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Events and Reports - Sweden Rock Festival 2010 - Saturday - Dream Evil, Skyclad, Praying Mantis, W.A.S.P. and Stratovarius
Saturday, the 12th of June, 2010.
Dream Evil (Sweden stage)
In the already dreadful state of Saturday morning hangover, I was left with the impossible choice: Dream Evil or Cathedral? Both bands were playing at the same time, but hoping some energetic Power Metal would do a better job of waking me up than,ehh.energetic Doom, I chose the Swedes.
Dream Evil put on a typical "rock star" attitude, trying to act arrogant and cocky, and I do realize that's part of their stage personas, but it just fell flat and almost seemed comical on such a small stage. Hello, all 20 people out there, I am the world's biggest rock star? Doesn't really work. Instead of trying to bond with the fans, the band chooses time and again to act out some lame stage personas -which could be really fun if they had some good ideas. Theatricality and performing a role can be a great asset for a band, but it has to be believable and not seem forced. Just acting like a jerk won't cut it. I guess Snowy Shaw took whatever creative talent with him, when he left the band.
The band did shine momentarily, and played fairly well, especially Fredrik Nordström on the guitar delivered well, and seemed like he was actually happy to play today. Time, party and life have taken its toll on Niklas Isfeldt's voice, and he had problems reaching the higher notes, especially evident in Chasing The Dragon and The Chosen Ones. He also sang the same verse twice in The Book Of Heavy Metal - obviously a hard book to read.
A just barely approved performance, come on guys, show me you have just one last good album left in you, and get the sparkle back live!
Skyclad (Dio stage)
Skyclad is a band I've always had a very positive attitude towards, but never got around to get fully familiar with. I only own one of their albums, but being a sucker for folkish Metal, I had to see what the fuss was all about, now that a classic band came by the festival.
Skyclad delivered a great show, where the folk attitude really came out over the stage, and filled the entire field. Georgina Biddle playing the violin especially made an impact. Her merry dancing around in a beautiful dress, while flawlessly playing her instrument, lifted the whole atmosphere and completed the folk feeling.
Singer Kevin Ridley was really energetic on stage, jumping up and down, and treating the crowd as you would old friends, talking relaxed between songs and singing directly to us, making eyecontact with the frontliners.
It was easy to get caught up in the atmosphere and dance a little along to the music in my own goofy way, even if you didn't know that much of the band's material. A show to improve your mood!
Praying Mantis unplugged (Rockklasiker tent)
The Rock klassiker tent is a new thing at the festival, a small tent to give some of the bands playing at the festival an opportunity to show their talents in an acoustic setting. A good idea and I generally love acoustic sets. There's something about the stripped down feeling you get, when a bunch of musicians have just their unplugged instruments and talent to rely on, and the songs get a whole new life. Today, Praying Mantis was to perform, and having enjoyed their gig yesterday, I decided to spend some quality time with my husband, listening to their set. Standing in the small tent, cut off from the rest of the festival, provided a nice breater. The atmosphere was cozy and a little laid back, and the band sounded really good. I did recognize a few songs from the day before, and all songs sounded good, especially singer Mike Freeland's voice benefitted from the new setting. An enjoyable experience, very nice idea with this new scene!
Raven (Dio stage)
Raven is a classic NWOBHM band, and it would be exciting to see if they could live up to their legacy as a crazy live band. I'm not a total expert on NWOBHM, but Raven is one of the bands, I really like! Not many people had gathered at the Dio stage, as the Brits entered, but it was a dedicated audience, and heads were banging from the start! Raven put on a great performance, and frontman John Gallagher was all over the place, screaming his lungs out, and running wild. Unfortunately, the show was plagued by some soundproblems, which sent guitarplayer Mark Gallagher into a hissy fit, cursing, snaring and throwing his guitar to the ground, actually just making the show that more entertaining, hehe. Except for that, the show was superb; I especially enjoyed classics such as Live At The Inferno and Crash Bang Wallop.
Despite the grey hair, Raven is a young-at-heart band, still capable of delivering a high quality show with lots of nerve! I left the stage in high spirit, ready for more beer and party at the campsite!
W.A.S.P. (Rock)
W.A.S.P. Is an old fave band of mine, and one of the bands, I was looking most forward to at this year´s installment of the Sweden Rock festival! Blackie Lawless and co. Always were great live, and tonight they were going to play almost exclusively from the first two masterpieces, the selftitled debut and The Last Command. Two tremendous albums, containing song, the band haven't played in many years. Expectations were high, but let me say already now; they were met more than fully!
After introducing the show with On Your Knees, W.A.S.P. Went into The Torture Never Stops, a song I've never heard them play before, and it was great getting this classic! Wild Child andL.O.V.E. Machine are safe bets for the band, and songs they always play live, and in fact the show didn't really hold that many surprises. I was hoping for something like B.A.D, The Flame or School Days, but the setlist turned out to be rather predictable. However, singing along to some of these old classics, surrounded by other W.A.S.P. Fans were just amazing, and though I was far from the stage, the electrifying energy was filling the entire field, making the band's impact felt all the way to the back! There was a great interaction in the crowd as well, I sang together with several fans, and old and young Metalheads connected over the love for W.A.S.P. This gig was absolutely one of the biggest highlights of this year's festival for me!
The band chose to play the two best songs from the latest album, Babylon: Crazy and Babylon's Burning. I especially love Crazy, it has such an amazing feeling, and it came across perfectly tonight! Ending on a predictable, but always enjoyable note, the band finished with I Wanna Be Somebody and the classic Blind In Texas. A stunning performance!
Setlist, W.A.S.P:
On Your Knees
The Torture Never Stops
L.O.V.E. Machine
Wild Child
The Last Command
Crazy
Hellion
Widowmaker
Sleeping In The Fire
Chainsaw Charlie
Babylon's Burning
The Idol
I Wanna Be Somebody
Blind In Texas.
Stratovarius (Dio stage)
I've seen Stratovarius a gazillion times, and they are usually a solid live act. After going through a stressful period, with mainman and guitarist Timo Tolkki's mental breakdown, following numerous line-up changes, and ending with Tolkki leaving the band, it seems Stratovarius have finally come out on the other side of the tunnel, rather unscratched. Tonight, they delivered one of the highlights of the festival!
Being given the ungrateful task of performing simultaneously with Guns 'n' Roses, the band seemed in a great mood, regardless, and continuously joked about the situation during the show. Singer Timo Kotpelto joked he heard "some demoband is playing at the mainstage" and thanked the fairly large crowd for choosing to support the Finns over "Guns 'n' Posers", as Jens Johansson called them.
The band was in a splendid mood, and seemed genuinely happy to play for us, putting on a spirited performance! I always enjoy seeing Jens Johansson perform on the keyboard, he is an extraordinary musician. The way his fingers dances over the black and white board, delivering his brilliant solos and melodylines makes me want to take up keyboard playing again, it looks so freaking easy when he does it! He is a real show off, and I love that on stage!
New guitarplayer Matias Kupiainen filled Tolkki's shoes in a convincing way, but to be fair, it is not in a live situation that I fear Tolkki will be missed most, but in the songwriting department. Matias Kupiainen seems like a good choice for the band, judging on his live performance. Even the band's weakest link, singer Timo Kotipelto, delivered well today, his voice being in great shape. In other words, a well-oiled machine, a tight and convincing band!
The band played a typical festval set, where all the biggest his were served, and that was great! During the "soap opera period", as I like to call it, I almost forgot how great song like Against The Wind, Kiss Of Judas and
Paradise are, and today was a potent reminder of their power!
The show ended with the crowdpleaser Black Diamond, just a spellbinding version of that one!
Setlist, Stratovarius: 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
Just like in past years, the Sweden Rock Festival proved to be a fun-filled, hard rocking, beer-drinking, headbangingly great experience! This year's billing was not as amazing as some other years, for me personally, and I missed just a couple of more bands that would make me go totally bananas. So a little more Power Metal, maybe a few great bands in the more extreme genres (Death, Thrash)and continue to bring the old, legendary bands to the festival, and I'll be more than happy!
· Day 1
· Day 2
· Day 3
· Day 4
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Dream Evil
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Skyclad
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W.A.S.P.
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W.A.S.P.
All pictures taken by Lunah of Metal Moments - www.metalmoments.net | Written by Nina
Wednesday, August 11, 2010 |
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