A tour that’ll be like heaven on earth!

Things are really shaping up, slowly but surely – to exactly what I want life to be!

Steel Panther in Manchester, D.A.D in Gothenburg, interview with Sebastian Bach (again), the Gus G/Marty Friedman solo tour this spring, Rob Zombie and Megadeth later this summer, festivals….

Was really glad to hear that Jo (Nunez – drummer of Firewind) is going to be part of the Gus/Marty tour-package as well. What a kick-ass lineup.
And all of those guys are great, down to earth kind of people:
Mats Leven, Gus, Marty, Jo. And that’s just a bonus besides the fact that they are all just ridiculously good musicians!

This tour will be like heaven on earth for a music-geek like me. :)

And I’m never as happy as when I get a reason to pack my bags and go somewhere, anywhere. It’s that challenge, the adventure, the thrill, all the things that make me feel alive!

I’ve got my flights, trains, buses and hotels all sorted out for a few shows. I’ll devote next week to sorting out the Germany and BeNeLux-dates, as the logistics aren’t as simple and logical as they have been in the past. The distances are longer this time and not in “the right order”. So, I’ve got to figure out how to do it, as smoothly as possible and as cheap as possible. THAT is what I love doing. :)

The kicks I get from travelling like this, are almost on the same level as music itself. I’ll even put up with people who don’t get it and think that this whole thing is about “stalking”. That’s not what this is. I just choose to live my life this way instead of spending my money on expensive things. I want experiences and memories for life!

I started travelling for rock’n’roll in the early 90’s. The first band I started seeing “everywhere” was Skid Row. Then it was Judas Priest, and then just whatever I felt like seeing, cause there was a LOT to choose from in the late 80’s, early 90’s!

The first time I was really welcomed as a part of the “family” was with Jon Oliva’s Pain (Oliva, ex-Savatage). Went on a few tours and gigs of Europe with them, had a great time. Those are memories for life, I’ll never forget those days.
That’s something that’s on my “things-to-do-before-I-die”-list. Get on another tour, have my own bunk and just be out there for however long the tour lasts. I’ve honestly never felt more at home or more content anywhere else in my life.

I had no idea I would end up going to that many Gus G/Firewind-shows, but I found myself enjoying it so much that I just kept vagabonding from country to country, city to city, from small clubs to festivals… And now I don’t even think anymore, I just do it, because it’s a BLAST! :)
Life is way too short to deny yourself things that make you happy. :)

According to my calculations, I will have seen Gus shred his ass off live on stage no less than 50 times by the time I get to MUNICH on this tour. That will be gig number 50 in… 3 years. Call it crazy but let me tell you – I can’t think of a whole lot that would have been more worth the time or the effort. :D

And it’s always been something different. The Ozzy shows are nowhere near the same thing as Firewind. Not even Firewind has always been the same. During these 3 years I’ve already seen the band with 3 different singers: Apollo, Mats Leven and Kelly Sundown Carpenter. NOW it’s going to be yet another situation which I’m so curious to see! All I know is that it’s going to kick ass. Bring it on! :D

[Firewind with APOLLO]

[Firewind with MATS LEVÉN]
[Firewind with KELLY SUNDOWN CARPENTER]

The madness so far – and future insanity!

DATE ARTIST VENUE CITY COUNTRY
December 1, 2010 OZZY Madison Square Garden New York City USA
January 7, 2011 Firewind Relentless Garage London UK
June 11, 2011 OZZY Sweden Rock Festival Solvesborg Sweden
June 15, 2011 OZZY Olympiahalle Munich Germany
June 17, 2011 OZZY Rockhal Esch-sur-Alzette Luxembourg
June 25, 2011 Firewind Graspop festival Dessel Belgium
July 6, 2011 Firewind Kaftanzoglio stadium / Stop That Sound 2310 festival Thessaloniki Greece
July 8, 2011 Firewind Sonisphere festival Knebworth UK
August 9, 2011 OZZY Ergo Arena Gdansk Poland
August 11, 2011 OZZY Smukfest festival Skandeborg Denmark
September 10, 2011 Firewind Moho Live Manchester UK
September 11, 2011 Firewind Cathouse Glasgow Scotland
September 12, 2011 Firewind Sub 89 Reading UK
September 16, 2011 Firewind Rock Temple Kerkrade NL
September 17, 2011 Firewind Biebob Vosselaar Belgium
September 18, 2011 Firewind Underground Köln (Cologne) Germany
October 9, 2011 Firewind State Theatre S:t Petersburg Florida / USA
October 10, 2011 Firewind Masquerade Atlanta USA
October 12, 2011 Firewind Gramercy Theatre New York City New York / USA
January 14, 2012 Firewind Fuzz Club Athens Greece
June 2, 2012 OZZY Malmö Stadium Malmö Sweden
June 4, 2012 OZZY Westfalenhalle Dortmund Germany
June 22, 2012 OZZY Graspop Festival Dessel Belgium
July 18, 2012 Firewind Mylos Thessaloniki Greece
September 14, 2012 Firewind Moho Manchester UK
September 15, 2012 Firewind Button Factory Dublin Ireland
September 28, 2012 Firewind Knust Hamburg Germany
September 29, 2012 Firewind Godset Kolding Denmark
October 4, 2012 Firewind Underground Cologne Germany
October 5, 2012 Firewind Hedon Zwolle Netherlands
October 6, 2012 Firewind Biebob Vosselaar Belgium
December 15, 2012 Firewind 8Ball Club Thessaloniki Greece
December 16, 2012 Firewind 8Ball Club Thessaloniki Greece
January 3, 2013 Firewind Masquerade Atlanta Georgia, USA
January 6, 2013 Firewind The Gramercy Theatre New York City New York, USA
April 27, 2013 Firewind Rock In Den Ruinen (outdoor festival) Dortmund Germany
June 7, 2013 Firewind Sweden Rock Festival Solvesborg/Norje Boke Sweden
October 31, 2013 Firewind Manning Bar Sydney Australia
November 1, 2013 Firewind The Hi-Fi Brisbane Australia
November 2, 2013 Firewind Fowlers Live Adelaide Australia
November 3, 2013 Firewind Corner Hotel Melbourne Australia
  RELATED GIGS 2013
January 5, 2013 Nightrage (Jo Nunez) Trädgårn/Gothenburg Sound Festival Gothenburg Sweden
April 15, 2013 Spiritual Beggars (Apollo) The Logo Hamburg Germany
September 22, 2013 Craze (Apollo) Kajskjulet Halmstad Sweden
October 12, 2013 Spiritual Beggars (Apollo) 8Ball Club Thessaloniki Greece
October 26, 2013 Gus G Rockmässan / Swedish Metal Convention Malmö Sweden
2014 Gus G (solo) Block 33 Thessaloniki Greece
May 1, 2014 Gus G (solo) Klubi Tampere Finland
May 2, 2014 Gus G (solo) Nosturi Helsinki Finland
May 3, 2014 Gus G (solo) Stockholm Rocks Festival Stockholm Sweden
May 5, 2014 Gus G (solo) Trädgårn Gothenburg Sweden
May 7, 2014 Gus G (solo) KB Malmö Sweden
May 12, 2014 Gus G (solo) Backstage Munich Germany
May 21, 2014 Gus G (solo) O2 Islington Academy London UK

More to come. :)

Royal Hunt – I was in for a surprise

I finally dragged my ass off to Copenhagen to see Royal Hunt last night. There were a few question marks there for a while, but I’m glad I went.

I was offered an interview with the band in Helsingborg, Sweden (about an hour from Malmo, where I live) and figured it could be interesting. My motivation was mainly that I liked the Cornerstone-albums, the melodies were right up my alley and I thought the drums in particular left an impression. I’ve always loved great drummers and there was one of those, for sure.

[Allan Sorensen of Royal Hunt:]

So, it was all settled, I was going to drive up to Helsingborg, do the interview and see the show. However, there was a change of plans – in the last minute. As it was the first show of the tour, there was no time for an interview (thank god I didn’t drive all the way up there to find out when I got there…).

With the interview being cancelled, I decided that I would ditch the gig too, so I made other plans.

But I had a gut-feeling that I might be missing out on something. I always get a kick from hearing top-notch musicians live (which is the ultimate test for any band – if you can impress a crowd LIVE, you are truly worth the admiration!)

Friends kept telling me that I would like Royal Hunt, that I should go see them. And when I was offered a ticket by a friend, I thought, ahhh, fuck it – let’s do this!

“Dr AOR” asked for a ride to Copenhagen as well, so the three of us headed for Amager Bio and the Cloudscape/Royal Hunt show.

To be perfectly honest, the opening act Cloudscape is a highly competent band, but not quite my cup of tea. You can’t like everything, it’s not their fault. :)

Somewhere around nine it was time for the headliners of the evening to hit the stage – Royal Hunt.

I had no expectations at all, the only thing I knew was that there would be excellent drumming and that it was a progressive/symphonic/melodic type of band. That’s about it.

But HOLY mother…! Somebody had casually mentioned that D.C Cooper was a “good singer”. That was the understatement of the year!

WHAT a set of PIPES…! I was absolutely blown away. He made it look so effortless, but it was far from it. I kept listening, wondering where his limit was. Where would his vocal chords give in, where would he lose his breath, when would he lose control of his abdominal support? He didn’t. Except for one or two minor “imperfections” he was absolutely unbelievable. ‘Scuse me while I pick my jaw off the floor…

You don’t get to hear that kind of vocals live nowadays. I remember Rob Rock kicking ass at ProgPower Atlanta back in 2008 (another one of those artists who I knew very little of beforehand, who just left me thinking “what was THAT?!” when he left the stage.

Kelly Sundown Carpenter, Firewind’s touring singer last year, did that at the Australian shows as well, I had to ask him how he did it – he could hold a note with unsupressed power – for what seemed like forever…! Another one of those unreal singers.

I liked the Royal Hunt show so much, in fact, that I’m going to willingly turn myself into a dangerous CRIMINAL just to show you what I mean. ;P

A little bird whispered in my ear that the band’s label/management or other “business relation” just might, perhaps, possibly, MAYBE have a problem with the band being promoted on YouTube.

Don’t even get me started on that topic… It’s 2014 and somebody is under the impression that being on YouTube is a bad thing? I can only speak for myself, but my reaction when a band is NOT on YouTube, is that they’re probably not popular enough, since nobody bothered to go through the trouble to upload videos with them. That’s not good PR that gets people to  the shows (or buy the merch).

But hey, I’m not the one who’s stuck in the 80’s perception of how the music industry and today’s social media works. :)
Not that I know for sure if the band’s label actually does have a problem with it, but just thinking out loud.

Nuff said. Here’s the evidence of my shameful, criminal deed…! Just because I want you to enjoy it just as much as I did.
(they’re coming to take me away hee-hee, haa-haa- hoo-hoo, they’re coming to take me awaaay!)

[Just listen to THAT! Crystal clear and mighty powerful!]

And then there was the beast behind the drums, Allan Sorensen, a pure joy to listen to as well. Jesus, that guy sounds like he’s playing with a sledgehammer, not a pair of sticks!

Kinda sounds like this:

Ah what the hell – why not another clip from the Amager-show, just because…!

This was the time I saw these guys but hopefully not the last!

Helsingborg was the beginning of this quite extensive tour, so if you’ve got a chance to see them, go check them out:

webdates1.jpg

“I outdid myself this time”

I Am The Fire

Gus G solo album I Am The Fire

Spoke to the guitar maestro, Gus G the other day. I love his solo-album (official release date March 17) and there was a lot that I wanted to know about the birth of I Am The Fire.

The actual interview will be published in a few weeks, but this was one of the best quotes from it. And believe me, he’s telling it like it is. :) He’s way out of his usual comfort zone in every aspect with this album- and it kicks ass. If you’re into traditional hard rock/metal with a modern sound, this is something for you.

Interview, review and all that will be up here in due time!

Gus: It was a fun record to do, in general. I composed 95 percent of the stuff when I was doing my demos. So basically, when I went into the studio  I just replayed everything through a proper amp.

But if we’re talking about CHALLENGING, I think the instrumentals were very challenging for me. I kinda outdid myself this time. I pushed myself to play harder, more difficult stuff. I even had to practice all this stuff when I went into the studio to be able to play it!

And when I had to learn these songs NOW I was fuckin scared shitless! How the fuck am I gonna do this live?!

Then I started practicing those songs standing still – just standing still. Cause it’s easy to play when you’re sitting down, but when I stood up and tried to play those songs, it sounded like a fuckin’ five-year old kid who had grabbed the guitar for the first time! Hahaha! Oh my god, I’m horrible! I gotta get it together!

Those are pretty technical, those two instrumentals. They have definitely pushed the boundries for me as a player. I mean, NOW I can play that stuff very easily, but that’s just because I practiced a lot. I liked that.

Are you gonna avoid playing those songs live?

Nooo! Hell no! We’re gonna be playing those! I look forward to playing it because now I can do it! I’m gonna start playing them even harder because now I’ve already mastered them, I’ve got it all down so now I can take it to the next level.

I mean, you know how Firewind sounds, those two songs are probably closer to Firewind and what Firewind sounds like. When I wrote those I thought, I’m probably gonna save those for the band later on. But then I thought… What the fuck, it’s a solo album and I should be allowed to have whatever the hell I want on it. If I want a fucking country song on it, I should be able to!
(to be continued….)

[First video, with Mats Leven]

No, I never “grew out of it”….

Dozed off on the train on my way home, and when I woke up, just a few minutes before my station, the girl next to me smiled and said:

– I remember you from junior high!

I looked at her and I could have sworn I’d never seen her before. But I generally suck at remembering faces, which gets me in trouble as people probably think I’m a stuck up bitch for not remembering them…

She turned to my colleague, pointed at me and said:

– She was the only girl in the entire school, who was into heavy metal. 

Well, okay then. Apparently she DID know me. :D

– So… I guess you’ve grown out of it now, huh…? she said and smiled.

Grew out of it? Of what? Being a metalhead? Are you kidding?

Hell, NO.

– No way, I’m still a rock chick, always were, always will be. Well it was nice to see you! I said, still not knowing who she was.
She said she used to be in a grade above us. Okay, that makes it even better. Back in those days you definitely didn’t socialize with anyone YOUNGER, that was very uncool. So, I must have left quite an impression if even one of the “older chicks” noticed and remembers me – from 1983!

My mind just wandered off to those days, when I started my walk home. 1983. Junior high.
I don’t remember much from that time really, other than being intensely crazy about heavy metal.

I was still a kid, trying to find my identity – which was especially hard being the only girl in school who was into metal. I had no one to share that with and I didn’t really belong anywhere.
I used to hang with the guys, which of course the other teenage girls in my class didn’t do, unless they wanted a boyfriend. So, I guess I was just…different. :)

There were very few female role-models for me. I remember getting into Rock Goddess but they were pretty much like guys… Same thing with Girlschool, guys with tits.

Then Lita Ford came along and that changed my whole world. She became my “guiding light” through the jungle of metal where girls simply didn’t belong back in those days. She was a tough woman, but still a woman. Not a dude-chick.

I was so in love with the whole heavy metal scene that I couldn’t focus on ANYTHING else. It was ALL about hard rock/heavy metal.
I would go and buy those cheap LP’s with cut-outs from Spain, cause I couldn’t afford anything else. I remember buying Scorpions “Blackout” and it had all the titles translated! Hang on, I’ve still got all that shit here…. Yeah, this is what it looked like:

Scorpions

I would sit and carve the names and logos of the bands I liked, on my school desk with a sharp pencil – leaving permanent traces of where I’d been. I guess you could call it an obsession, cause it really was.
My backpack was decorated with the same thing – the Judas Priest logo and a bunch of Van Halen and Def Leppard-buttons and patches.

I read everything I could get my hands on, any metal magazine – which of course would be from the UK or the US cause we didn’t have anything like that in Sweden. Until the music mag OKEJ came along.

I used to hang outside the newsstand every Wednesday morning when a new issue of OKEJ would come out, right before going to woodwork class. Then of course, I couldn’t concentrate on anything else all day, I would read that freaking thing, cover to cover, not missing a WORD! :)

And it had all these cool posters too. This was my first Judas Priest-poster, that was from OKEJ. ME – I looked dorky as hell, but the whole world of rock’n’roll was all still new to me. Before I “converted” to metal, I had been a BEATLES-fan…! Quite a transition to say the least.

23feb1984B1

My parents worried. This was not supposed to happen, they wanted big things for me, I was supposed to go to university and make something of myself. Not listen to that….noise.

Dad used to say that music wouldn’t “put food on the table” and I needed to focus on the IMPORTANT things in life. Well… When I got my first job writing about metal 5 years later, he couldn’t really use that as a motivational speech anymore. ;)

dio

Eventually my parents accepted that this was my call in life. I loved the music, it was very important to me and I incorporated it into my life with a passion.

[14 years old, just started decorating my walls with ugly longhaired men dressed in black leather!]

23feb1984A1

And no – I never “grew out of it”!

I told the girl on the train, that there is nothing to “grow out” of – because metal is the ULTIMATE music in my book. There is no higher level.
Many are always going to think that classical music is fancier but when it comes to complexity, you will find a lot of those influences in metal as well, only modernized and better suited for electric guitars and amps.

She looked surprised but I walked away with a sense of pride. Yeah, I have to say that I actually felt proud to be remembered by someone, 31 years later, for being the only female rocker in junior high – and STILL BE that girl! :)

I don’t know what my life would have looked like if I hadn’t fallen in love with metal, but I’m so glad that I never had to find out, because I’ve really lived a life I could never have dreamed of when I was a kid- and I owe it all to rock’n’roll.

It’s the love of my life and will be in my heart & soul till the day I die. :)

Finally 2014 starts looking good!

When the clock striked midnight on New Year’s Eve and we entered 2014, I was in Nashville with a bad cold… And what’s more, I only had one flight ticket for ONE gig in 2014 (Steel Panther in Manchester in March).

THAT hasn’t happened since… well, 2006 I think. I’ve simply made concert travel my thing. But no interesting tours have been announced until now. But, things are beginning to shake, rattle and roll!

Gus G has just announced that there will be a Greek solo-tour in March with Mats Leven, Jorn Lande and Uli Jon Roth – and suddenly 2014 is looking a whole lot better! Unless, of course, it happens to coincide with the Steel Panther weekend in the UK! :-/

I’m all out of vacation days too until May, so every gig-trip I do the coming few months (February, March and April) has got to be on weekends or during the Easter holidays (any day that I have time off anyway). That is a weird feeling. I’ve gotten so used to being out all year round, going to different places that it’s strange knowing that maybe I won’t be able to until May…!

We’ll see what happens. I just need to have stuff to look forward to or I start getting restless. :P

On a more local level, I’ll be going to the Royal Hunt-gig in Helsingborg next month. The main reason being that these are basically the same guys behind CORNERSTONE (with Doogie White on vocals) which I love. Most of all because of the DRUMS on those albums.

The Cornerstone-albums are so well mixed and mastered, everything is done with absolute perfection – it’s just so elegant and so well made.

And the drummer, Allan Sorensen, is without a doubt one of my favorite drummers. He’s the only drummer that made me listen through four albums focused on the DRUMS as if it was a lead instrument (usually it’s the vocals or guitars).

I just automatically sorted out the drums when I listened to that stuff, because I think that his playing is  interesting and colorful – he’s steady as a rock, powerful like the “Thing” and I enjoy all those little details, he just has a cool, playful style. Kind of the same stuff that makes me love Paul Gilbert. Technical skills – but still has the ability to present those skills without putting people to sleep! It’s the subtle touch of fun that does the trick!

Pure Power!

So, although I haven’t listened as much to Royal Hunt as I have listened to Cornerstone, I’m looking forward to a pleasant surprise. :)

There’s not much Cornerstone-stuff on Youtube, which is really annoying. Some of what was once up there is gone. But if you like Gotthard and Rainbow (Joe Lynn Turner-era style) then you will most likely like Cornerstone.

cornerstone

DISCOGRAPHY: 

Arrival – 2000

Upon Our Yesterdays – 2003

In Concert (2 CD) – 2005 [recommended!]

Human Stain – 2006  [recommended!]

Two Tales of One Tomorrow – 2007