Christmas is almost over and before you know it, we’ve rocketed ourselves into a brand new year, 2013. For many people it’s an absolute anti-climax to hit January. All the pre-Christmas activities and festivities, the decorations and the anticipation (or even just the stress) keeps people busy. Then in January – there’s not much to look forward to for many people, Everything kind of dies out for a few months.

I for one can’t wait for 2013 though, because there are already gigs planned, concert tickets bought, hotels booked, trips being planned…! And new tours being announced.

Yesterday Love/Hate announced a UK-tour in March/April. I certainly know what I’ll be doing in March/April then. It won’t be the same as in the 90’s, but the music is still great. I remember the first time I heard of Love/Hate, they were opening for Skid Row.

I liked their music, but honestly thought they were just another poser-band. There were tons of them back in those days. Nice to look at, sometimes they even had a decent song or two, but most of them were better at looking good than sounding good.

Then I did an interview with singer Jizzy Pearl in Copenhagen, and he totally blew me away. He was anything but some stupid rocker-idiot. His answers were well thought through, he was a very intelligent guy in many ways. I wish I knew where I had that interview, would have loved to listen to it again now.

That’s a whole other story, every interview I’ve ever done the past 20-something years, is on some old cassette here somewhere… But after I had used them for either an article or the radio, I just put them in a box somewhere, without as much as labelling the tape. Never thought I would need it again. You live and you learn. ;)

Then in May there’s the Whitesnake/Journey/Thunder tour that I’ll be attending (of COURSE!) and let’s not forget the summer festivals. Sweden Rock Festival – this year being visited by one of my absolute favorite live-acts Firewind among others. Or Graspop in Belgium, which unfortunately is a bit TOO good this year, as Iron Maiden and King Diamond will be playing right after eachother, on two different stages, so you have to choose which show you want to hang in the front row for… But then again, I’ll get to enjoy Iron Maiden – one of the best live bands in the world for sure – at the stadium in my home town Malmo.

And inbetween all those BIG BANDS, there will be all the smaller bands that I still love to see, that I admire for their passion. You really need to be passionate about what you’re doing when you’re in the music business nowadays, cause as we all know, people don’t get rich playing music anymore. Those who do, who sacrifice so much to play their music, definitely have that fire in them and I can relate to it as much as I respect and admire it.

The concert year of 2013 begins with a festival, mostly because a friend is part of the package and it’s nice to meet up with people you know. Might also go check out one of the dates of Visions of Atlantis in the spring. Their singer Maxi Nil guested Firewind at their anniversary shows in Greece recently, and she was also a cool chick to talk to, so I’m curious to hear more of their stuff. 

Basically, I’m excited to meet the new year. There’s already so much to look forward to and that’s the most important thing. So many people get depressed in Sweden in January and February because of the gloomy weather, the dark, and summer being so far away. But I think it’s all about a change of attitude. Why wait until summer to do something?! Start off your year right away – then keep the ball rolling!