The last two days of Oya Festival afforded me the opportunity to take part in a visit to some Norwegian music venues in Oslo and to meet other people in the music industry in Norway. One of the key organisations is Music Norway who provide state funded support to Music both promoting this within Norway and around the World. They hosted discussions and were friendly and offered advice on who might be good to see during the festival, Looking through the line up for the remaining two days it was obvious that I would have to make some difficult choices ahead of me.
The Ape
The Ape are the first band I get to see today as they opened the Hagen Stage with a welcome blast of hardcore, emotive, rock and roll. The band were releasing their third single ‘Touchy’ from their yet to be released debut album. Jonathan Frederik Bolli, the lead singer is a whirlwind of movement and coiled energy as he eyes up the crowd before belting out the lyrics. The Ape describe themselves as reflecting the primitive aspects of society and like any good post punk band rally behind anti fascism and non-conformity. The band consists of members from a number of other Norwegian bands but they are in the first stages of establishing themselves at The Ape. The spirit of the songs, the relentless energy place them alongside bands such as Idles. Although I didn’t know many of the songs that were played I enjoyed their set and the much needed energy boost for the third day of the festival.
AJ Tracey
AJ Tracey played the Vindfruen stage, stepping in to replace Jim Legxacy, and brought his mix of musical styles (dancehall, rap, trap) for an entertaining set. He worked the crowd as he encouraged people to move forwards and join in with the fun. Even though I was not as familiar with AJ Tracey (apart from ‘Thiago Silva’. ‘Ladbroke Grove’ and ‘Kiss and Tell’ I enjoyed his flow and how he pulled us in with his music and charisma. Tracey even put aside footballing rivalries telling someone in the crowd in an Arsenal football top – “Arsenal, we’ll be friends”. A British music icon who remains innovative and energises the mid-afternoon crowd, enjoying the sunshine, a few drinks and his music.
Westside Cowboy
Westside cowboy are the most heartwarming, most enjoyable bands to watch at Oya Festival. Their songs are catchy, everyone in the band looks like they are having the time of their lives and their energy is infectious. I’ve listened to their two EPs heavily over the last year and am sure that their new (now recently released) first album It Goes On will also become a favorite. The setlist includes songs from the new album which fit in nicely with their earlier releases. Whenever you talk to someone who met anyone in the band they will talk about how friendly and genuine they are and this comes across during their set. The band are being tipped as the next big thing and it is easy to see why with their warmth, polished but still a little rough around the edges performance.
New songs that stood out were ‘Coyote’ with Aoife’s vocals getting the spotlight, ‘Dobro’ and ‘Paper Chains’. ‘Shells’, ‘Don’t Throw Rocks’ and ‘Can’t See’ are all gloriously brash and beautiful. Ending the set gathered around singing acapella sending us off feeling 10 feet tall and with a big smile on my face the future looks bright for Westside Cowboy.
Gjenfødt Kultur
Gjenfødt Kultur are a group of musicians who mix hip hop with a variety of other musical styles and perform in a variety of languages. When the line up for Oya was announced and I was listening to bands that I didn’t know much about before this group caught my ear. They mix playfulness and seriousness and the interchange between the group of singing and rapping is really engaging. Despite not knowing much of their music (or knowing what they are singing about) I felt a connection to what they are doing. Watching them live with an appreciative crowd was a lot of fun. They bounced about on stage, enjoying each other’s performances and skillfully swapping lines made me appreciate them even more.
Slomosa
Slomosa’s set which consisted of songs from their two albums, was heavy with riffs and headbanging excitement. They stood out as one of the loudest bands (alongside Mogwai) of the festival and managed to bypass health and safety with their pyrotechnics. Their songs are their own versions of stoner/desert rock which they sometimes refer to as ‘Tundra Rock’ which is the title of their second album. Live. there are a whirlwind of pummeling sound threatening my eardrums and they were one of my favorite bands of the festival. Even without the flames shooting at the front of the stage Slomosa were transferring their power to the crowd who responded with crowdsurfing, moshing and wild abandon not seen during many other performances at the festival. I will be keeping a hopeful eye on the band so I can catch them again if they tour the UK.
Getdown Services
Getdown services bring their two man banter rock to Oya with two aims – to work the crowd into a frenzy and to poke fun at Norwegians while doing so. I’ve somehow managed to miss seeing Getdown Services before despite the number of people I know who love them and have been encouraging me to see them live. I’m so glad that I have finally seen them live and can understand all of the hype. Early on they showed how you can simultaneously insult their audience while playing their catchy, hilarious songs by stating that “Norwegian audiences are shit!” and taunting that “Sweden is better”. Walking the fine line between provocation and encouragement for the crowd to have fun they successfully tore through songs from their new album Massive Champion which was released today and older tracks. It doesn’t feel like it should work (and some people may say it doesn’t) but I stand firmly on the side that Josh Law and Ben Sadler are great fun live. ‘Get Back, Jamie’ with the lines “Jamie says that dinner takes 15 minutes, I say get back, Jamie, I’ve only got 5”, ‘Dog Dribble’ and ‘I Can’t die like that’ stood out during their too short set. Reminding Norway of their recent los to England and telling the crowd that “Norway is the most beautiful county in the World, It’s a shame you are so horrible to look at” while getting most of the crowd dancing Getdown Services continue to make friends wherever they go.
Tomora
Tomora provided the most visually interesting set of the festival through clever lighting, choreography, visuals and with their musical collaboration. Tomora is a duo of Tom Rowlands and Aurora and after a few musical collaborations since meeting in 2018 released their first album together Come Closer in April 2026. Their music is a mix of electronic pop and art pop which sounded incredible in a live setting.. Highlights were the single ‘Ring the Alarm’ and ‘Come Closer’ by Tomora while they also played some Chemical Brothers’ tracks including ‘Eve of Destruction’ and the Aurora song ‘Starvation’. Both of these artists have discographies worthy of note and when they join together there music is as good as much of their singular recordings.
Saturday August 16, 2026
Saturdays are known for being more family friendly with lots of focus on Norwegian artists which provided a very enjoyable day. Knowing it was the last day of the festival and trying to see as much as I could meant that I skipped between stages more than on other days catching parts of sets in some instances.
Beth McBride
Beth McBride played a mid afternoon set on the Vindfruen Stage mixing Americana influences with indie pop styling. Standout songs were ‘The Page’ and ‘Maybe you’ll find it’ but the whole set was a pleasure to listen to. Beth is a native of America but grew up in Oslo, has a deep rich voice which suits the tales she shares with us through her songs. Her set is a mix of slower confessional tales and some louder songs such as ‘Nowhere to Hide’. Early in her set when adjusting her guitar she told us as she was lifting the strap over her head “the bigger the hair the closer to God”. Beth’s band included Oleg Kirkeng and other Norwegian musicians who ably provided backing during the set.
Girl Group
Girl group are a group of Norwegian (4 of the 5 members are from Norway) and English women who met in Liverpool where they went to Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts School. They write funny, honest songs about their experiences as female musicians, having fun, missing home and wear their heart on their sleeves in their lyrics and performance. Their songs are captivating and memorable and full of pop hooks. The band stand up for what they believe in challenging misogyny, standing with the Palestinian people and only work with other women or people identifying as women as a rule. Girl Group deserve a bigger platform for their music which hopefully will not be too far off. Their set including ‘She Goes’ and ‘Tell Me I’m Pretty’ was bold, joyous and will have added to their fanbase (who were holding up signs for their favorite band members.
CMAT
CMAT played the main stage today and showed why she and her band continue to end up on so many festival bills. She was at times funny, was always beautiful and her band provided charismatic, fun backing to her popular songs. Her set consisted of songs from across her three albums and was well received with the crowd joining in the dancing at CMAT’s instruction. CMAT poked fun at herself saying that she is “so boring, now that she is over 30 she can’t wait to tap into the (Norwegian) tap water.”
CMAT expressed her love of Oslo, Norway and the festival giving a shout out to Girl Group saying that they are “her bitches”. CMAT works the normally reserved Norwegian crowd getting them to join in with singing, asking someone in the crowd to pretend that they are an ex partner when introducing her next song. CMAT rolls out her hits including ‘Take a Sexy Picture of Me’ but also includes other album tracks like ‘Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’ and a great rendition of ‘Euro-Country’.
Lily Allen
Lily Allen performed her album West End Girl on the main stage and it was a triumph, beautifully sad as you would expect her dissection of her marriage breakdown would be. Lily was facing some (unfair) backlash when performing the album on tour earlier this year. People attending had been advised that she would be performing the album only and were disappointed not to hear earlier songs as encores. I decided before I saw her live that I wouldn’t listen to the whole album until I had seen her performance (having heard only a few of the songs beforehand).
West End Girl tracks her marriage to David Harbour and subsequent breakdown when she discovers that he has been cheating on her. Lily Allen sings about her experiences when discovering his betrayal and how she goes through various stages of grief and loss detailing how it all ends between them. Lily is brutally honest about how she feels gaslit by him making her feel that the blame is solely with her and about her wanting to know more about the woman/women? that he cheated on her with.
Musically there is a range of styles across the album and the performance works well even on the outdoor stage. It would have possibly been better to see it in a small theatre but Lily’s performance as she sings about this deeply difficult and personal time was amazing. Starting out with ‘West End Girl’ when she sings about moving back to London and a period of separation then moving on to ‘Ruminating’ about the difficulty of processing what she is finding out. The entire performance is deeply moving and hopefully therapeutic for Lily Allen. I’m looking forward to see what she does next as it is hard to see her returning to music she made before all of this happened to her.
Having spent a week in Oslo and 4 days at Oya Festival I can heartily recommend both. The line up was varied and I was introduced to a lot of music I might not have heard otherwise. I’m hoping to return in 2027 to see what Oya has in store for music fans in Norway and beyond.
The Ape- Facebook
AJ Tracey-Website
Westside Cowboy-Website
Gjenfodt Kultur – Instagram
Slomosa- Website
Getdown Services- Website
Tomora- Website
Girl Group- Website
CMAT- Website
Lily Allen- Website
Reviewed and photography by Jason McDonald @jaygigphotos.bsky.social
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