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Events and Reports - Sweden Rock Festival 2006 - Michael´s Festival Report
Thursday
Once again it was time for the Rock oasis Sweden Rock festival. The first day of Sweden Rock festival 2006 was a bit weak, so after enjoying the sun and seeing bits of Doro, Krokus, Easy Action plus Bonfire it was time for the first big headliner of the festival
Journey
The sun was still burning when Journey entered the biggest stage of Sweden Rock festival. The band was warmly welcomed by an impressive crowd all excited about this American institution.
Journey opened with a song off their latest album "Generations" and continued with Separate Ways, which really got everyone going since it was delivered in a flawless version.
Neal Schon played a solo already after the third song, which was a bit misplaced so soon in the set. The solo was structured around Beethoven's Für Elise theme and from a guitar extraordinary like Neal Schon it was nothing special - however, there were plenty of other highlights.
From Neal Schon's previous bands Hardline and Soul SirkUS, Journey has gotten their "new" drummer Deen Castronovo. Castronovo was amazing with his smooth powerful vocals and he did great singing a few of the older tunes like Mother Father.
Singer Steve Augeri played guitar and percussion while Castronono took over vocal duties. Augeri was in a great mood and by the time of the first big ballad, he looked at the sky and cleverly concluded that it was the same sky in Sweden as in San Francisco and New York City, where after they played Lights.
Unfortunately Journey overlapped with Hardcore Superstar, which I am really into at the moment, so after only around 45 great minutes of Journey I had to leave for Hardcore Superstar to get a good spot. A bit sad since there wasn't many bands the first day that I cared about and I even missed my Journey favorite Who's Crying Now?
Hardcore Superstar
I don't like to be wise after the event, but the organizers put Hardcore Superstar in the smallest tent of the festival even thought their latest album has been charting in Sweden and the fact that Hardcore Superstar is a "name" outside of Sweden as well.
I saw it coming and got to the tent early to get a good spot at the expense of a brilliant Journey show. However, it was the best decision of the day, since the tent was absolutely packed and later lots of people tried to get in to get a glimpse of a band peaking with their self titled album.
The amplifiers and stage background was covered with a Victorian style look. The band was delayed and the roof literally blew off when the intro to the latest record started. Hardcore Superstar also started with the opening track off their latest album Kick on the Upperclass.
The setlist was dominated by songs from "Hardcore Superstar" with one song off "Bad Sneakers and a Pina colada" plus one from "No Regrets". Hardcore Superstar also played a cover of Zodiac Mindwarp's Prime Mover.
The band was really tight and surprised me in a very positive way. Hardcore Superstar's stage presence was great and in-your-face with singer Jocke Berg as the toastmaster of the party. The highlights of the show were Last Forever and We Don't Celebrate Sundays - both performed with a unique swaggering drive.
Like on record the band ended with the amazing power ballad Standing on the Verge. Only Jocke Berg and guitarist Silver played the first verse, but later the band kicked in and made this a great final to a very energetic show.
The band came back for encore. Wild Boys is THE tune to end the show. Great performance and awesome musicians.
Deep Purple
Last time I saw Deep Purple was on the "Bananas" Tour and they were excellent with Steve Morse breathing new life into the band.
This evening Deep Purple didn't manage to create the same spark and rocking drive. Gillan sounded all right and joked in between the tracks - he presented Rapture of the Deep as a song about the destruction of mother earth and mankind - but we shouldn't let us bother with that though.
Of course the band played lots of familiar tracks like Space Truckin', Smoke on the Water, Hush and Perfect strangers. For Lazy keyboardist Don Airey wore a Swedish soccer jersey celebrating the start of the world cup and Sweden's up-coming match Saturday.
Steve Morse was again great and his playing on When a Blind Man cries was stunning.
This was only an okay performance! The band lived high on their reputation and may believe they don't have to convince anyone with their classic songs, but this night Deep Purple sounded as old as they look
Friday
Gotthard
Gotthard was added to the bill only a few weeks prior as replacement for Asia. Gotthard came, played and kicked ass. The Swiss band grabbed the opportunity and won over the crowd. Steve Lee welcomed the crowd with a "Good morning" even though it was 1.30 in the afternoon.
Gotthard plays huge venues in Switzerland and their albums certifies platinum. This was their first time in Sweden so they had to work the crowd. The songs played were the same as featured on Gotthard's latest live album titled "Made in Switzerland". Gotthard certainly has the songs to win over a crowd; Mountain Mama, I Wonder and In the Name are all top class hard rock songs.
Gotthard's own songs spiced with a couple of crowd pleasers in the shape of Deep Purple's Hush, Dylan's Mighty Quinn and finishing off with Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song, made this a great start of the day.
Steve Lee was a brilliant frontman and his vocals really held up live. Guitarist Leo Leoni was the band leader and his in your face solos were sharp. The band was tight and the underlying tough guitar drive that permeates most of their songs was perfect in a live situation.
Nasty Idols
Besides Easy Action another Swedish band was to reunite at Sweden Rock festival 2006 namely Nasty Idols. Personally this was one of my most anticipated concerts at this year's festival.
Andy Pierce's voice was low in the mix during the first song but that got adjusted for second song, the classic The Way Ya Walk. Nasty Idols played a set comprised of their greatest hits and even though they have been away from the scene for 12 years - songs like Alive and Kickin' and House of Rock n' Roll sounded great.
For the last song a fine young lady entered the stage and started to strip. A cool thing that just underlines what Sleazy Hard Rock is all about - FUN!!! The stripper entered the stage again for the encore Shelia - the only song that wasn't on either "Vicious" or "Cruel intention". Shelia was the perfect closer, since it has a great kick ass vibe.
In the words of Nasty Idols "Do you do? Do you want another?". YES I have never experienced 40 minutes fly by so fast. In my book they could easily have played 2 hours on stage.
On stage Andy Pierce is an great entertainer with lots of energy. Dick Qwarfort looked like a kid in a candy store and I hope it was because he could read the enthusiasm in the eyes of the audience. Guitarist Peter Epinoza still delivered great fills and leads to the hard driving songs.
I guarantee everyone that attended this show walked away with a big smile of his/hers face since we got entertained by Nasty Idols.
Tigertailz
At our camp site Tigertailz had been the topic of several discussions. We were a couple of Glam fans and all aware of Tigertailz, but none had actually heard the music of Tigertailz. High on Nasty Idols' performance only 50 minutes prior we got a good spot ready for England's classic Glam band, which reunited in the "Bezerk" line up.
The first 2 songs were simply destroyed since there was something wrong with Jay Pepper's amplifier and therefore the first songs had no guitars except for the weak rhythm guitar from Kim Hooker, whose guitar was low in the mix anyway
Bass player Pepsi Tate was great on stage and no doubt that the band was thrilled to play Sweden Rock. However, Tigertaliz simply weren't good enough to win the crowd with this performance. Except for a handful of die hard fans Tigertaliz didn't manage to win new fans. When Nasty Idols played more people came towards the stage, but Tigertaliz didn't manage work the crowd and expand the crowd size.on the contrary!
Tigertaliz got what they deserved since it was one of the worst concerts ever. Kim Hooker's voice was so weak and the glam look didn't suit the middle aged men. In the words of Kim Hooker "We like girls - not look-like girls" Ha ha - great comment!
Tigertaliz songs were just plain tame and even their hit Love Bomb Baby didn't make me lift any eyebrows. Tigertaliz also aired a couple of new songs for the forthcoming album "Bezerk 2.0" and needless to say that they weren't good either. Somehow they even managed to fuck up AC/DC's Highway to Hell - and that says it all about this band. Afterward everyone in the camp agreed that this was a disaster
WASP
WASP drew a big crowd for their performance on the festival stage and Blackie Lawless didn't disappoint. Even though WASP recently changed line-up the band sounded great. The new guitarist was great even though I wasn't too fond on his own interpretation of the solos for Sleeping in the Fire and the amazing The Idol.
I couldn't have wished for a better setlist since they played my 2 favorite WASP songs - the 2 aforementioned. Also Lawless surprised us all by playing most of the Widowmaker. I was expecting more from "Neon God Part 1 and 2". What I'll never Find from "Neon God Part 1" was amazing live even though the mellow song was a bit misplaced as first encore.
Songs like Chainsaw Charlie, Blind in Texas and Wild Child were great with Blackie's thunder voice making them extra spicy live.
Setlist
On your knees
Chainsaw Charlie
Hate to love me
L.O.V.E. Machine
Wild child
Widowmaker
Sleeping in the fire
The real me
The Idol
I wanna be somebody
What i'll never find
Blind in texas
Def Leppard
Def Leppard is a very important band for me since they have always been around. To this day "Hysteria" still ranks among my favorite albums. On the "X" Tour Def Leppard played a quite disappointing show in Hamburg, but I was sure that Def Leppard would do much better on Sweden Rock, since it was the perfect setting for a stadium rock act like Def Leppard.
Around 20.000 had taken place in front of the main stage. Def Leppard came on stage opening with 3 blistering rockers from the old days - I was blown away and I remember saying to my sidekick when third song High N' Dry started "Wow I can't believe how great this is - unbelievable"
I was actually so moved by the energy and the settings for this show that I was goosey all over. Def Leppard had a great stage show since they used the big screen as an integrated part of their show. Besides showing the band on stage, the big screen was used to show vintage clips of the band back in the day with Pete Willis and there were lots of tributes to the late Steve Clarke. It just seemed right since they opened with a couple of old songs
Joe Elliott was totally on fire and it seemed like the band was gonna prove that they still are among the best bands in this genre. Let's Get Rocked was the first song representing the commercial side of Def Leppard, which was followed by Make Love Like a Man - both taken from "Adrenalize".
It seems like Promises has kept its place in the Def Leppard setlist, which I applaud since it's a great song - so no complaints here.
The first song off "Hysteria" was the title track, which again brought back goose pimple all over my body. This was a magical show and Def Leppard almost ruined it by playing 2 cover songs off their new album "Yeah". Fair enuff that they have a new album out and wants to air a few songs - we got 20th Century Boy and Rock On - both mediocre covers.
Luckily Def Leppard picked up the atmosphere with Rocket in an extended version with Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen showing off. At the end they also squeezed in a part of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love.
Then came a another strong stack of amazing songs that was performed with drive, glow and passion; Photograph, Armageddon it, Animal, Pour Some Sugar On Me and Rock of Ages
Def Leppard did capture a magical feeling with their passionate performance and you couldn't help to send a thought to Steve Clark, whenever there were vintage clips of him. I cannot describe how well integrated and perfect coordinated Def Leppard's use of the big screen was. It planted a strong feeling in me that was a combination of Def Leppards meaning in my own life growing up with their music - but also underlined the brotherhood in Def Leppard since they still are going strong after the tragic death of Steve Clarke, Pete Willis' drinking problems and Rick Allen losing an arm.
The first encore was Love Bites - WOW - it was a glowing and emotional performance. Joe Elliot thanked us all for showing up and told us that the band had been a little worried how they were received since they were to share stage with bands like Venom and in general harder bands. However, the band knew it went well and we were grateful for this fantastic experience.
Inspired by the vintage clips, we earlier joked that they would play Rock Brigade or Wasted and damn if they didn't play Wasted as the final song. Ha ha - newer Def Leppard fans probably didn't know that Def Leppard could rock this hard. By ending with Wasted everyone knew this was a very special concert. In retrospective this was 90 minutes that I love to relive anytime.
Setlist
Let it go
Rock! Rock! (till you Drop)
Saturday Night (High 'n Dry)
Let's Get Rocked
Make Love Like a Man
Promises
Hysteria
20th Century Boy
Rock on
Rocket
Photograph
Armageddon it
Animal
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Rock of Ages
Encores:
Love Bites
Wasted
Saturday
MSG
Finally it was time to experience Michael Schenker in concert. MSG's new album "Tales of Rock N' Roll - 25 years celebration" is pretty good and especially the songs sung by the former MSG vocalists sound great. I am not fond of Schenker's new singer Jari Tiura, but really looked forward to hear the classic UFO songs and MSG songs live.
MSG delivered an uninspired concert. Schenker was just staring at his shoes the whole concert and barely moved. Unfortunately I couldn't adapt to Jari's voice, which still sounded awful in my head - it was a shame since classic songs like Let It Roll, Lights Out, Too Hot To Handle, On and On, Only You Can Rock Me and Armed & Ready deserves a superb vocalist.
The bass player Rev Jones looked odd with a shaved head and a long pony tail, but he was probably the best player on the whole festival. The highlight of the show was when Leif Sundin was introduced and sang Angel of Avalon from the new album. Sundin's voice is a lot better than Jari's and Sundin returned for the encore Doctor Doctor, but I don't think his mike was turned up since all we heard was Jari Tiura.
Prior to this tour MSG revealed a planned setlist for the tour and it's a mystery how come he left out the fantastic Dreams inside and the 2 sparkling Tell a Story plus Rock N' Roll from "Tales of Rock N' Roll". Instead we got standard songs like Dust to Dust and Shadow Lady from the new one.
Former Black N' Blue drummer Pete Holmes was on drums and the musicians in the band were competent but the maestro himself was without passion and soul.
Alice Cooper
This was my second show on Alice Cooper's "Dirty Diamonds" tour in less than a year - the last one was only 10 months away - see detailed review
Overall this was pretty much the same show with a few changes. Compared to last time Ryan Roxie quit the band and just like with Slash's Snakepit Roxie recommended Kerri Kelli for his vacant job. The stage production was a bit sparser and basically it was a more stripped down stage performance from Cooper.
Alice Cooper always puts on a great show and this was no exception. Kerri Kelli did great and Brother Cane guitarist Damon Johnson was now main guitarist even though Kelli and Johnson traded solos. With Chuck Garric and Erik Singer on drums it can't go wrong musically.
We didn't see so much of Cooper's beautiful daughter Calico, but she was there to decapitate Alice during Ballad of Dwight Fry, which was shortened. Calico Cooper also showed up during the encore I Wish I was Born in Beverly Hills for the same gimmick.
Overall I just love Cooper's music and along with Def Leppard, Hardcore Superstar and Nasty Idols Alice Cooper delivered the best concert of the festival.
Whitesnake
To this day Whitesnake's show in 2003 is the best performance I ever witness on any Sweden Rock festival. Therefore expectations were high with the return of Whitesnake. Since their 2003 show Whitesnake has not made any new music, but the recent DVD "Live in the Still of the Night" brought back memories.
The band opened with Deep Purple's Burn. In my opinion Whitesnake played the perfect set last time comprised of their best songs. The DVD has almost the same setlist with the inclusion of Judgment Day and Don't Break My Heart again. However, none of those tracks was aired and instead Coverdale and company brought back several songs from when Whitesnake was a pure blues based band. Songs like Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues plus Love Hunter and Ready An' Willing was brought to life.
Personally I am more into the Hard Rocking part of Whitesnake's career especially since Whitesnake's touring line-up consists of Hard rock musicians. Coverdale was again flanked by guitarists Dough Aldrich (Burning Rain, Dio) and Reb Beach (Winger, Dokken). The band was the same except for new bass player Uriah Duffy who replaced the charismatic Marco Mendoza. Whitesnake has made some great songs throughout the 80's and it was great to hear Love Ain't No Stranger, Is this Love, Gimme All Your Love, Still of the Night and Here I go Again.
This night Coverdale's voice suffered a little bit and even though it was a good show, Whitesnake didn't manage to capture the same magical feeling as they did 3 years ago.
Sweden Rock 2006 wrap up
Once again Sweden rock managed to make a musical program that combined everything from 70's rock to up-coming bands and everything in between. The festival is a Mecca for the (Hard) Rock fan and it's the only place were you meet so many like-minded.
Just walking around the area from stage to stage seeing bits of different bands, enjoying the sun and checking the CD shops is a great experience. It's also the only place where you see so many different vintage t-shirts with more obscure bands like Bang Tango, Bullet Boys and Enuff Z'Nuff.
The Sweden Rock organizer followed my advice from last year and set up a big screen for this year's festival. So once again I want to advise the organizers; Try to walk around the area and look at people. There are so many visible Glam Rock fans and then there is all of us Glam fans, who doesn't look like Glam rockers.
The number of Glam 80's Hair Rock t-shirts was countless and bands like Hanoi Rocks and Crash Diet probably had the most fans showing their dedication at Sweden Rock 2006. This year the Sleaze/Glam Hard rock was only represented by Nasty Idols and Tigertaliz and that is too weak. Where are all the American bands like Cinderella, Great White or the vintage sunset strip bands like Ratt, L.A. Guns, Poison and Warrant???? Hell, you can look in your own backyard and find the great Zan Clan, Babylon Bombs and the next big thing from Falkenberg Vains of Jenna. Just look at your neighbour country in search of one of the most classic acts, Hanoi Rocks.
Please consider the interest of this style next year.
| Click pictures for a bigger version
Journey
Journey
Journey
Journey
Hardcore Superstar
Hardcore Superstar
Deep Purple
Gotthard
Gotthard
Gotthard
Gotthard
Gotthard
Nasty Idols
Nasty Idols
Nasty Idols
Nasty Idols
Nasty Idols
Nasty Idols
Tigertailz
Tigertailz
Tigertailz
Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake
All pictures taken by Martin Borg | Written by Michael
Sunday, July 16, 2006 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by theking (Anonymous) - Saturday, June 30, 2007 | I love sweden rock festival!<3
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