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Skogsröjet 2013My second visit at Skogsröjet festival, located in the village of Rejmyre, about 185 kilometers (115 miles) Southwest of Stockholm, Sweden. The festival opened its gates on Thursday evening 25th as a warm-up including a Gilby Clarke acoustic set in the bar area. Friday morning was rainy, but when I arrived on Friday afternoon I was met by a great festival weather. I saw some puddles on the asphalt, but the temperature was around 25°C (77°F) and partly cloudy most of the weekend, with a bit chillier nights. With only around 4000 visitors each day Friday and Saturday and with limited funds, the festival had announced a fantastic line-up. Unfortunately a lot of the festival goers decided to bail out on the smaller and less known bands during the afternoons and on some shows I counted to a poor 100-150 people in front of the stages. I believe a good idea would be to let the more known bands play the main stage from early afternoon to bring people down to the grounds. With two stages and a compressed schedule, a few
bands conflicted during Friday night. A schedule with no time for changeovers
is doomed to fuck up. When I arrived in time for Treat we were already
running late by 15 minutes and when Helloween started its set past midnight,
we were 40 minutes late. Personally I would prefer at least a 5-10 minute
break between the sets and one band less. Now I had to decide a couple
of times if I should stay and see the last songs of a band or leave and
see the first songs of another band, both equally important to me. Reviews and photos by Tobbe Friday - July 26Band: Treat With Treat out on their farewell tour in 2013, I once again had the opportunity to catch a set. I wasn't that pleased with their performance at Sweden Rock in early June and therefore I didn't know what to expect from this late afternoon gig at a festival 1/7 the size. It took like forever to get my wristband, so I thought I was late for the show. This time Lady Luck smiled upon me though. As the schedule was running late, I arrived in the opener Roar and I couldn't instantly see that Treat was armed to the teeth, when not playing at noon like last time I saw them. They showed joy and excitement for their duties and drummer Jamie Borger was shining bright with his repertoire. Treat forms a solid unit and with Fredrik Thomander, who co-wrote about half of their last album, on bass, I think it's a shame that they have decided to call it quits. It's not all about the original members anymore, meaning that vocalist Robert Ernlund and guitarist Anders Wikström have had much weight lifted off their shoulders. Keyboarder and guitarist Patrick Appelgren shows us what he's got and all members contribute to the performance to make it something worth being there for. With a mixture of new and old stuff, they play pretty much the same set that they have played the last three years. I think it's really funny when Ernlund tells us that they have checked out Facebook and internet forums to find out which songs to play. A good one, Robert. If they had changed their setlist, they would have for sure earned a higher rating. Performance: 6 chalices
of 10 Setlist: Band: Shotgun With 2/4 of Shotgun Messiah's original line-up, Shotgun with vocalist Zinny Zan and drummer Stixx is completed by bassplayer Chris Laney and Danger Danger guitarist Rob Marcello. With only half of the original members, only half of the name is used. This gig was their first appearance, but it sure didn't looked like it. Total professionals. I remember buying Shotgun Messiah's self titled album many years ago. I liked a couple of songs, but the approach and the production was too weak for me, as I was more a heavy metaller than a sleaze rocker. When I now hear the songs live, they blow me away. What a different arrangement. The songs sound fresh and also somewhat up-to-date and I would never had thought that I would enjoy this show this vividly. Marcello is a fantastic guitarist and he lifts some of the decent songs
to new and unknown levels. The songs are so much better live and the guys
on stage are focused and committed. This was one of the festival's best
moments and these forty-five minutes went by way too fast. Performance: 7 chalices
of 10 Setlist: Band: Lordi Every metal kid's favorite monsters? Not really. I believe it's more the kids' parents that enjoy this show and use the kids as a subterfuge. Mr. Lordi brings his accessories on stage, one after the other. It's smoke-guns, dolls, skulls, etc. With his massive outfit, there is not much room for explosive moving patterns and some visual experience is missing. The actual show is pretty amusing nevertheless. The songs however are not much to my liking. They tend to be somewhat
the same all through and they are simply not that good as a whole. With
six songs off The Arockalypse, they play a set with their most known songs,
since their Eurovision Song Contest winner Hard Rock Hallelujah comes
off that album. With this in hand, I can't offer Lordi more than 5 chalices
for tonight's performance. Performance: 5 chalices
of 10 Setlist: Band: Gilby Clarke Performance: - chalices
of 10 (sorry, no setlist) Band: Kreator Main man Mille Petrozza said during the set that they were a bit concerned about playing this festival, when being the only thrash metal band in the line-up. He then lied, straight to our faces, and told us they shouldn't have worried at all and that they were satisfied with the crowd's response. With a small crowd like this, Kreator's moshpit don't fall out the way we're used to and with four security personnel also trying to stop any violent activities in the pit, this turns out embarrassing, as Petrozza is encouraging more violence in the pit simultaneously. The band played a pretty varied set with mainly songs off their two first albums and songs from the 2000's. No matter which Kreator fans you ask, they all want to hear different songs from this band. Some wants their older stuff and some don't give a damn about those songs. I think they do a solid job putting this list of songs together, but I really can't see what's good with Flag Of Hate. The main man was as angry as he always is and Ventor was beating his
skins to the extreme. Bassplayer Christian Giesler however must have been
on sedatives. A totally death boring aura surrounded him throughout the
entire gig and that overshadowed part of their appearance. Performance: 6 chalices
of 10 Setlist: Band: Lita Ford I have seen Lita Ford thrice prior to this appearance and on all occasions I left after about thirty minutes, no matter at what point during the set I entered the venue. This time I made it clear to myself that I would stay for the entire show no matter how it turned out. My expectations were low, but I tried my best to go there with a blank mind. Oh my God. I can't believe I missed Helloween's first three songs to
stay put in front of Lita Ford, but a promise is a promise. Most of the
songs are truly bland and the extended version of Back To The Cave most
be one of the worst songs ever. Out For Blood, Cherry Bomb and many more
also sucks big-time. Even the drum solo is more interesting. The band
is however a bit tighter than before, so at least she's got the common
sense to rehearse nowadays. Also a few select songs are actually pretty
good, so I hand out 3 chalices to Lita and her crew. Performance: 3 chalices
of 10 Setlist: Band: Helloween I arrive to Helloween's show during the third song, Straight Out Of Hell, and what first strikes me is how dark it is at the front of the stage. I could barely see the band's faces, as all lights were coming from behind and the headlights in the tower were not in use. It was like seeing silhouettes for the entire show. Definitely disappointing. Two minutes after my arrival, Deris presents If I Could Fly off The Dark Ride and the band plays Waiting For The Thunder. Good job, Andi. That's just about how fun it got during the show, as things were pretty much running on daily routine. He later apologized for his fuck up when they eventually played that song though. Deris is a fairly good frontman and his vocal performance is better than it was a few years ago, but still something in his voice is missing and it stains the band's overall effort. Guitarist Sascha Gerstner is on the other hand in full bloom nowadays. He totally kills Grosskopf and Weikath on stage, as he grows safer in his position. All in all, a day at work for the Germans. Performance: 5 chalices
of 10 Setlist:
Saturday - July 27Band: Elevener Performance: - chalices
of 10 (sorry, no setlist) Band: The Art Performance: - chalices
of 10 (sorry, no setlist) Band: Sister Sin Performance: - chalices
of 10 (sorry, no setlist) Band: Faster Pussycat Faster Pussycat had a short-lived heyday in the late eighties and nowadays vocalist Taime Downe is the sole original member. A band that definitely lead the rock 'n' roll life. These guys drink everything in reach and I doubt they use soap and water after this last gig on their European stretch. What is my point then? Well, I see this band more as a cool act than a great one, aiming at both appearance and songs. With members not being sober on stage they truly live the life. This is however nothing that affects the total performance. It's more the way it should be, as they rush through their forty-five minute set with lyrics that perhaps shouldn't be taken in print. The sound quality was satisfactory, but sometimes Ace Von Johnson's guitar
was barely audible and that overshadowed some of his soloing. Still, a
rather good gig and pretty much what I expected. Performance: 6 chalices
of 10 Setlist: Band: H.E.A.T Performance: - chalices
of 10 (sorry, no setlist) Band: Lizzy Borden Lizzy Borden enters to Master Of Disguise and the vocalist with the same name truly masters that art. I caught sixteen of his different guises on camera and I bet I missed one or two. I see myself lose focus on the actual music from time to time, standing there waiting for the main man's next move. Moves that includes biting a chick's throat and walking the front row and splash people with his fake blood, before eventually pouring the last liter over ecstatic and overjoyed fans, who then smear each other with that red viscous liquid. On this beautiful summer evening, Lizzy Borden offers, in addition to
the blood, somewhat of a best of-set with a few newer songs. Unfortunately
we also get two covers for some reason I really can't get the hang of.
The band has loads of songs that could make the set, so why play the boring
Rebel Yell and the jaded Born To Be Wild? Performance: 6 chalices
of 10 Setlist: Band: Pretty Maids Last time I saw Pretty Maids, I found it kind of dull and without life, so I walked close to the stage with cautious steps. The band enters and opens the set with Mother of All Lies and all my negative thoughts vanish in thin air. An explosive start and they are set to rock. I really don't know what to think when they play six songs from their first two albums and five off their two latest. Most of the older songs are great, but still, so are their latest efforts as well and I would probably prefer if they ditched a couple of classics in favor for even more new songs. The gig turns out great nonetheless. Bassplayer Rene Shades grows stronger
all the time and he has indeed found his own room besides the veterans,
guitarist Ken Hammer and vocalist Ronnie Atkins. An impressive performance
by the Danish rockers. Performance: 8 chalices
of 10 Setlist: Band: Twisted Sister Dee Snider used to say that Twisted Sister is back; bigger and badder than ever. I wonder if he knew how relevant that statement would be today. Since their comeback ten years ago, they improve almost every time I see them. It's just a good show in many aspects. Dee is one of metal's best frontmen and he is rocking hard, the songs are great and so is the atmosphere. The frontman also had fun about the main stage's size, as he was wondering if they were playing a bar. Rest assured, he never was a man keeping his mouth shut. As the festival's definite headlining act they use all lights available and for the first time this weekend the stage lighting is rather solid. A few pyros were shown also and it felt good with some fire to heat things up when the grounds of Rejmyre were slowly getting cooler. Twisted Sister is entertainment. They never make you lose focus and if
you like the songs, you will absolutely enjoy their shows as well. The
songs aren't that long, making them intense and with Dee up front, there's
no room for breathers. Once again they prove that they still got something
to give. Performance: 8 chalices
of 10 Setlist: The closing wordsI know that it takes several years to create a
solid festival and I think the organizers are doing a good job. I also
enjoy these not too crowded festivals, as I can walk close to the stages
without any pushing and shoving. I bow in honor to the people who handled
the audio. The sound quality was stunning and this was without a single
ounce of doubt the best I've heard on a festival. A totally outstanding
effort. I will definitely return to Skogsröjet in 2014. Related links: |