hultsfred

» Hultsfred 2006

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All pictures are © Daniel Gleisner.
Please contact him and ask for permission before using any of the pictures.
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Sweden's biggest music festival have always strived for a programme that involves the most vital artists in genres like pop, rock, hip hop and metal, as well as presenting some exclusive big names that rarely show themselves on Swedish soil. In 2004 the arrangers suffered a major backlash when the attendance was much lower than expected, but the following year they responded with high-profile bands like System Of A Down and Nine Inch Nails, and the young audience found its way back and bought all the tickets. This year doesn't hold any spectacular bookings comparable to last year, but metal-wise it's still a very strong line-up. And the festival is, once again, sold out to the very last ticket.
~ Niklas

Thursday - 15th of June

This was my fifth visit to Hultsfred, and every year it takes a few hours to get re-acquainted to the surroundings and check if all the stages and food-places are where they used to be. A few great concerts usually help with getting into the festival-rhythm, but unfortunately the schedule for Thursday looked scarce to say at least. I did find myself standing in front of Soulfly for a few songs, but luckily I had better things to attend to, namely the soccer-game between Sweden and Paraguay. After Korn were forced to drop out due to illness, this particular game suddenly became the highlight of the day. And how lucky for everyone that Sweden's Fredrik Ljungberg managed to score the only goal just a few minutes before the end, because the festival would surely be ruined for many visitors if Sweden had lost. Instead, the thousands of people that had seen the game together on a big screen-TV found themselves in a transport of joy that proved that this goal was exactly what the festival needed to get started for real.

Band: Within Temptation
Pampas Stage 22.50-23.50

I surely wouldn't have wanted to be in Within Temptation's shoes if Sweden's game against Paraguay wouldn't have gone according to plan. But now the Dutch sextet manage to present a rather enjoyable show, starting with Sharon den Adel entering the stage to the sound of Deceiver Of Fools with a Swedish flag in her hand. The time of the day (or rather, night) is just right for this type of music, the sun has set and the mosquitoes have started to kick in. But unfortunately for myself, I attended a Within Temptation-concert last year in Stockholm, and this time they don't have a massive screen with beautiful motives behind them, which make the stage feel a bit parsimonious. I'm also disappointed that we hear so little from the heavy guitars, and den Adel must have had trouble warming up her voice this cold night, since it feels a bit shaky at times. Complains aside, tracks like Memories, Ice Queen, See Who I Am and Running Up That Hill are always great, even if they feel a bit too familiar by now. The next time I see Within Temptation play live I hope they have a new album under their wings.

6,5 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Related links:
www.within-temptation.com

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Band: Strapping Young Lad
Teaterladan 01:30-02:30

Devin Townsend - madman or genius? This is the question I ask myself several times during Strapping Young Lad's extremely intense and brutal gig at Teaterladan. Townsend's exclamations are mostly of the disturbed kind and he also makes clear what he thinks about a balloon that flies around in the audience ("Would somebody pop that balloon!?"). SYL's brand of asylum-metal plays around a lot with rhythms, and occasionally lets melodies fly into the picture. It might feel a bit monotonous at times, but strangely enough it never becomes boring. It's hard to pick any standout tracks, but the new song You Suck from the forthcoming album The New Black is one of the better. The highlight of the concert arrives after almost an hour of Townsend's insults, when he surprisingly declares to the audience that all he wants to bring us is actually "love". Then the track Love? is played and the pieces of the puzzle finally come together. Nevertheless, I still had nightmares of Devin Townsend sneaking around my tent that very same night.

7 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Related links:
www.strappingyounglad.com

Friday - 16th of June

The second day at Hultsfred reminded a lot of the first, since there weren't really any good metal bands to talk about until very late in the evening. Instead of just dragging myself around I managed to check out big names like Lou Reed, The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and The Strokes, but found myself disappointed and bored of all three. I did go see the Christian hardcore band Blindside, and was impressed by their energy, but the music still isn't my cup of tea. Also, a memo to myself: when you shake your head at all the drunken goofs who look like they haven't used sun block for days, be sure not to forget to use it yourself! Luckily, when the scorching sun finally said goodnight, the problems with my burning neck was out of the way.

Band: Opeth
Pampas Stage 22.45-23.45

Sweden's most peculiar metal-band keeps climbing the ladder with each new appearance on this festival. Five years ago they played in a barn (Teaterladan), two years later they moved into a slightly more spacious tent (Atlantis) and this year they installed themselves on the second biggest outdoor-stage, Pampas. Next stop Hawaii for Opeth, perhaps? It's not impossible, since Mikael Åkerfeldt and his fellow musicians have no problems filling out their stage and reaching out to the audience. However, I must hand out some minus points. Firstly, Åkerfeldt's talk in-between songs isn't as sharp as usual, and his singing voice is mixed too low. And since Opeth rarely play songs that are shorter than ten minutes, it's crucial that they choose the right material. This particular set list only contained five songs, and since merely two of them (The Grand Conjuration and Deliverance) are among their best, I cannot possible rate this as high as their concert at Klubben in Stockholm last fall.

7,5 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Saturday - 17th of June

No offence to all the bands that made the first two days of the festival memorable, but it all merely felt like a warm-up to the final day. The fact that the arrangers actually sold 1-day tickets to this day only (there were only plans for 3-day tickets this year, but after much pressure the arrangers changed their minds) hints that this was the most attractive day to visit Hultsfred. Mostly due to the fact that Sweden's top selling band Kent made their only concert of the year in Sweden this night. Being a big fan I obviously had to see this, it was just a shame that this gig clashed with both Alice In Chains and Bullet For My Valentine. Fortunately there were other metal-kicks to be had this evening.

Band: Soilwork
Teaterladan 23:15-00:10

"Let's tear this barn apart!" screams Björn "Speed" Strid as Soilwork launches One With The Flies at the energetic crowd. This is the first time ever Helsingborg's finest plays at Hultsfred, but I can almost guarantee that it won't be the last. Teaterladan is cram-full and I don't believe anyone left the gig feeling disappointed. Soilwork is a well-oiled metal-machine (even with the session guitarist Daniel Antonsson on board) and Speed can almost do his routines in his sleep by now. The performance is pretty much flawless, but the sound isn't entirely what it should be, since Sven Karlsson's keyboard is barely heard on crucial tracks like Follow The Hollow and Nerve. Before the gig I had also hoped that they would have rehearsed some more new songs for us to hear since the gig in Stockholm last autumn, since Stabbing The Drama (which was voted by Metal Covenant's staff as the best album of 2005) contains multiple gems that deserve to be played live. This time we only got Stalemate, which indeed was one of the evening's greatest, but what about awesome cuts like The Crestfallen or Weapon Of Vanity? Oh well, next time perhaps. Alas, due to poor planning by the arrangers, a few people left the gig a few minutes before the end, since In Flames soon started their gig at another stage. However, even if I rank In Flames slightly higher than Soilwork, there was never any question whether or not I would stay till the end. I mean, would I just leave when Speed & Co were getting ready to fire away the final track As We Speak - the greatest song ever made? Not in a million years.

9 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)