Bags are packed – off to New York tomorrow. Well… only to continue right on to Atlanta and then back to NYC again.
Time for two more Firewind shows, and if I’m not too jetlagged, maybe I’ll catch metal queen Doro in NYC as well. :-)
As usual, not sure when or if I’ll get to an internet connection while over there but check here or Facebook (www.facebook.com/intherearviewmirror) for updates. :)
It almost feels like it was only a few months ago – but here are the Atlanta and New York City gigs from 2011 – same venues this time. Only difference is that there will be a different singer. I have NO idea what to expect.
[Hoping to catch new frontman Kelly Carpenter Sundown for an interview in NYC]
Not too long ago I was in THIS crowd (jetlagged as f***….). The Masquerade, Atlanta:
And then, a few days later, just like this year, The Gramercy Theater in NYC:
Love these guys! :-)
And…maybe also Doro if I can keep my eyes open after sleeping in a car after the Atlanta gig. Here she is from KB, Malmö, Sweden:
Well, time to get some sleep. Can’t wait to get to the States, that’s like home….
THIS…. Is one of those memories that sticks in your mind forever. Might have forgotten some details over the years, bits and pieces that kind of came back to me as I was listening to this whole interview, but basically, I still remember what it looked like, what I was thinking and feeling, the whole atmosphere.
It was a HUGE thing for a 20-year old. My god, I was brand new at this. I had been working for the paper for about 5 months and I was a dedicated metalhead. Just IMAGINE being sent off to meet Ozzy – the one and only. I thought I was going to die…! :))
Anyway, there will be more from this interview. I just found an audio software that helps me restore and fix the bad sound of these really old cassette interviews. I mean, this thing has been kicking around drawers and boxes and whatnot, for 24 years!!!!!!!!
Can’t believe it’s been that long!
Anyway, the coming weekend I’ll be fixing the audio for the whole, full interview. So… check the Facebook-page for updates. :)
I just picked out THIS part, because Ozzy’s talking about BLACK SABBATH – and how he will “NEVER” go back, because “it’s a dead horse”…. Hmmm! :-))
Yesterday’s H.E.A.T-show heated up maybe a bit more than anyone expected….
Friday night and a few good bands in town, seemed like a perfect combo. Went there with my friends Mari and Henrik and things were cool most of the evening (it was extremely “cool” outdoors too, with degrees below zero, Celsius…).
I met the three ladies that I had gotten to know at some of the Whitesnake-gigs last year – the rockin’ teachers! Was nice to see them, definitely dedicated music fans. Pontus from Rockmässan (The Swedish Metal Convention) came over, talked with him a bit but when the first band, The Gloria Story, went onstage it was impossible to have a conversation.
Never seen the Gloria Story guys before, just heard that they’re supposed to be good. They weren’t bad, but I guess I’ll have to hear them a few more times – they had all the poses you could possibly imagine at least. It was like a quick tutorial of the many stage-poses of the 80’s. :-P
They were followed by hometown heroes Crazy Lixx. It dawned on me how much they’ve grown as a band over the years. First time I ever heard of these guys was what feels like ages ago – maybe ten years or so when I received one of their demos to review for Sweden Rock Magazine. It was good even back then. Maybe like with most demos, there’s always stuff that can be worked on, but basically they were good.
They went out of their way to play EVERYWHERE, an extremely hard working band – they wouldn’t even say no to a gig at the local pizza-place, anything that could fit in a small PA would work. So, their name spread like wildfire. They were good at marketing themselves, because even if people hadn’t actually heard the band, you could be sure that everybody had at least seen their logo somewhere or their t-shirts that they definitely marketed well.
Guitarist and girly-magnet Vic Zino left the band to join Hardcore Superstar and was replaced by former Sharp-guitarist Andy Dawson – a great musician and songwriter. There have been a few more changes in the band, some additions, some departures, I don’t even keep track anymore – but basically, I had no idea what to expect when they took the stage last night.
I was pleasently surprised. They are not an enthusiastic amateur/demo-band anymore. They are a kickass band who’s paid their dues. They kept going and they seem to be in a good place right now. The crowd loved them, they were received like hometown heroes – and Heroes…. are forever. ;)) Awesome show! Really, all thumbs up for Crazy Lixx, they know how to entertain without props, they simply love what they do and it shows. That’s all they need.
After a changeover that felt like forever, it was time for the headliners of the evening,H.E.A.T to take over the stage.
The band is fronted by Erik Grönwall – the Idol phenomenon who is one of the few survivors of that TV-show. With that talent it would have been scandalous if he hadn’t continued on his path – and eventually reached the right kind of audience. He finally has. The guy has also grown from a punk kid, to a full-fledged frontman with his own distinct style.
[It started HERE….]
[From a show he did a few years ago at the Malmö annual street fest. I dragged Mari along to see him, today she understands why!]
[AND finally – Erik today – fronting H.E.A.T]
I was impressed by his voice (still) and was enjoying the show when suddenly, when they were in the middle of rocking like crazy, the sound shuts down, the whole place lits up and a digital voice says in English that we must leave the building. At first I thought it was part of the show, and I wasn’t the only one. It wasn’t until Erik tried to shout to people that they had to leave the place, it was the REAL fire alarm, that people got it…
However…. we were not allowed to pick up our jackets or anything, and it was FREEZING cold last night!! I’m so glad that I at least had a knitted dress instead of the thin blouse I had originally thought of wearing… So, the whole crowd was thrown out, security shouting to people to move because of course we all got stuck in the door and I was so pissed off.
At first I thought of just simply refusing to go out there. Not in the mood to catch pneumonia. But we tried to keep warm through a group hug. But FUCK it was COLD!! Some people were so drunk that they could have walked barefoot on the North Pole. I was sober though and didn’t appreciate the situation at all.
Saw Crazy Lixx bassplayer standing there wearing nothing but a tank top and those thin spandex-thingies, holy crap, I was freezing even more just seeing him in that…! I think you can even spot him in this clip somewhere:
I don’t know how long we had to stand there, felt like forever. We were finally let back in to everybody’s delight – and the show could recommence! The band just turned back the HEAT as if nothing ever happened and the whole thing was quickly forgotten. :)
All in all – a great evening, dispite the surprisingly scant crowd attendance.
David Coverdale of Whitesnake started tweeting away on Twitter and I’ve never before seen such sincere joy among his fans, from all over the world. It’s an opportunity to communicate with him in real-time and many who aren’t typical “twitterers” are now writing on Twitter several times a day, probably feeling like kids in a candystore.
David went out of his way to try to make himself accessible in any way he could when the internet first made its appearance. When I met him back in 2000 in Stockholm, he proudly explained that his first official website was about to launch. Fans like Kino in Japan had held his name alive through their fan-websites, and now they were also a part of the official release.
David has also been active on the message board on the Whitesnake site and participated in video-Q & A-sessions where fans could send in video-questions and hopefully have them answered by David.
It’s just awesome. These are new, different times. I can’t help looking back to when I first discovered Whitesnake. It was just this pop-show on national Swedish radio (there was no commercial radio in Sweden back in the 80’s) that played “Guilty of love” – and it was that simple little drum roll that Cozy did before the last chorus, that made me go and get the “Slide It In”-album. That was 1984.
Back in those days, the only way you could get any info whatsoever about your favorite artists, was through magazines. Hard rock wasn’t exactly endorsed by radio or TV so it was pretty much an underground movement in a way. Huge, but still “underground”.
The point is that rock stars, being as beyond reach as they were, were unreal, likegods almost. You knew they existed but you couldn’t be sure unless you got a chance to see them live in concert. There was no link to them – they were on a different planet and the fans, well, we were like disciples and simply “not worthy”.
Meeting someone like David Coverdale felt just as likely as meeting God. In other words, that idea was just an impossible dream, it just wouldn’t happen.
Maybe that mystery was also what made the rock stars of that era ROCK STARS. They were out of reach, larger than life, moving in circles you would never be invited to, living a life you would never be a part of… Or so I thought when I was sixteen. I wanted it so bad, but I didn’t think it would ever happen. Me, part of the world I loved so much – “for real”?
I wasn’t allowed to go to a Whitesnake concert when I was a teen, cause my parents wouldn’t let me. Without my own money I couldn’t sneak off either.
So the first time I saw Whitesnake live was with the Monsters of Rock package 1990. I was at the Quireboys press conference but I don’t think Whitesnake did any press. Or I just didn’t get the info if they did, I can’t remember. But they were amazing in the Globe, David handled the stage and the crowd like the out-of-this-world performer I always thought of him as.
The first time I met him, was at a press conference at the Midtfyn Festival in Denmark 1993. That, I will never forget. I went there with my friend Lena, also a big fan, and she was supposed to take good photos, whereas I was supposed to record the press conference. When David walked in – I remember that like a slow-motion scene in a movie. It was as if someone pressed a button and the place just went silent, everybody’s eyes were on him. He passed me and I just remember the fresh smell of cologne.
Lena got so shaky that her first pics got all blurry and I, well I was so awestruck that I forgot to turn on the recorder. When I finally did, I just sat there and stared, couldn’t believe that I was there, breathing the same air as my biggest hero. I’ve got only 2 true heroes- Rob Halford and David Coverdale. That’s it. The rest I admire or whatever, but David and Rob are on a totally different level to me.
That whole day feels like a slow-motion dream, including the show later that evening – which was actually why we went to the festival in the first place.
Seven years later, in 2000 – it happened. The impossible. The unthinkable. I was granted an interview with David at Sheraton Hotel in Stockholm, right after the press conference. I cannot explain how nervous I was and how small and insignificant I felt. Once again going back to that whole Wayne’s World “I’m not worthy!”-feeling.
I spent about an hour in that hotel suite, talking with David about everything under the sun – funny things, serious things… anything and everything. To this day I really feel very blessed for getting that opportunity. That was the very last time rock stars were out of reach, so it was a huge deal to me.
Then – with the internet, things changed. You can now get hold of pretty much anyone through Facebook or, in this case, Twitter. Some of that mystery is gone. But people don’t want or need that mystery anymore to appreciate their heroes. They cherish the opportunity to be able to speak to their idols instead – the way they now can follow David on a daily basis as he Tweets out photos from his bedroom window or shares little everyday anecdotes or jokes with us all. He’s among fans and not an unreachable god anymore.
Times they are a’changin’ and the way I see it, it’s definitely for the better…
Just got back from a very quick trip to Gothenburg. Or, the actual stay was brief, but the hours on the train were a pain in the behind. But what can you do – when a friend comes to town and tells you to come to check out his gig, you get yourself over there – so I did.
This time it was Jo “The Hulk” Nunez, drummer extraordinaire with Firewind – and Nightrage.
He was playing with Nightrage last night at the Gothenburg Sound Festival at Trädgår’n.
(a little simple Photoshop-thing that illustrates how mr Nunez sounds)
Mind you, the type of bands/music is nowhere near my “thing” so it was rather bizarre for me to go to a “growling convention” like that. But again, I’d support a friend anytime, whether he’s with a death metal band or with Justin Bieber…! Sometimes you’ll be surprised. Like last summer at Bang Your Head in Germany when I ended up being totally fascinated by Primordial – which is so not my type of music either. But they were interesting.
[From Bang Your Head – Primordial]
Anyhoo… Met up with Jo just before they were about to do their sound check, to get my ticket. The festival opened the doors later in the afternoon, you could hear the sound checking from several blocks away!
One thing that I noticed was that there were quite a few girls there too. If this had been 20 years ago, there would have been NONE. Extreme metal has never really attracted females, but things have definitely changed a lot the past few years – to the better.
I remember back in the early 90’s, a festival called Clash of the Titans,with Suicidal Tendencies, Testament, Megadeth and uh, some more bands I forgot, and the event took place at the famous KB Hall in Copenhagen. There were ONLY guys, I spotted maybe 2-3 girls who looked like they definitely didn’t want to be there.
But Gothenburg Sound Festival had a very mixed audience. Maybe not a full house, but it’s still not a mainstream type of music (and the tickets were pretty expensive – who’s got that kind of dough in January right after the Christmas-spending sprees?!)
1 of 4
Nightrage went on stage right on time, this time with Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates) performing the vocal duties. The band’s singer Antony Hämäläinen couldn’t make it from what I’ve heard, due to “scheduling conflicts”, but the band was able to do this gig anyway with this little extra, unusual “spice”. There is also only one guitarist in the band nowadays (I overheard several people asking Marios, where Olof Mörck was…).
Olof is working his butt off with Amaranthe so he’s no longer in the band. I bumped into him a few times during the evening, was great to see him. A very nice and super talented guy!
I’ll refrain from reviewing the gig, as I’m the last person in the world who’d be suited to review brutal metal (although Nightrage counts as “melodic” within that genre).
As usual, I was just checking out people in there right by the garbage can (what is it with me and garbage cans?!) when Jo came over for a chat. Briefly said hi to Marios also, seen him a few times when he stepped in for Petros (bass, Firewind) but never got introduced. He did know who I was though, after the Firewind gold record award-thing in Thessaloniki back in July. It IS a small world.
Jo took off, then came back a little bit later to get me to join everybody “in the bar” (which turned out to be outdoors on the smoking deck – but at least it’s outdoors, I can sort of live with that :) ).
Was good out there, talked a bit with Anders Hammer‘s (Nightrage’s bassplayer) girlfriend, when two guys came from out of nowhere and interrupted the conversation. One of them opened the conversation by blurting out: “Sooo…! Are you the groupie of this festival or what?”
Why is it that people end up calling ME a groupie – the last person in the world who’d ever do anything like that – when there were far more obvious specimens from that genus there?! Anyway, I responded in a very civilized manner, but he got the message loud and clear. However, he didn’t understand that his best bet was to take a hike. Couldn’t get rid of him, and everybody else was gone.
Then I spotted Olof (Amaranthe) and his party of people and kind of whispered and made discreet gestures that said “SAVE ME!”. He immediately picked up on the situation, and grabbed me, put his arm around me and went: “Oh THERE you are! Where did you go?” The Beavis and Butthead-types left to bother somebody else after that. Thank god, Olof saved my evening, haha!
I watched Gardenian – not my type of music (as stated previously..) but the singer was funny at least. :) And then last, but not least, Dream Evil. My only interest in that band would be that Gus G used to play with them.
But they were really good live – the only band that evening with a “real” singer, which is probably why I could buy that concept a whole lot easier. :)
Not bad at all.
Jo had met some friends – popular guy that mr Nunez ;). I left before Dream Evil were done. It was a short but interesting festival. I basically just went to see Jo kill those drums and he sure as crap did! :-)
And today I spent all day on a frikkin train back home that was delayed….
Screamo-fest or not, it beats staying at home in front of the TV anytime!
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 