Tagged: Journey
My year in rock – 2013 retrospect
We’re a few days into 2014 already and I never really had time to do the usual look in the rearview mirror to summarize what 2013 was like for me.
Compared to the past 5 years, it was less eventful than usual, and a lot of it has to do with my father’s passing. I cancelled some gigs I had planned to go to and well, just wasn’t in the mood for anything really, but there were still a few highlights in 2013.
January started with Gothenburg Sound Festival where I met up with FIREWIND-drummer JO NUNEZ who was playing with NIGHTRAGE.
Shortly thereafter, I went to the US to see a few FIREWIND-shows and meet up with the new singer KELLY SUNDOWN CARPENTER for an interview at the Gramercy in NYC. Went to Atlanta and the Masquerade as well, pretty cool venue.
Got stuck in a blizzard the day I was supposed to fly home from JFK via Toronto, and made it home in the very last minute. Drama!
Swedish bands CRAZY LIXX & H.E.A.T played at KB, show got interrupted by the fire alarm and the club was evacuated.
Went to beautiful ICELAND with my friend Henny, that was a trip I won’t forget anytime soon – Iceland is a fairy tale country and I hope they never let the ways of the “outside world” change what they’ve accomplished. It’s amazing.
[This isn’t even Photoshopped – it actually looks like that!]
Gigs, there were a few. IRON MAIDEN played at Malmo Stadion, I spent all day in line to get a front row spot. Well worth it!
MEGADETH played at Vega in Copenhagen, they had just released Super Collider and played the title track from that album live for the first time. Dave Mustaine also brought a kid up on stage, not a usual sight at Megadeth shows. :)
STEVE HARRIS and his British Lion played at KB in Malmo, and although the attendance was low, to say the least, it was insanely cool to see a musician of his caliber that up close! I got dust from his sneakers in my face when he stomped on his monitor, he was THAT close. It wasn’t as bad as people say, the band had a good time and that’s what I remember the most.
Another memorable gig was PAUL GILBERT in Gothenburg, at Sticky Fingers. Been a fan since forever, Paul is amazing. There are some fantastic shredders in the world, but Paul is unique. I love his goofy style, his dry sense of humor, his playing, his way of interacting with the crowd… It was a great show.
After Apollo Papathanasio’s departure from Firewind, I decided to keep track of his other projects, so I went to Hamburg, Germany to visit my friend Su and see Apollo with SPIRITUAL BEGGARS. A few months later made a last minute decision to see the band in Thessaloniki, Greece as well.
Apollo also visited me in my home in Malmo for a video interview and a nice lunch. Awesome dude.
Of course, there were a bunch of FIREWIND shows this year as well. Rock in den Ruinen in Germany, SWEDEN ROCK FESTIVAL, and of course, the tour of AUSTRALIA. I opted out of all other shows because I needed the $$ for Australia.
SWEDEN ROCK FESTIVAL was a weird festival this year, it was only days after my father’s passing, but I had to go to fulfill my duties to Sweden Rock Magazine and also to my friend Su who was visiting from Germany, SRF was her bachelorette party.
Memorable interviews: DAVID COVERDALE (WHITESNAKE), love the man, he rocks!
[A short clip from that interview]
And finally meeting LITA FORD for the first time ever. She was great, I’m glad she didn’t turn out to be a bitch.
Also saw her shows in Gothenburg ad Sticky Fingers and Malmo, KB.
Went to the UK twice in May to see WHITESNAKE, Thunder and Journey. I could see Whitesnake a million times and it still never gets old. :)
GUS G came to Malmo for the SWEDISH METAL CONVENTION, had a great time with him and Andy R, thanks to Pontus for bringing him to the convention. Also met Tallee Savage and her sister Amanda, Jorn, Anders Johansson (YNGWIE, HAMMERFALL) and a bunch of other people.
(Anders Johansson (Hammerfall, Yngwie), Pekka and Gus in the VIP-room)
Gus G and Paul DiAnno:
Straight after that…business class with Emirates to Sydney via Dubai, went on a safari, met koalas, saw the first Firewind show of the Australian tour, continued to Brisbane, met up with Clint, flew to Adelaide and then finally Melbourne. Stayed there for a week after the band had left. Met a few more koalas and then some really nice people at his BBQ party.
The free BAR in business class at my Emirates-flight to Sydney. :) It didn’t suck. ;)
Came home, got another tattoo and saw BLACK SABBATH in Copenhagen.
An old friend, singer of the Swedish sleaze-band NASTY IDOLS, Andy Pierce, passed away at the age of 45, something that I still can’t quite grasp…
Finished my year in the US visiting friends and checking out two gigs that I wrote about in my previous blog, both Savatage-related.
That was it – in a nutshell. Less travel than usual 2013 but I’m already looking forward to the Steel Panther European tour in the spring and Gus G’s solo-debut! Welcome 2014!
WHITESNAKE – here I go again!
I have no idea how many times I’ve seen Whitesnake, I stopped counting a long time ago – but after every tour I can’t wait to see them again. It’s a “feel-good” type of band. You ALWAYS leave a Whitesnake concert with a smile. So, you keep coming back for more. Year after year.
I took the flight from Copenhagen to Manchester early in the morning and walked from Picadilly station to Printworks, Arndale, Hard Rock Cafe – just the area around the MEN/MCR Arena. It was freezing cold, wasn’t prepared for that. It was warm and sunny back home. And I got lost.
I was walking all over the place, couldn’t find the hotel. Went to Park Inn and asked for directions. They told me it was hidden BEHIND the Crowne Plaza, no wonder I passed it three times without seeing it….
Thanks to that I finally found my hotel and couldn’t WAIT to kick off my shoes, take a nap and just relax.
[Labelled pillows – do you prefer firm or soft?]
The hotel had free WiFi so I quickly updated my Facebook status, mentioning that I was going down to Hard Rock Cafe later on to grab a bite. Before I knew it, I had two responses from two fellow Whitesnake-fans who were in the neighborhood and said they would try to make it down there as well.
I like social media for that reason, it gives you the opportunity to meet interesting people from all over the world.
Went to Hard Rock, ordered the BBQ chicken and was served by a pretty boy with long hair, can’t complain. :) Just as I was in the middle of massacring the chicken (with that reddish BBQ-sauce, it looked like I had slaughtered the chicken myself…!) I heard a voice going: “Daniela?”
There was Ania and her boyfriend Alex. It was the first time we met, and there I was, leaving a wonderful first impression with my mouth full of fries and a massacred chicken on the plate – must have been such a classy sight…! ;)
They joined me for dinner, and it was a really great afternoon. Really nice people, easygoing, interesting to talk to. One of the greatest things about travelling and meeting people through Facebook or Twitter, is that regardless what profession people have, their age or what country they’re from – we all share the same passion for music. So I truly enjoy meeting people and hearing their stories. :)
On our way out we met Jen, the other girl who I thought had changed her mind about Hard Rock – but she had been down at the bar, we never even saw her from where we had been at.
Ania and Alex went back to their hotel and I went to the arena to check what was going on. I’m used to there being people hours before, but there was not a SOUL…! On top of all, it started raining. I never travel without my rain poncho- especially not England, so I was prepared.
Found a McDonalds at Victoria Station, and killed time with their free WiFi. That is the best thing about McD, no matter where you are in the world, you KNOW that you will at least be able to get online at McDonalds. :)
Ania showed up shortly thereafter and we went in. Much to my surprise, the arena was almost empty when we got in. Never seen such a big arena so empty when the doors open!
[This is what we walked into… Impressive arena, but totally dead at 5.45, fifteen minutes after they had opened]
She had a spare ticket in her section, it was closer to the stage than my original ticket reservation and it was defnitely a lot nicer to be able to sit and chat a bit than being alone trying to kill time (which is my usual deal. I don’t mind but when I’ve got the choice it’s not hard to decide :) ). Thank you for that Ania.
The arena was filling up slowly but surely, when after a little while, a friend of Ania’s and Reb (Beach) came out for a short chat. I was pretty much minding my own business, observing the activities on stage and in the arena in the meantime. A guy walked up to Reb and asked him if he could wave to his girlfriend “up there” (and pointed in her direction), cause she could not believe it was actually HIM.
Might have been because Reb looked like “the guy next door” in his blue hoodie, just being very “normal” and blending in perfectly with the audience. Reb not only waved, but he also offered to come over and say hello. I think that’s very sweet, cause I’m sure that the girl now has a great memory. Great attitude, I like that.
I saw Jen briefly as she was passing by our section on her way to her seat. And Ronnie was sitting two rows behind me – which I learned AFTER the show as my cellphone delievered all his text-messages the next day, when I was back in Sweden…!
The intro of AC/DC‘s “Thunderstruck” started playing (very loud) and the lights went out. First out on stage – THUNDER.
Okay… So I haven’t seen these guys since the days when they still had HAIR (Donington 1992 to be more precise…) so when these men with short, gray hair walked out on stage (with two exceptions to be fair) I was wondering who the hell that was. But the minute Danny opened his mouth and started singing, there was no doubt that it was THAT voice..!
In short (no pun intended) – they blew me away. What a brilliant live band. Absolute perfection with heaps of heart and soul in their performance. I absolutely loved it!
It’s not often that you see a band that doesn’t rely on any of the usual “props”: looks, image, lasers and bombs, no schtick, none of that stuff – yet manages to get the crowd ecstatic!
Great songs, great musicians, a sincere love for that they’re doing and a great sense of humor. That takes them all the way to people’s hearts! And it goes not only a long way – it goes ALL the way.
I enjoyed every minute of it – and already looking forward to seeing them at Sweden Rock Festival in about a week!
Danny Bowes – what a powerful voice, he was just belting it out, not missing one single note! I’m still looking for my jaw that I dropped on the floor somewhere at the MCR in section C…!
And, Manchester got to enjoy this epic song as well. Make sure you watch the whole thing for the sing-along…:
When Thunder left the stage, I was convinced that Journey were up next. I should have checked first I guess, but it never occured to me that Journey would be considered a headliner when Whitesnake was on the bill.
Yes, yes, I know, I know – it was a shared headliner bill and somebody has to go first but still – it never even crossed my mind for two seconds that Whitesnake would NOT finish the evening.
So I sat down, thinking that I could relax for another hour or so while Journey were on….
When the lights went out and the music started playing it took a few seconds before I went… “Wait a minute… I recognize that…!” Next thing I know, the spotlights lit up the band and a VERY familiar figure in a white shirt..!
I flew out of my chair like a catapult and got the camera rolling, jesus christ, I nearly missed the intro…! That’s what you get when you don’t bother checking things in advance.
I’m not going to review Whitesnake. I can’t. When I go to a Whitesnake-concert, I know that I’ll either be smiling till every muscle in my face starts aching, or I’m going to be moved to tears.
When Bernie and Adrian were the “secret guests” that walked out on stage to join David and the others, at Sweden Rock Festival a few years ago, we were all surprised.
And I don’t know why, but it moved me so much that I was bawling my eyes out for hours. I just couldn’t stop the tears, I thought it was just one of the most powerful, touching things I’ve ever seen on a stage.
With Whitesnake it’s just always an inspiring experience – it’s a celebration of life, love, the past and the future, music, friendships, just all the good things in life. You leave your troubles at the door (if you had any) and you walk out of there rejuvenated, with a big, fat smile on your face.
That’s what Whitesnake is about to me.
Yes, the critic in me still hears the flaws, and yes, maybe David doesn’t sound the same in 2013 as he did in 1983 or 1973, but it just doesn’t matter – he makes up for it with his charsma, and he’s got TONS of that! He makes every single person in a 23,000 seat-arena feel like he’s singing just for them.
And you look at the guys – they are in great shape and they look great. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – rocker’s don’t age. They mature like a fine wine. And frankly, where else but in rock’n’roll, do you get to see men in their 50’s or 60’s looking like Doug Aldrich or David Coverdale?
With Whitesnake you know that you will get the very best of whatever you came to see or hear. Tommy Aldridge always reminds me of “Animal” of the Muppet show! He’s a fantastic drummer, the ultimate wildman who KILLS his drums every night. His playing is powerful and entertaining.
A video of Tommy for your viewing pleasure:
Two guitarists with their own distinct styles, among the best at what they do – the bluesy Doug Aldrich and the technical Reb Beach. It’s all covered for all guitar nerds out there to enjoy. :)
Bassist Michael Devin and keyboardist Brian Ruedy are not taking up as much “space” as the others, but with that many people on stage fighting for attention, somebody has to keep a lower profile, and those two guys are cool enough to be perfectly fine with that.
And David – there is a reason why millions of people worldwide love that man. He is so passionate, so vivacious, just full of energy and LIFE! He is one of the people in this world that I find extremely inspiring.
I will say one thing about their show though – without giving anything away – it was a great and surprising set list. Some of those songs I’ve never heard him perform live (I think my first Whitesnake show was in 1990 at the Monsters of Rock tour, but I’m not sure) so it was a treat to hear so many classics from the earlier Whitesnake years as well!
Speaking of which – Bernie Marsden walked out on stage to play on two songs, and it was great to see the two “old snakes” on stage together, once again. Bernie looked almost overwhelmed when he saw the crowd’s response. It was just a great moment.
After THAT, I really didn’t have ANY desire whatsoever to see ANY other band. I don’t care who they put on that stage, it just couldn’t compete, and I wanted to leave the arena with “THAT” feeling of joy. It was the perfect show and the perfect ending. Thank you for the music, my dear snakes. :)
Spoke briefly with Ronnie and his friend before leaving. I was starving so I dropped by this place on my way back to the hotel:
Ania and Alex also went to “meet some friends” so we parted ways :))) And next week it’s time for London and Wembley!
I prefer Manchester when it comes to concerts though. And I might even write a little more about that pretty soon. It’s the perfect city for visiting concert-travellers!
Two more Whitesnake-shows to go! Wembley and this one, in Zagreb, Croatia. I guess it’s time to start excercising those “smiling muscles” in my face again. :)
Photos from the show: http://www.facebook.com/intherearviewmirror
I did film a lot of the show but as David has explicitly asked people not to share too much info and ruin someone else’s experience, I’m not posting anything more for now. Maybe in a few months time. :) There is 1 clip on the Facebook-page though, check the timeline/wall!
Whitesnake, Manchester and other thoughts…
Third move to another blog provider. Let’s hope I won’t get any trouble with this, and thanks to Metalpaths for the kind offer to help out when I was struggling trying to get the other blog to work.
Those of you who used to subscribe and get the updated posts directly in your e-mail (a service that was offered by Posterous) – you can do that now, as WordPress offers that service as well. :) Just scroll down a little and you’ll find the subscription button to the right.
Today is a day off. But my “to do”-list is still long, tomorrow I’m off to Manchester for the Whitesnake (Journey/Thunder) show at MEN Arena. I’m as excited as ever about that, I just don’t like that it’s a seated arena.
Everything is “seated”. I just don’t think that the floor in front of the stage at a ROCK concert should EVER be seated! I want to stand there in the front with a bunch of other maniacs and feel the PULSE, the ENERGY and just get into it. At least at a Whitesnake concert I do. You can’t get that feeling in a CHAIR. :-/
Keep the seats for the Symphony Orchestra, and give the rockers space to go wild.
Other things that are on my mind today are all the losses in our rock’n’roll extended family…
This week has been a sad one for many fans of the Doors and now also for the fans of Uriah Heep.
Ray Manzarek – founder, keyboardist/bassist of the Doors, died of cancer in Germany, Monday evening, at the age of 74. I’d say that the credit for the sound of the Doors goes to Ray. Another historic rock icon has waved farewell.
Uriah Heep‘s bassist Trevor Bolder lost his battle against cancer at the age of 62 yesterday.
English: Uriah Heep’s Trevor Bolder, Live in Milan, 09 November 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It seems that we are losing one after another now.
There’s probably going to be a lot more in the years to come. Hard rock/heavy metal was invented in the seventies, if you don’t count the bands and artists that inspired the development of it, back in the sixties.
The Black Sabbath or Deep Purple guys were young back then – in their early 20’s, and they are hitting their 60’s now, at the very least – and although 60 is not old for a rocker, it’s still an age where many are beginning to battle various health issues. Doesn’t have to be lethal but our heroes are simply not going to be around forever.
And it’s just now that this is beginning to sink in, cause we grew up with these guys, they are such a natural part in our lives. Much like parents, they’ve always been there, it’s hard to imagine the day when they won’t be, eventhough you know that that day WILL come.
Just makes you think. I’m going to as many shows as I possibly can – especially by the great legends of metal, because you never know how long you’ll have that privilege. Might be 10 more years, might be tomorrow.
Sad thoughts aside – hectic times ahead. Whitesnake in Manchester, UK tomorrow, Megadeth in Copenhagen on Saturday, Whitesnake at Wembley next week, and then shortly after that – 4 days of metal madness at Sweden Rock festival. A week after that – Whitesnake again in Zagreb, Croatia.
But it’s the kind of “busy” that I love! See you all out there, somewhere! :)
Buckle up, the ride continues!
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!
Just random stuff on a rainy evening
Funny summer – it’s keeps raining and raining. I just picked up my “summer read” – a book which was actually sent to me months ago, but with this crazy tempo travelling back and forth, there was no time to even THINK about reading. It’s Neil Daniel’s “Don’t Stop Believin’ – The Untold Story of JOURNEY”.
This guy has written so many rock biographies, is so dedicated to what he does. I should know because I was in touch with him back and forth, like so many others, when he was working on the Judas Priest biography “Defenders of the Faith“.
It wouldn’t surprise me if I ended up calling it “Don’t stop readin’“. :-)
Perfect for a rainy evening. And what goes better with a rock biography than a nice glass of rock’n’roll WINE?Bought two bottles of Sweden Rock’s special edition red wine. Okay, I admit – I bought it because it’s a cool bottle. But I got a whole box of Lemmy’s Motörhead-wine and THAT tasted great!
Speaking of nothing by the way, I just saw the pick I got from Glenn Tipton at the Manchester show, lol…! I forgot about that, haven’t cared at all about that sort of stuff for years. I used to collect those picks but it was more fun to own all this stuff back in the “good old days” because it was really a sport getting one. NOW you can find anything you want on eBay, and it kind of kills the fun. It’s not a challenge anymore and without the challenge, owning one of those “trophies” doesn’t mean much these days.
But he put this right in my hand, like priests are handing out altar bread at a communion! Guess it’s not far from it – after all, it IS a kind of “Priest”. :-))
More “by the ways”… There will be a GUITAR HERO EXTRAVAGANZAAAA for me in October! Two of the shows I’m seeing over there is Firewind with their guitar-wizard Gus G, and the day after that – also in NYC, THE guitar-god of guitar-gods, the one, only and ULTIMATE super-guitarist YNGWIE MALMSTEEN is playing in NYC. After that, I can go home happy. :-))
I noticed that Yngwie and Firewind are on tour in the States at the same time (October) but never crossing paths until the END of their tours. Hmmm, funny idea suddenly crosses my mind – guitar duel Yngwie and Gus somewhere in L.A maybe? Wouldn’t that be damn cool. Then again, I hope not, for purely selfish reasons because I wouldn’t be able to go. Blah.
Oh, and another thing. An old friend is coming to my home town in October. Sebastian Bach. Yeah, the crazy mothertrucker who everybody has an opinion of (myself included) but I’ll never forget how much fun I had with Skid Row back in the early 90’s! And we’ve known eachother for 22 years now, to be exact. We met last year at “Rock Weekend” in Soderhamn, WAY up north in Sweden. But it wasn’t easy with the logistics or the planning that day, so the texting back and forth with his tour manager ended up costing me quite a bit. But it’s worth it, because Baz is the most unpredictable person I’ve met in my whole life – good or bad, depending on how you choose to look at it. :-) You can never be sure of ANYTHING when it comes to Sebastian, because he is as “in the moment” as you can possibly get. You can try making plans, but be sure that they will change with short notice. Guess that’s the beauty of dealing with Sebastian, he never gets boring. :-) You can call him everything and anything in the book, but never boring. He’ll be a guest at the Swedish Rock Exhibition in October 1 & 2 here in Malmo.
Other guests will be Crazy Lixx and Nasty Idols (also old friends from way back). If you understand Swedish, or want to put Google Translator to the test, go ahead and visit the info page:
http://www.rockmassan.se/ Well, time for some reading before going to bed.
Roxette are playing a free concert in Copenhagen tomorrow but with this crazy rain, I doubt I’ll want to go. Would be been nice to see them though, especially since it’s free. And then – High Voltage festival in London this weekend. I still hope I can go, but it doesn’t look like it right now. Unless some miracle solves the problem for me.
And I belive in miracles. Never stop believin’. :-)
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 