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Events and Reports - Sweden Rock Festival 2003 - The Festival Report
Finally the season for summer festivals is here again. Sweden Rock was the first on my schedule. We (Michael, Borg, Thomas and I (Steen)) started out from Aarhus thursday afternoon in the newly fixed 1979 Opel Retro, which Borg had bought a couple of weeks earlier. This car did a most excellent job of taking us back and forth. After picking up Nina near Copenhagen we entered Sweden, where the weather was excellent. Music was on the stereo and the beer was flowing. Well, we got to the festival area and set up our tents. Then we went to check out the announced party at the Sweden Rock Cafe. Unfortunately Locomotive Breath and Turning Leaf had already played and nothing much was happening. I decided to get some sleep to be ready for the next day's bands.
The RevelationZ crew at the beginning of the festival...
Friday
First band on on todays menu was Burning Point at the Spendrups stage. After reading Hashman's review of their album, I had to check them out. They offered some good Power Metal with focus on the very well played guitars. I especially liked the title track from their first cd, Salvation by fire. Not a lot of people had shown, but the band put on a good concert. I just managed to get back to the camp and grab a beer, before Nina convinced me that I had to check out Squealer, so we ran back to the Spendrups stage and caught the last couple of tracks they played. Quite enjoyable, but it's hard to judge a band by just two live songs. After that I also managed to catch part of Crystal Eyes show, which sounded really promising. Very melodic Power Metal and something I'll try to check out in the future.
Crystal Eyes
After I got back to the camp I found out that all my beers had mysteriously vaporised... So Nina and I went to the supermarket to refill my tent with beer. The real shock came when I found out that in Sweden they only sell light beer!!! Damnit! Mental note: 30 beers is way too little for a four day festival :) I also want to send off a big Hail! to the guys, who had parked their van at the supermarket's parking lot, and let us have a Manowar party right there. You guys made me wish I had set up the tent right in the back of your van! :) It was too funny.
Ok, back to the concerts...
Dragonforce
Dragonforce was the first band I had heard before, and I was looking very much forward to this concert. They certainly lived up to my expectations, and were able to bring their ultra-fast power metal on to the stage, with a lot of energy. The crowd went absolutely crazy when the band started playing. "Valley of the damned" was one of many highlights, where Herman Li's fantastic guitar playing ruled. Unfortunately the band was plagued by some sound problems. That was in fact the case for most of the bands at the Spendrups stage. But after a change of the microphone things started getting better. ZP Theart's voice was excellent live too, and he had a great interaction with the audience. The whole band seemed energised and happy to be playing in Sweden. Through the 40 minute concert we were offered most of the songs from their debut.
Dragonforce
The big mistake of the day was that I only caught two songs with Tad Morose. This band sounded absolutely brilliant, and when they were finished I banged my head in vain.
Later in the night, when the other guys came back and went to sleep, Borg and I set up our own Enuff Z'nuff party outside my tent. Unfortunately, it only took one and a half song before we both were fast asleep.... I also want to send out a big no-hail to the guy who drew a moustache on my face, and woke me up. I really needed the sleep, you bastard... :) I later found out, that it was in fact a girl who had done this heinous deed. Too bad she didn't want to live out the rest of her, apparantly very kinky fantasy... Well, Borg thought it was immensely funny, and I spent half an hour trying to wash it off... Mental note: Always sleep inside the tent...
Saturday
Angra
First band of the day was Brazil's Angra. Overall this was not the best performance I've heard them give. There were just too many slow songs, and not enough energy on the stage. Also, their new vocalist Edu Falaschi didn't sing as well, as the last time I saw them in Wacken. Of course they opened with Nova Era, and finished off with the crowd pleaser Carry on. In between that, the highlights for me were definitely when they played "Millenium sun" and "Nothing to say". They did have some sound problems, where suddenly the sound volume started changing wildly, but most of the bands I heard at the Rock stage had this problem... Still a good start to the day.
Platitude
Having seen Kamelot live several times before, I decided it was time to give Sweden's young newcomers Platitude a chance, so I ran directly over to the Spendrups stage, where the band was just getting started on their first song. They put on a very good concert, and the few people who were assembled showed a lot of enthusiasm. This is certainly a band with great potential. The musicians were very concentrated on their performance, while the singer was the only one who moved around much. A couple of highlights were the title track of their debut, Secrets of life and the closing song Anima. Overall a well played and enjoyable concert, but too bad about the sound. I won't get into the sound problems they had, but I really thought it was weird that I could hear whenever the rythm guitarist hit the strings on his guitar. It was louder than the actual speaker volume, even when standing in the audience. I just couldn't help focusing on it all the time.
Platitude
The beers were extremely expensive at the festival grounds, so after Platitude I ran back to the tent to kill some more of my infamous light beers...
I made it back to the Sweden stage just in time for Sonata Arctica. They put on an excellent show and had a great sound. Tony Kakko's voice is just as good live as it is on record. They'd changed some passages in songs like My land and Unopened, and it worked really well in a live situation. A big highlight was a spine tingling version of "Last drop falls". One of my favourites of Silence. I did miss Weballergy though. But a great selection of songs covered all their three albums, with three songs from their new album, Winterhearts Guild and also many songs from their debut. Definitely the best concert so far.
Pagan's Mind
Five minutes after Sonata Arctica ended their set Pagan's Mind were set to play at Spendrups stage, so once again I dashed away, as soon as the final chords of Sonata Arctica has been strung. Pagan's Mind is a Norwegian Progressive metal band, and after their impressive second album Celestrial entrance, I was looking forward to see how they would perform live. Well, they managed to do it pretty much perfectly. Opening with the brilliant "Through Osiris Eyes", the band played their powerful and technical music with ease, and seemed to enjoy themselves very much. Standing in the photopit looking at these guys play was an awesome experience. The two guitarists were impressive and Nils K. rue's fantastic voice held up, as well as it does on the record. Definitely one of the most well playing bands at the festival. They had a powerful loud sound, but there were still a few sound problems throughout the concert.
Pagan's Mind
After all these concerts the time was still just five in the afternoon, and the rain had started pouring down, so I went back to my tent and had a private part with some light beers, my discman and a dictaphone... I'm sure you don't want to hear the result... :)
The time was nearing 8PM and it was time for Queensr˙che. I had the biggest anticipation for this concert, and it was fulfilled almost completely. Aside from the songs they played from their two latest releases, the concert was just about perfect (aside from the obligatory sound problems of course, Geoff's mike went out and had to be changed in the middle of a song). The newer songs didn't have as much energy as the older ones.
Borg and I had some trouble finding the right entrance to the photopit, and we probably set a world record in the unofficial 800 meter inebriated photopit hurdle. We finally got it right as Queensr˙che went into their third song. A lot of fans had gathered, and they all went crazy through the whole show. After the photo pit experience I managed to get right in front of the stage, where we were singing along with every song. Highlights included all the Mindcrime songs (Especially Spreading the disease and The mission), Damaged, Jet city woman and Empire. Still it would have been great to have heard Chris DeGarmo on the guitar. This was probably the concert I enjoyed the most on the festival. In a big part it was because I had never seen Queensr˙che live before, and it was a huge experience to see such legends perform. They didn't let me down.
Queensr˙che
After another beer run to the tent, I was simply too tired to manage more than three Whitesnake songs. Even though they sounded excellent I ended up back at the tent for a little sleep.
Sunday
Sunday started out with Masterplan, who delivered the first highlight of the day. With killer songs like Spirit never dies, Enlighten me, Kind hearted light, Heroes, Sail on, Soulburn, Crystal night and When love comes close, I got what I came for. The band also threw in a Helloween medley which included songs like "The Chance" and "The departed (Sun is coming down)", which was the perfect icing on the cake. A brilliant show where Jorn Lande once again showed what a huge voice he has. The band seemed happy to be playing, and smiled through the whole show, and had alot of fun on stage.
It was right after Masterplan that I discovered the most excellent "Texas Kitchen" vendor, where they served draught beer at a cheap price. Hail to thee!
After Masterplan there was a little time to catch my breath before The Storyteller hit the Spendrups stage. I'd never heard their music before but they came highly recommended, so I had to see them. Today, I only remember that they were quite good. Mental note: Don't drink so many beers next time... Or, even better, make notes after each concert...
The Storyteller
Fairyland was another band I was looking forward to hearing. Having listened a little to their debut album, I was thinking how they would sound in a live situation. Well, what they may have lacked in huge choirs and other production value, they more than made up for with their energetic stage presence. This band was the most fun to look at at the entire festival. There was a look of sheer enjoyment on the face of bass player Willdric, through the whole show. Front woman Elisa's voice held up great live, and she had a lot of power in her strong voice. Keyboard player, Philippe did a great job with all the different arrangements. The one thing that tried to keep the magic from the concert were the constant sound problems. Many songs were plagued by a sudden noise, like something wasn't plugged together right. This became really annoying, but still the band kept up their good humor and just played on. Unfortunately I was very tired and just had to sit down and enjoy the music without getting up and jumping around. Still they convinced me to invest in their debut, Of Wars in Osyrhia.
Fairyland
Finally Blind Guardian took the stage around six. This was the fourth time I have seen them live and yet again they lived up to my expectations. Opening the show with Time stands still, the concert was a big joy ride through most of their albums. My personal highlights were I'm alive, Lord of the rings and The Last Candle. Other songs they played included Welcome to dying, And then there was silence, Valhalla, Mirror, mirror and of course the everlasting classic, The Bard's song: In the forest. This concert was like an appetizer for next weeks Blind Guardian Open Air.
Blind Guardian
Now, I had a real scheduling problem here, as Falconer stared playing at another stage 10 minutes before Blind Guardian ended their set. As I knew I was going to see Blind Guardian two times next week, I made the big mistake of leaving right in the middle of "And then there was silence" and headed for Spendrups stage, where Falconer were setting up. I was very upset when their singer left them earlier this year, and was hoping for a miracle, that unfortunately never happened. The new singer never ever reached the magnificence of his predecessor, Mathias Blad. This guy sounded more like your standard Power Metal singer, with a lot of high pitched singing and a few screams here and there. Not that he was a bad singer at all, but I had a definite feeling that something was very wrong during most of the concert, and he just didn't fit at all. His over the top stage presence, and the fact that he forgot the lyrics to a song didn't help much either ("Upon the grave of guilt" as far as I remember). To be fair, I could imagine that this was maybe one of his first live shows with Falconer, and I'm still hoping that some kind of miracle will improve things. Maybe he will sound different in the studio... Falconer played two new songs from the forthcoming album, and they sounded very promising. Overall though, I was very disappointed. Not much of the magic I witnessed at their Wacken concert in 2002 was there.
Falconer
Falconer
After this, I spent some time walking aimlessly around the festival area, buying the Fairyland album and a few other collectibles.
I did manage to catch a little of Uriah Heep and Anthrax, which both sounded great. Watching the last three songs of the Anthrax show convinced me that I've missed out on something huge by not getting into this band earlier. They really sounded excellent.
At last I went to get some pictures of the Twisted Sister concert. They were also plagued by sound problems during the first part of their set. Then the rain started pouring down, and after the first three songs I ended up at the Party beer tent, where I spent the rest of my Swedish money, and sang along with everybody else to the classics being played on the speakers.
Back at the camp I, and the only other survivor, spent the rest of the night partying and finally fell asleep an hour before we had to drive home. Ufff...
A big hail goes out to our driver and extra photographer Borg. I kept loosing things like my Visa card and dictaphone, and magically he kept on finding them all the time. Without you the trip wouldn't have been such an enjoyable one.
I have to say that my biggest regret of the festival was that I never managed to find the backstage bar... :) I actually never even got time to enter the backstage area to meet some of the bands. I was just so busy all the time. Mental note for next year: Try not to see so many bands... doh...
And finally a recommendation to the organisers: Do something about all the sound problems... Other than that the festival was very well organised.
This was my first time at Sweden Rock, and certainly not the last!
The RevelationZ crew at the end of the festival...
| You can click on all the pictures for a bigger version.
Burning Point
Squealer
Crystal Eyes
The enthusiastic crowd at Dragonforce
Dragonforce
Dragonforce
Dragonforce
Tad Morose
Angra
Angra
Angra
Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica
Pagan's Mind
Pagan's Mind
Pagan's Mind
Queensr˙che
Queensr˙che
Queensr˙che
Queensr˙che
Masterplan
Fairyland
Fairyland
Fairyland
Fairyland
Fairyland
Fairyland
Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian
Falconer
Falconer
All pictures taken by Steen | Written by Steen
Monday, June 16, 2003 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Andres (Anonymous) - Saturday, June 21, 2003 | Hey!!!!!!!!!! Where are WHITESNAKE AND TWISTED FUCKIN SISTER????????????????????
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| Comment by Steen (Staff) - Saturday, June 21, 2003 | 
View Profile
Comments: 518 | | Hey Andres!
They will be covered in the more Rock oriented report, which is coming soon. Michael is writing it at the moment and it should be online during next week.
Posted by Steen (Staff)
Saturday, June 21, 2003 |
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| Comment by Nico (Anonymous) - Sunday, June 22, 2003 | More Rock oriented ?!?!?
TS and WS and all the above listed bands are rock n roll !!!
Yeahh !
Rock On
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| Comment by Nicholaus (Anonymous) - Friday, July 11, 2003 | The stand-in drummer for Dragonforce was great, due of the time he had to learn the songs.. Check the band he's playing in at www.soulsource.tk (http://litsten.to/Soulsource)
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| Comment by mads (Anonymous) - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | no JETHRO TULL I'm shocked...
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| Comment by Ulrick (Anonymous) - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | It's a big mistake there's nothing about one of the inventors of progressive music!!
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| Comment by mads (Anonymous) - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | you are so right Ulrick, where is the brilliant band Jethro Tull... I wonder why they didn't go and see the masters of Progressive/folk/rock this band really licks ass...
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| Comment by mads (Anonymous) - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | Sorry meant to say KICK and not lick my mistake...
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| Comment by Morten (Anonymous) - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | ...who is Tull????
no seriously, they were on my list as well ;o)
I was wandering if any one caugth swedish pop prog-rockers A.C.T??
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| Comment by Marco (Anonymous) - Sunday, September 28, 2003 | Great! Great! Great!
`nuff said!
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| Comment by kyle (Anonymous) - Wednesday, November 19, 2003 | when do you next perform
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| Comment by jader trombelli (Anonymous) - Friday, April 30, 2004 | where is JETHRO TULL ? big mistake!
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| Comment by peepeepants (Anonymous) - Friday, November 5, 2004 | I dontlikeleatherpants. Only fags wear that stuff
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| Comment by akcan (Anonymous) - Thursday, November 11, 2004 | i love your very ful regards from turkey
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| Comment by Sam (Anonymous) - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 | FAIRYLAND!!!!!!!!!!
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| Comment by stefano (Anonymous) - Saturday, November 25, 2006 | i dragonforce sono sempre i migliori !!!!
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| Comment by Arides (Anonymous) - Tuesday, December 5, 2006 | Dragonforce is the bestĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦĦ
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| Comment by PHILIPPE (Anonymous) - Sunday, December 10, 2006 | YOUR GROUP IS VERY COOL/HEAVY MÉTAL
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| Comment by TBK RRRRRRR (Anonymous) - Sunday, December 10, 2006 | SA FAIT VRAIMENT CHIER
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| Comment by Jadis^^ (Anonymous) - Thursday, December 21, 2006 | ...and the swisted sisters!???????!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?
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| Comment by Natália Falaschi Jansen (Anonymous) - Monday, February 26, 2007 | Angraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Issssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
bestttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!
Edu the best!!!
Satan awaits!!!!!
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| Comment by lee - hungary (Anonymous) - Wednesday, February 28, 2007 | DRAGONFORCE.....well...inimitable,unbelivevable,(was)---- the best band!!!! HATS OFF GUYS HATS OFF
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