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Events and Reports - Sweden Rock Festival 2003 - Paul DiAnno & Killers, Ignition, Krokus and Motörhead
PAUL DIANNO & KILLERS
Sweden stage
Saturday 12.00
For my part the real start of Sweden Rock 2003 was Friday early noon, when Paul DiAnno & Killers entered the stage. As most are familiar with, Paul DiAnno was Iron Maiden's singer on their 2 first albums. Not surprisingly most songs featured in the setlist were from DiAnno's Maiden era.
The concert started out with the Maiden tune Prowler followed by the timeless classic, Wrathchild. Paul DiAnno seemed a bit oppressed with the early stage time. In every way this was the opposite of a club gig, because of the early stage time and also the sun was burning on stage making it impossible to feature any lightshow. As DiAnno expressed from the stage "It's too fuckin' early". However, DiAnno got better after the first couple of songs and seemed more comfortable as the concert progressed. A heavy wind was blowing, which was nice because otherwise it was too hot to watch an outdoor show. The downside was the sound, which sometimes disappeared with the wind.
The band was in fine form and the 2 guitarists re-produced the characteristic Iron Maiden sound real good. The bass player was the only one backing DiAnno's vocals, but the band sounded full and tight. It was obvious that the band was used to playing the old Maiden songs. They didn't make it a routine, but still had a sparkling energy when performing the songs.
Paul DiAnno's vocal were a bit darker than the Maiden days and on the non-Maiden songs his vocals were more brutal and growling. The "solo" material were not true to the Maiden style, but had a more Hard Core direction.
The songs that got the best reception from the audience were the Maiden songs. Songs like Remember tomorrow and especially Murders in the Rue Morque were received like a blessing from the crowd. The show ended with Phantom of the Opera and the classic Running Free.
All in all a great start of the festival, but the best was yet to come.
IGNITION
Spendrups stage
Saturday 17.50
Swedish upstarts Ignition must be one of the unluckiest bands, because 10 minutes before their stage time a heavy shower started off and continued for around 30 minutes. A shame, because Ignition was only scheduled to play 40 minutes. However, we got there as the rain calmed down and found a loyal fan base in front of the stage. When we arrived Ignition blasted out a solid version of the Thin Lizzy classic Don't Believe a Word. The lead singer sounded a little shrill and the band could use a little more stage experience. However, the band radiated the joy of playing and that was contagious on the audience. The 2 guitarists made a great twin guitar sound. The band got to play an encore even though they were overdue their time. The last track was the coolest and overall Ignition was a great surprise. The band played really good with their bass player as the driving force. Too bad that the weather conditions were against this band, so we plus a lot of others missed the first part of a great concert.
KROKUS
Rock Stage
Saturday 18.15
Missed the start of Krokus, because Ignition kept me on the Spendrups stage with their melodic Hard Rock. To my surprise there was huge crowd in front of the smaller of the 2 main stages. Krokus from Switzerland had only visited Scandinavia one time before and that was a show in Copenhagen, Denmark long time ago. However, the band was warmly welcomed in Sweden with the huge crowd rocking to Krokus's AC/DC like Hard Rock.
Singer Marc Storace still sounds like a blowtorch. He is clone of the 2 AC/DC lead singers Bon Scott paired with Brian Johnson. His voice was not rusty at all and sounded great live. Back in the days I owned a few Krokus albums and I got "The Blitz" for my 18-year-old birthday, so it was a bit nostalgic to finally experience Krokus on stage. Tokyo Nights was dedicated to some Japanese people, who were attending the festival.
Krokus were true professionals on the big stage and their 3 chord Rock was well received. Marc Storace appealed several times to the audience to participate and overall the band seemed to have a blast on stage. Beside Marc Storace original member and guitarist Fernando Von Arb was also in the Krokus 2003 line up.
After around 45 minutes I had enough. I enjoyed the show, but the concert was just like Krokus as a band, which is average. Krokus material is too ordinary and has never really attracted my taste.
However, a huge applause to Sweden Rock festival for bringing Krokus. I don't know of any other festivals in Scandinavia, who would risk booking such an old band, who never really was that huge here. Judging from the audience's reactions it was a great decision, since many grew up with the music of Krokus.
MOTÖRHEAD
Rock stage
Saturday 21.45
Judging from the T-shirts when walking around the festival area Motorhead was among the true headliners. Motorhead were also at Sweden Rock last year and with Mikkey Dee from Sweden banging the drums, they were almost on home ground.
Motorhead is Motorhead - you know what to expect and what you get. Motorhead has definitely defined their own style of kick ass Rock n Roll. If you're not a fan the style is rather primitive. The band played a few songs saluting their roots. Their cover of Sex Pistols "God Save the Queen" and a song for the punks "R.A.M.O.N.E.S" were played in raw versions with a distorted sound.
Guitarist Phil Campbell is brilliant and he has a personal magnetism as he rush around the stage. Lemmy was, as always, standing like a rock in front of the microphone. His vocals are characteristic, but he has never been a great singer. The newer songs from their latest album "Hammered" sounded a bit insignificant to me. Most of Motorhead's songs has a chorus line, which is repeated a few times (Ace of Spades for example), which leaves me hungering for some hooklines.
However, you have to credit Lemmy and Company for their contribution to Rock 'n' Roll. I was anxiously waiting for the grand finale, which started when they began playing the amazing Orgasmatron. The song was followed by "Motorhead going Chuck Berry style" with the sparkling Going to Brazil. Phil Campbell was really giving himself a 100 percent during the performance. My all time favorite, the dirty kick ass Killed By Death got the crowd on their toes with the brilliant chord structure.
No doubt that Motorhead are the real McCoys. However, when they play as many shows as they do I found the performance at Sweden Rock at bit uninspired. They were much better a few years back in Copenhagen on the Monsters of the Millennium Tour.
Overall Motorhead has lots of charisma, but knowing how good they can be on stage I found this a standard performance from Mikkey, Phil and Lemmy. As usual the show ended with Ace of Spades and Overkill.
Continue to Whitesnake...
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Paul DiAnno & Killers
Paul DiAnno & Killers
Paul DiAnno & Killers
Paul DiAnno & Killers
Krokus
Krokus
All pictures taken by Borg | Written by Michael
Sunday, June 29, 2003 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Ulrick (Anonymous) - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | Did'nt any of you see Jethro Tull?
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| Comment by Ulrick (Anonymous) - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | Did'nt any of you see Jethro Tull?
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| Comment by Ulrick (Anonymous) - Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | Did'nt any of you see Jethro Tull?
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| Comment by Chubs (Anonymous) - Thursday, January 18, 2007 | You guys suck Paul Di'Anno was better with Iron Maiden.
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| Comment by Chubs (Anonymous) - Thursday, January 18, 2007 | By the way Who the fuck is Ulrick, he put his comment three times, what a dumbass.
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| Comment by gus (Anonymous) - Saturday, March 31, 2007 | hurry the fuck up june!!!
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