Sweden Rock Festival Review: Day 4

Photo credit: Kim NordlundSuddenly the last day of Sweden Rock Festival arrived (last Saturday). So far it had been great and since Mötley Crüe were suppose to close the fest, I was of course very excited. Also the sun stopped by Sölvesborg and the weather was great. During the day there were some good bands playing as well, like Girlschool, Electric Boys and Crucified Barbara, but just as the days before it was mainly about the last gig. At least for me.

When Lynyrd Skynyrd finished playing at the main stage it was two and a half hours left to the Mötley show, which for me meant it was time to start crowding. I got a spot by the fence right in front of Mick Mars' side of the stage and then there was waiting, although everyone was in a good mood and time actually went by quite fast. Before we knew it, it was time and Mötley got on stage and kicked it off with ”Wild Side.”

As always with Mötley Crüe, you get a great show. I’ve seen them three times before, last time in London in December with Def Leppard and Steel Panther, so I know what to expect. Funny thing about them is that after every show I’ve seen, I’ve been telling myself nothing can beat that – but they prove me wrong every time. Especially the two last times I’ve seen them. This time it didn’t even matter that it was pretty much the same show that I saw six months ago: it’s still Mötley bringing it and they’re great. Maybe it’s hard for me to be objective since it’s my favorite band, but still. Also I think they were a bit more on fire this time than in London.

Lot of reviews afterward dhon’t agree with me. Other writers are calling Crüe lazy, nonchalant and saying the band’s "all about business." And yes, Vince Neil isn’t a great singer anymore. He is not able to sing everything as he used to and takes a lot of help from the audience. But the high notes are still there. And yes, the setlist is a bit too predictable. It would be fun if they could mix it up, but at the same time they play the songs most people want to hear. I know I wouldn’t appreciate if they didn’t play ”Kickstart My Heart” next time I go see them, even if I’ve heard the song live four times before. To call them lazy and nonchalant because of that? Well, I don’t agree.

The show kept on going, the crowd was going crazy (at least where I was standing) and of course one of the peaks was Tommy Lee's drum solo. Doesn’t matter if you’ve seen it before, it’s so cool. This time a girl named Veronica got the chance to join him and I couldn’t be more jealous. Maybe that should be my new goal in life, to get a ride with Tommy in the Drum Coaster. Although I don’t get why he’s playing to that kind of music, some electro style, but I guess that’s his new thing?

Since Too Fast For Love is my favorite album, I was very happy when they suddenly played ”Piece Of Your Action.” Never heard that one live before and that was probably the highlight for me. As I said, the setlist could use some imagination. Which songs would you want to hear live?

Mötley Crüe setlist:

Wild Side

Live Wire

Too Fast For Love

Saints Of Los Angeles

Shout At The Devil

Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)

Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)

Looks That Kill

Piece Of Your Action

Primal Scream

Smokin’ In The Boys Room

Drum Solo

Dr. Feelgood

Girls, Girls, Girls

Home Sweet Home

Kickstart My Heart

Photo credit: Kim NordlundSo, to sum it all up, this year’s fest was really great! Since I’m a huge fan of Glam, obviously, this year’s Sweden Rock suited me perfectly. Hopefully they will have just as many Glam and sleaze band next year as well. The promoters need to add Crashdïet and Hardcore Superstar to the lineup. It feels weird being at a rock fest in Sweden without those guys. And yes, I was right when I said the best gig was played the second day. Doesn’t matter how big of a Crüe fan I am, the highlight of the festival was without doubt Sebastian Bach. I’m still laughing when I’m thinking about him singing ”Quack ack ack” and nobody understood what he was doing until after a while. Or when Dee Snider joined him on stage and the band just started to play ”We’re Not Gonna Take It” as an intro, but they ended up playing the whole song with both Bach and Dee on vocals. And then of course the finish with ”Youth Gone Wild,” one of my absolute favorite songs. Amazing!

Alice Cooper Covers 'Born This Way'

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Here We Go: First Videos of Rising West Live

Rising West is the new band made up of Queensryche members... sans Geoff Tate. The singer is Todd La Torre. The band performed live for the first time a couple days ago. Basically, I am so stoked and I must see this band live. Here are some clips for your enjoyment. You have to admit... this rules.

Sweden Rock Festival Review: Day 3

After the great second day of Sweden Rock Festival, day three had some expectations to live up to. Especially Twisted Sister, after Dee Snider's great performance with Sebastian Bach the night before. And the day for me was mainly about Twisted Sister as well. Yes, it was fun seeing Ugly Kid Joe and yes, Motörhead played a really awesome show, but it was Twisted Sister I was waiting for. And they made the wait worthwhile.

Twisted Sister had the final show of the day at the main stage. The weather wasn’t that great yesterday, but when it was time for Twisted Sister the rain had stopped. And if anyone was cold, it was about to change. Although it started out pretty slow. After a really long intro song, the band hit the stage. They played a few songs and then there was a bit of confusion. Dee was about to present the next song, and it sounded like this: ”We went back to 'Under The Blade...' No, we went ahead... No? (Crowd laughing) F--k, it’s only our second show, give me a break! Now I remember, we’ve never done this one live before!” And then they kicked of ”Wake Up The Sleeping Giant.” Not my favorite, but it was nice hearing the crowd sing a long. After that they really got the show started with ”I Believe In Rock n' Roll” followed by ”You Can’t Stop Rock n' Roll.” The crowd got going and it went on from there. All of the hits everyone wanted to hear, and a lot of love from Twisted Sister to Sweden. Great, great show!

Very short report from yesterday as there are too many great bands playing today so it’s hard being stuck by the computer. Tonight is Mötley Crue and I can’t wait to tell you all about it tomorrow!

Sweden Rock Festival Review: Day 2

NOW we're talking! If day one of the Sweden Rock Festival was the lazy warm-up, day two really got the festival started. As always, there’s a problem with finding the time to see everything, so for me it was mainly about Steel Panther and Sebastian Bach.

First out was the press conference with Steel Panther. All of you who have ever seen an interview with Steel Panther know that it’s something beyond the ordinary. Yesterday was no exception. I honestly think they got two or maybe three questions, but somehow they managed to fill half an hour anyway. Among other things they said was that they are working on a new album, gave samples of new songs like ”It’s about pussy… so that’ll be something new for us,” burst into spontaneous singing of "Holy Diver" and got all the journalists to follow and so on. In other words, classic Panther.

Then there was time for their gig. And as always, it was good. I’ve seen them two times before, so I know what to expect out of a Steel Panther show. Although, yesterday wasn’t as good as I know they can be. It wasn’t the same atmosphere that it usually is. They seamed a bit… tired? On the other hand, it feels unfair to say that Steel Panther are "tired," because even when they are, they provide far more energy than most bands do. They’re running around, jumping, dancing, giving funny talks in between songs and all of that. I can’t really put my finger on the difference from yesterday between other shows, but there was something. At the same time, I got to hear my favourite song ”Girl From Oklahoma” live for the first time, and that pretty much made the show for me.

Sebastian Bach also had a press conference yesterday, and his guitarist Nick Sterling was with him. It’s funny seeing the two of them together. You may think that they should have sort of a father-son relationship since Nick is even younger than Sebastian’s son, but that’s not the case. Instead, Sebastian comes across as the child, with his loud voice and his naive exclamations: ”Yeah! Wow! Cool!” At the same time, Nick is sitting next to him, pretty silent and modest. I can’t really figure it out.

Anyway, later on it was time for Sebastian Bach to play. My expectations were set high, since I’ve never seen him before and I absolutely love Skid Row. And what a gig it was! Both Sebastian and the band were really giving it all (pardon the cliché) and also that little extra to really make it a great show. For example, Sebastian had learned a Swedish song called ”Small frogs.” It’s a song that we sing here in Sweden during a feast called Midsummer, and everyone knows the lyrics -- apparently even Sebastian Bach! So funny seeing the audience getting very confused before we figured out what was going on and everyone started singing along. ”Quack ack ack, quack ack ack, quack ack ack ack ah!” It really felt like they cared about being here, ”American Metalhead” was suddenly ”Sweden Metalhead” and so on.

Also, before the show started, we got an quick sight of Dee Snider sneaking around in the background of the stage. Could we hope for him as a guest? When the show was almost over and the hope was nearly gone, there was time to introduce ”A very special guest” and there they were: Sebastian Bach and Dee Snider on the same stage, performing ”Youth Gone Wild” as the last number. Do I even need to tell you it was a-w-e-s-o-m-e? Not only did it sound great, they had so much fun and the crowd of course went crazy. Bach also rounded up with climbing the rig, just to show he still is ”youth gone wild.” And yes, it looked a bit strained on the way down, but it was totally worth it.

So, day two fulfilled all my expectations and a bit more. Even though there’s two days and a lot of gigs left, including Mötley Crüe tomorrow and I am a die hard Crüe fan, I think it’s possible that I’ve already seen the best show during this fest: that’s how good Bach was!

Nickelback In Houston -- Live Review

At the tail end of my U.S. trip, I flew in to Houston to see Nickelback. I bought a VIP ticket, which meant early entry, so I could get to the barrier. When I posted on my Facebook about going to Rock on the Range, lots of people were positive. When I mentioned Nickelback, they said "Who are you, and what did you do with Christian?"  More on this later.

The opening band was My Darkest Days and they were pretty good. Second up was Skillet, perhaps the second worst live band I have seen (after Down).  Bush were OK, although I did not know their songs. 

Finally, it was time for Nickelback. Their stage show is immense. They have tons of pyro, moving walkways on the sides of the stage, and a big round stage that they go up in over the crowd for four songs, which rotates. They played for 90 minutes and although I have all their CDs, I was still surprised at how many songs I knew. Although I've been to a lot of shows, I can't think of one that had as many flames, screens, and other effects. I'm sure their detractors would say this is to hide the lack of substance, but I'd say it's in keeping with who they are, which is a really good arena rock band.

I was trying to work out why it is that people hate them so much. When challenged, a lot of the people on my Facebook page admitted they have never even heard them. In the show, some guy was even abusing singer Chad Kroeger from the seats. Why even go to a show you hate? Looking around me, I saw a lot more girls than I would expect to see near the barrier of a show. And then I realised:  Nickelback are the Poison of their age! They play good, fun arena rock. They are good at what they do.  They are very entertaining and certainly slick. Girls like them. Therefore, the guys hate them without even listening in. But, there's a twist. Poison continued to do well on summer tours until Bret Michaels  decided to run their integrity in to the ground with Rock of Love. I wonder if this bodes well for the future of Nickelback? Certainly, I would see them again in a heartbeat. They put on a great, fun show, and I had a great evening with them. And yes, I got right to the very front.

Sweden Rock Festival Review: Day 1

Special BBG! correspondent Kim Nordlund is a Sweden native and journalism student. Kim is a reader of BBG! and asked if she could cover the Sweden Rock Festival for us. Of course I said yes! Over the next few days, she'll provide her dispatches from all the fun. -- Allyson

The first day of the Sweden Rock Festival is done. Spontaneous feeling? Disappointment. At least when we’re talking music. Even if there were a few Glam bands, they didn’t impress. Both H.E.A.T. and Dynazty played yesterday. They’re both bands who have competed in the Swedish selection to "Eurovision Song Contest." Not that rock n’ roll. And even if I have a thing for H.E.A.T.’s new frontman, the Swedish Idol winner from 2009, Erik Grönwall, the music isn’t good enough. The sound during the show was bad as well. Not the band's fault, but it didn’t help.

Compared with last year’s first day, yesterday wasn’t great. Last year both Crashdïet and Hardcore Superstar played, and the Hardcore Superstar show was one of the greatest shows during the whole festival. Neither H.E.A.T. or Dynazty could compete with that. I missed the very short set from Pompei Nights, but I doubt they could have saved the whole day.

Instead, my expectations on day two are HUGE! Favorites like Steel Panther and Sebastian Bach are playing, and they’re both having press conferences as well. Seeing a Steel Panther press conference has been a dream since I first saw an interview with them, so I’m really excited. You’ll hear all about it tomorrow!