Clawfinger
Amager Bio, Copenhagen - 2026
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
Before we all die, we should all treat ourselves to a(nother) Clawfinger show, because it’s good to do good things for ourselves.
Thankfully, Clawfinger were good enough to stop by Copenhagen on their Before We All Die tour, so we were about to be treated.
“I cannot speak Danish because then I won’t understand what I’m saying.”
- Jocke Skog (keyboard/backing vocals)
To say that we were hyped for this show is an understatement. We’ve praised every show we’ve seen with this band so far. Were there expectations? Of course. Were they well founded? Absolutely. Did Clawfinger match them? We’ll see…
Clawfinger has a history of amusing intros for their gigs, and this cold November night was no exception. A fairly long speech was held (over the speakers, of course) about how the members of the band were getting older, their joints complaining and their backs giving out - basically, this was something needing to happen now, before they all died.
The opening track was, not surprisingly, the title track off the latest album, and what a start it was! Bård Torstensen was back swinging the six string, André Skaug was swinging the four string even harder. The rapport between Zak Tell and Jocke Skog was hilarious straight from the start, as they were jokingly trying to figure out how to address an audience of their southern neighbours. Skog went full Swenglish, all English with a glorious Swedish accent, and Tell went a new kind of Swenglish, alternating between the two languages mid-sentence. Only Micke Dahlén kept it a bit more anonymous behind his drumkit, but he did receive a large shout-out by Skog later on for turning Going Down (Like Titanic) from a fun little noodle into a kick-ass track.
Clawfinger was serving up a long and glorious mix of songs for us this night. For all the talk about getting old, they played for nearly two hours (almost) straight, punching out no less than 22 tracks, new and old! Seven of these were from Before We All Die, though surprisingly Scum was the only single off the album to make the cut.
While the new songs were obviously changing things up, the older tracks were a who’s who of live staples and hits. I’ve been hooked on Out To Get Me recently, and with this specific song we were all given homework by the band to go home and watch the hilariously weird music video. It’s just like Jurassic Park, they said… I’m sure the effects would have looked better if they’d uploaded it in a better resolution than 240p. Surely they must be.
During the show, the band did not rely on special effects however, just good old entertainment. An absolutely kick-ass performance, so many jokey jokes, and all the hits one could ask for.
This was not something one could stand still for either, so the crowd was jumping, it was moshing, and quite a few even braved to violate the Amager Bio rules about zero crowd surfing tolerance. André Skaug was one of these people, or at least he did join the crowd on the floor, rocking out for a bit. His bass he let fly, leaving it up to the tour manager to catch it - a little trick they’ve clearly practised before, as basses went flying across the stage several times during the gig.
There was clearly also a lot of singing along, this particular activity reaching zenith with closing track Do What I Say. Even after the song was over and done, and the band was handing out picks and sticks, and later getting in position for a photo with the crowd, the chorus was still chanted loudly by the excited fans.
“Tack så jävla mycket for coming here tonight!”
- Zak Tell (vocals)
“Gammal är äldst” is a weird Swedish proverb which doesn’t really mean anything at all, but even though Clawfinger are old, as they themselves are the first to tell you, they still deliver the goods in the best possible way, and it’s great to see they’re not above just hanging out in the bar after the gig is done, just to chat with the fans. What a great band, what a great evening.
Did they match our expectations? Take a wild guess...
Setlist:
Before We All Die
Recipe For Hate
You Call Yourself A Teacher
Pin Me Down
Two Sides
Hold Your Head Up
Kill The Dream
Big Brother
Ball & Chain
Out To Get Me
Nothing Going On
Hypocrite
Going Down (Like Titanic)
Rosegrove
Warfair
Scum
Tomorrow
Undone
The Price We Pay
Biggest & The Best
The Truth
Do What I Say
Thankfully, Clawfinger were good enough to stop by Copenhagen on their Before We All Die tour, so we were about to be treated.
“I cannot speak Danish because then I won’t understand what I’m saying.”
- Jocke Skog (keyboard/backing vocals)
To say that we were hyped for this show is an understatement. We’ve praised every show we’ve seen with this band so far. Were there expectations? Of course. Were they well founded? Absolutely. Did Clawfinger match them? We’ll see…
Clawfinger has a history of amusing intros for their gigs, and this cold November night was no exception. A fairly long speech was held (over the speakers, of course) about how the members of the band were getting older, their joints complaining and their backs giving out - basically, this was something needing to happen now, before they all died.
The opening track was, not surprisingly, the title track off the latest album, and what a start it was! Bård Torstensen was back swinging the six string, André Skaug was swinging the four string even harder. The rapport between Zak Tell and Jocke Skog was hilarious straight from the start, as they were jokingly trying to figure out how to address an audience of their southern neighbours. Skog went full Swenglish, all English with a glorious Swedish accent, and Tell went a new kind of Swenglish, alternating between the two languages mid-sentence. Only Micke Dahlén kept it a bit more anonymous behind his drumkit, but he did receive a large shout-out by Skog later on for turning Going Down (Like Titanic) from a fun little noodle into a kick-ass track.
Clawfinger was serving up a long and glorious mix of songs for us this night. For all the talk about getting old, they played for nearly two hours (almost) straight, punching out no less than 22 tracks, new and old! Seven of these were from Before We All Die, though surprisingly Scum was the only single off the album to make the cut.
While the new songs were obviously changing things up, the older tracks were a who’s who of live staples and hits. I’ve been hooked on Out To Get Me recently, and with this specific song we were all given homework by the band to go home and watch the hilariously weird music video. It’s just like Jurassic Park, they said… I’m sure the effects would have looked better if they’d uploaded it in a better resolution than 240p. Surely they must be.
During the show, the band did not rely on special effects however, just good old entertainment. An absolutely kick-ass performance, so many jokey jokes, and all the hits one could ask for.
This was not something one could stand still for either, so the crowd was jumping, it was moshing, and quite a few even braved to violate the Amager Bio rules about zero crowd surfing tolerance. André Skaug was one of these people, or at least he did join the crowd on the floor, rocking out for a bit. His bass he let fly, leaving it up to the tour manager to catch it - a little trick they’ve clearly practised before, as basses went flying across the stage several times during the gig.
There was clearly also a lot of singing along, this particular activity reaching zenith with closing track Do What I Say. Even after the song was over and done, and the band was handing out picks and sticks, and later getting in position for a photo with the crowd, the chorus was still chanted loudly by the excited fans.
“Tack så jävla mycket for coming here tonight!”
- Zak Tell (vocals)
“Gammal är äldst” is a weird Swedish proverb which doesn’t really mean anything at all, but even though Clawfinger are old, as they themselves are the first to tell you, they still deliver the goods in the best possible way, and it’s great to see they’re not above just hanging out in the bar after the gig is done, just to chat with the fans. What a great band, what a great evening.
Did they match our expectations? Take a wild guess...
Setlist:
Before We All Die
Recipe For Hate
You Call Yourself A Teacher
Pin Me Down
Two Sides
Hold Your Head Up
Kill The Dream
Big Brother
Ball & Chain
Out To Get Me
Nothing Going On
Hypocrite
Going Down (Like Titanic)
Rosegrove
Warfair
Scum
Tomorrow
Undone
The Price We Pay
Biggest & The Best
The Truth
Do What I Say
Clawfinger
