Seit ihrer Rückkehr im Jahr 2023 haben Kaizers Orchestra ein beeindruckendes neues Kapitel ihrer Bandgeschichte aufgeschlagen. Nach großen Festivalauftritten und fünf eigenen Stadionshows zieht es die norwegische Band 2026 wieder dorthin, wo ihre besondere Mischung aus Musik, Geschichten und Theatralik einst ihren Anfang nahm: in die Clubs Europas. Passend zum 25-jährigen Jubiläum ihres Debütalbums „Ompa til du dør“ haben wir mit Kaizers Orchestra über die bevorstehende Europatour, die Veränderungen innerhalb der Band und das Lebensgefühl gesprochen, das sie auch nach all den Jahren noch miteinander verbindet. Außerdem geht es um ihre außergewöhnliche Bühnenwelt, die Zeit seit dem Comeback und die Frage, ob ein Kühlschrank tatsächlich das Zeug dazu hätte, die legendären Ölfässer auf der Bühne zu ersetzen.
Frontstage Magazine: After playing huge stadium shows in 2025, you’re deliberately returning to much smaller clubs for this European tour. What can you do in an intimate venue that simply isn’t possible in front of tens of thousands of people?
Kaizers Orchestra: Well, no one can play stadiums all the time. Even the biggest acts on the planet had to learn their craft on smaller stages before they played stadiums. The luxury of being in a position to do both — and several other types of shows as well — is what makes it so interesting and challenging for us. We love touring Europe. It’s exotic for us to wake up in a major city every morning, stroll around the old town looking for the best coffee, record shops, hat stores and omelettes before soundcheck and showtime in the evening. After the smaller shows, we often hang out with the fans at the merch stand or in a local pub before driving on to the next city in the middle of the night. It’s a lovely rock ’n’ roll bubble to live in for a month.
Frontstage Magazine: 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of your debut album “Ompa til du dør”. When you look back at the band you were when that record came out, how much of that original spirit do you still recognize in Kaizers Orchestra today?
Kaizers Orchestra: First of all, we were obviously younger. We were students, we lived together, and we spent much more time together — both on the road and when we came home. Now we don’t live together anymore, and thank God for that! We all have families, with two or three kids each, and we live in four different cities across Norway. So these days, we mainly see each other for rehearsals, pre-production, in the studio, or on tour. Of course, that’s just the natural course of life. But we always really enjoy getting together, whether it’s on tour, in different cities, or in the studio. There’s still something very special about being together and working as a band. The songs from 2001 where made by young people. Even today, when we play those songs, we feel the same young spirit and energy from that era in our songs. Maby it keeps us young? Looks like it worked that way for Mick Jagger.
Frontstage Magazine: When Kaizers Orchestra said goodbye in 2013, many fans thought the story was over for good. Since your comeback in 2023, has your relationship with touring and performing changed compared to the years before the break?
Kaizers Orchestra: In short, the comeback has been the best period we’ve ever had as a band. Three years of planning, having fun with the build-up, and then an incredible tour at some of our favourite venues in Norway and across Europe.
We also played the major festivals during the first summer, followed by five huge stadium shows of our own the following summer.
It’s hard to imagine anything working out better than it did. So if anything changed it has been for the better. And it’s actually an even bigger band now than it was back in 2013.
Frontstage Magazine: Your concerts have always been much more than simply playing songs – there’s a strong theatrical element, storytelling, unusual instruments and a very distinctive atmosphere. How do you translate that entire Kaizers Orchestra universe into a club show in 2026?
Kaizers Orchestra: Well, I wanted to create something different: lyrics that could fascinate people and allow them to dream themselves into another world, rather than simply relate to their own lives.
It’s been my signature for many years, and those lyrics, characters and the scenes and universe I’ve created around them have inspired everything from cover artwork and merchandise to photography, videos, stage design and our performance.
I think that has given us a strong and consistent core identity throughout our entire body of work. It was initially made for the smaller clubs and it still works very well there. It’s more fascinating that it actually also works at huge festivals or stadiums.
Frontstage Magazine: And finally, something completely different: You have to replace your famous oil barrels on stage with one completely ridiculous everyday object for the entire tour. What do you choose – and who in the band has to figure out how to make it sound good?
Kaizers Orchestra: Hm. I’m thinking we need something that can make a proper “boom”, so maybe a small freezer with smoke and microphones in it, like the wonderfully alternative band Hurra Torpedo. They’ve already proved that it works. I’d go for a fridge or a freezer.
KAIZER ORCHESTRA – EUROPEAN CLUB TOUR 2026
Okt 5 – Cologne, DE – Live Music Hall
Okt 6 – Hamburg, DE – Docks
Okt 9 – Berlin, DE – Huxleys
Fotocredit: Offizielle Tourgrafik
