{"id":962,"date":"2025-06-18T08:34:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T08:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookingwithoverture.com\/blog\/?p=962"},"modified":"2025-07-26T14:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T14:56:11","slug":"an-evening-with-bendik-giske-in-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookingwithoverture.com\/blog\/an-evening-with-bendik-giske-in-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"An Evening with Bendik Giske in Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a warm summer night in Madrid and had I managed to secure one of the last remaining tickets to see an artist I\u2019d been hearing a lot about, both for his bold, genre-defying music and for the intensity of his live performances. Bendik Giske had been on my radar for some time, and this felt like the right moment: a rare chance to witness his solo show at the Teatro Conde Duque, a small seated theatre nestled inside one of Madrid\u2019s most important cultural centres.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start at the end…<\/h3>\n

The final note had barely faded when the crowd broke into a sustained round of applause. There was an overwhelming sense in the room that we had just witnessed something rare, something deeply personal, and unlike anything we\u2019d experienced before.<\/p>\n

Bendik Giske, the Norwegian saxophonist whose performances are rooted in queer expression, stood in the centre of the stage with a huge, unguarded smile and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy to be here. This is my dream job.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was the perfect end to a performance that had felt less like a concert and more like a ceremony.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sound, Smoke, and Silhouette<\/h3>\n

From the first breath, Giske created a hypnotic world. His music lives somewhere between jazz, ambient, and techno, but it resists easy categorisation. It was completely immersive: spiralling, pulsing, built entirely from breath, saxophone, and the looping of both. Reverb stretched everything outward, making each moment feel expansive and cinematic.<\/p>\n

The lighting and smoke were crucial. At times, the Teatro felt like a subterranean techno bunker; at others, a dreamscape of Saharan dunes. Giske\u2019s silhouette became part of the show: flamboyantly dressed in a sleeveless top, wildly flared jeans, and big hooped earrings, he appeared almost shamanic, guiding us through this shared trance.<\/p>\n

The sound of Giske\u2019s meditative like breathing wasn\u2019t just a necessity of technique, it became part of the soundscape, woven into the music and every bit as evocative. One of the things that perplexed me were the percussive beats acting as a metronome with a distinct groove. For a while, I assumed they came from a backing track. It took time to realise the rhythm wasn\u2019t coming from a machine at all,\u00a0 Giske was producing it live, tapping his hands percussively on the body of the saxophone. I also kept wondering how all the layers were building and sounds were looping without a single piece of tech in sight. Eventually, I stopped trying to unpick how it all worked and simply surrendered to the experience.<\/p>\n

It struck me how utterly devoted Giske is to his instrument, to his art, his performance, his audience. From start to finish, he was in complete flow. At one with the saxophone. And for those of us in the room, it was a privilege to witness it.<\/p>\n