It’s a cold, cold night (minus 16 degrees in fact) in Oslo and We are Scientists are in town.
As Chris Cain wanders through the tiny bar of Bla, he informs us that “Crazy shit is about to happen tonight” before disappearing off to join the other scientists backstage.
Twenty minutes later and We Are Scientists enter the stage, in utter darkness. Instead of starting up in their usual fashion, they’re fiddling around with their guitars and microphone stands before deciding to come off the stage and play on the floor in amongst their fans.
They start with ‘Nice Guys’ off their latest album ‘Barbara’ which has real energy to it. Keith jumps up and down, hammering out those riffs while Chris Cain wanders through the audience playing his bass. The crowd here tonight are enjoying the show and can’t believe their luck that their favourite band are stood inches away from them.
The set contains all of the old crowd pleasers with some newer songs from ‘Barbara’ thrown in for good measure. ‘Scene is Dead’ gets one of the best responses of the night and it’s good to see it back on the set list after a very long time without it.
Of course there wouldn’t be a We Are Scientists show without the usual banter and tonight they’re in full swing, arguing over laser pens among many other things and trying to read their set list in the dark – the lighting crew weren’t prepared for WAS to play off of the stage!
As the show starts to come to a close, Chris tells the audience to gather around and come closer. “You can sit behind us, stand on the stage, do whatever you want.” Two people take him up on this offer, keeping Danny company on the stage and dancing crazily to ‘After Hours’.
And so the show ends with a jamming session between Keith and Chris in which we see Chris jump off the drums with a delighted fan to finish the set.
There’s something more to We Are Scientists. You can’t help but love them partly due to their infectious guitar riffs and partly due to their delightful charm.
Hopefully it won’t be long until they’re back soon.
Words by Sophie Williams
