Sweden Rock Festival - Wednesday
4 June 2008
Sölvesborg, Sweden
After a couple of year’s absence, Rockers Digest made a return to Sweden Rock and with hardly a cloud seen all weekend, it was a red hot festival in more ways than one. The last time we attended, the Wednesday was simply a day for getting wrist bands and having a few beers, but it now hosts bands across the 3rd (Sweden) & 4th (Zeppelin) stages as well as the Gibson tent.
Flight and train times, as well as the need to pitch our tents, meant by the time we entered the festival arena, a number of bands had already played. Emerging through the entrance gate, we were met with Astral Doors wrapping up their set with Evil Is Forever and Black Rain. Frontman Patrick Johansson still sounds like Ronnie James Dio with cotton wool in his mouth to me, but the cheering crowd indicated they had faired well.
Astral Doors set list:
Cloudbreaker / Fill Your Head With Rock / New Revelation / London Caves / Of The Son And The Father / Bride of Christ / Freedom War / Quisling / Hungry People / Evil Is Forever / Black Rain
It was a quick move to the Sweden stage now for the band I had been hurrying along our posse from the campsite to get in to see. Australian rockers Airbourne have been getting a lot of good press lately and their high octane performance today thoroughly justified that. Whilst it was the band’s first time in Sweden, when frontman Joel O’Keeffe hollered “Stand Up For Sweden Rock’n’Roll” he got the desired result. It’s true that there’s a lot of AC/DC evident in Airbourne’s sound, but if Angus and crew are still capable of putting out an album as strong as Runnin’ Wild, it will probably be considered a classic.
Airbourne rocked big style, with band members running round the stage, indulging in synchronised headbanging and O’Keeffe seriously risking his neck. During Girls In Black, the frontman set off up the scaffold on one side of the stage, right up to the lighting rig complete with guitar. With a great sound, which was a common feature of the festival, Airbourne’s Swedish debut turned out to be a rousing success.
Airbourne set list:
Stand Up For Rock’n’Roll / Hellfire / Fat City / Diamond In The Rough / What’s Eatin’ You / Girls In Black / Cheap Wine & Cheaper Women / Heartbreaker / Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast / Runnin’ Wild / Blackjack
From one band with AC/DC leanings to another, though Bonafide plough a more bluesy field, mixing Bon Scott era AC/DC with the laid back, but still muscular, sounds of Free. Lacking the stage presence of Airbourne, the Swedes didn’t have the punch of the Australians they were following, though tunes such as Down and new song Butter You Up were welcome while resting weary legs with a beer sat on the conveniently sloped banking in front of the Zeppelin stage.
Bonafide were one of a number of bands who had taken part in Sweden Rock’s “Fill Your Head With Rock” project, with all featured bands contributing a song to an album of that title. Their song was aired tonight, though Astral Doors had already beaten them to be the first to play their own Sweden Rock anthem this year.
Bonafide set list:
Loud Band / Down / Hard Case To Break / 50 Cent Millionaire / Going In For The Kill / Can’t Get Through / Night Time / Butter You Up / Fill Your Head With Rock / Big Boss Man
Having seen Sabaton play to a small but enthusiastic crowd at Camden’s Purple Turtle in London last year, despite the fact that they were on home turf today, it was somewhat surprising to see so many people wearing their shirts. Possibly the largest crowd of the day had gathered to witness the Swedes set of war metal and the volley of explosions as they kicked into Ghost Division indicated that the band were up for the fight.
With a ramp erected between the keyboards and drum kits, frontman Joakim Brodén and his troops made full use of the sizeable stage and their enthusiasm transferred to the crowd. When they eventually paused for breath following Into The Fire, Brodén looked slightly taken a back by the warmth of response but it was deserved. Whilst Sabaton’s victorious metal will hardly change the face of rock, it’s delivered with such fun and sincerity that they couldn’t loose today. Cheers were raised at the sight of Daniel Myhr striding forward with his keytar during Panzer Battalion and the Savatage-esque latest single Cliffs Of Gallipoli was well received. Rounding things off with a medley of their two tongue-in-cheek metal anthems, Metal Machine & Metal Crue, the spoils went to Sabaton.
Sabaton set list:
Ghost Division / The Art Of War / Into The Fire / Rise Of Evil / 40:1 / Panzerkampf / Panzer Battalion / ? / A Light In The Black / Primo Victoria / Cliffs Of Gallipoli / Attero Dominatus / Metal Machine / Metal Crue
Taking a stroll, the 70s retro sounds of Graveyard emanating from the Gibson tent proved to be a great backing to a few beers whilst catching up with friends. If the doomy stoner rock is reminiscent of Witchcraft, it’s no surprise to learn that Witchcraft frontman Magnus Pelander used to be in Graveyard.
The main course this evening however was set to be black metal legends Satyricon. Somehow I had managed to have never encountered the Norwegians in the live environment and whilst reports had led me to expect a ice cold performance, I had expected that to be a positive rather than the frosty, going through the motions presentation we were given. Kicking off with the more extreme Hvite Krists Dod, from 1995’s Shadowthrone, didn’t help with many drifting away quite early and it was surprising to see the “headliner” with a smaller crowd than the two bands that had proceeded them on this stage.
The more regimented Now Diabolical worked much better in this festival environment and K.I.N.G. from that same album got the best response of the set. Elsewhere, while the set was peppered with songs that should grip the crowd, Frontman Satyr seems detached from proceedings, and it was obvious that the band surrounding him and drummer Frost were hired hands working to orders. As the crowd dissipated, Satyricon wrapped up just another date of their summer festival appearances with what should have been a triumphant Mother North.
Satyricon set list:
Hvite Krists Dod / Now, Diabolical / Havoc Vulture / Forhekset / K.I.N.G. / My Skin is Cold / The Pentagram Burns / Repined Bastard Nation / Storm (Of The Destroyer) / To The Mountains / Fuel For Hatred / Mother North
LINKS:
Sweden Rock Festival
Satyricon
Graveyard
Sabaton
Bonafide
Airbourne
Astral Doors
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