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Events and Reports - Sweden Rock Festival 2004 - Day 2 (Steen) - Persuader, Opeth, Lake of Tears & Brainstorm live
Back to Day 1
Persuader
Persuader played just before noon and as on the 2000 Decibel festival they were a great kickstart to the day, blasting any kind of sleepyness far away. Comparing to 2000 Decibel their show had developed a little this time. Opening the concert was a pretty cool version of the Terminator theme but soon the band went straight into the powerful Strike down. Powerful was definitely one way to describe the show. The band seemed happier than last time and put on a good show, helped along by a small but very entusiastic audience. My favorites from the new album, Godfather and Sanity soiled also got great airplay. The band had obviously listened to the one guy from 2000 Decibel who was constantly shouting for a song from their debut as they played The hunter as their final song. Great start to the day!
After Persuader I went to get something to eat while listening to the last part of Pink Cream 69. The one song I know from them, Seas of madness came of great live and they seemed to have put on a very powerful show. I had decided to check out Beseech after reading their short bio and went back to the Spendrup's stage. Unfortunately Beseech did not impress me at all. Gruff male combined with sweet female vocals upon very simple riffs and melodies made me go yawn and leave after the first three songs. This band seemed to me like a weird combination of Lacuna Coil and Lake of Tears without any of the uniqueness of those two acts. Their music just couldn't keep my interest at this point and their stage presence didn't help much either.
Opeth
I got back to the camp for some music and beers and started a party with Nina, Mads & Thomas before I had to leave for Opeth. They took the one of the bigger stages in the middle of the afternoon and one part of this show proved to be the highlight of the festival so far. I got to the stage about five minutes after the show had started and found a spot in the front part of the audience. The band seemed in good humor and talked to the audience and made jokes between the songs. I think it was after the third song that Mikael Åkerfeldt told us that unfortunately their time was limited, but now they were going to play a song they had never played before in Sweden. Then the band went into what turned out to be a monstrous and completely magical version of The Moor!!!
As this is by far my favorite Opeth song I have always had a hope to hear it live one day, but I wasn't expecting it at all. I, and the rest of the audience went really crazy during parts of this song and by looking around it was obvious that many people were in heaven right there. The most amazing thing was the way the band pulled it off, flawless and with a huge amount of feeling in the music. Mikael Åkerfeldt's voice was brutal and beautiful at the same time and at some points even more powerful than on the album! This was truly a chilling moment that I will forever lock in my treasure chest of heavenly Metal moments. After this I stood a few moments in awe as the band continued with Windowpane and To rid the disease from their latest album Damnation. Finishing of the show were Deliverance and Demon of the fall. Still Life is still the only Opeth album I have found time to get really into, but it can't be long before I go on to the next one.
After the Opeth experience I went back to the camp to find the rest of the gang still partying, so I sat down for a beer and some music as it was a few hours before Lake of Tears were set to play.
Lake of Tears
This was one band I was really excited to hear live. I was captivated by their 'A crimson cosmos' album and it would be interesting to see if they could capture their special atmosphere on the stage. I made it to the Spendrup's stage just as Lake of Tears had started on Boogie bubble. Four guys with a slight stoner look did indeed pull of a very special concert that surpassed my expectations. Cosmic Weed was next and it had a cool drive and worked really great live. Among three songs from their forthcoming album, Black Brick Road we also got Hold on tight and Pagan wish from Forever Autumn.
The absolute highlight of the show was the final song Headstones, where there was a sense of magic in the air. The band delivered this song with so much conviction that for a moment I forgot time and space and was carried away by Daniel Brennare's passionate voice and the spellbinding music. Moments like these don't come along often, but at this years Sweden rock there seemed to be at least one each day!
My only complaint was that the show was way too short, but that was the case with all the bands at the Spendrup's stage. I will now start the hunt for the albums I am missing with Lake of Tears.
Setlist:
Boogie Bubble
Cosmic Weed
Making Evenings
Crazy man
Hold On Tight
Pagan Wish
The Greymen
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Headstones
Brainstorm
After this fantastic concert I just had time to buy a beer before Brainstorm went on stage. The great Ambiguity is the one album of theirs I know but after the disappointment with Paragon I didn't know what to expect from another German Power Metal band. Any preconcieved ideas I had were brought to shame when the band delivered an energized and extremely powerful performance. In fact even though I didn't know most of the songs the band played this was in the top 5 of the overall most enjoyable concerts at the festival. The band seemed to be blown away by the audience turnout and people were going crazy in front of the stage with each song to the band's delight, me included. I will now be checking them out so I can sing along at ProgPower USA later this year :)
After this the time was about 10 in the evening and my natural urge for chicken wings had to be pleased...
I missed most of Exodus' show which was probably a big mistake as the last two songs I heard sounded really great. Scorpions didn't sound very impressive, so I decided to head back to the camp with the others and we started a party with my small speakers, beers and lots of insane singing and jumping. This unfortunately resulted in all my burned compilation cd's getting completely wasted. First I found them lying in a big pool of beer that Nina had spilt on them and half an hour later when we were going crazy during a Lost Horizon and Manowar medley someone noticed a creaking sound from somewhere and I discovered that I had been jumping right on the cd's for a whole song... Oh well...
Continue to Day 3
| You can click most pictures for a bigger version
Persuader
Persuader
Opeth
Opeth
Lake of Tears
Lake of Tears
Lake of Tears
Lake of Tears
Brainstorm
Brainstorm
Brainstorm
The crowd at Exodus
All pictures taken by Steen | Written by Steen
Sunday, June 20, 2004 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Anders (Anonymous) - Monday, June 21, 2004 | Wow what a blast it must have been .. and a very nice festival report Steen! I wish I could have been there to hear Judas Priest, Opeth and Children of Bodom. And Opeth played The Moor!? It truly must have been magical. Oh well, now I just have to wait for W:O:A
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| Comment by Steen (Staff) - Tuesday, June 22, 2004 | 
View Profile
Comments: 518 | | Thanks! Yes, you really should have been there...
Steen
PS: Should I bring an extra tent for W:O:A this year? :)
Posted by Steen (Staff)
Tuesday, June 22, 2004 |
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| Comment by Anders (Anonymous) - Tuesday, June 22, 2004 | Haha! No I plan on bringing my own WHOLE tent this year. And I'll test it properly before leaving for W.O:A, hehehe!
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| Comment by el loco (Anonymous) - Wednesday, November 30, 2005 | son unos chotos!!!!!!
[Monjes de Hiroshima]
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