SMUKfest Day 5: Blæst, Burhan G and GNAGS’ Farewell to the Festival Stage
The final day of the festival brought both fresh energy and familiar faces. Blæst showed that the band has settled in well with Sarah Sofie out front, Burhan G proved once again that he remains one of the best entertainers on the Danish stage scene, and GNAGS’ Peter A.G. closed out Sunday with an energetic and moving farewell to the festival stages. Here are our reviews of three of Sunday’s biggest concerts.
Blæst: New Wind in the Sails
Blæst, now with Sarah Sofie out front, took the Bøge Stage at 3:30 PM at SMUKfest. You might think the festival grounds would be emptying out by now, but that was far from the case. The area in front of the Bøge Stage was still packed, and plenty of party-ready guests were up for more dancing. And good thing they were. Because Blæst has undoubtedly made itself at home on the live stage. There was room for playfulness and freedom during the concert. The band dared to put twists on their by-now well-known tracks, and it worked! Really worked!
It’s always a pleasure to hear a band that doesn’t stick rigidly to their records. We come for a unique experience, not to hear the same thing we could have heard at home in our living room. And that’s exactly what we got with Blæst. There was chemistry and energy on stage, mixed with a sense that the band has formed strong, friendly bonds. The Danish word “hygge” captures the feeling well. It almost felt like being with friends at a great party.
Sarah Sofie seemed right at home out front. Stepping into a band the audience already knows is never an easy task, but she didn’t try to be a copy of her predecessor. She was Sarah Sofie. And it worked. Blæst delivered a fantastic concert on the Bøge Stage. The party continued, legs kept moving a little longer than they might have wanted on the festival’s final day, and the audience got exactly what they came for. The lineup may have changed a little. But the wind is still blowing. And it’s blowing in exactly the right direction.
Burhan G: Still New to the Game
Burhan G is an old familiar face. Yet he’s still new. Some artists grow older with grace. Others seem to have found a different solution. Burhan G is still impressively fit, well-dressed and so well-groomed that the rest of us mostly feel like going home to take a good, hard look at ourselves in the mirror.
But fair enough. When you look like that and can also step on stage and deliver the way Burhan G can, maybe you shouldn’t throw stones. Because Burhan G is an impressive entertainer. He’s been on Danish stages for so many years by now that he ought to be part of the furniture. Yet he manages to stay relevant. Not by chasing the next musical trend or trying to be 20 again, but simply because he’s still genuinely good at what he does. And he certainly doesn’t just stand there looking good while he’s at it.
There was jumping, movement and hard work on stage, and Burhan G brought an energy that spread straight out into the crowd. He has the experience to know exactly when to hit the gas and when to just let the audience sing along. The voice is there. The songs are there. And not least, the ability to command an audience is right where it should be. There was a natural confidence to the concert. Not the kind that feels forced, but the kind that comes from knowing exactly what you’re doing. He filled the stage, kept the energy up and had the audience with him the whole way.
Both the old classics and the newer tracks got sung along to, and it quickly became clear that Burhan G has built up a back catalogue that most Danish artists can only be jealous of. He may be an old familiar face. But he certainly hasn’t gotten old. At least not on stage.
GNAGS: Peter A.G. Still Has It!
73… That’s how many years Peter is counting. And yet he flies around the stage, singing and interacting with the audience the whole time! Our photographer’s camera wasn’t always fast enough to keep up. And the photographer had actually adjusted the settings expecting things to move a bit faster than they had with the metal band we’d seen the night before. Yes, you read that right.
While most of us are probably starting to appreciate a good chair and a comfortable pair of shoes, Peter A.G. seems to have taken a different approach to turning 73. He ran, jumped, danced and moved around the stage with an energy that could make quite a few younger artists eye their fitness levels nervously. And there was beautiful singing in the Bøge Woods once again. And it felt completely natural.
GNAGS isn’t just a band you listen to. It’s a band you know. The songs are something most people either grew old with or grew up with. And when the first notes hit, Peter A.G. barely has to sing them himself. The audience happily takes care of the rest. There was singing, dancing and smiling, and the Bøge Stage was transformed for a while into one giant singalong. It’s hard not to get swept up when generations stand side by side, knowing all the same words. But GNAGS doesn’t live on nostalgia alone.
It would have been easy to just get on stage, play the old hits and let the audience handle the rest. But Peter A.G. was present. Truly present. He played with the audience, engaged with them and gave the concert an energy no one had really expected from a 73-year-old man. Peter A.G. will probably never be known as the guy who sits down and sings a few songs from the old days. Good for him! And good for us!
Despite the energy, Peter also had to announce that festival concerts are now over for him. And what a place to end on! In the middle of the Bøge Woods, among the towering trees, with a wonderful audience, at 9:30 PM on Sunday evening. But that doesn’t mean Peter A.G. plans to sit down and stay there. A spring tour is already planned for 2027, and he also announced that GNAGS has a new album on the way, ‘Knark’. So even as the years add up, Peter A.G. still has plenty of gas left in the tank. He’s just chosen where he wants to drive next. And we have a feeling he’s not going to slow down anytime soon. Thanks for the party, Peter A.G.
Photos (c) Morten Holmsgaard Kristensen
