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Events and Reports - Sweden Rock Festival 2011 - Day Four: Destruction, Angel Witch, Rhapsody Of Fire and Ozzy Osbourne
Saturday, June 11th
Destruction
The German Thrashers were given the ungrateful task of waking up the sleepy and hungover festival participants this Saturday morning. The early time was mirrored at the lack of fans present at the show.
The three guys just walked on stage and started playing. The guys played a set I feel was 100 percent similar to all the shows, I've seen them deliver. The same setlist (or almost), the same raw energy and the same kind of witty smalltalk from frontman Schmier. They started out with Curse The Gods, and I immediately felt the energy of their fast Thrash hitting me and go through my veins. Mad Butcher continued the great wake up. Schmier is a very charismatic frontman and always very chatty on stage, even when he admits to being a tad too hungover, the crowd always get a lot of talk. He dedicated Bestial Invasion to all the 16-years old in attendance, as that song was written when the singer was that age himself. The band thanked the young fans with a thunderous version of that classic. Life Without Sense went out to all the old Thrashers, who stuck with the band through good and bad throughout the years.
There wasn't much back up from the small crowd and at one point that made Schmier ask: "Come on! Is this Denmark, or what?!...oh, sorry, hope no one from Denmark is here". Hey - as one of the people actually giving it my all, I couldn't help but feel a little hurt, but immediately forgave the Germans, and when they played my absolute favorite, Total Desaster, I totally gave in to their energetic and spirited performance!
Destruction is Destruction, and you know what you get at their shows: pure, classic, uncorrupted Thrash, without any gimmicks, played with lots of passion!
Angel Witch
All the old schoolers had come out to see the NWOBHM-heroes, who were playing Sweden Rock for the first time. A huge black and white Angel Witch backdrop graced the stage, as the fans gathered closer. There may not be that many people here, but fans like these are dedicated as hell, and several were already holding on to their front row spots.
The weather was unbelievably hot, which made both than band and fans slow down a bit, and this is probably the reason that the band seemed a little inactive on stage. They didn't speak much between songs, but they did deliver all the expected classics in fine form, so it was a cool experience to see Angel Witch anyway. Though it was just too hot, the fans did show their support with loud sing-a-longs, and more than a few heads were banging in the front. A nice performance from a classic band!
Setlist
Gorgon
Confused
White Witch
Sorceress
Atlantis
The Night Is Calling
Dr. Phibes
Rendezvous With The Blade
Baphomet
Angel Witch
Devil's Tower
Rhapsody Of Fire
I fell in love with Rhapsody the very moment I first listened to their second album, Symphony Of Enchanted Lands. I had never heard such a perfect marriage of Power Metal and classical music, with elements of Folk, and played on real instruments, from the classic Metal guitar to flutes, violin and even a full orchestra. The songwriting talents of Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli were cemented with several strong albums. However, as a live act, I didn't have the same confidence in the Italians; I'd only seen the band once before, and it wasn't too impressive. Rhapsody´s music is so full of details, various instruments, choirs and so on, that it doesn't easily translate live. With this kind of music, the band either has to use a ridiculous amount of samplers or they must partly rearrange the songs to fit a live environment. Rhapsody is, in other words, a studio band, and my hopes for an amazing live show wasn't that high, though I was very excited to see the band. It is thus with great pleasure I can announce that Rhapsody ended up as one of the festival highlights!
The band started out in fitting dramatic action with Triumph Or Agony. Fabio Lione's vocals sounded crystal clear, and the band was very tight, and as they continued with the magnificent Holy Thunderforce, the feeling of a kickass performance was cemented. Screaming along to Holy Thunderforce, I banged my head in a frantic way that seemed almost shocking to the few people who had shown up for the gig. This was awesome!
Rhapsody didn't play that many songs, but instead played them in full length and with great attention to detail. The neo-classical guitar playing of Luca Turilli was simply spellbinding in its perfection!
Another great thing was that the band didn't really rely that much on samplers, as they have done before. They used some, but otherwise Alex Staropoli had to work overtime on the keyboard to fill in with all the orchestral parts as well as the regular keyboards.
Fabio Lione sure has an impressive voice, and when he went into the wonderful ballad Lamento Eroico, it was like magic. Hearing him in his native tongue, and singing with such nerve and force was amazing! A very powerful and moving moment of the show!
March Of The Swordmaster is one of my favorite Rhapsody songs, and left a powerful and dramatic impression.
When the first mighty tones of Emerald Sword sounded, (RevelationZ editor) Steen and I went into a complete frenzy, celebrating the splendor of Rhapsody with a massive sing-a-long! An amazing rendition of this immortal song closed the spectacle - a what a show it had been!
On a trivial note, it is funny that Fabio Lione is still pronouncing the word sword with an audible "w" - its impossible he hasn't been told how its really pronounced by now, but he stubbornly clings to his original wording.
Setlist
Triumph Or Agony
Holy Thunderforce
TheVillage Of Dwarves
On The Way To Ainor
Dawn Of Victory
Lamento Eroico
Unholy Warcry
March Of The Swordmaster
Reign Of Terror
Emerald Sword
Walking the festival ground, I caught some small bits of Thin Lizzy's gig, and their show seemed really good. They are lucky to have gotten Ricky Warwick for a new frontman, he seem to fit the band perfectly. It seemed like a more than solid show from what I saw.
Now was the time to visit the brand new area, located behind the food stands on the right side of the Festival stage. A few amusement park rides had been set up, but it didn't seem like many people were buying rides. The coolest thing was something as simple as lots of tables and chairs that provided some much needed breathing ground, when the festival area got too crowded. A cool food stand with exotic food like insects and ostrich was also located here, just like the nice booth that sold warm cider, which was awesome! The area is in danger of drowning in sellers, commercial interests and other people, who want a piece of the cake, and would like to sell you everything from a guitar to a playstation or even a vacation. I hope these advertising agencies will be kept at a minimum, so that the area can continue to provide a breather from the hectic festival life, not turn into a mall.
Later, I caught a tad of Hawkwind's show. I don't really know anything about the band, except that it was Lemmy from Mötörhead's first band. I actually really enjoyed the show; the band plays a wacky, acid-tripping, hippie kind of music, with lengthy instrumental parts and electronic noises mixed in. The show felt very experimental, it seemed like half the music was just invented in the spur of the moment. The band also had some exotic dancers on stage, in various costumes, and that added an interesting artistic side to the gig.
Ozzy Osbourne
I saw Ozzy live for the first time back in 1998 on the reunion tour with Black Sabbath. I remember even as a young, naïve fangirl, I though it was on the brink of being pathetic. Yes, Sabbath is one of my all time favorite bands, and yes, I really wanted to see the legendary line up perform. But man, the old guy couldn't sing, he could barely walk the stage and overall I just though, please stop after this tour and leave with what remains of your dignity. But no. Ozzy continued. And continued. And continued. A couple of years ago, I saw parts of his performance at the Grasspop Festival, but I had to leave early, as I feared permanent damage to my ears and sanity. It was that bad.
Today, other teenage girls and guys were running towards the stage, with the wish of seeing a true legend overshadowing the fact that this man is done for long time ago. Some of all the onlookers possibly also grew up watching his hideous and ridicules TV show, and came partly to see the fool himself. While he has always been a bit of a freak, Ozzy has turned into a full blown clown.
For those of you that have seen Ozzy live in recent years, there´s no need to try to describe the dissonant, out of tune way he sings theses days, nor do I need to point out that he can't really walk, but is rather tripping around, and you sometimes get a growing suspicion, he has no idea where he's at.
The best thing about the show was the talented musicians the old geezer always surrounds himself with. The amazingly talented Gus G., one of my favorite guitarists, displayed some great skills, even though many complained about the soloing being way to long. I see the point, as it was very lengthy, but first of all, I would rather hear the talented youngster shred than Ozzy's singing, and second of all, go figure why a man like Ozzy allows the musicians to have that long solos: he simply can't keep up the pace of the show, and needs the break!
The setlist was classic and as it should be; all the expected solos stuff combined with the most iconic Sabbath songs. Only slight surprise was, that he played Fairies Wear Boots.
All in all, the performance was just sad. Some bands break my heart when they stop performing; a few break it by keeping doing so.
Setlist
I Don't Know
Suicide Solution
Mr. Crowley
Goodbye to Romance
Bark At The Moon
Road To Nowhere
Shot In The Dark
Guitar and drum solo
Iron Man
Fairies Wear Boots
I Don't Want To Change The World
Crazy Train
Mama I'm Coming Home
Paranoid
So, another festival came to an end, and the journey home awaited. Once again, I left with that feeling of having visited a magical place, which I will surely return to next year!
|  Rhapsody
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| Written by Nina
Thursday, August 11, 2011 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Little Drummer Boy (Member) - Monday, August 15, 2011 | 
View Profile
Comments: 166
Ratings: 46 | | Sad your festivities had to end with Ozzy. He has been on the down side for so long I think of him as the clown of the metal industry. He is gonna kill his own legendary status by continuing down this road. Lord knows he already killed his own dignity. I did not even bother with his last release.
Now I must listen to the immortal vocal god DIO. A true legend and a class act that will always be remembered by the metal world. RIP.
Posted by Little Drummer Boy
Monday, August 15, 2011 |
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| Comment by Stuart (Staff) - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 | 
View Profile
Comments: 116 | | Great report Nina, I really enjoyed reading it. While I disagree on your views on Mark from Accept (I think he's a great singer) I am in 100% agreement on GWAR, I laughed out loud at "I am sure there is a special place in Hell, where Gwar's music is played on endless repeat."
Hopefully I'll be back at Sweden Rock again next year!
Posted by Stuart (Staff)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 |
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