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Events and Reports - Sweden Rock Festival 2010 - Day 3 - Grave Digger, High On Fire, Gary Moore
Friday
Friday started early with Grave Digger on the Rock Stage, the weather was still pretty patchy with plenty of scattered showers so I think that it combined with the 12pm kick off time kept a vast majority of people back at the campsite.
It was actually a bit of a shame for Grave Digger as I felt that put on later in the day they would have drawn a much bigger crowd. As it was there was plenty of room down the front and vocalist Chris Boltendahl had to work hard at getting the crowd up and singing. I'm guessing others in the audience had much worse hangovers than me.
Still despite the smaller than was hoped crowd, I thought the band put in an excellent shift. The sound was crisp and Chris' rather unique vocals were clean and clear.
They opened with new track "Ballad Of A Hangman" but played plenty of classics like "The Round Table (Forever)" and "Excalibur". Being Scottish I was rather excited to see what songs off their album "Tunes Of War", which is based on medieval Scottish history, would get an airing. I was not left disappointed as we were given "The Truth" (which they don't play very often), "The Dark Of The Sun" and the peerless anthem "Rebellion (The Clans Are Marching)".
During "Rebellion", Craig and Dodge both let fly the Scotland flags that we had brought with us, which you could see put a smile on the band members faces.
The set was ended with a superb version of their classic track "Heavy Metal Breakdown" and I thoroughly enjoyed their show despite the early slot. I hope I can catch the band again some time, when the rest of the crowd and myself are not quite as sleep deprived.
M.S.G were about to start on the Main Stage but we figured some rest was the best idea as we had a long day ahead of us. We grabbed a seat back at the campsite but it wasn't long before it was time for some stoner metal in the form of High On Fire.
Despite the stoner tag, the Californian power trio are astonishingly heavy both on record and in the live arena. They drew a fairly small crowd of 3000 or so but those who were in attendance saw a crushing live show.
Opening with "Frost Hammer" from their new album "Snakes For Divine" it was obvious that the band were in no mood to take prisoners..
One time Sleep member Matt Pike throws out gigantic riffs and solo's with the greatest of ease and drummer Dez Kensal is a beast behind the kit with some complex yet highly rhythmic drum patterns. And not to be outdone bassist Jeff Matz fills the remaining space in the songs with some intuitive playing.
"Rumours Of War" was a highlight of the set with its speedy pace really pushing my already sore neck to the brink of getting whiplash.
Towards the end of the set Matt announced that "Snakes For The Divine" would be the last track and I though that the call-to-arms chorus of "Rise up, fall down" would be a fitting end to the gig.
After taking his guitar off at the end of the song he was surprised to be told they had time for one more, it turned out I was rather glad they did as they knocked out a fearsome version "Fury Whip" from their "Death Is This Communion" record. One of the heaviest and best shows of the festival.
High On Fire Set-list:
Frost Hammer
Devilution
How Dark We Pray
Hung, Drawn & Quartered
Rumors of War
Blood From Zion
Fire, Blood And Plague
Fireface
Cometh Down Hessian
Snakes For The Divine
Fury Whip
We then relaxed on the hill just back from the Dio stage to watch the remainder of the Praying Mantis set, I spotted Steen wandering through the crowd and he joined us for a while before moving to the backstage area, I promised I would meet him and Nina there after the gig.
I headed to the backstage bar to find Steen, Nina, Tobias and Lunah and we grabbed some beers and sat down. I ended up talking to a stand up comedian from Malmö about the great man that was Ronnie James Dio for quite a while but had to depart with Nina as Magnum were about to take the stage.
I've never been a great Magnum fan and have always resisted the offers to go and see them live. However I figured this was the perfect chance to check them out and it ended up being another Sweden Rock set that left me wondering what to do next time round as lo and behold I actually really enjoyed them.
Nina and I worked out way into the crowd and found Craig and Del midway through the first song. The first couple of tracks passed me by but I was most impressed with "Brand New Morning" and the mystical track "The Moon King" from their latest album.
The fact that the set was crammed full of tracks from the new album (five in total) actually worked out quite well for me as I only have that record and "On A Storytellers Night".
Best moment of the set was when I heard the keyboard player Mark Stanway begin the intro to "Les Morts Dansant" as I have fallen in love with this powerful and moving track. Although the fact that I let out a massive "YESSSSSSSSS!" at this point confused Del as he couldn't believe I was getting that worked up over Magnum.
The band performed this track and the rest of their set impeccably. Bob Catley in particular was very impressive with his voice sounding in top condition and his smooth dance moves making many in the crowd (including myself) to try and pull off some of those lightning quick hand gestures. Sadly I don't think we quite matched up to Bob's standard, they must take years of practice to perfect.
I was also taken aback by just how striking the lengthy "Don't Wake The Lion (Too Old To Die Young)" was. I hadn't heard it before but had seen it mentioned as one of Magnum's best. I'm not going to disagree with that appraisal and I am now much more appreciative of Tony Clarkin's guitar work after seeing this performed live.
There was no "Just Like An Arrow" sadly but I reckon the band are just holding this back to force me into seeing them again.
Will I bow to their demands? Only time (and the price of the ticket) will tell.
Magnum Set-list:
Cry To Yourself
Take Me To The Edge
Brand New Morning
The Moon King
When We Were Younger
No One Knows His Name
Dragons Are Real
We All Run
Les Morts Dansant
All My Bridges
All Engand's Eyes
Vigilante
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Don't Wake The Lion (Too Old To Die Young)
Kingdom of Madness
We had no interest in Cinderella so we went for a beer or two and to hide from the rain before Suicidal Tendencies.
I'm not a massive Suicidal fan and some of the stuff they played strayed to far into hardcore and even rap and funk for my liking. But it was impossible to not enjoy them as they put so much passion and energy into what they did. Indeed some of the musicianship on display was unbelievably impressive, with a special mention going to the rhythm section of Steve Brunner and the man-mountain drummer Eric Moore (Cheers for the drum stick!)
I couldn't really name you one song they played beyond the graphic piss-take "I Saw Your Mommy" but I enjoyed the majority of their set and thought it was interesting to see a band take a metal audience pretty far outside its comfort zone and still get a very positive response.
Soon after S.T, Billy Idol was due to start. I had thought that others would accompany me to see Billy but as it turned out I was on my own.
Turns out I really shouldn't have bothered.
Getting to the Rock stage about five minutes before the show was about to begin I found myself confronted with a rather massive crowd, I wormed my way down the front with some difficulty as the skies opened up and the rain started beating down on the crowd. As it turned out if I had been a little more patient I could have got down the front with ease.
The band were greeted with massive cheers as they took the stage and started proceedings with the Generation X track "Ready Steady Go". Immediately I could tell that Billy's voice wasn't in the best of shapes. This became even more obvious as "Dancing With Myself" was sung much lower than on the album version so as to not put too much strain on his vocals.
This would be excusable if Billy had won the crowd over with his passion and belief in his music. Sadly it turns out that Billy has very little passion for his own music left.
To put it simply, Billy Idol has to be one of the most charmless performers I have ever seen. Directly after the first song he started mumbling to the crowd about the fact that "I really need a doobie man, does anyone have a doobie?" which had many in the crowd wondering what he was already on and his speech about how John Lennon had recently visited him in a dream to tell him that "Everything is going to be all right man" was toe curling in it's embarrassment.
Admittedly newer track "Scream" sounded ok and "White Wedding" worked quite well with the first half played acoustically before the full band kicked in for the second half. It seemed however that Billy wasn't the only one having an off night as guitarist Steve Strange was hampered with a pretty limp guitar sound which did even more harm to the set.
Bizarrely one of the best moments of the set was when Billy strutted to the front of the stage to perform an a capella version of Eddie Cochran's classic "Twenty Flight Rock". He then did the same thing later in the set with another 50's standard which escapes me but ruined it by telling the crowd "We need to get back to that old Rock 'n' Roll man" before playing the hideous pop music that is "Eyes Without A Face".
The set was brought to a juddering close with a cover of The Doors "L.A Woman". And those in the crowd that had stuck about till the end (many didn't) got to see Mr Idol embarrass himself once more by forgetting where they were and having someone tell him that they were in Malmö, which lead to him changing the chorus to sing about his "Malmö woman". Alas, even though Billy probably flew into Malmö, it's many, many miles away from the festival site.
Like the location of the festival, this show was one to forget.
I met up with Nina, Mads and Thomas towards the front of the crowd for Gary Moore's headline slot on the main stage. He was set to play a set of his hard rock classics and thankfully did not disappoint.
Starting with one of the looooongest intro tapes you have ever heard the band made their way on stage with Gary wrapped up in a thick coat as the wind had picked up quite a bit by this point and was whipping through the festival site.
Drummer Darrin Mooney then began the pulsing intro to "Over The Hills And Far Away" to a rapturous response from the crowd, thankfully the fierce wind didn't affect the sound too much and Gary's much loved guitar playing sounded excellent. His vocals started a little hoarse but by the time he was belting out anti-war anthem "Military Man" he had loosened up quite a bit.
There wasn't that much movement or interaction from any of the band beyond Gary taking a walk up the catwalk in the middle of the stage as far as his guitar lead would let him. This didn't affect my overall view of the band too much but I'm always of the impression that if you are playing in front of a massive crowd you always need to do that little bit extra to make everyone feel involved in the gig.
Still Gary let his guitar do the talking as ballad "Empty Rooms" got a reverential response from the crowd and "Blood Of Emeralds" sounded every bit as epic as you would expect.
Of the new songs aired it was "Oh Wild One" which capture the crowds attention the most as its upbeat Lizzy-esque Celtic guitar sound bounded round the festival area with an infectious enthusiasm. I can't wait to hear the recorded version of this one.
A vitriolic and heart-felt version of "Out In The Fields" rounded off the main set and for me the gig petered out after that. The band left the stage to return for an overlong version of "Still Got The Blues", a rock 'n' roll tinged number that I didn't recognise (found out later it was called Walking By Myself) and "Parisienne Walkways," a track which has never really done anything for me.
Not the highest-octane way to finish the night but the main set was so strong that I couldn't complain too much.
Gary Moore Set-list:
Intro: Dunluce (part 1)
Over The Hills And Far Away
Thunder Rising
Military Man
Days Of Heroes
Where Are You Now
So Far Away
Empty Rooms
Oh Wild One
Blood Of Emeralds
Out In The Fields
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Still Got The Blues
Walking By Myself
Parisienne Walkways
Back at the campsite the wind had caused havoc, with many tents and gazebos totally destroyed. We were quite lucky in that only one of our camp's tents sustained any real damage.
I went to bed that night with the sound of the wind howling in my ears only to be kept awake by the sound of howling of a different kind. Michael and Steen had both spent the evening getting roaring drunk and spent what felt like an eternity singing the same Enuff Z Nuff songs over and over again.
Trust me when I say that if I ever hear the words "Mary Ann lost her baby" again I may go on a killing spree. So beware next year guys!!!
Go to...
· Day 1
· Day 2
· Day 3
· Day 4
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Grave Digger
Grave Digger
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Suicidal Tendencies
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Billy Idol
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Billy Idol
Gary Moore
All pictures taken by Lunah of Metal Moments - www.metalmoments.net except Grave Digger, Gary Moore and Magnum taken by Steen | Written by Stuart
Sunday, July 4, 2010 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Steen (Staff) - Monday, July 5, 2010 | 
View Profile
Comments: 518 | | Allow me to sing this song, if I may in two ways; Firstly in my normal voice and then in a kind of silly high pitched whine... "Ma....."
No seriously, excellent report! I look forward to next year already.
Posted by Steen (Staff)
Monday, July 5, 2010 |
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