News: What is happening in the world of Madrugada and on this page? I try to stay as updated as possible, and I will try to bring you the latest rumours and facts concerning Madrugada. Of course, you will also be able to read all the interesting stuff about what has been updated or changed on this very webpage.

November 30th 2003 - I saw Madrugada live in Stavanger two nights ago, and they sucked. No, of course not. They were great, as always. For once I managed to lower my expectations to a minimum, expecting the usual 'greatest hits' show they usually travel around with and that I have heard quite a few times already. But they managed to surprise and impress me with a very interesting selection of songs.

The quality of the unreleased songs they chose to perform was impressive. Starting the show with "Ivory Town," you are left wondering why it never made it onto "Industrial Silence" as it was originally meant to. "I Think We're Running Out Of Time," which they also performed on the last tour, is really coming together now, showing signs of the good old 'Madrugada-sound' that people fell in love with a couple of years ago. Last new one was "Ramona," which Simen referred to as their 'quick and dirty one,' and which sounds impressive.

In addition they did a magnificent cover of Jonathan Richman's "Hospital," the rather seldomly played "Oceanliner" and a very rare live rendition of "I'm Life's Wonderful Way Of Letting You Down" from the "Electric" EP, only the third time they have ever played this song.

As usual, reviewers were not equally impressed by the show as the fans, the student paper Hugin referred to the show as 'a soulless concert' in a review entitled "Better On The Album." But the show was sold out, and everyone else seemed to be having a great time.

After the concert I talked a bit to Simen and Sivert about the English release of "Grit" on Music For Nations. The album was released on November 10th, and Madrugada will play a one-off showcase at Metro Club in London tomorrow, mostly to journalists and record executives, hoping to spread the word about the band and to get some nice words in the January issues of important English music magazines such as Q, MOJO and Bang.

Click here to see a flyer for the Metro Club concert, thanks to Music For Nations.

The English edition of "Grit" features a different cover than the European version, and also only features seven songs from the original "Grit" album. The tracklist has been put together by Frode, Sivert and Robert to try to introduce the English audience to a wider perspective of what Madrugada sounds like than what the original "Grit" album sounded like, since "Industrial Silence" did not do well there and "The Nightly Disease" was never released there.

The tracklisting for the UK version of "Grit" is as follows:

1. Blod Shot Adult Commitment
2. Ready
3. I Don't Fit
4. Madrugada
5. Majesty
6. 7 seconds
7. Lucy One
8. Hands Up - I Love You
9. Got you
10. Belladonna
11. Ready To Carry You

The cover is also new, featuring a black and white picture of the band and a sticker saying "Grit." You can view an image of the cover without the sticker here. The promo versions of the album comes with the title printed on it, to view an image of that click here. Thanks to Stephen from LD Communications for the images.

There might be an English tour in January.

When it comes to new releases from the band, we have to keep patient when it comes to a new album. Nothing is certain, but Sivert says they are hoping to get a new album out by next Autumn, as they are practicing six to seven hours a day and writing new songs every day, so he says they have to get something out soon.

In the meantime it is expected that the band will release a split-EP together with We on Black Balloon Records. The EP will be a tribute to Roky Erickson, and Madrugada will cover the 13th Floor Elevator song "Slip Inside This House," which they performed live on the previous tour.

Sivert and Simen will also be busy with Sivert's side-project The Opposition, the album has been recorded and is scheduled for release in February. Sivert says it did not turn out exactly how he had thought, he was expecting something along the lines of singer-songwriters like Smog but instead ended up with 'pop, the way I perceive that pop should be like' on an album he is incredibly proud of.

There will be a major Norwegian tour to co-incide with the release of the album, with around twenty concerts all over the country in March next year.

On December 9th Sivert will also take part in recording a Norwegian tribute-album for Johnny Cash. In true Cash-spirit, the album will be recorded at a concert in the prison Oslo Kretsfengsel avd. A, with prisoners as the audience. Other artists that will take part is Thomas Dybdahl, Magnet, Steinar Albrigtsen, Paal Flaata from Midnight Choir and Øystein Greni from Big Bang. The album is scheduled for release in the end of January or beginning of February.

Late that night in Stavanger, Simen also realized that he used to live in my home-town Egersund in the south of Norway when he was a child. In the freakiest of co-incidences we found out that he had lived two houses up the street from where I live. It is a small world.

Older News: Most of the older news pages are also being stored and are available from this page. These news pages are no longer updated, so some of the links might be outdated.