Tagged: SWEDEN ROCK FESTIVAL
MY YEAR IN ROCK – retrospect 2012 (part 3)
(continued from http://lita77777.posterous.com/my-year-in-rock-retrospect-2012-part-2 )
OZZY & FRIENDS IN DORTMUND, GERMANY
The Ozzy & friends gig in Dormund was a memorable experience for good reasons and bad. I got to know a new friend, Suuded, and we had a great time. Remember a fantastic dinner in a restaurant right behind the Westfalenhalle, but I also remember the sky just opening and it was pissing down all day! We were forced to stand out in the rain by a sadistic power-hungry security person who made sure nobody was under the long roof in front of the entrance (there would have been PLENTY of room there for a lot of people). Anyway, we got in the front row eventually. Both Steel Panther and Ozzy were well worth the wait and the rain!
The story can be found here: http://lita77777.posterous.com/ozzy-sweden-rock-festival-part-1
Photos from that are on my Facebook-page: www.facebook.com/intherearviewmirror
SWEDEN ROCK FESTIVAL….
Only two days later, it was time for the next annual event: Sweden Rock Festival.
This time I was joined by Vera, my Russian colleague that I got to know after bumping into her several times at press conferences at Sweden Rock. She was going to camp with her friends though (wild horses couldn’t get ME to do that camping-thing).
The full story: http://lita77777.posterous.com/sweden-rock-festival-2012-part-2
The next day I ran like crazy to make it to the first signing-session of the day, which was Satchel from Steel Panther. I had found this great tent where musicians hung out and various guitarists were doing signing sessions. But it didn’t seem like it had been widely announced anywhere, so thank god there weren’t those insanely long lines as to the “regular” signings.
When I walked in, it was still Andreas Kisser from Sepultura who was signing. I was first in line for Satchel, and I got my hoodie signed, and some pics. The message he left was of course very “Satchel-style”…! ;)
Vera and I also met a nice dude from Adrenaline Mob’s crew, who invited us to be his guests, so we spent the day hanging backstage and on various stages. That was perfect, if for no other reason than because it was raining all day, and we didn’t have to be out there getting soaked. Watched Ugly Kid Joe, Motorhead and Twisted Sister up on the stage for instance.
Press conferences I didn’t want to miss included Steel Panther and Sebastian Bach – but then I happened to walk in on a few more by coincidence. There is activity 24-7 at Sweden Rock, it’s nearly impossible to try to sum it all up. But check out the pics on the Facebook-page (URL mentioned somewhere above), that will give you a quick tour of what was going on on stage and back-stage at Sweden Rock Festival 2012!
Way too much to mention, I think I kept updating in real-time on Facebook because I wouldn’t have time to write an actual blog. Busy summer! :)
Next up was my other favorite festival: Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium!
[to be continued….]
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!
STEEL PANTHER-day at Sweden Rock
Thursday – June 7 was STEEL PANTHER-day for me. I came running to the festival area early in the afternoon like I had rocket-fuel up my ass. I had ONE thing on my mind: Being FIRST in line for Satchel’s signing session in the guitar-tent.
It was actually a wonderful, liberating feeling knowing that I could just go there and blend, fit in, be a FAN. It’s so simple to be a fan, and act like one. Haven’t done that in years. I can’t remember the last time I asked anyone for an autograph for instance – unless it was for somebody else.
So, I stood there, with my pink Steel Panther-hoodie (the blinking one, check this video of it) maybe an hour before the signing. But it was also because I liked to hang in that particular “guitar-tent”, they were nice in there and it wasn’t as crazy crowded as the rest of the festival.
As I was standing there, a tall guy with a notepad and a pen walked in and started babbling like a machine – asking if I would like to be in a photo cause they were doing this report about fans at Sweden Rock Festival and blah-blah-blah…. I just looked at him and smiled – and tried to getactual eye-contact. When I didn’t succeed, I just stopped him, waved in his face and said: “Uh – HELLOOO Pär!”
It was a former colleague from the newspaper where I got my very first job, Kvällsposten. I was 18 back then. And here I was, 24 years later – STILL being the crazy metal chick that he once got to know. :-) Only, thanks to Kvällsposten, that gave me my first break, I’ve met everyone and their mother since then.
He finally stopped and took a look at me – and went: “Oh…! It’s YOU!”
I got in the photo he needed for his report, and went straight back to the Satchel signing-line.
They started playing Steel Panther songs and I gave Vera my camera, asked her to take a few pics if she got a chance.
I don’t know what I was doing or looking at, but before I realized it – Satchel was “in da house”!
He smiled that BIG WHITE smile, and immediately went: “Wait a minute.. I know you from somewhere, right….?”
Instead of informing him that he saw me only two days before in Dortmund, Germany – I replied that I did the Steel Panther-interview in Copenhagen.
He was just incredibly sweet, one of those people with a positive energy that you like, instantly. Not only is he a hot dude, but he just has a very cool attitude. And he wasn’t “acting” Satchel too much, he was… pretty normal. Well – until he was about to sign my Steel Panther-hoodie, that is…
I made the mistake of replying “Whatever you want!” to his question: “What would you like me to write on this?”
So, of course – I ended up with THIS!
I also brought the pick that Suuded had managed to catch for us both at the Dortmund-show, that said:
Handed it over to Satchel and said that I wasn’t about to RETURN it, as instructed – however, I WOULD like him to SIGN it for me, cause it will make a nice little souvenir from the Dortmund-gig. :-)
Got an autograph for Suuded as well. I have to admit that the guy is incredibly charismatic. I guess they all are (the other guys in Steel Panther) in their different ways, I just like Satchel’s cheeky, extrovert style a lot. :-) No wonder people all over the planet are fallng for these guys!
I stuck around for a few minutes, enough to see some guy’s round belly get signed and whatever else – you can find those pix on the FB-page: www.facebook.com/intherearviewmirror or here.
Then I had to run to the backstage/VIP-area, because it was time for the Steel Panther PRESS CONFERENCE. And as you all know – that is far from what you would expect from any other press conference. :)
I didn’t get in the front row for a change – because I know that anything can happen, and you don’t want to be too close when it happens, lol! Poor girl in the front who wasn’t aware of that – you’ll see in the video. ;)
After the press conference (which you would actually need a few minutes to get back to NORMALITY from…!) I had a dilemma.
Cause the press conference schedule looked like this – Sebastian Bach was up next, and I didn’t want to miss THAT…
At the same time, I didn’t want to miss Steel Panther’s gig either. So I decided to stick around and see if Baz showed up on time. If he didn’t, I would leave. If he DID show up on time, I would stay for a few minutes, then go see Steel Panther.
I got the best of both worlds. Baz was right on time (only a few minutes late…) and the press conference didn’t take long, so I managed to see both. Woo-hoo!
[Photos by Henrik Hansson]
The show was great, I LOVE those guys, they bring THE PARTY wherever they go, you can’t stop smiling! I’m laughing, singing, jumping, smiling – feeling GREAT when Steel Panther is in town! The only thing that pisses me off is when I read bad reviews written by people who LACK all those qualities – a sense of humor, the ability to have fun, write good music and not take themselves too seriously.
Like Skid Row once said when they wrote “Get The Fuck Out“: “Fuck you if you can’t take a joke“.
I was exhilarated after that whole day, Steel Panther is a FEEL GOOD kind of band. It’s impossible to be in a bad mood after either meeting them or seeing one of their shows!
Booked a bunch of SP-gig trips for this fall, can’t wait to see them again in a few months, that will be all the refueling I need to make it through a dark and gloomy, Swedish fall. :-)
And, kind of like I did with the Firewind-tour, there will be a separate Steel Panther tour-blog when it’s time to “hit the road”! http://steelpanthertour.posterous.com/ (there’s nothing up there yet – but there will be, after the first European show that I’m going to). Looking forward to it.
Sweden Rock Festival 2012 [part 2]
Wednesday, June 6 – Swedish national day.
After only a few hours of sleep, I went straight to the train station to pick up my Russian colleague Vera (who now lives in Gothenburg) and we drove up to Sweden Rock Festival.
It was pretty early when we arrived so it didn’t take long to get our passes. Vera was going to the camping with some friends so I went to take a look around the area. It had changed a little this year – the press/VIP area had been moved and the entrances were elsewhere so I had to get reaquainted with this place that has been my second home since the 90’s. :) I can’t imagine a summer without Sweden Rock.
I quickly found the VIP area and the press tent. The first person I saw was, like every other year, the photographer from Expressen, Rickard Nilsson – he was working in there on his Mac, very concentrated on editing a photo when I walked in. :) He later on helped me get my camera batteries and laptop charged when there were just no power outlets in the press area for instance. It’s nice to have old friends there year after year, we can help eachother out.
I spent all afternoon just checking out the area, the merch, the food, everything…. And noticed a music tent that was filled with musicians every day – amateurs and professionals. The staff in there was so nice that it ended up being sort of a little “sanctuary” during the whole festival. That’s also where they had musicians from some of the bands visiting.
The best thing was that nobody seemed to know about it…! The only info there was, was on a sign outside their tent, nowhere else, so luckily there weren’t that many people at the signings, which gave it all an intimate, cool atmosphere.That first day I only had 2 shows that I wanted to see, both Swedish, melodic rock acts:
H.E.A.T and Dynazty (whose album is still one of my favorites this year).
H.E.A.T played in broad daylight but managed to really get the audience going. Just that one small detail that separated H.E.A.T from Dynazty for instance was that H.E.A.T’s guitarist walked out, went straight to the edge of the stage and took immediate contact with the audience – THAT’S how you create a connection between band and crowd.
Although it was a little bit too much melody for me, I still have to give them credit for handling the stage like real pros.
Went to see Dynazty later in the evening, and it got really cold by then. Met two ladies that I got to know at the Whitesnake-gigs last year. They were also die-hard fans and one of them show me a tattoo she got recently – of the WS-logo! Very cool.
Anyway, my friends Mari and Henrik showed up too and we ended up hanging at the barricades waiting for the show cause there was nothing else to do. Dynazty finally hit the stage.
Their gig was good – but not brilliant. And I was trying to pin-point exactly why. Cause the vocals were good, the playing was good and they obviously had a good time on stage… But – it still wasn’t magic, it didn’t give me the kick that separates a good gig from a great one. Then it hit me, it was pretty simple actually: They lacked the contact with the crowd that a band MUST have. If you don’t look at people and acknowledge their existence, you’re taking away the exchange of energy between crowd-band that makes a show memorable.
The very same thing used to bother me with Rob Halford when he went up on stage wearing black sunglasses, insisting on staring at his shoes. It was like…”helloooo, we’re here?!”
It was cold as fuck too, maybe that had a bit to do with it too, I don’t know. But for a first day this was perfect. I drove home to get a few hours of sleep before the next day when I was about to make a complete ass of myself in front of Steel Panther‘s Satchel, reporters and god knows what else…!
Stick around.
[to be continued..]
What a week!
WHAT a week it has been…! I guess it’s safe to say it’s been very – Steel Panterish.
Henrik, the camera guy, finished editing the video interview, and it went live. It was everywhere – again. :-)
Twitter. Facebook. Steel Panther’s own official sites. Blabbermouth. Metalpaths. This blog…
Just a few samples:
MY REVIEW OF THE STEEL PANTHER SHOW IN COPENHAGEN [METALPATHS]
BRING METAL BACK (STEELPANTHER)
I’ve probably bugged the hell out of everybody on the FB-page with Steel Panther-shit, but I’m hooked. Want to go to London on the 31st this month to see their last European show on this round. But my main plan is Las Vegas in July to see their show at the House of Blues. It’s a great excuse to go to Vegas, because I love Vegas!
Last time I was there was for the VH1 Rock Honors (Kiss, Queen, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Foo Fighters and more) in 2006, which feels like ages ago. Can’t wait to go back to the biggest playground in the world!
It’s been a great week for tour announcements as well. BILLY IDOL is coming back to Europe this summer. A bunch of summer festivals. Frankly, I’m not really a big fan of festivals. People are always drunk out of their minds, it’s always in the middle of nowhere, difficult to get to, you’re walking large areas, if it rains you’ve got nowhere to go, if the sun fries you, there’s nowhere to hide. It’s not all bad, I love Sweden Rock and Graspop, but it’s also very challenging.
BILLY IDOL SUMMER 2012 TOUR DATES:
Tue 26th Jun 2012 Arena Moscow Moscow Russian Federation
Fri 29th Jun 2012 Peace And Love Festival Borlange Sweden
Wed 4th Jul 2012 Tollwood Festival Munich Germany
Fri 6th Jul 2012 Moon And Stars Festival Locarno Switzerland
Sat 7th Jul 2012 Villa Contarini Piazzola sul Brenta (Padua) Italy
Sun 8th Jul 2012 Porsche Arena Stuttgart Germany
Tue 10th Jul 2012 Stadpark Hamburg Germany
Fri 13th Jul 2012 Glam Rock Festival Nr Linz. Austria
One of the best live-bands is going on their 30 years of thunder tour – W.A.S.P. I love that band. You can say all sorts of things about Blackie Lawless, and I’ve got a few stories of my own, but one thing is for sure – he is one hell of a songwriter and frontman. I hope I’ll be able to catch the W.A.S.P-gigs. Here are the dates by the way, with the latest additions:
21 – London, UK – The Forum
22 – Edinburgh, UK – HMV Picture House
23 – Newcastle, UK – Academy
24 – Belfast, Ireland – Ulster Hall
25 – Dublin, Ireland – Vicar Street
27 – Manchester, UK – Hmv Ritz
28 – Leeds, UK – Academy
29 – Nottingham, UK – Rock City
30 – Norwich, UK – Waterfront October
1 – Wolverhampton, UK – Wolfrun Hall
3 – Cardif, Wales – The Great Hall
4 – Bristol, UK – Academy
10 – Hässleholm, Sweden – Qpoolen
11 – Trollhätan, Sweden – Älvhögsborg
12 – Sundsvall, Sweden – Spegelsalen, Stadshuset
13 – Örebrö, Sweden – Kongress
14 – Eskilstuna, Sweden – Lokomotivet
16 – Tallin, Estonia – Rock Cafe
17 – Helsinki, Finland – The Circus
18 – Tampere, Finland – Tampere Hall
19 – Turku, Finland – Logomo
20 – SeinaJoki, Finland – Rytmikorjaamo
21 – Lulea, Sweden – Kulturenshus
25 – Huskvarna, Sweden – Teaterladan
26 – Stockholm, Sweden – Rockklassiker Krysningen
27 – Karlstad , Sweden – Nojesfabriken November
2 – Tilburg, The Netherlands – 0 13
3 – Antwerp, Belgium -Trix
4 – Lille, France – Le Splendid
5 – Paris, France – Le Bataclan
6 – Toulouse, France – Bikini
10 – Lisbon, Portugal – Campo Pequeno
14 – St. Etienne, France – Le Fil
15 – Strasbourg, France – La Laite
AND – the greatest news of the day for ME at least, was THIS! FIREWIND announced their fall tour earlier today! :-))
The album is coming out soon, then pretty much like the last time they released their album, Gus G went on tour with Ozzy, so his own thing had to be postponed. This time it’ll be almost the same scenario, but maybe this tour saves the whole PR-thing that they must do to support the album-release.
Last year was definitely a Gus G-year, saw the dude 19 times, the gig in Athens a few months ago was the 20th, haha! I just think that on stage he is an old-school rockstar. He’s got the looks and the moves of a guitar hero, and he plays like a god. Offstage he is a pretty quiet kind of guy who I really haven’t talked to a whole lot, other than the interview at Sweden Rock last year and occasional e-mails. Compared to most party-animals in the business, he is more interested in working hard and perfecting his craft, than acting like a rockstar once he leaves the stage.
I respect that. And most of all, I love the live-energy and the top-notch musicianship in Firewind, they are damn impressive! Like this one – one of my favorites (funny enough, my favorites tend to be their instrumentals!) SKG:
[Check out bassplayer Petro’s fast fingers…! You’d think I speeded up the video…! So damn cool. Filmed this in Cologne, Germany]
My Firewind-tour from all over Europe, UK and USA last year is in the Firewind blog: www.firewindtour.posterous.com
Tomorrow I get a visitor – Vera from Russian Classic Rock is coming, we’re going to see Electric Boys at KB here in Malmo. Also a kickass live-band!
I think that the summer and the fall is coming together nicely, I can’t wait for all the new adventures 2012 is going to bring! :-)
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 