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Events and Reports - Sweden Rock Festival 2010 - Day 4 - Epica, Watain, Stratovarius
Saturday
The last day of the festival started with surveying the damage the wind had caused the night before, Michaels tent was a wreck and Steen's wasn't looking too good (strangely enough mirroring their owners post-drunken states) but everyone else's seemed to be ok.
The weather was pretty poor with the wind still a major annoyance so we decided to say near out tents in case it started to pour. Typically it decided to rain when we had no option but to leave our tents, as it was time for the first bands of the day. I was on my own again to see Cathedral while almost everyone else in our camp went to see Dream Evil.
I had seen Cathedral a few months previous and while really enjoying them I felt they had played far too much off their trippy new album "The Guessing Game". Thankfully the band seemed to recognise that this wasn't the sort of show a festival crowd wants and blasted their way through their most up-beat rock-orientated material and leaving the proggier and doomier tracks in the vault.
I think that the rain took the hit that it wasn't at the right kind of party and took its leave half way through the set to be replaced with blazing sunshine. "Utopian Blaster" and the musically upbeat (though rather grim subject-wise) "Corpse Cycle" got the crowd headbanging along. But as usual it was the tale of Mathew Hopkins: The Witchfinder General that brought the set to a blazing end.
Cathedral Set-list:
Funeral of Dreams
Enter The Worm
North Berwick Witch Trials
Utopian Blaster
Cosmic Funeral
Carnival Bizarre
The Casket Chasers
Corpse Cycle
Hopkins (Witchfinder General)
Cathedral finished ten minutes earlier than planned so I made my way to the Sweden stage to catch the end of Dream Evil. On my way there I bumped into Tobias and we both agreed that Cathedral had put in a brilliant show and were one of the bands of the festival so far.
There was a huge crowd for Dream Evil so by the time I worked my way in a bit I caught the closer "The Book Of Heavy Metal" which the audience were going mental for.
I then grabbed some food and made my way to the Dio stage for another band I was really looking forward to, Skyclad.
The high winds were really causing problems on the Dio stage as it was facing directly into the wind. The Dio banners at either side of the stage had been removed, less they be ripped down and much of the electrical equipment had to be covered up as the wind was whipping any rain directly onto the stage.
It was a disappointingly small crowd that had turned up to see Skyclad (they were up against Fates Warning on the main stage) and the band came onstage to little fanfare. Thankfully people started filtering in once they heard the band start up but they drew a much smaller crowd than I was expecting.
They started up "Earth Mother, The Sun And The Furious Host" with singer Kevin Ridley electing not to use his guitar, this was unfortunate as guitarist Steve Ramsey was having major issues with his, which meant that his instrument kept cutting in and out of the mix.
Still by the end of the second track, the classic "Spinning Jenny" the issues had been sorted out and they got down to playing a fun set. There were quite a few newer songs played that I didn't recognise as I only have a scattered knowledge of the Skyclad back catalogue but they all sounded good.
Kevin, despite looking like one of the least "metal" frontman I have ever seen, created a good rapport with the crowd and advised them that the kind of music they were playing works best in an Irish pub full of drunks but they would try their best at recreating the atmosphere on the wind-swept stage. His line about being bored with folk metal and creating a new genre called "happy doom" was also pretty funny.
The rest of the group looked like they were having fun despite the adverse conditions and rather tame crowd. Indeed violinist Georgina Biddle bounded about the stage and even into the photo pit with great enthusiasm. She also took several videos of the crowd on her new Iphone, incurring some wry comments from Kevin.
The main set was rounded off with the scathingly sarcastic "Penny Dreadful" and what the band say is the very first folk metal song ever written "The Widdershins Jig". The band went off stage and fooled me into thinking they wouldn't be back out as they were almost out of time only to rush back on to romp their way through the breakneck "Still Small Beer". It was a fun gig but I can't help but feel I still need to see them in some small Irish pub somewhere to get the full Skyclad effect.
Next up was the tough choice between Epica and Michael Kiske's Unisonic. I was seriously torn but settled upon Epica and headed over to watch them.
Opening with "The Obsessive Devotion" Epica sounded good, both musically and vocally with Simone's shimmering voice and Mark's growls melding perfectly with each other.
It's a good thing the mix was perfect as Epica's music can get pretty complex and a poor sound would have rendered their set unlistenable. But everything from old track "Sensorium" to the multi part, thirteen minute epic "Kingdom of Heaven (A New Age Dawns Part V)" sounded perfect.
A couple of songs into the set I heard a shout from behind and it was Craig and Del who had gone to see Unisonic. I was surprised to see them but they explained that the wind had been so strong that it ripped the top of the sound stage in front of the Rock Stage where Unisonic were set to play. This meant the area had to be cordoned off until the sound stage could be repaired. Thankfully no one was hurt, but it meant the days schedule might be thrown into disarray.
Craig, Del and I enjoyed the rest of Epica's set with best moments being the sparkling "Sancta Terra" with Simone's operatic vocals being highly impressive and the song that got me into the band "Cry For The Moon (The Embrace That Smothers - Part IV)". I had waited a long time to hear this live and it was wonderful, I don't think anyone in the crowd was headbanging harder than me during the heavier moments in this track!
As Epica walked off stage I took a wander backstage to see what was going down (and if I just happened to run into a stunningly attractive, ginger Dutch girl with a lovely singing voice, well that was just an added bonus). But alas, their wasn't really much happening at all.
As I sat backstage I could hear music coming from the Rock Stage, I hurried round and was delighted to see the one and only Michael Kiske onstage. I bumped into Eric in the crowd and he said that I had only missed 4 songs.
I wasn't familiar with any of the next few tracks I heard but I thought they sounded good. I was however rather happy to hear two old favourites round off the band's shortened set "Kids Of The Century" and "A Little Time".
"A Little Time" in particular sounded very impressive with the band Kiske had assembled along with his Place Vendome partner Dennis Ward getting the Helloween classic spot on. Towards the end of the track the band segued into Judas Priest's "Victim Of Changes" which allowed Kiske to air one of those trademark siren screams to massive applause from the crowd before kicking back into the Helloween track.
In the end, as annoyed as I was at the weather at least it had been good for something.
Unisonic Set-list:
Cross The Line
I'll Be Gone
Set Me Free
Souls Alive
Sign of The Times
Streets of Fire
The Setting Sun
My Guardian Angel
Kids of The Century
A Little Time (incl. Victim of Changes)
I then met Nina, Craig and Del down the front of the Dio stage for NWOBHM warriors Raven. The three piece put in a good show despite guitarist Mark Gallagher suffering some technical problems during the first three songs and getting so frustrated, he threw his guitar to the floor in anger mid song and grabbed another one from the side of the stage.
Still it was a really enjoyable set with crowd favourites "Rock Till You Drop" and "Crash, Bang, Wallop" getting the biggest cheers.
A few hours later it was time for some more classic metal in the form on Anvil, if you have seen the documentary on the band you will know that their last trip to Sweden Rock was highly successful and this time was no different.
There was a large crowd gathered in front of the Dio stage to see the band opening with the thrashing instrumental "March Of The Crabs" and they got a hero's welcome between each and every song.
The band played all the old classics like "Forged In Fire" and "Mothra" and of course the patented vibrator solo section. The (very old) newie "Thumb Hang" was another definite high point. By Lips own admission this was very Black Sabbath influenced and as it proved this is almost never a bad thing.
The set was rounded off with the thumping "Metal On Metal" and Lips, Robbo and Glenn Five can be safe in the knowledge that any trip to Sweden Rock will never be a wasted one.
After Anvil, it was over to the Sweden stage for another gig to remember, Sweden's very own guardians of the black flame Watain. The band were playing a special set with half of it being their own material and the remaining half being Bathory covers.
The stage set up the band had was very impressive, many black candles lined the stage, wolf banners were erected at either side, an inverted cross was placed stage front and an alter complete with skull and flaming urns either side took up centre stage. During the set there were massive flames shooting up from both sides of the stage with some explosions thrown in for good measure.
The band too cut imposing figures, shrouded as they were in flame and covered in corpse paint, leather, spikes and animal blood. Craig and I were lucky enough to grab a spot just one person away from the barrier so got to experience the dark arts up close and personal.
"Sworn To The Dark" was colossal in sound with Erik's menacing screams piercing the night sky and commanding you to raise your fist in the air (view YouTube footage here). The eight minute "Stellavore" with its creeping stop/start riff and imposing "God of death, manifest" chorus caused a shiver to run down my spine despite the heat from the pyro's.
The band departed the stage to allow the rodies to swap the wolf banners to Bathory ones depicting their famous first album cover. This took a lot longer than it should have, with there being enough time to play the "Odin's Ride Over Nordland" intro twice (with a long pause in the middle) before Quothorn's father Boss came onstage to say a few words and light some burning torches around the stage.
Watain then stalked out and played an absolutely soul-searing rendition of "A Fine Day To Die". I had expected them to close with this but it just blew me away as an opener with its vicious riffing and scathing solo's matching the intensity of the original perfectly. Indeed, Eric's rousing battle cries were a fitting match for Quothorn's much loved throat ripping style. You can watch this on YouTube here.
"A Return To Darkness And Evil" was immense as was "Enter The Eternal Fire" as the band ruled the stage giving all they had to the performance. But it was closer "Born For Burning" that truly scarred the landscape with its wicked chorus and flame overload erupting from the stage. A true spectacle in every sense of the word and a show that will live on in black metal history as a defining moment for the band.
Watain Set-list:
Malfeitor
Sworn To The Dark
Reaping Death
I Am The Earth
Wolves Curse
Stellarvore
On Horns Impaled
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A Fine Day To Die (Bathory-cover)
The Return of Darkness and Evil (Bathory-cover)
Enter The Eternal Fire (Bathory-cover)
Reaper (Bathory-cover)
Sacrifice (Bathory-cover)
Born For Burning (Bathory-cover)
Craig left as soon as Watain finished to make sure he didn't miss Guns N' Roses on the main stage but I had different plans. Hating Axl and co with a passion I was going to let Finnish power metal gods Stratovarius close the festival for me.
I met Nina and Del down the front and with only about ten minutes to Stratovarius starting we were dismayed to see only five hundred or so people waiting to see them. Pitting them up against G N'R was always going to lead to a struggle to steal fans away from the main stage.
Luckily the band had Axl's prima donna attitude working in their favour and with only a few minutes to go before they took the stage the crowd begin to swell as people got fed up waiting for Axle to appear (G N'R were scheduled to start at 11.30 but eventually appeared forty minutes later) This included Craig who decided to give the Finns his support over (in the words of the stage announcers) the tribute band on the main stage.
By the time Stratovarius came on stage there was a healthy crowd and the band were clearly fired up to see that so many people had came to see them as they tore through traditional opener "Hunting High And Low" with real vigour.
It was the second time I had seen the band with new guitarist Matias Kupiainen and yet again he really impressed me with his skill on the fret board as he tackled Strato classics like "Speed Of Light" and "Kiss Of Judas" (thrown in pretty early in the set tonight) with ease.
Only two songs off the new album were aired, the still unimpressive "Deep Unknown" (which does admittedly sound much better live than on record) and the solid ballad "Winter Skies". The band instead chose to stick to the classics meaning that we got tracks like "Phoenix", "S.O.S" and the wonderfully moving "Forever" , which goes down as one of my favourite ballads ever.
Timo Kotipelto repeatedly thanked the crowd for coming to see them and seemed genuinely humble at the reception the band got. Jens Johansson thanked us in his own way by treating us to a keyboard solo and giving us a laugh by describing the band they were up against as "Guns and Posers".
The gig and the festival were brought to a close with an up-beat "Eagleheart", a soaring "Paradise" and one of the bands best loved tracks " Black Diamond". This was my fourth time seeing Stratovarius live and yet again the band did nothing but turn in a performance of the highest quality, a marvellous way to close the festival
Stratovarius Set-list:
Hunting High and Low
Speed of Light
The Kiss of Judas
Deep Unknown
Phoenix
Winter Skies
A Million Light Years Away
Forever
Visions (Southern Cross)
Eagleheart
S.O.S
Paradise
Black Diamond
Nina and I walked back to the campsite to the sounds of "November Rain" floating over from the main stage as we discussed how good Strato had been and reminisced about how yet again Sweden Rock had triumphed in bringing together 30,000 people to enjoy the pleasures of heavy metal and hard rock.
I hope to see everyone again there next year!
Go to...
· Day 1
· Day 2
· Day 3
· Day 4
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All pictures taken by Lunah of Metal Moments - www.metalmoments.net | Written by Stuart
Sunday, July 4, 2010 |
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