» Sweden Rock Festival 2005

~Written by Thomas, June 2005
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Sweden Rock Festival: Great as always.

It was the beginning of the first month of summer and I was back in Norje again for the fourth consecutive year I was attending this festival, which has become one of the highlights of the year for me and something that I would not want to miss. And this year it was the first time I had a backstage pass, only to be able to give you readers a better coverage and as a result of that two interviews were done together with my colleague Michael. He had set up both the interview with Hellfueled as well as with Therion and what was said there will soon be revealed on this site.

The festival only gets bigger and bigger and the organization behind it only gets better and better. It is a very well organized festival that leaves me with absolutely nothing to complain about, perhaps I can wish for them to introduce big screens next to the larger stages next year, but apart from that nothing. The number of sold of tickets had once again set a new record and this year 21,500 would be attending the festival each day. And Sweden Rock Festival is the place to be if you like to take part of an amazing feeling and a nice and cozy three days. Everywhere you meet friendly people and most of the crowd there seems to be enjoying themselves, the company, the beers and of course the music. During my four years at the festival the number of hostile people I met is close to zero, I guess that hard rockers are simply naturally good hearted and devoted to the music, which does not come as a surprise to me. And this is also the place to be if you want to see great bands, I don't know how they do it but every year there is some big re-union or comeback they managed to put on the bill Earlier there has been bands like Europe, Twisted Sister and Judas Priest among many others and now it was time for Accept and the legendary Mötley Crüe to be on stage among a bunch of other great bands.

Thursday - 9th of June

Band: Anthrax
Time: 15.00-16.15
Rock Stage

Anthrax was one of this years bands that arrived with a re-union line-up. With vocalist Joey Belladonna and Dan Spitz back in the band alongside with Scott Ian, Charlie Benante and Frank Bello this was the classic and original Anthrax setting. I missed the start since I just had to see a little bit of Freak Kitchen but when I arrived and heard the last notes of A.I.R. I knew this was going to be good. And damn, what a lot of classic songs they did. They where all there, everything of the old stuff that you wanted to hear. The band was in great shape and even if the voice from Belladonna does not hold up as good any longer it was nice to hear these thrash classics live. The concert nevertheless didn't get really intensified until the last part that started of with Indians and Be All, End All but from there it was just to sit back and enjoy the ride. I also liked that they included one of their crazier songs with I'm The Man that really got a sweet vibe to it. Apart from the appetizer I got from Freak Kitchen this was the first concert for me at this years festival and a better start of the festival is hard to get. And although this was good I must say that I prefer Anthrax with John Bush behind the microphone, the concert they did at Sweden Rock Festival in 2003 is hard to beat.

7,5 chalices of 10

Setlist:
Among The Living
Got The Time
Caught In A Mosh
A.I.R.
Madhouse
Anti-Social
N.F.L.
Medusa
Indians
Be All, End All
I'm The Man
Metal Thrashing Mad
I Am The Law

Friday - 10th of June

Band: Mustasch
Time: 12.00-13.15
Rock Stage

Mustasch was a late replacement for Arch Enemy that cancelled in the last minute and after I witnessed this concert my disappointment over the Arch's cancellation was completely gone. It is always good to start the day with a healthy stoner groove in the sunshine and I was impressed by the delivery from the guys despite the early hour and the hangover they supposedly suffered from. Mustasch tend to be uneven on their albums and even if it is good music they have trouble lasting for an entire album. But live is where their music is to be enjoyed as the stoner groove combined with the guitar harmonies really comes to life on stage with these guys. In a cheerful mood they delivered what I consider a "best of" set from their studio albums and Mustasch is a confident live act that you should see if the chance is being granted.

7 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Related links:
www.Black_Label_Society.net

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Band: Black Label Society
Time: 13.30-14.45
Festival Stage

Zakk Wylde made fame as he was wielding the axe for Ozzy and to me he is the heir to the late Rhandy Rhoads and now he rolled into Sweden with his band Black Label Society. With the theme from the Godfather movies as intro the band kicked into action with Stoned And Drunk as opener, and it stroke me that this band is so much more powerful and dynamic live than on album. It is heavy duty metal with no fuzz and Zakk that looks like a combination of a lumberjack and a biker shows that is one helluva guitar player without the need of sticking it in your face. It was a bit of ups and downs with the intensity in their performance but with songs like Funeral Bell, Suicide Messiah and Fire It Up it worked really well, although I think that a small club gig is to prefer with this band rather than a large outdoor stage in the sunshine.

6,5 chalices of 10

Setlist:
Stoned And Drunk
Destruction Overdrive
It's Been A Long Time
Funeral Bell
Suffering Overdue
Suicide Messiah
In This River
Demise Of Sanity
Spread Your Wings
Fire It Up
Stillborn
Genocide Junkies

Saturday - 11th of June

Band: Sebastian Bach
Time: 15.00-16.15
Sweden Stage

There was a gigantic crowd in front of the Sweden stage when I arrived to listen to the old front man from Skid Row. It was great to see that people had not forgotten about Bach and his great voice and it was even greater to see that Bach realizes that it is the Skid Row songs most people wants to hear. It was purely fantastic to hear classic Skid Row songs live once again and the crowd loved it and Sebastian himself seemed to be overwhelmed by the reception he got and kept saying I love Sweden and stuff like that in staggering Swedish. On the sad side it has to be said that his voice wasn't exactly on top or at least not what it has been and when he mixed the set list with material I suppose was his own, it lost much of the pulse the concert got from the Skid Row moments. I didn't catch the name of all of the members in the band he had brought with him but I do know that Metal Mike Chlasciak (third year for this guy at the festival, last year with Testament and earlier with Halford) gave a tougher edge to the music with his guitar while Bobby Jarzombek (also with Halford) was lashing out on his drums. These guys as well as the rest of the band did a great job with the old Skid Row songs making them heavier and also making them feel a lot more metal. In all it was a really good concert with some amazing moments but also with a total destruction of the classic ballad Wasted Time. It was made into a duet with a new Swedish pop hope named Sofia and I am sure she will sound great on her album with a cover version of the track when they can tamper with her voice in the studio. But live she has nothing to offer, she did look rather nervous and that might have had something to do with her performance, but it cannot have affected that much. Sebastian seemed to be overly excited over his guest performance although but I could hear the boo's shouted from people in the crowd and perhaps if they had practiced a bit more it might have sounded better.

6 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Other sightings:

Freak Kitchen, how could I not watch these guys? Even though I saw them just a couple of weeks ago and even though Anthrax started to play simultaneously, I just had to get a glimpse. The band seemed to be in the same happy and playful mood as always joking around on the stage but I missed the part where IA played guitar with a bull dick(!?) though.

Megadeth, this sounded great and Dave Mustaine seemed to be more energetic than usual. His voice was a bit flat though and even if the delivery of the songs was flawless, Megadeth tend to be a bit stiff on stage. But I only got to see a few tracks before I had to leave in order to assist my colleague Michael in time for our scheduled interview with Hellfueled.

Symphorce, and Andy B. Franck were back at the festival again. Last year it was with Brainstorm and no matter which band he plays in he does a great job and his voice fits perfectly also with Symphorce, which is a more heavier band than Brainstorm. It truly was a nice moment lying in the grass relaxing and listening to them, especially with the great work they did with the cover version of Nice Dreams originally done by Powermad.

Vixen, I remember when I was a teenager and watching Headbanger's Ball on MTV and they were showing videos with Vixen. They might not still be as hot but what can you say, they still got it. Not really my taste in music but it worked well to sink a beer to while listening and dreaming back to the days of my youth.

Drunk People, yup, there were a lot of drunk people also this year. Already in the middle of the first day you saw people lying passed out in the grass after drinking way too much alcohol. And then you saw people totally pissed early in the days wearing t-shirts with bands not playing until much later and that always makes me wonder if they actually managed to sober up enough to see their favorite band. Probably not. It does not bother me at all that people drink a lot, oh no, it is just that I wonder: after they have been permanently pissed for three days and then returns home and their friends asks them how the festival has been, what do they answer then, what can they actually remember?

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I must say that I enjoyed this year at the festival as much as I have done earlier and a big thanx to those responsible seems to be in place for all of the great job they've done, they even did a great job with the weather. Lots of sunshine and hardly any rain at all, just a tiny few drops that fell on Saturday and I got my self a great tan on my bald head and was forced to go and buy myself a cap in order to avoid sunstroke.

The only disappointment with this year's festival is with me. While sitting in the car returning home I leaned back and went through the festival in my head and all of the bands I had seen, I started to realize that I almost only saw bands I had already seen before. It seems like I only went down the safe path with bands that I knew that I liked and didn't take the time to discover new bands, and that is usually a big part of the fun with festivals. Unfortunately we arrived a bit late on Thursday and I also was a bit tired on Saturday (call it hung over if you like) and that made me miss some concerts I would have wanted to see, but I surely got value for my money spent anyway. And the dates for next years festival is now marked with red in my calendar - 8th, 9th and 10th of June. I will not be home answering the phone those days if you know what I mean....