explains, “ It’ll reward you like a puppy and let you feel fantastic; if you don’t, it’ll punish you severely.”

Like Night , Fireworker is a single “trip” broken into five chapters but meant to be appreciated all at once. This time, however, Gazpacho’s recurring protagonist is investigating the labyrinthian hive of his own psyche to engage in a Bergman-esque confrontation with the “Fireworker.” This journey is even represented by the Wimmelbilder cover, which, as usual, was designed by collaborator Antonio Seijas and depicts “the billions of neurons that create the cave of the mind”.

Fireworker declares its mesmeric dominance right away via “Space Cowboy,” a side-long suite whose ominous lyricism (“The parasite / That lives in me / Murders words / From where I stop / And it breathes in / We’re biting our tail / The cycle begins”) is but one of many reasons why it’s among Gazpacho’s greatest compositions. From its heartbreakingly delicate first movement and chaotic centerpiece, to its mournfully symphonic penultimate phase and thunderous outro, it is a masterpiece onto itself, cementing how vivacious, evocative, and imaginative Gazpacho remain after all these years.

From there, the sequence remains just as seductively eccentric and beautiful. In particular, “Hourglass” is a gorgeous piano ballad that evokes March of Ghosts in its fusion of welcoming melodies and gentle orchestral flourishes. That then make way for the feisty layers and catchy hooks of the band’s first single and title track “Fireworker.” Fittingly, “Antique” takes over with angelic mystery and the album closer “Sapien,” echoes the dynamic range and epic scope of “Space Cowboy,” resulting in an awe-inspiring finale that envelops you in luscious arrangements and poignant existential realizations.

Naturally, Gazpacho’s career has been full of great performances and glowing praise. Outside of issuing three superb live LPs (2010’s A Night at the Loreley , 2011’s London , and 2015’s Night of the Demon ), they’ve played festivals such as Be Prog! My Friend, Night of the Prog, Midsummer Prog Festival, and Cruise to the Edge, where they delighted audiences alongside exceptional brethren like iamthemorning, Anathema, Pain of Salvation, Caligula’s Horse, Riverside, The Neal Morse Band, and Steve Hackett. Unsurprisingly, their records have been met with similarly enthusiastic reception; for instance, their previous statement, 2018’s Soyuz , earned superlative accolades from publications such as PROG , Echoes and Dust and Louder than War .

Fireworker is truly life-changing experience, so you would be wise to turn off all of the lights, clear your mind as best you can, and prepare to meet the Fireworker.

FIREWORKER tracklisting

• Space Cowboy [19:43]
• Hourglass [04:15]
• Fireworker [04:41]
• Antique [06:24]
• Sapien [15:22]

Thomas Andersen – keyboards, programming Jan-Henrik Ohme – vocals Jon-Arne Vibo – guitars Mikael Krømer – violin, additional guitars Kristian “Fido” Torp – bass

Robert R Johansen – drums

FOLLOW GAZPACHO ON INSTAGRAM

@gazpachoband.

MARCH OF GHOSTS

MISSA ATROPOS

The story of Gazpacho's Demon

Released in 2014, Norwegian art rockers Gazpacho's eighth album Demon was the band's “most complicated, strangest” work to date...

Today, it all started with pop jingles. You don’t associate Gazpacho with jingles, being Norway’s expert crafters of twisting progressive concepts, currently on the cusp of releasing an incredibly dark, pensive new album. Yet that’s precisely what founding member and keyboardist/songwriter/producer Thomas Andersen writes for a living. In fact, he’s just returned from knocking up the soundtrack for a Norwegian version of Boots pharmacy.

This is a weird thought; even more so as singer/founding member Jan-Henrik Ohme’s day job at Sony Universal is brought to light. “He’s Mr Pop, he knows all the pop stars,” Andersen says, cheerily. “He can listen to a single and say, ‘This is going to be a hit; this won’t be.’ He knows what’ll work on radio. And, of course, we’ve completely avoided that in Gazpacho!”

Seemingly, this has never been more so the case than now – latest LP Demon is Gazpacho’s “most complicated, strangest” work to date. But even as they’ve grown in boundary-shaking, sometimes gnarly ambition, Gazpacho records aren’t difficult to like for one simple reason: the band write excellent tunes. The pop-seasoned Andersen and Ohme haven’t stopped prioritising, and honing, their melodic standards. 

“Without melody, without a good tune, you have nothing,” Andersen says. “So we always work on the tune first.”

Crafted over two years, Demon is an intense piece. Engaging, yes, but strange and atmospheric, not to mention crammed with interesting edges (including exquisite strings) and prog rock weight. Sparked off by Thomas’s father’s recollections of a manuscript found in a Prague apartment, over four long tracks the album ignites the notions of an ‘evil presence’ explored in that manuscript. 

The bizarre text itself is now in Prague’s Strahov Library, but the uncertainty surrounding its writer (visionary or lunatic? Still alive, or dead?) gave Gazpacho scope to imagine what perspective these ramblings may have come from. Or what this ‘demon’, supposedly the source of the world’s badness, might have been like.

“With this album, because it has a lot of dissonance – some of it’s like modern classical music – we were scared it would be too much ‘art for art’s sake’,” he concedes. “Trying to show off or be intellectuals, which we’re not. We’re telling a story.”

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Storytelling or not, it’s easy to imagine such a band being meticulous academics; a suggestion royally stamped upon with previous LP March Of Ghosts , which largely stemmed from one 12-hour, beer-fuelled jam session… and which still became a beautiful, brooding oeuvre. How did Demon ’s slower-burning, two-year approach fare by contrast?

“It makes you second-guess a hell of a lot more, which is a bad thing and a good thing,” Andersen says thoughtfully. “I always go with gut instinct. It’s never a good idea to bring your brain into anything. When you involve your brain, that’s when it all falls apart, and I think that applies to music as well. 

“And I know this is going to sound strange, but I think there is ‘something else’ at work. I’m not talking about God or anything, but the soul is somehow involved. And music is very close, I think, to magic. I mean, it is magic. It’s magic spells – you put certain words and melodies together and you can make things happen to other people.” 

Not that entrancement with music’s subliminal power stops them fearing expectations. As they started showing Demon demos to the wider world, life became scarier. “People were saying, ‘Jesus Christ, you can’t do this, you’re gonna destroy your career!’” Andersen remembers. “Our manager said, ‘Well this is nice, but where the hell are the singles?’ There are no singles! And what a challenge it is for Kscope, and us, to promote this. If you play it to someone, the first time they’re going to be a little overwhelmed. I think it needs a few listens.”

As, indeed, is true with so much traditional prog, which Gazpacho grew up absorbing. Even if Andersen’s first Yes encounter wasn’t love at first sight… “I bought Close To The Edge and I listened to that intro which is five minutes of birdsong and strange sounds,” he remembers. “And I thought, ‘Oh my God, that was my allowance, wasted on birdsong for God’s sake!’” 

Still, he eventually forged a happier relationship with prog. This seemingly struck a chord with Marillion, who snapped up Gazpacho to join them on tour in 2004 – jerking this introspective but tune-focused ‘nu-prog’ band from Norway into bigger spotlights. 

“There is still something which needs to be done in prog rock. Classic prog is fantastic with people like Jethro Tull , Yes and Genesis ,” he muses. “These are great bands, but prog rock needs to evolve. This is why I always think whenever anyone makes an album, there’d better be a damn good excuse for making that album. If you’re going to make a record, do something new, if possible. I’m not saying we’ve solved that completely, but this is what we’re aiming for.” 

Retro with their long-playing values and appreciation of prog greats, but not old-fashioned stylistically, it’s difficult to guess what Gazpacho draw from. Andersen heartily sings the praises of Kate Bush , and the Hounds Of Love ’s conceptual B-side The Ninth Wave especially. 

“I think it’s mind-bogglingly perfect,” he enthuses. “It takes you on a journey. Escapism is extremely important in big prog or concept albums. Because, well, modern life is interesting and great, but we need something to take us away from it.”

And take you away Demon certainly does. Some of their inspiration, following the manuscript stimulus, was pretty highbrow. Compelled by the idea of diaries, Andersen and Ohme ingested various accounts and manifestos, including the Unabomber Manifesto from which lyrical ideas were carved. 

Some inspiration, however, was less highbrow. Remember the US horror film Insidious ? Rose Byrne’s son gets possessed? Almost quite good until it gets really silly? One scene from this Hollywood spook-fest stuck with Thomas.

“There’s a demon sharpening his nails in his little ‘demon office’, and he’s smiling. I thought, ‘He’s a demon and he’s doing all this bad stuff, and he looks so happy! So immensely happy!’ The fact that evil can be feeling joy is an interesting thought. And of course I thought that over an album we’d be able to solve the question of the banality of evil, which philosophers have been trying to do for thousands of years…” 

He breaks off, before adding wryly: “But that was a bit too big of a bite, so we haven’t quite managed to solve the problem, but we’ve at least looked at it from a different angle.”

Intrinsically, Gazpacho work from a ‘different angle’ that, on some level, draws from their evocative surroundings. The simple fact of their dark Norwegian climate ebbs into dark themes. Living in a peninsula outside Oslo, Thomas revels in the nearby woods – skiing at night through the trees, with a head torch, when the snow allows. But for the Scandinavian, who met guitarist Jon-Arne Vilbo growing up in Kuwait – where they absorbed pirate copies of Iranian folk music – striking surroundings may actually be music’s enemy.

“I had an interesting conversation with Steve Hogarth – we were talking about how writing in front of a great view would be nice. But Marillion work in this place called the Racket Club, which I don’t think has any windows, and my studio is in a basement,” he tells us. “And that’s actually a great thing, because if you’re writing music and you’ve got a great view, you could then listen to that music thinking you’re enjoying it, when in fact you’re enjoying the view. If you’ve got walls in front of you, all you have is the music you’re working on. So you know if something’s moving you, it’s not the white wall, it’s whatever’s going on musically.”

Intentionally sticking out (thematically, and in its tricksy musical edge), Demon ’s second track The Wizard Of Altai Mountains investigates childlike attitudes to evil – a child’s fantasy of a creepy wizard in the Russian/Asian mountain range – inspired partly by the Swedish film Let The Right One In , about a boy with a little girl vampire pal.

“I talked to Jan about wanting to do something about how kids tackle being in the world which is so damn scary,” Andersen explains. “The world in real life is a dangerous and scary place. They create a fantasy world, and it’s the ultimate act of escapism; it’s a microcosm of what we’re doing as adults.” 

With all this exploration of death, fantasy and fears, we do wonder what such a musician fears the most himself? “That’s an interesting question. I don’t know. I’m really scared of heights, but that’s not really what you’re asking. What I fear most, I think, is wasting my time. The only limited resource we have is time. We can always go out and make more money, or get stuff we need, but time is running out.”

Has exploring ghosts and the like through music shaped Thomas’s outlook on mortality? Proved cathartic even? “Yes it’s cathartic – we’re really happy guys in real life. We are, seriously!” he insists. “It’s the child in us, because these are dark, scary places we go to, but it’s completely safe; it’s just a song, it’s not real.”

Nonetheless, we challenge you to listen to Demon and not wonder, just a bit, if you’re being sucked into some other-worldly parallel. At once jarring, odd, atmospheric and melodically rocking, it’s a compelling experience – though Andersen’s six-year-old daughter doesn’t quite agree yet.

“I caught her singing to a Justin Bieber song on the radio. So I say, ‘No! You must listen to this!’ and I play some Gazpacho, which she thought was really boring,” he says, smilingly. “She bought me one of those Justin Bieber dolls, and we got a Justin Bieber pillow as well. I might bring the doll on tour…” 

This article originally appeared in issue 44 of Prog Magazine.

Polly is deputy editor at Classic Rock magazine, where she writes and commissions regular pieces and longer reads (including new band coverage), and has interviewed rock's biggest and newest names. She also contributes to Louder, Prog and Metal Hammer and talks about songs on the 20 Minute Club podcast. Elsewhere she's had work published in The Musician, delicious. magazine and others, and written biographies for various album campaigns. In a previous life as a women's magazine junior she interviewed Tracey Emin and Lily James – and wangled Rival Sons into the arts pages. In her spare time she writes fiction and cooks.

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Gazpacho – Fireworker (Album Review)

How can a piece of music hold such beauty and impending dread at the same time? For nearly 20 years, Norwegian sextet Gazpacho have excelled at creating atmospheric meditations on somewhat challenging or disturbing themes. With “ Fireworker ” they have outdone themselves, creating a concept which in some ways encompasses all that has come before and pushes the envelope even further. As usual, the premise is conveyed via achingly exquisite soundscapes, at times beguiling in their ever-changing nature. In this new release they offer five chapters to present their exposition, three shorter works book-ended by two longer pieces over 15 minutes in length. It’s a convincing approach, especially given the quality of the material. For fans of earlier heralded albums like “ Night ” and “ Tick Tock ”, there is much to appreciate here. But first, let’s dive in to what this so-called fireworker really is all about, so that the listener may determine if they’re ready for the curtain to be pulled back. 

You probably aren’t aware of how the Fireworker – or Space Cowboy as it is sometimes referred to – plays out in your own life. That is by design. For it is the puppet master pulling all of our strings, the unseen author who pens all of our story-lines in its relentless effort to survive. It’s probably best to let keyboardist Thomas Andersen describe it himself: “ There’s an instinctual part of you that lives inside your mind, separate from your consciousness. It’s an eternal and unbroken lifeforce that’s survived every generation, with a new version in each of us. It’s evolved alongside our consciousness, and it can override us and control all of our actions.” A benevolent force to support us in being our best? Not quite: “ It will silence the parts of our mind that feel disgust or remorse so that we’re unable to stop it. The conscious part of our mind will actually ‘rationalize and legitimize’ those thoughts and actions so that we never discover the beast behind-the-scenes. We’re all just vessels—or “Sapiens”—that the creature uses until it no longer needs us .” 

Feeling cozy yet? Yes, this is the underlying theme which runs through the hypnotic waves of Gazpacho ’s atmospheric stylings. At least the harsh truth goes down easy with music like this. Just play along and the Fireworker will “reward you like a puppy and let you feel fantastic; if you don’t, it’ll punish you severely .” Got that? 

“Fireworker” Album Artwork

Epic opener “ Space Cowboy ” sets the scene, a 20-minute piece essentially compromised of four connected 5-minute sections. The simple piano motifs that open the piece underneath Jan-Henrik Ohme ’s signature vocals soon give way to a grand entrance from the band in one of Gazpacho ’s finest moments with Kristian “Fido” Torp ’s bass lines propelling the piece forward. However, it’s more than a little frustrating that the full band kicks in and out with each chord progression cycle initially, making it difficult to fully immerse one’s self into the composition. Perhaps that reflects the nature of the subject matter. This quality continues to challenge the listener throughout the album, with the band seldom locking in to one repeating progression for very long. The third section is called “ Clockwork ”, released separately as a single, conveying an intensity which builds and eventually releases through explosive guitar fireworks in one of the band’s heaviest moments.  There are surprises along the way as well, not the least of which being a full choir who significantly add to the second and fourth movements of this piece, ultimately closing its final moments in spectacular fashion. All in all, this first album-side nearly overwhelms the listener with its range and inventiveness, inviting repeated listening even before continuing on with the rest of the album. 

The three subsequent shorter tracks are more accessible but no less rewarding. The evocative “ Hourglass ” is a favorite, its haunting piano lines casting a wide shadow that envelops the listener. The choir briefly returns, leading into a beautiful violin passage from Mikael Krømer . The energized title track follows, the album’s first single, giving drummer Robert Johansen a more robust platform, amidst Ohme ’s lovely backing vocal “ Ahhhh’ s”. Finally, “ Antique ” revels in its moody atmosphere with a vocal delivery of longing and pathos, playing on Gazpacho’s strengths. Often these three songs are easier to return to for repeated plays than the lengthy numbers, being more compact and easier to digest. Still, “ Sapiens ” beckons, the marching tempo laid out by the rhythm guitar reminding the listener of past epics. This may be the most hypnotic of the bunch, with the dreamy middle section being an album highlight as sustained guitar lines reach higher and higher to the sky. Still, when it finally reaches its conclusion there seems to be room for more…perhaps a sequel will be in the offing to further the tale? 

“Fireworker ” undeniably finds the band in inspired form and should become a favorite for their dedicated fans. As an entry point it may still be a bit uneven for some, so perhaps one of their earlier noteworthy works would be a better place to start. But once one has acquired the taste, this Space Cowboy awaits with all of its allure and deception. Be safe out there, y’all. 

Released by: Kscope Released on: September 18th, 2020 Genre:  Progressive Rock

• Jan-Henrik Ohme / Vocals
• Jon-Arne Vilbo / Guitars
• Thomas Andersen / Keyboards
• Mikael Krømer / Violin
• Kristian Torp / Bass
• Robert R Johansen / Drums

“Fireworker” track-listing:

• Space Cowboy

Gazpacho returns with perhaps their most overarching theme ever and a gorgeous album with which to deliver the storyline. Their satisfying blend of longer and shorter pieces channels the strengths of the band in atmospheric, gut-wrenching beauty. An album which challenges and soothes the listener, just as a Fireworker is meant to do.

• Songwriting 8
• Musicianship 8
• Originality 8.5
• Production 9.5

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DEICIDE – Banished By Sin (Album Review)

Stunning ❤️❤️

Gazpacho did absolutely everything themselves on Bravo: from writing, recording, production, mixing, manufacturing, mastering and graphic design. Everything was carfully planned and worked on to the nearest detail. Nonetheless, there are over 17 people contributing to the making of this album, all being within the circle of friends and having the belief in what gazpacho do (and asking them politely for a favour..). No session players, no rented extra’s, no agencies. They share one common thing: they love music.

Stream molok.

Some of the more unique stories in the making of Bravo would be gazpacho’s collaboration with Esther Valentine (California: worked with amongst others, David Kershenbaum (prod., Tracy Chapman), Paul Buckmaster (arr., Elton John), and Richard Burgess (keyboard prog., Kate Bush), and has numerous CD (platinum), film and television credits.) and Peter Kearns (New Zealand: Since the eighties he has written and recorded with various Australasian acts and for a year or two collaborated with legendary American record producer Kim Fowley. He has also worked as keyboard sideman to such New Zealand acts as Shona Laing (ex Manfred Mann’s Earthband) and Dave Dobbyn). These friends from 3 seperate continents have never met face to face.