NEWS ARCHIVE 2006

23/12 2006: WRAPPING UP THE YEAR

MAD&HUNGRY HIT THE RECORDING STUDIO

Mad&Hungry, the band fronted by Mads and blues singer/harmonica virtuoso John Magnar Hungry John Bernes, will start the recording of the bands debut album in Grieghallen lydstudio in Bergen on January 15. The band, who also includes bassplayer Frank Hovland and Zsolt Mescaros, have played together for 6 years and done extensive touring, festival  gigs and clubdates all over Norway. They will record approx. 15 songs, all completely new material written by Mads, Hungry John and Frank Hovland. The album will be released spring 2008.

MAD&HUNGRY AT MADAM FELLE 

Mad&Hungry are booked into Madam Felle on Friday 12. and Saturday 13. January. They will present a lot of new material, due to be recorded the following week. 

CHRIS THOMPSON/MADS ERIKSEN DATES IN APRIL/MAY

Chris Thompson and Mads Eriksen Band will do a round of gigs late April/ early May. They will play in eastern Norway and finish off with the annual two day stint at Madam Felle in Bergen the first weekend of May, following up this years and last years sold-out gigs at the popular Bergen club.
At the present time, these dates are solid:

April 27: Kafe Kurth, Larvik
May 4 and 5th: Madam Felle, Bergen 

A MESSAGE FROM MADS

I’m very grateful for all the nice messages I get in my guestbook. I do, however, suggest that anyone who wants me to participate in and contribute to school assignments etc., - which I’m more than happy to do –rather send me a regular e-mail since I read the Guestbook very infrequently. The adress is mads@madseriksen.com 

ANOTHER MESSAGE FROM MADS

A merry Christmas to everybody who have visited my website, come to my gigs and listened to my music in 2006 and made it such a thrilling year from me – the highlights are almost to numerous to count, but certain events leap to mind, such as the tour I did in February/March with Chris Thompson promoting our Live DVD in Germany, the gigs we did in Bergen in May and playing in front of more than a 1000 people in Notodden and Karmøy in August – the three sold-out nights with Rolling Clones in September in conjunction with the Stones concert in Bergen, with Bernhard Fowler guesting on ?Satisfaction - the inspired writing and rehearsel sessions with Mad&Hungry, preparing our debut album in 2007, my band’s performance on "Grieg night" in Bergen in September and my acoustic solo gig  at Madam Felle in November..I really feel fortunate to meet with all you nice people and to have a life in music because of you, I don’t take it at all for granted.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

23/11 2006: MADS AT MADAM FELLE

Mads is to give a rare solo performance tonight at Madam Felle in Bergen, with a setlist of mostly acoustic songs. Those of you who have followed Mads career, have probably noticed that all his albums – Redhanded in particular – have some acoustic tunes on them, revealing that Mads can be really sensitive too (sorry girls, he’s not single!). Apart from self-penned pieces, there will also be tunes and arrangements by Chet Atkins, Pat Buchanan and Merle Travis. Mads will also take out his trusty old electric on a couple of songs, even if it’s  called an acoustic or unplugged night (when rock musicians are doing un-plugged gigs, it usually just means that they are sitting down instead of standing up, doesn’t it?). 
We would assume that such an event would cause the Bergen live scene to sit still today, and were quite astonished to find that some obscure act called Iron Maiden have booked into Vestlandshallen just outside the city. We suspect there will be a rather slim audience attendence out there?.
Mads starts at 22.00

18/11 2006: RELEASE CONCERT

"MONRADEN SIN MANDOLIN" RELEASE CONCERT ON SUNDAY NOV 19 

The CD "Monraden sin Mandolin", based on the music from the "Singel&Sand" caberet show, was released earlier this fall. On Sunday November 19 the whole ensemble from S&S will take the stage at Rick’s (visekjelleren) in Bergen to celebrate the release and play a selection of tunes from the album with verbal interludes and anecdotes about the origins of the songs. The show starts at 20:00 and is open to anybody (provided that you are old enough and relatively sober...) 

A FEW MORE CONCERTS

Tuesday Nov 14:
Mads plays with singer/guitarist Ronny Skaar at a book launching party hosted by the Spartacus publishing company at Logen Bar, Bergen. Mads and Ronny played together in ?Sharks&Whales? (and still do, on celebrated occasions) who released the album ?Reaped By Man? in 1988.

Wednesday Nov 15:
Mads plays on opening show for Sparebanken Sogn og Fjordane at Galleri Nygaten, Bergen.

10/11 2006: WALKING ON SUNSHINE

CHRIS THOMPSON/MADS ERIKSEN WALKING ON SUNSHINE

Chris and Mads will take the stage in a huge event show for Hewlett&Packard at the SAS Scandinavium hotell in Oslo, Norway, on Saturday November 11. This time they will be joined on a couple of numbers by Chris’ long time friend Katrina from ?Katrina and the Waves?. Also on the show, which is led by Norway’s top talk show host Fredrik Skavland, is the famous Norwegian band Briskeby.

12/10 2006: TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Mads is soloist with the all-men choir Fana Mannskor and organ player Sigbjørn Apeland on the concert called "To Russia with love" in Sælen kirke (Sælen church) on Sunday October 15 and in Storetveit kirke (Storetveit Church) on Sunday October 29 , in which works by Th. Artwood and Russian composer Chesnokov are being performed. Concerts start at 19:00.

26/09 2006: MORE GIGS

CHRIS THOMPSON JOINS IN ON THURSDAY SEP 28 GIG IN GRIEGHALLEN 

Mads Eriksen and his band will perform twice on the Arbeidsmiljø – conference in Grieghallen, Bergen, on Thursday September 28. They will start at 08:30 (very early indeed for rock’n roll!) with rock versions of music by Edvard Grieg. In the evening they will be joined by Chris Thompson for a set of his biggest hits, after Mads has performed on acoustic guitar and drummer Zsolt Mescaros a pyro-accompanied drum solo, courtesy of Norwegian in-door firework pioneer Axel Sundbotten. Hopefully, nobody will be ?blinded by the light??HAHA! (OK, that was really, really awful..)
On Saturday September 30 Mads will play on another event in Grieghallen, performing a Star Sprangled Banner – Jimi –style version of "Nystemten", the Bergen anthem, and if he doesn’t get lynched by a mob of furious Bergen patriots after that, he will also do "Solveigs Song" by Edvard Grieg. 

BERNARD FOWLER ON STAGE WITH THE ROLLING CLONES

On August 31, when the Rolling Clones did the first of 3 gigs in a row at Rick’s in Bergen, they were joined by Rolling Stones lead co-singer Bernard Fowler for a rousing version of Satisfaction in front of an ecstatic audience. The Clones had three sold-out nights at Ricks in connection with the Rolling Stones concert in Bergen on September 1.
This month they have performed two corporate gigs at USF in Bergen (Sep 8 and 29) 

MADS SOLO ON NOVEMBER 23

Mads will do a solo, mostly acoustic, concert at Madam Felle on Thursday November 23 

MORE CLONES

The Rolling Clones have booked two more gigs in Bergen – they will play at Madam Felle on November 17 and 18, and at Ricks on December 15 and 17.  

"MONRADEN SIN MANDOLIN" OUT NOW

The music from the music theatre play Singel&Sand with whom Mads has just finished a highly successful tour, was recorded in March this year and is now out on CD. It debuted on the 11. mark on the local charts, and received a 5 out of 6 – review in BT, the main Bergen newspaper. Mads plays Electric and acoustic guitars, banjo and mandolin on the record. 
Complete list of gigs this year is at the bottom of this page.

22/08 2006: NEW GIGS

SINGEL OG SAND ON TOUR 

The music theater play Singel og Sand, in which Mads plays electric and acoustic guitars, banjo and mandolin, started off a tour of Western Norway last weekend. It will go on until September 14. Here is a full list of show dates:

August 17: Leirvik – Kulturhuset 19:00
August 19:  Austevoll (Bekkjarvik) 2 shows, 17:00 and 19:30
August 25: Masfjorden – Risnes-Nordbygda Samfunnshus 20:00
August 26: Osterøy – Osterøy Ungdomsskule, Lonevåg 19:00
August 27: Os – Fjellheim 19:00
 
September 2: Øygarden – Øygarden Kulturhus 19:00
September 3: Fjell – Fjell Kulturhus 20:00
September 8: Meland – Frekhaug (Nordland Folkehøgskule) 19:30
September 9: Austrheim – Austrheim Samfunnshus, 2 shows, 18:00 and 21:00
September 14: Bømlo – Bømlo Kulturhus 

MADS ERIKSEN AND BAND PLAYS ON "GRIEG NIGHT" IN BERGEN 

Next years Edvard Grieg anniversary will be kicked off with a series of concerts by very different artists in Bergen on the night of September 15. Mads and his band (Frank Hovland, Zsolt Mescaros, and Gunnar Bjelland) will take the stage in Musikkpaviljongen at 21:00.
Mads was part of the official Grieg anniversary in 1993 with a series of concerts during the Bergen Music Festival (Festspillene) that year, and was the first soloist ever on electric guitar with the prestigious Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in August 1994. 

NEW MAD&HUNGRY DATES 

October 6: Garveriet, Isdalstø
October 7: Ole Bull Kro, Osterøy
October 13/14: Madam Felle, Bergen 

MORE GIGS WITH CHRIS IN GERMANY 

Chris and Mads will do more gigs in Germany to promote the live DVD from the Nov 24 2002 gig in Tromso, Norway. Sales in Germany are approaching 5,000 copies and the reviews have been fantastic. German critics claims the DVD is "ein Muss"! The gig is to take place mid-November, stay tuned for details. 

NEW GEAR 

Mads has bought some new gear lately – have a look at this:
Amplification:
VHT Ultra lead 3-channel Pittbull Amplifier
VHT 4x12? speaker cabinet
Guitar:
Martin OM 16 GT acoustic
Effects:
Line 6 Filter Modulator
Carl Martin  Compressor/Limiter
MXR phase 100
Other:
Dean Mandolin
TM cases pedal board (PB04)  

LOOK OUT FOR DETAILS ON THE EUGEN MADS ERIKSEN HYBRID CUSTOM ELECTRIC!!!!!!! COMING SOON!!

18/07 2006: ROCK BOTTOM = AMPLIFIER ROCKBAR

There has been some confusion about where exactly the Chris Thompson/Mads Eriksen gig in Oslo on August 2 is taking place. The gig was moved from Muddy Water? to Rock Bottom, but Rock Bottom has changed name recently to Amplifier Rockbar.

29/06 2006: ROCK BOTTOM

CHRIS AND MADS HIT ROCK BOTTOM 

Not as dramatic as it sounds, the Chris Thompson/Mads Eriksen gig scheduled for Muddy Waters in Oslo on August 2, has been moved to Rock Bottom, which is downstairs from Muddy Waters and a much cooler place, according to local expertise..  

ROLLING CLONES AT RICK’S ON AUG 30, SEP 1 AND 2 

The Rolling Clones are taking a break for summer after their show at Osøren blues & jazz Friday June 30, but are not about to give up their gruelling touring schedule. They will play 3 days in a row to celebrate the Stones concert in Bergen on September 1, so now you know where to go for your after-show party! Since Mads doesn’t share his mentor’s passion for palm-climbing and coconut-picking, he is reportedly in fine form and up for the gigs. 

CORRECTION –OOPS! 

The Rolling Clones gig at Osøren Jazz&blues festival is on Friday June 30, and not the 31 as we have announced earlier. Sorry! The gig is at Opus Kulturcafe and starts at 22.00. The Clones will also perform a 30 min set on an outdoor stage in Os at 17.00 at the opening of the festival. 
(For the complete gig list, scroll down this page)

22/06 2006: MADS ERIKSEN BAND ON FIRE

Mads and his band (Frank Hovland on bass and Zsolt Mescaros on drums) will perform at the Midsummer Night bonfire party at Damsgård. Mads will do a solo set first, starting at 21:30, and will be joined onstage at 22:00 by the band.
The Damsgård bonfire is built up entirely by wooden barrels, and it’s main claim to fame is that it is  rated in The Guinness Book of Records as the highest barrel bonfire in the world. 
The stage will be situated approx. 100 yards from Mads’ home, so he could play the gig in his slippers (but that would be extremely bad taste, wouldn’t it?)

02/06 2006: GIGS

MORE ROLLING CLONES-GIGS 

As you know, the Stones concert that was  to take place in Bergen  on June 6 is postponed due to a famous climbing accident on the Fiji Islands. The good news is that Mads and the rest of the Rolling Clones are not to big on palm tree climbing and coconut picking, so they have added to more shows to their gruelling touring schedule in June. Saturday June 3 they will play at Voss and then ?Madam Felle? in Bergen on Sunday June 4. 

CHRIS AND MADS AT SJONA ROCK FESTIVAL IN MO I RANA

One more gig in August for Chris and Mads – they will play at the Sjona Rock Festival in Mo I Rana (Northern Norway) on August 5. 

04/04 2006: NEW GUESTBOOK

We have had all sorts of problems with our guestbook, it were unavailable most of the time...of course we think you deserve better so we have changed our guestbook...please use it if you like, it looks a bit empty at the moment...
Our old guestbook is available if you for some reason would like to have a look at old messages.

23/03 2006: MADS/CHRIS GIGS IN NORWAY CONFIRMED

CHRIS AND MADS DATES AT MADAM FELLE CONFIRMED 

Chris and Mads will play at Madam Felle on May 5 and 6, which will be the follow-up to last years gigs when they had Leo Sayer guesting and draw a record-breaking audience of 240 to the club both nights. Chris and Mads will do an autograph signing of their new live DVD, recently released in Germany at the venue.  

CHRIS AND MADS PLAY OSLO AND KARMØY 

Chris and Mads play at Muddy Waters in Oslo Wednesday August 2. and at an outdoor show at Karmøy on Friday August 4.

MAD&HUNGRY AT MADAM FELLE IN JUNE 

Mads will take time off from the gruelling touring schedule of the Rolling Clones for a long-awaited two-day stint at Madam Felle in Bergen with Mad&Hungry June 9. and 10. 

18/03 2006: BROADCAST OF GERMANY GIG

BROADCAST OF MADS/CHRIS' GERMANY GIG

From Michael Dorka at swr; The first part of the Chris Thompson Show in Mainz at SWR will be broadcasted on SWR 1 RP on sunday, march 19th, from 10 pm on (after the news). The second part will be on air one week later, same time, same place. You can listen to the radio show as well on the web: http://www.swr.de/swr1/index.html
CDs will be delivered next week.

14/03 2006: RELEASE DATE FOR DVD AND MORE

RELEASE DATE FOR LIVE DVD FROM TROMSØ; NORWAY 

Will be March 16b in Germany and Austria. It will be titled "One Hot night In the Cold" – Chris Thompson and Mads Eriksen Band.  

CHRIS THOMPSON SINGS "YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE" WITH MADS ON GUITAR FOR BORUSSIA DORTMUND 

The song was recorded in Tonatelier Studios in Frankfurt on March 1 and will be included on a compilation CD to support Borussia Dortmund. Chris will perform the song at half time at Borussia Dortmund’s homematch on March 18 in front of an estimated audience of 80,000 people. 

GIG IN GERMANY

Here are some info (audio files, photos and german text) from Mads and Chris' gig in Mainz, Germany february 28th 2006: Mainz gig
We also have a photo gallery from the gig (also found in stuff section) and a movieclip (the song "Hot summer night"):
"Hot summer night" movie

NEW DATE FOR SEMINAR AT FEDJE 
Mads will have a rock seminar at Fedje on April 21-22, and not on March 16-17, as announced earlier. 

NOT GARY, BUT CLAES 

Gary More is not doing Notooden this year, as was expected, so instead Swedish guitar great Claes Yngstrøm and his band ?Sky High? has been hired to join forces with Chris Thompson/Mads Eriksen and Band at Tapperiet, Thursday August 3.

01/02 2006: BUSY, BUSY

A MESSAGE FROM MADS 

Hi everybody, a happy new year to all of you! Thanks for making 2005 such a great year for me, incredibly busy but tons of fun! It was such a thrill to do all the gigs with Chris, Leo Sayer, Mad&Hungry, The Rolling Clones and the solo gigs, and very enjoyable to be part of the Singel&Sand theatre play, which was highly successful (visited by 9000 people), critically acclaimed and that will go on tour in August/September 2006.
This year seems to be really hectic to, as you will see - I have a lot of solid live dates already, and ?Mad&Hungry? will make a record this year and I hope to start recording my next solo release soon, too. Chris and I hope have plans for setting up the Rediscovery –project in Auckland, New Zealand, live for DVD filming and release in 2007. The first thing we’re gonna do, however, is releasing the live DVD from Tromsø in 2002! A lot of you have sent me e-mails me about that, so I’m glad to tell you that it is to be released soon and that Chris and I are going on a promo tour in Germany in late February/early March. I have always felt that it was one of those nights and Chris gives a totally blinding, awesome performance. 
Thanks a billion times to all of you for coming to my gigs, listening to my albums, visiting my site and sending all the nice messages! Rock on!
 
Best,
Mads 

CHRIS THOMPSON/MADS ERIKSEN BAND LIVE CONCERT FROM TROMSØ OUT ON DVD IN FEBRUARY! 

We are glad to inform you that the concert with Chris Thompson and Mads Eriksen Band, recorded by the Norwegian broadcasting company NRK on November 24, 2002, is finally going to be released on DVD. The label is German based e-m-s music&entertainment. The DVD will be released in Germany and Austria at first, and will be out in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe soon. The finished product is totally live and has not been fiddled around with, no overdubs have been added. What you’ll hear is exactly what happened that night.
Chris and Mads will do a promo tour in the main cities in Germany from February 25 – March 4, a string of live-on-radio appearances and interviews are on the agenda. 
The concert is a mix of Chris’ solo stuff, particularly from his last studio release "Won’t Lie Down" (2001), the Night classic "Hot Summer Night", Chris&Mads collaborations from Mads’ album "Redhanded" (2001) and Mads’ show-stopping hillbilly instrumental "Suburban Cowboy" – and of course, all the greatest Manfred Mann’s Earth Band classics, such as "Mighty Quinn", "Davy’s On The Road Again", "Blinded By The Light" and "Questions". 

CHRIS THOMPSON/MADS ERIKSEN AND GARY MORE AT ?TAPPERIET?, NOTODDEN IN AUGUST

Chris and Mads were rebooked immediately after the show they did at Notodden in August last year, the concert was a huge success in front of 800 ecstatic fans. This years concert is on Thursday August 3 and Chris&Mads are to followed by the great Gary Moore. There will be more gigs the following weekend, but as of yet, nothing confirmed. 
ROLLING CLONES – ALMOST AS POPULAR AS ?THE REAL THING??
Well, that might be pushing it a bit to far, we admit that – but The Rolling Clones are very much in demand these days, a fact probably spurred by the unbelievable event of The Rolling Stones playing in Bergen on June 6, 2006. The Clones have already done two shows in closed partys on January 14 and 21, and the next gig, in Bergen Prison, is definitely for invited people only – don’t go to extremes to get in on that gig!  
Here is a  list over gigs so far this 2006 – look out for updates/alterations! 

JANUARY

14/01 The Rolling Clones, Kommandantboligen, Gravdal, Bergen
21/01 The Rolling Clones, Logen Teater, Bergen

FEBRUARY

10/02 The Rolling Clones, Bergen Prison
25-28/02 Chris Thompson/Mads Eriksen: promo dates for live DVD in Germany

MARCH

1-4/03 Chris/Mads promo dates in Germany, cont.
10-11/03 The Rolling Clones, Madam Felle, Bergen
21/03 Guitar clinic at Voss gymnas, Voss
31/03 Mad&Hungry at Rick’s, Bergen

APRIL

01/04 Mad&Hungry at Rick’s, Bergen
21-22/04 Mads Eriksen rock seminar+concert at Fedje

MAY

5-6/05 Chris Thompson/Mads Eriksen Band+guests at Madam Felle, Bergen
12/05 The Rolling Clones+guests at Bergen Media Festival
13/05 Mads Eriksen solo at Galleri Nygaten, Bergen
(private party)
19/05 Mads Eriksen and opera singer Bodil Arnesen in Grieghallen, Bergen

JUNE

02/06 The Rolling Clones, Kopervik
03/06 The Rolling Clones, Voss
04/06 The Rolling Clones, Madam Felle?
06/06 The Rolling Clones, Ole Bull Theater, Bergen
09-10/06 Mad&Hungry at Madam Felle
16-17/06 The Rolling Clones, Rick’s, Bergen
24/06 The Rolling Clones, Lysefjorden
30/06 The Rolling Clones, Osøren blues & jazz festival, Os

JULY

Unconfirmed plans for tour on Iceland for Mad&Hungry

AUGUST

03/08 Chris Thompson/Mads Eriksen at Tapperiet, Notodden
05/08 Chris Thompson/Mads Eriksen, Sjona Rock Festival in Mo i Rana
02/08 Chris Thompson/Mads Eriksen at Rock Bottom in Oslo
04/08 Chris Thompson/Mads Eriksen at an outdoor show, Karmøy
30/08 The Rolling Clones, Rick’s, Bergen
Singel&Sand on tour in Norway:
August 17: Leirvik – Kulturhuset 19:00
August 19:  Austevoll (Bekkjarvik) 2 shows, 17:00 and 19:30
August 25: Masfjorden – Risnes-Nordbygda Samfunnshus 20:00
August 26: Osterøy – Osterøy Ungdomsskule, Lonevåg 19:00
August 27: Os – Fjellheim 19:00

SEPTEMBER

01/09 The Rolling Clones, Rick’s, Bergen
02/09 The Rolling Clones, Rick’s, Bergen
Singel&Sand on tour in Norway:
September 2: Øygarden – Øygarden Kulturhus 19:00
September 3: Fjell – Fjell Kulturhus 20:00
September 8: Meland – Frekhaug (Nordland Folkehøgskule) 19:30
September 8: Rolling Clones, event show performance at USF, Bergen
September 9: Austrheim – Austrheim Samfunnshus, 2 shows, 18:00 and 21:00
September 14: Bømlo – Bømlo Kulturhus
September 22: Mads Eriksen solo at event show in ?Galleri Nygaten?; Bergen
23/09 Mad&Hungry in Åsane, Bergen
September: 28: Mads Eriksen Band at event show in Grieghallen in the morning
September 28: Chris Thompson/Mads Eriksen Band at event show in Grieghallen in the evening
September 29: Rolling Clones event show performance at USF, Bergen
September 30: Mads Eriksen solo at event show in Grieghallen

OCTOBER

October 6: Mad&Hungry, Garveriet, Isdalstø
October 7: Mad&Hungry, Ole Bull Kro, Osterøy
October 13/14: Mad&Hungry, Madam Felle, Bergen
October 15: From Russia with love in Sælen kirke 19:00
October 29: From Russia with love in Storetveit  kirke (Storetveit church) 19:00

NOVEMBER

November 14: Mads plays with singer/guitarist Ronny Skaar at a book launching party hosted by the Spartacus publishing company at Logen Bar, Bergen. Mads and Ronny played together in Sharks&Whales (and still do, on celebrated occasions) who released the album ?Reaped By Man? in 1988
November 15: Mads plays on opening show for Sparebanken Sogn og Fjordane på Galleri Nygaten, Bergen
November 17 and 18: The Rolling Clones at Madam Felle, Bergen
November 23: Mads Eriksen acoustic solo at Madam Felle, Bergen

DECEMBER

December 15 and 16: The Rolling Clones at Rick’s, Bergen