The final track 'Garden of Exile' from the concert at Rebildcentret / Thingbæk Kalkminer one week ago. It is evident that the mine's climate takes a toll on both vocal cords and string instruments, but it was still an impressive place to do a concert.
'Garden of Exile' is one of the oldest songs in my repertoire, and is the only song I have played at all my concerts. The song usually functions as a closer. A principle that has only been deviated from once, when we had an extra encore.
'Garden of Exile', together with 'Cloudberries', was written in the second half of 1995, and the songs were originally presented to my high school band, who didn't like them. After that, they were mothballed until I dusted them off for the 'Anyway' album in 2009. Both songs had new lyrics written and new arrangements done, and even though the songs celebrate their 30th birthday this year, they still stand for me as some of my strongest songs.
'Garden of Exile' takes its title from a courtyard at the Jewish Museum in Berlin, while the lyrics are a fable about the beat novel 'The Sheltering Sky' by Paul Bowles.
Exciting musical light experience in the lime mines
There was an impression for both the eyes and ears when Ste van Holm & Friends gave a concert in Thingbæk Kalkminer.
By John Jensen, local journalist
Himmerland's most spectacular concert hall shone with laser light when there was a concert in Thingbæk Kalkminer with Ste van Holm & Friends on Friday evening.
Spherical sounds mixed with a medieval lyre, synthesizers, electric guitars, electric bass and computer programming in beautiful, and at times strange, soundscapes for the well-dressed audience, who were well prepared for the temperature in the lime mines.
The show lasted about an hour. By then the musicians' fingers had become so chilled and stiff that it was starting to be difficult to handle the instruments. But by that time the audience was also well-filled with impressions and a very special musical multimedia experience.
Great experience
Birgitte Due Holm and Ole Lidegaard from Aalborg did not know Ste van Holm & Friends beforehand, but they were very excited after the concert.
- We are always curious to experience things we have not tried before. It is something that refreshes your mind, says Ole Lidegaard.
The couple has previously been to a concert in the lime mines and are very happy with the surroundings.
- When something happens down here, we come out here, because we have been lucky enough to win an annual ticket to the Rebildcentret, says Birgitte Due Thompson.
Fabulous space
Orchestra leader Ste van Holm is excited about the surroundings in Thingbæk Lime Mines:
- This is a fabulous space. We have made it our "thing" to play in places that were not originally intended as venues. Here, the lime mines give our performance something very special, he says.
The band spent most of a day setting up and getting ready for the concert with a multitude of lights, lasers, video projectors, sound and instruments.
Much of the time, musicians and audience were completely enveloped in darkness and colors in the exciting light show.
Tightly controlled improvisation
Ste van Holm & Freinds have played together since 2015, but Ste van Holm has been releasing records since 2001. The bandleader writes the music and lyrics, but the musicians have a free hand.
- I come up with the basic idea, and then it is the individual musician who decides what they play. The lightman also has the opportunity to improvise during the concert, he says.
The improvisation happens within certain limits, because there is a lot of computer programming when music, video and light have to play together, but within the limits everyone has a free hand.
On May 2nd, we played a very special concert at the bottom of a disused limestone mine, which is now used as a museum for the sculptor Anders Bundgaard and is inhabited by hundreds of bats. From the entrance of the mine it was about 100 meters to the place where we constructed the stage, and already at the first steps you could feel the damp and cold. The mine passages are reminiscent of a rustic cathedral, and the many reliefs and statues on display give the place a very special atmosphere.
With me I had my faithful technical team consisting of Mikkel Møller Larsen, who programs and controls the lights and lasers, and Jens Søbæk who is responsible for the sound system and live sound.
The band consisted of singers Tanja Hollerup and Julie Sommer. On either side of them were Jesper H. Petersen on bass and Nicolai Olsen on Chapman Stick and hurdy gurdy. On a raised podium behind them sat David A. Jeppesen behind his drum kit. This is the first time since 2019 that we have drums on stage, so it was a nice reunion with David. I stood next to the drums with my guitars
We played for a little over an hour, the environment in the limestone mine making it increasingly difficult for us to perform. It was 8 degrees Celsius and 90% humidity, which made fingers stiff, caused the instruments to condense and made the singers' voices rough.
The majority of the set consisted of songs we've played before, but there was also room for things we'd never performed before and a brand new song. And I sang the chorus without a vocoder - I've never done that before.
I didn't notice it during the concert itself - I guess I just thought it was the smoke machine - but when we packed up it became clear that a fog had formed in the mine. Maybe because of our hot lamps, but the fog hung around the whole time we carried our equipment out and when the mine was locked up after we'd left.
Multimedia concert with highly topical themes in Thingbæk Limestone Mines
SKØRPING: On Friday, May 2, the underground passages in Thingbæk Limestone Mines will be transformed into a living stage when the ensemble Ste van Holm & Friends presents a multimedia concert that embraces both sound, light and visual elements.
The six-piece ensemble brings with them an arsenal of lamps, laser cannons and video projections, which together create a very special experience.
The concert takes the audience on a thematic journey through inventions, polar exploration in Greenland, the Cold War and Faroese folk tales. The music is taken from Ste van Holm's eight albums - including the Greenland-inspired Thaw from 2019 - as well as previously unheard material from an upcoming project.
Thingbæk Kalkminer is part of the Rebildcentret and is located in scenic surroundings at Rebild Bakker. The concert marks one of Denmark’s most geographically extensive collaborations, as composer Ste van Holm lives on Christiansø, while singer Julie Sommer is based on Fanø.
“Unless one of my neighbors has played together with someone from Blåvand, I can’t imagine a wider geographical collaboration than when Julie and I do something together,” says Ste van Holm, whose album Thaw has unexpectedly gained new relevance in light of today’s political agendas and climate change.
The visual side of the concert supports the music with film sequences that draw threads for the Rebildcentret’s communication. One of the sequences was recorded in a former defense bunker in Vedbæk and serves as a tribute to REGAN Vest, which is located just 800 meters from the limestone mines.
Another film clip is based on the ill-fated Denmark Expedition, for which the Rebildcentret has proposed a memorial in the limestone mine.
The ensemble often performs on unconventional stages and has previously played in Store Tårn on Christiansø, on a river barge in Berlin and in Brønshøj Vandtårn.
Ste van Holm & Friends is led by composer and filmmaker Ste van Holm, who is behind both the music and the film. Singers Julie Sommer and Tanja Hollerup contribute vocals; the latter has just had success with a hit on the Danish charts in collaboration with Anders Blichfeldt from Big Fat Snake.
Drummer David A. Jeppesen comes from the band Browns Pitstop, Jesper H. Petersen plays bass, and Nicolai Olsen brings the rare instrument Chapman Stick into play.
The technical team also plays an important role in the concert. Lighting designer Mikkel Møller Larsen has created a special light show for the limestone mines, while sound engineer Jens Søbæk ensures optimal sound with a system of strategically placed speakers.
The concert in Thingbæk Limestone Mines promises to be a sensory experience with musical depth and visual stories - a unique meeting between nature, art and history.
Translation:
Christiansø artist Ste van Holm presents perhaps Denmark's widest collaboration when the ensemble Ste van Holm & Friends brings their multimedia show to Thingbæk Kalkminer at Rebild.
On Friday, May 2, an arsenal of lamps, laser cannons and video projectors will be lit when the six-piece ensemble Ste van Holm & Friends gives a concert in the underground passages that make up Thingbæk Kalkminer.
You will be able to experience the geographically widest musical collaboration, as composer Ste van Holm lives on Denmark's easternmost point, Christiansø, while singer Julie Sommer lives on Fanø.
- Unless one of my neighbors has played together with someone from Blåvand, I can't imagine a wider geographical collaboration than when Julie and I do something, says Ste van Holm, whose latest album Thaw from 2019 is a fable about Greenlandic themes. An album that has suddenly become very topical.
- It's quite eerie, what's happening. "I thought the only current topics on the record were the songs that touched on climate change and the melting of glaciers. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that the political aspects of the record would become relevant again," says Ste van Holm.
Happy New Year!
I am so proud and touched that I have so many amazing people around me who make it possible to present my music live!
Our rock solid bassist Jesper H. Petersen has played at every concert since the very first one in 2011. He will end 2024 with a road trip in the Midwest while listening to the various radio stations on the car radio: sentimental Midwest rock, Christian rock, Mexican pop music and of course lots of country. At home in Holte, he has been listening to William Basinsky’s “Watermusic II” and Frank Zappa’s “One Size Fits All” this year.
Our own Tina Turner, Tanja Hollerup, has not been with us from the very beginning, but pretty close. After the very first rehearsal, drummer David said: 'I think I know who we're going to get'. And the rest is history... David was right, by the way, and Tanja has provided vocals for all concerts.
This year, Tanja has mostly listened to songs she had to practice on, and that's why Taylor Swift tops her list.
Tanja's biggest experience this year has been Jacob Collier in the Royal Arena.
Uh and she's had a top 20 hit this year...
I got to know Julie Sommer Sørensen a very long time ago, when we were both on the periphery of the band ENTAKT. Julie has sung on three of my albums (Constructions, Tesla and Thaw) and I have helped on several of her projects. However, we have only shared the stage once.
This year, Julie has listened to a lot of house and country, but mostly to Fulton Lee and Minds of 99.
Sound engineer Jens Søbæk came on board when we played at Kinoen in Hundested in 2019.
Jens' skills behind the sound console have lifted our shows to a fantastic level!
Jens listens to a wide variety of music, but must admit that melancholy wins. So Peter Sommer's “De uforelskede i København” and Roger Waters' “the Lockdown Sessions” have been on permanent rotation in 2024.
When Jens came on board as sound engineer, he brought Mikkel Møller-Larsen along because 'he knows a bit about lighting'.
And that was the understatement of the decade! Mikkel has been our regular lighting designer ever since, and I don't know how we would have been able to do anything without him again!
This year, Mikkel has listened to Benjamin Hav, Lukas Graham and stuff with saxophone!
Emil Rønning has had various roles in the ensemble. He was at a concert back in 2013, where he tuned the guitars backstage.
He joined the main band at Store Tårn, where he handled samplers and tape loops.
Emil has changed his listening habits this year and has gone from constantly searching for new things to instead releasing new ones. The debut single 'The Line' was released in September and was created together with Mille and Ninna from the band GANGER.
The newest member of the ensemble is Nicolai Olsen on Chapman Stick. He was a guest musician on the song 'Flux' during the concert in Store Tårn and stepped in when there was a cancellation two days before the concert in Brønshøj Vandtårn.
This year he has mostly listened to “Under Bergets Rot” by the slightly crazy folk metal band Finntroll and in second place is “Bending to the Lash” by Horse Lords.
All the above mentioned appears on the live album 'COPENHAGEN' which was released on red, transparent vinyl in december 2024 and features a guest appearance by Anders Brandt.
But over the years a lot of other fantastic musicians have been part of the Friends ensemble: Anders Frey, David Jeppesen, Martin Jørgensen, Minella Ribert, Christian Lundstrøm and Stina Madelaire. Not to mention the fabulous NU Unruh who played with me in Berlin.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been there both on stage and in the audience. I hope there will be many more occasions!
Live 2013
Live 2024