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Events and Reports - Sweden Rock Festival 2009 - Nina's Festival report - Day 3 and 4
Friday, 5th of June:
Thor
The Canadian performer Thor is equally known for his Metal/Rock music, as for his carrier as a bodybuilder and entertainer, among other things performing shows, where he destroys hot water bottles by blowing them up until they explode. (Watch it here.) So I was rather intrigued as to what show he would put on. Let's say I was both entertained and disappointed. The show was like a really bad joke, where you can't help but laugh, just because it is so far out and stupid.
Thor was wearing several masks during the show. From the predator mask, to skull-like devises, and at one point even putting a white cloth over his head, the whole thing seemed a little far out. He also wielded a plastic axe. The music is fairly easy to get into, though I don't think the voice of Thor is anything truly special. Rise Of The Chariot, Anger Is My Middlename and Knock 'Em Down seemed to sit well with the people able to sing along. About halfway through the show, Thor showed a bar of steel to the audience, claiming it was found at a nearby junkyard and was able to hold back a two ton truck. People in the front row were invited to touch the bar, for to vouch for its authenticy. To the excitement of the crowd, the Canadian bodybuilder grabbed the bar between his teeth and bended it! He claimed to bend it "with his teeth", but I'd rather say he was bending it with his arms and just holding it with his teeth.oh, well. It was still fun and cool, and that kind of entertainment, I'd expected from Thor.
The gig continued with a streak of song, I as a casual listener could recognize, like Let The Blood Run Red, Rock The City and Thunder On The Tundra. We were also treated to a rather enjoyable guitarsolo, though calling the man "the world's greatest guitarplayer" was probably a stretch. Well, modesty is surely not a word known to Thor.
Hilarity ensued, as Thor presented his "half-brother", Loki who entered the stage. He was a skinny character, dressed in something resembling a five-year old's attempt to dress up as a superhero: a funny hat, weird Zorro-like face paint, and underpants outside his tights. The two half-brothers now engaged in a fight of magic spells. Anyone, who have ever participated in live roleplay will probably have an idea what that looks like. The two guys stand opposite each other, sending "spells" at each other by lifting their hands. The other person responds with trembling around as if wounded. While this is a fine way to symbolize a match in a roleplay game, it looked beyond stupid on stage. Do I have to tell you who won the match? Standing victorious, Thor performed Kings Of The Universe as a final song.
The concert was entertaining, but for all the wrong reasons: it was terribly bad show-wise, and the musical performance was alright, but nothing special. To have such a long, solid and diverse background in the entertainment industry, and then to deliver something resembling a mix between the entertainment at a 5-year old's birthday-party and The Masters Of The Universe-movie, is beyond me. The guy has performed in all kinds of shows and contests since the 70's! I definitely thought, Thor knew his craft and at least was able to deliver the show in a professional manner, but no. Well, at least we got a laugh out of it.
Setlist:
Lightning Strikes
Ride of the Chariots
Anger
Thunderhawk
Warhammer
Knock 'Em Down
"The Secret of Steel"
Let the Blood Run Red
Rock the City
Guitar solo
Rock the City II
Thunder on the Tundra
Ragnarok
Keep the Dogs Away
We Live to Rock
Warriors of the Universe
After this experience, I watched a little of Lita Ford and Demon's show. I'm not really big on Demon, but I believe they did a fine show, though I'm not that into the music. Lita Ford on the other hand, seemed pretty uninspired and didn't really get me going.
Enforcer
Swedish newcomers Enforcer was one of the bands I was looking most forward to seeing this year. Their glorious debut Into The Night offers plenty of satisfying riffs, great solos and passionate vocals, in classic 80's Metal style.
The lights went down, smoke filled the stage, and Judas Priest's Diamonds And Rust sounded from the PA. The stage was decorated with a large Enforcer backdrop and two huge flags with the words "Heavy" and "Metal" written on them, all held in black, white and red. It was beyond cool!
When Diamonds And Rust ended, the band entered the stage, blasting straight into Black Angel, a powerful opener, that got heads banging from the start. Enforcer played all songs from their debut plus one new song called Roll The Dice (to be found on the Sweden Rock Sampler) which sounded great! The guys also found time for a quick cover of the Misfits' I Turned Into A Martian to end the gig. The performance was really strong; clearly the band is focused on both rocking and entertaining, dressing up in spandex, spikes and leather and putting on a professional show. I always loved bands that care enough to put some energy into appearance and stage-performance, and I was almost shocked by the enthusiasm these guys possess! Musically as well as performance-wise, the show was a complete triumph. The band sounded very tight, guitarplayer Adam Zaars treated us to some nice soloing, while singer Olof Wikstrand's highpitched vocals held up impressively. To be honest, I was worried if he could deliver the goods live, but he certainly could, and then some! I was completely blown away by the splendid show, from start to finish! Definitely one of the highlights of the festival!
Setlist (order might not be completely accurate):
Intro: Diamonds and Rust
Black Angel
Into the Night
On The Loose
Roll The Dice
City Lights
Curse The Light
Scream of The Savage
Speed Queen
Mistress From Hell
Encores:
I Turned Into A Martian (Misfits cover)
Evil Attacker
Crucified Barbara
The female quintet from Sweden offered a delightful and energetic performance at the Zeppelin stage. The setlist seemed to focus mostly on songs from their latest release, Till Death Do Us Party, with songs like Killer On His Knees, Pain And Pleasure, Sex Action and Jennyfer being delivered. Frontwoman Mia Coldheart is pretty charismatic on stage, and the girls very clearly happy to be back at Sweden Rock Festival. The performance had a positive vibe and the band's drive was inspiring. The fans welcomed Crucified Barbara with open arms, and really appeared to have the time of their life; some of the more enthusiastic members of the crowd even formed a small moshpit in front of the stage! Nodding to their old heroes, Crucified Barbara even played a Mötörhead cover, which fitted nicely with their own dirty brand of Rock 'n' Roll. Overall, a strong performance.
In Flames
Being a big fan of the old In Flames material, but not able to get into the modern style of later years, I wasn't totally convinced to go see the once mighty Gothenburg pioneers. The two times I've seen them before, the show has been focused completely on newer material, the band is almost (in)famous for neglecting their older stuff completely when playing live. Nevertheless, this was rumored to be a very special show, where nothing would be spared, concerning pyros and other visuals. I decided to go see the last part of the concert where I hoped they would have mercy on us and play just a few older songs, so my ears wouldn't have to stand the torture that is Reroute To Remain.
Since the band seems reluctant to play anything pre-Clayman live, this show was not a musical highlight for me personally. In Flames did play The Hive from the Whoracle album and Embody The Invisible from Colony, and I also enjoyed the two Clayman-tracks, Pinball Map and Only For The Weak. Especially the latter got the crowd going, as Anders Fridén urged everyone to jump around like crazy. I obeyed at once! However, I'll say, that if you like the newer stuff, I can only imagine, the show must have been absolutely breathtaking! In Flames are a good, tight live band, and even though original guitarplayer Jesper Strömblad was missing (replaced by Niclas Engelin), the band delivered a capable show.
The stage setup was huge, with screen-like devises in the back of the stage, showing images of fire, falling lava and silhouettes of the performing band members. A sort of cartoon was also shown, and the band was very good at incorporate all available technology in the performance. The big screens placed above the stage were also showing various In Flames related features.
Singer Anders Fridén was trying his best to be funny and charismatic, but didn't really succeed. He was complaining about the huge size of the stage, and seemed like performing was a drag, and even as a joke, it wasn't very funny. Seriously, your band is very successful, quit complaining and start singing! He also managed to insult a lot of the bands I like, such as Twisted Sister, Ratt and HammerFall. Nice! I do realize all was said in good humor with tongue in cheek, but to me it fell flat and seemed embarrassing on his own part. Maybe, I am just too easily offended, when it comes to the bands I worship.
In all fairness it must be mentioned, that there was also a clip playing on the huge screens, where a Swedish journalist held a lengthy speak about, how much In Flames suck. But that is just the truth (nowadays), not a far-out insult! *Hehe!* Seriously though, to me, one thing is criticizing your own band (it's called self-irony, folks) and another thing entirely is to slay other bands (its called being a jerk). Well, that's just my two cents.
Apart from that, I must say I am happy I decided to go see this show. It was spectacular and full of surprises and visual wizardry. The musical performance was strong, and the visual side left nothing to wish for. When fireworks lit the sky and the show was over, I left with a happy feeling.now, if they would just start playing all the old songs again.
Setlist:
Delight And Angers
Touch Of Red
Trigger
Coerced Coexistence
Bottled
Pinball Map
Come Clarity
Dead End
The Hive
Cloud Connected
Disconnected
Only For The weak
Embody The Invisible
Square Nothing
Alias
The Chosen Pessimist
The Mirror's Truth
The Quiet Place
Take This Life
My Sweet Shadow
Saturday, 6th of June:
Tim 'Ripper' Owens
The ex-Judas Priest singer delivered a decent wake-up show. I'm not the biggest fan of what I've heard of his solo material, and I came mostly just to hear his godly voice in action, and hoping to get a Priest tune or two. Ripper is clearly a world-class singer, though not much of a showman. Today, he was surrounded by accomplished musicians, who all earned their stripes in the Metal world: Chris Caffery and John Comprix on guitars, Dave Ellefson on bass and Simon Wright taking care of the drums. Not a bad line up at all! The gig came across as technically great, but not too convincing when it comes to energy or enthusiastic performance. That is pretty understandable, to be fair, it was quite early, and in addition, the weather was unbelievably hot. I think, it showed that the guys haven't played together for a very long time. While all musicians are individually great players, the band weren't that tight.
After a few solo songs, Tim gave us a cool version of The Ripper. I wanted to bang my head, but it was just too warm to move in any way, it even seemed unpleasantly appropriate when the band went into the great Burn In Hell. The solo material isn't anything special to me, but I guess I got what I came for; the Ripper sounded amazing, his voice is just so powerful and beautiful at the same time. During One On One, the band showed their talents in various solos, gracefully carried out, and the band also joked a little around, such as when John Comprix played a few notes from Poison's Nothing But A Good Time. I left after One On One to catch Sabaton, only to leard that Ripper performed The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown) after I left. Damn, I would have liked to see that! Well, can't have it all.
Setlist:
Believe
Starting Over
The Ripper
Scream Machine
Burn In Hell
Save Me
The Shadows Are Alive
Death Race
To Live Again
The World Is Blind
Play My Game
It Is Me
One On One
Chris Caffery solo
David Ellefson solo
John Comprix - solo
Simon Wright solo
One On One
The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)
Sabaton - National Day
Today was the Swedish National Day and to celebrate that, Swedish rockers Sabaton was brought in to sing the national anthem at the small Zeppelin stage. The event should definitely have taken place on one of the larger stages, as the entire field was covered with eager Metalheads, an overwhelming turn up. The band played a slightly metalized version of the Swedish National Anthem, while the Swedes sang along. Extremely happy with the size of the crowd, singer Joacim Brodén told us, that the band was not allowed to play more songs, and then added: "but we don't give a shit about that!". The big Swedish flag, that had been hanging in the back of the stage fell down, as the Sabaton backdrop was revealed behind it, and the band want into a convincing performance of the smasher Primo Victoria, sending the crowd jumping into the air in excitement. Sabaton delivered a great performance of their best song, and I, together with countless others, left with a smile on my face.
Setlist:
Swedish National Anthem
Primo Victoria
Riot
Being recently introduced to Riot, I was pretty psyched to see the band live. Would they deliver? Would they fight of fall? I can only say, it was a most excellent show, tight, powerful and energizing. The band has reformed in classic Thundersteel-line-up, and naturally chose to focus on material from that period, celebrating the album's 20-year anniversary. Excellent! I remember listening to the Sons Of Society album in the 90's and found it to be horrible. actually, that was the reason, I never bothered to check out Riot's older material until now, completely missing out on great albums like Fire Down Under and Thundersteel. So I couldn't be happier about the setlist, and the bands performance left little to wish for as well. Singer Tony Moore's voice held up really well, I was totally impressed with his highpitch ability after all those years! He was backed up by a tight band. Johnny´s Back, Sign Of The Crimson Storm and Flight Of The Warrior were surely worthy of some headbanging action from yours truly. When the guys ended the set with Thundersteel and Warrior, I felt like a beautiful dream was over way too soon.
Setlist:
Narita
Fight Or Fall
On Your Knees
Metal Soldiers
Johnny's Back
Sign Of The Crimson Storm
Swords And Tequila
Flight Of The Warrior
Wings Are For Angels
Bloodstreets
Storming The Gates Of Hell
Outlaw
Dance of Death
Thundersteel
Encore:
Warrior
Forbidden
With having seen so many bands I enjoy, at my age it is pretty rare I have the pleasure of seeing a band I love for the first time. Furthermore, American bands, that are not very huge in Europe, are often missing in action over here for long periods, so it was with great excitement and joy, I went to se Forbidden for the first time today!
Forbidden was a definite highlight of the festival for me! The Bay Area Thrashers started out by playing the entire Twisted Into Form album, and though a lot of water went into the river since its release in 1990, the band seemed untouched by years gone by when it came to the musical performance. Russ Anderson veiled like a true king, his characteristic and strong voice send shivers down my spine! After the Twisted Into Form experience, the band proceeded to play the majority of their godly debut, Forbidden Evil, an album that has a special place in my heart, being one of the albums that introduced me to Thrash! Watching songs like Chalice Of Blood, March Into Fire and the fantastic Through Eyes Of Glass being brought to life before my very eyes and ears after all those years were simply amazing!
The band didn't move much around, but still it was clear they enjoyed the show in a major way, big smiles on their faces and delivering a musically top-notch performance. I can easily say this was one of -if not the- definite highlights of Sweden Rock Festival 2009!
Setlist:
Parting of the Ways
Infinite
Out Of Body (Out Of Mind)
Step By Step
Twisted Into Form
Rest In Peace
Spiral Depression
Tossed Away
One Foot In Hell
March Into Fire
Forbidden Evil
Off The Edge
Follow Me
Through Eyes Of Glass
Chalice Of Blood
Europe
I wrote in my festival report of 2004, that I would probably be a huge Europe fan, if I knew more of their material. I was right; I now know all albums and am completely obsessed.
When I approached the stage, it was clear that Europe should have played main stage. People were packed together, and I had to use all my force to get closer to the front. During the show, people stood like glued together, it was really packed. I was also pretty unpleased that the stage was barely visible a lot of the time, pretty disappointing, this was one show, where I really wanted to go to the front. Oh, well.
Using the new single Last Look At Eden as an opener was in my opinion not the best choice. A lot of people, me included, hadn't heard the song yet, and I always prefer bands to open with a well-known hit to create an ecstatic mood from the beginning. Not knowing the first song is sort of an anticlimax. Later, I've discovered this to be a most excellent song, but I think they should have played it in the middle of the show. The band carried on with a good mix of songs from all periods of their carrier. I was looking forward to live versions of songs from the excellent come-back albums Start From The Dark and Secret Society for the first time in particular. The über-catchy Always The Pretenders was quite awesome, a perfect live song with sing-a-long-guaranty. I'm totally in love with the titletrack from Start From The Dark, the melody and melancholic feeling is just amazing, and live it was just pure magic!
Europe didn't play many songs from any particular album, but rather chose to cover all their records, with only a few songs from each being played. That approach works well on a festival in my opinion, where lots of people just come to hear the hits, and the fans don't mind a best-of show, at least I don't. Europe delivered the songs with joy and energy, but I couldn't help but feel like something was missing.maybe I was just too far away from the stage or perhaps a tiny bit too drunk. I can't really put my finger on anything, as far as I remember, the performance was spotless, but I just kind of felt like that extra "something" that sets the amazing shows apart from the good shows weren't there. Don't know, maybe I expected too much.
Not surprisingly, the show ended with Cherokee and The Final Countdown, a song I can never tire of, even though (or maybe because) it has followed me for most of my life. It is like a soundtrack to my youth, and always a pleasure to listen to. All in all a great show that just missed that extra to be overly spectacular.
Setlist:
Last Look At Eden
Love Is Not The Enemy
Superstitious
Scream Of Anger
Always The Pretenders
Seven Doors Hotel
Sign Of The Times
Carrie
Let The Good Times Rock
Start Trom The Dark
Optimus
Seventh Sign
Ready Or Not
Rock The Night
Encores:
Gonna Get Ready
Cherokee
The Final Countdown
Heaven & Hell
Heaven & Hell played Sweden Rock Festival two years ago, also as a headliner. Being a very huge Dio and Black Sabbath fan, I was looking forward to witness the gods once again. As soon as the gig started, I got a severe case of déjŕ-vu. The band played at the same stage, the same time of day and a pretty similar set two years ago at this very festival. Back then, I was in total ecstasy. I always loved the Dio-era Sabbath, so actually seeing him fronting the band with my own two eyes was unbelievable! This year, I was happy to see the band back, but I was nowhere near as crazy about it as last time. The setlist, the gothic, doomy stagedecoration with crystal balls, the stagelights, the clothing, everything was a replica of last year's performance. Even the band's patented sing-along, where they make the fans hum the chorus of the Heaven & Hell titletrack seems to be wearing thin.
Of course, seeing these guys live is always great. Tony Iommi and Ronnie James Dio are gods in my book, Dio is one of my all time favorite performers, always connecting to the audience on a highly personal level while delivering a strong vocal performance, the guy's a total hero! It's just that the element of surprise was missing completely, just as is the case in many of Dio's solo concerts (if you've seen a few, like I have). I did get carried away several times during the show, though, in particular by I, an otherwise often overlooked favorite of mine from the excellent Dehumanizer album. I remember they did play it last time, so was surprised to hear it again. The lengthy live version of Heaven And Hell and Children Of The Sea, all spellbinding! Just too bad, I felt like I watched this exact show last time. Nice to have these guys back, but I whish they would have somehow spiced things up a little, delivering something a little more unexpected. New songs like Bible Black, of course was played, but to be totally honest, I don't really find the new album that exciting.
Tony Iommi came across as a great player, even if he is perhaps better known for his sound than his technique. He delivered a great show. Speaking of sound, it has been brought to my attention, that the sound quality of the show should have been horribly bad. Well.now is the time for me to admit I was probably a little, tiny bit drunk during this show, and that fact possibly saved me from realizing, how bad the sound quality was.
The whole band was in great shape and delivered a kick-ass show! Even the standing still performance and all black-clothing appearance fitted the occult-flavored, doom-laden music. Black Sabbath.eehh, I mean Heaven & Hell delivered a fitting end to a great festival, even if the concert was a bit predictable.
Setlist:
E5150
Mob Rules
Children Of The Sea
I
Bible Black
Time Machine
Drum Solo
Fear
Falling Off The Edge Of The World
Follow The Tears
Die Young
Heaven And Hell
Encore:
Neon Knights
And now for my final thoughts:
Once again, the Sweden Rock experience was a great one!
Nevertheless, I have one complaint: to have Heaven & Hell headline already again, after their (splendid) performance in 2007 is too soon. And when you have a headliner, who played the festival two years ago, it doesn't help that two of the other huge bands, I was looking forward to, also headlined the festival in recent years. Twisted Sister played in 2003, and Europe played in 2004. Both of these band's performances this year are justifiable, though. In the light of their celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Stay Hungry album, I think Twisted Sister earned the headliner slot this year. Last time Europe played, was right after they were just reformed in the classic Final Countdown line-up, and after releasing two great albums, it was both reasonable and a pleasure to welcome them back. I also realize that 2003/2004 doesn't fall into the category "recent years" for everyone. Still, it is the combination of three ex-headliners that was a little too "been there done that", though I really love all three bands.
Apart from this minor complain, I only have praise for the festival! It is very well arranged, never have I experienced any serious trouble with crowd control/management, there's plenty of clean toilets, lots of waterposts, and generally a feeling of things being in control, which is very important when this many people is gathered in one place. I always hang out with a lot of cool people and see tons of great music.
The festival is good at digging up some interesting names, often bands that are currently not touring or that haven't played Europe for a long time will play exclusive shows at Sweden Rock Festival (this year, for instance Lita Ford and Forbidden comes to mind). I also love the possibility to see a lot of interesting "smaller" Swedish bands, like Enforcer, Hysterica and Bullet. Often, bands I have no chance of seeing anywhere else will play at the festival, and Sweden Rock is one of those festivals, that can still make me hold my breath, when they are about the unveil a new band for the coming festival, because you just never know, who's going to come. It is my hope, that this characteristic will remain intact.
Looking forward to next year!
Go to...
Day 1 & 2
Day 3 & 4
| 
In Flames (L)
In Flames (L)
In Flames (L)
In Flames (L)
Sabaton (S)
Sabaton (S)
Riot (S)
Riot (S)
Riot (S)
Riot (S)
Forbidden (S)
Forbidden (S)
Forbidden (S)
Forbidden (S)
Forbidden (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Europe (S)
Heaven And Hell (S)
Heaven And Hell (S)
Heaven And Hell (S)
Heaven and Hell (L)
Heaven and Hell (L)
Heaven and Hell (L)
Heaven and Hell (L)
All pictures taken by Lunah - Metal Moments and Steen | Written by Nina
Monday, August 10, 2009 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Stuart (Staff) - Tuesday, August 11, 2009 | 
View Profile
Comments: 116 | | Great review Nina! I'm now totally in the mood for seeing Europe at Bloodstock since I missed them at Sweden.
Also good shout comparing Thor to the Masters of The Universe movie! Question is who would win in a fight between our man Thor and Dolph Lundgren?
Posted by Stuart (Staff)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 |
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| Comment by Steen (Staff) - Tuesday, August 11, 2009 | 
View Profile
Comments: 518 | | If Dolph brings those deadly flying CD's from Dark Angel then there is no doubt who would win. Hehe
Thor: I come in peace.
Dolph: And you go in pieces!
Or something like that.
Posted by Steen (Staff)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 |
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