No more than three days after seeing D-A-D, we were now back in Jesper Binzer country, this time with his solo band, and in the venerable venue of Amager Bio. Admittedly, the last show hadn’t really lived up to expectations, so having a new one so quickly after felt a bit risky, but we were willing to give it a shot; we, as well as a slew of other guests who’d braved the September night for a bit of rock ‘n’ roll.

“That’s the lovely thing about Amager - you tell them to come, and they come! Ladies and gentlemen, Amager forever!”
- Jesper Binzer (vocals/guitar)

We were off to a good start, as the crowd was cheering even before the band entered, and when they did, they didn’t waste any time getting right into it. Jesper Binzer and his ragtag companions let loose a groove that went straight to the heart of the fans.
We were given a mixed bag of goodies from the two albums made, Dying Is Easy (2017) and the brand new Save Your Soul (2021), and in addition to this, some members got extra time to shine in more or less solo parts. Jesper Bo got a bit of hammond action going, with Søren Andersen joining in on guitar after a little while. Andersen later delivered another solo, which turned into a prolonged intro for The Future Is Now.
Solos and I have an ambivalent past, but in this case, the band was intense and energetic enough, so that they didn’t turn into boring showstoppers (no, not the good kind). Were they necessary? No. Did they bring something extra to the concert? Yes and no. I mean, we could have done without them, but their inclusion didn’t bother me.

“I started a solo band so that I could say “yeah!” as many times as I wanted to.”
- Binzer (vocals/guitar)

Binzer himself was not one to shine specifically with his musicality this night, in a solo capacity I mean. What he did bring to the table, was a lot of fun. He had a great number of jokes to rip through, and best of all was that they were new, and felt fresh and fitting to what was happening in the moment. That was probably the greatest surprise of all, especially given my critique of the recent D-A-D show, that both Binzer and the rest of the gang felt like they were in the moment. They were present, they were here. They saw individuals cheering them on, not just another faceless and anonymous crowd. That’s exactly the kind of presence you want from a performing artist, and you know when you get it. There’s no faking this.

As you can imagine, our bet paid off in the best possible way. Was this the best Jesper Binzer show to date? Hard to say, but it’s certainly high up there, and we were glad to see that Jesper Binzer still had it in him. More of this for the future, please!

Setlist:

Life Is Moving
My Head’s Been Places
Undecided
Real Love
Planet Blue
Rock On Rock On Rock
The Space She’s In
The Heart Will Find Its Way
Premonition
Dream Big
Save Your Soul
Elevation
The Future Is Now
Tell Myself To Be Kind
Dying Is Easy (Rock’n’Roll Is Hard)
Wild Child (The Savage Rose cover)