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Events and Reports - Sweden Rock Festival 2010 - Day 1 - Alestorm, Steelwing, U.D.O
Sweden Rock is always a summer festival highlight and I was really looking forward to this year's instalment. The line up was as varied and strong as always, with a good spilt of bands across days which meant that I would be pretty much fully booked at all times.
Unfortunately the amount of good bands was a mixed blessing as there were some rather nasty clashes, Jorn with Danzig, Aerosmith with Mayhem, Unisonic with Epica and W.A.S.P up against Watain.
Still, life is nothing without some tough decisions so armed with a will of steel and a rucksack full of the essential festival survival kit (sleeping bag, clothes and alcohol) I set out first for Copenhagen with my friends Craig and Del.
We had been kindly invited to stay with fellow RevelationZ writer Nina and her husband Mads the night before travelling to the festival. This basically involved much laughter, food, drink and getting kicked out of a pub at closing time. At only 1.30am, it was still too early for my liking!
Waking up the next day we travelled to Copenhagen Central Station where we met Steen, Thomas and fellow Scots Eric and Dodge. We were not actually supposed to be meeting Eric and Dodge till later that day at the festival site but how they ended up in Copenhagen is a story too long to recount here, I think Eric will be glad of that.
Anyway, we caught a train to Sölvesborg and made a quick stop at an off-licence to purchase 6 Crates of Carlsberg Export, 1 crate of Piston Head Beer, 1 crate of Kopparberg Cider, A box of Newcastle Brown Ale and possibly some other stuff. Needless to say when the RevelationZ staff go to a festival, we don't do anything in half measures.
Having read our shopping list, you can understand that my memory of the first night before the festival is a little hazy (and my hangover the next morning pretty severe). What I can tell you is that we met up with some old friends, made some new ones, had a great laugh and got very, very drunk.
Wednesday
After shaking the hangover and sitting in the sun downing a few beers with my associates (including Nina's friends Tobias and Lunah who had arrived at the campsite) it was time for the festival to begin.
An interesting conversation about the Ramones and several more beers prevented me from catching the start of F.K.U (or Freddy Krueger's Underwear if you prefer). However I enter the festival arena to the strains of their (very short) cover of "Holy Diver". As they were playing on the newly christened Dio Stage I thought this was a rather appropriate way for me to kick start the festival.
Making my way down the front it was clear that the band don't take themselves too seriously as the were all in full Freddy Kruger make-up with songs which seemed to cover both important bases, horror and thrash.
After watching the remainder of F.K.U's set it was time to head over to the Sweden stage to catch my fellow countrymen Alestorm. They were the perfect band to get the crowd in the appropriate party mood by singing songs about the other two main themes in metal, drinking and pirates!
While I recognise that the band have some limitations (the main one being frontman Chris Bowles very average live vocal performances) it's impossible to deny that they are an extremely fun band to watch. They have certainly come a long way since the first time I saw them at Bloodstock 08, which was pretty shambolic to be honest.
Opening with "The Quest" the band showed that they have improved immeasurably since bass player Dani Evans switched to handling the guitar duties. They romped through their hour and fifteen minute set in what seemed like minutes and got the front section of the crowd jigging like mad to "Keelhauled" and closer "Wolves Of The Sea". I don't think I've ever seen a crowd go as mental for a Eurovision Song Contest cover as the Sweden Rock crowd did.
When Alestorm had wrapped up what was the biggest show of their career to date we headed straight back to the Dio stage for up and coming Swedes Steelwing. The band draw their influences from the classic NWOBHM band's of the eighties and put in a great show.
In a massive contrast to Alestorm, Steelwing's strongest point is their vocalist Riley's incredible pipes. The man screamed like a banshee throughout the set and you could tell by like stunned looks on people's faces that he is a major talent.
Steelwing's only fault is that some of their songs do seem slightly overlong. The shorter, snappier numbers like "Headhunter" or "Roadkill (Kill Or Be Killed)" just seem to work much better than some of their longer tracks which could have a minute or two shaved off their running time to hit with increased impact.
This is a minor quibble though, as despite the fact that they only have one album under their wing, they commanded the stage with ease and guitarist Robby Rockbag had many in the crowd (including myself) looking twice to make sure that it wasn't actually Adrian Smith up on stage.
Del, Craig and I went to check out Michael Monroe, who despite putting on a good show, including climbing to injury-risking heights up the side of the stage, musically just wasn't doing it for us.
Nina had recommended a band called Katana on the Alarm Stage (which is a small stage outside the main festival area for new Swedish bands to show their wares) so we bid farewell to Mr Monroe as Craig and I decided to go see them.
It turned out to be one of the best decisions of the festival as I was mightily impressed with their show. We met Nina and Mads down the front just as the band were about to come on stage and was immediately impressed by the healthy turnout in the small tent.
The band kicked off proceedings with the excellent "Livin' Without Fear" and I knew I was going to love them. Again the band are very NWOBHM influenced (is there something they put in the water in Sweden?) and very, very good at what they do.
The duelling guitars and traded solo's of Tobias and Patrik were a joy to the ears and the rich, melodic vocals of Johan are the perfect foil for the band's traditional heavy metal stylings.
It's always the sign of a good metal track when you find yourself singing along with it on the first listen and the anthemic "Neverending World" certainly had the crowd doing that.
Indeed, when in a set which included storming covers of "Angelwitch" by Angelwitch, "We Rock" by Dio and an special encore performance of "Midnight Highway" by Accept, you still find yourself walking away singing the band's own material (in this case "Heart Of Tokyo") you know you have seen something special.
After Katana we headed back to the tent for a beer and bit of relaxation before making our way back to the Sweden Stage for a band I had been looking forward too since they had been announced, U.D.O.
U.D.O's set at the 2007 edition of Sweden Rock ended up topping my gigs of the year list and I'm pleased to report that this year's show won't be too far off the top again!
Opening with "The Bogeyman" and then the title track from the "Dominator" record the band sounded excellent. The sound was perfect which allowed the hard-hitting riffs of both songs to hammer the audience.
Dressed in his trademark army fatigues and with that unique voice of his sounding as good as ever, Udo led the crowd in sing-a-along after sing-a-long. Fan favourite "The Bullet And The Bomb" followed by the Accept classic "Flash Rocking Man" kept the tempo up early in the set.
As good as his solo material is, the gig really hit top gear with a ten minute, show stopping performance of one of my all time favourite songs "Princess Of The Dawn". I can't tell you what it is about that taut main riff but as soon as starts I can't help but get goosebumps, it's one of the most potent, mesmerising riffs ever written.
Plus the song contains not just one, but two of the greatest crowd participation moments in any metal band's repertoire. And it's one that never, ever fails to get an ecstatic reaction from the Swedish crowd.
You can check out Youtube footage of the song here.
The rest of the gig was filled with more moments of metallic perfection such as "Midnight Mover" and "Animal House" and the main set was rounded off with the classic "Metal Heart". This again brought the crowd together as one to chant along with guitarist Stefan Kaufman's interpretation of Beethoven's "Für Elise" in the solo section
The band came back on stage to rapturous applause for a triumphant run through "Holy" and the all conquering "Balls To The Wall". They then again left the stage only to come back on for one hell of an encore.
It was an Accept fan's wildest dream with "I'm A Rebel", "Burning" and "Fast As A Fucking Shark" making firm believers of even the most sceptical of audience members. I don't think there could have been a more perfect way to round off the first night of the festival.
U.D.O. Set-list:
The Bogeyman
Dominator
Independence Day
The Bullet And The Bomb
Flash Rockin' Man
Thunderball
Vendetta
Princess of The Dawn
Midnight Mover
Infected
Man And Machine
Mastercutor
Animal House
Metal Heart
----------------
Holy
Balls To The Wall
----------------
Balls To The Wall (reprise)
I'm A Rebel
Burning
Fast As A Shark
Go to...
· Day 1
· Day 2
· Day 3
· Day 4
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U.D.O.
U.D.O.
U.D.O.
| Written by Stuart
Sunday, July 4, 2010 |
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