Sara Hammerzmith

A lot earlier than I would probably personally prefer I got up and started getting myself ready. Which basically means, I put together what I wanted to wear for the day, then put all of the other clothes into a bag and walked all the way back to my car to dump the stuff there. Essentially, my idea is that I’d start putting things back in order to give me less and less to carry. Once dumped, I headed back to the area to catch the first show of the day: Vanity Blvd.

Vanity BLVD

I can’t even remember when it was I last saw this band. I mean, I know I saw them at Peace&Love a million years ago, but I can’t recall seeing them once since then, and it just blows my mind. I know for sure it wasn’t in 2009, but either 2007 or 2008. It’s at least EIGHT YEARS! Holy hell. It’s hard to grasp sometimes how rarely you see some bands…

Well, regardless! It was an early day, so the crowd was a bit so so when it comes to amount, but despite that they still delivered a good set! I love how charismatic Anna is, she did get the few that showed up going. But! Despite – a good energetic set. I was well pleased, and it was worth getting up for!

Right after the show I headed to the merch to pick up their latest release – I’ve been postponing way too long to get it, but, at last! Then, it was back to the campground to have some late breakfast, because apparently I have got no time for that in the morning. I pulled out Pinky McSpin to blast some music, and essentially just enjoying life. In the high and damp grass, overlooking the fields. Skogsröjet is really great that way, I must admit.

The hours passed, and off to the area I went to catch the second band of the day: Art Nation.

Art Nation

So, Art Nation is one of those bands I discovered by listening through the entire set of artists playing (I need to get better at doing that really) and was met by a pretty crowded place. The band? They were on fire. Seriously, what a show! I enjoyed every single minute of it, and to judge the crowd, so did they! Seriously, thank you!

Right after this, I, again, went back to the merch to pick up their CD – and see, pay attention to this: For once in my life, I literally only made the already planned CD purchases. How is this even possible? How is it possible that I actually managed to stay within my budget this year? It blows my mind.

I went outside heading back to the camp in order to pick up a long friend of mine – Elias. I haven’t seen him for four years, so it’s been a long time no see! And it was a bit awkward. He was standing and talking to some friends, and me and a girl who were friends to them approached them at the same time, where Elias says “Ah, so this is your entourage?” to the guy and I was like “well, ok” before he recognized me, haha! It sure as hell have been some time.

We spent the next couple of hours catching up about everything and nothing, sunbathing in the high and damp grass listening to music on Pinky McSpin.. yes. This is life, you know? Sitting in your campchair on a sunny day outside your tent, hearing a band play somewhere in the distant, hearing the other camps stereos competing a bit with yours… Festival life at it’s finest.

The Quireboys

Well, by the time the hours passed, it was time for us to get to the area again to catch The Quireboys. I must admit, I’ve never been a big fan of The Quireboys (it’s mostly Elias who likes them) but despite that, I can’t complain about them delivering a set worth seeing! They have this.. partyfeeling, you know? You get happy. Thanks guys, it was awesome!

Quiet Riot

Right after this, I headed over to Quiet Riot’s stage where I very gladly found Robert and Sindra, so I could accompany them (Elias had gone to the beertent) to enjoy this show. I really like Quiet Riot, it’s one of those bands I never really thought I’d ever get to see, but you know, festivals makes it happen. It was a great set, and everything culminated in the singer from Quireboys joining them for “Cum on Feel the Noise”. Seriously, what a moment!

Helloween

After this, I went back to the camp to start pack up. Since the festival is very close to home, it’s convenient to go home already after the last band, rather than getting stuck in the jams the next day. So, in the wait for Helloween I, with help from Elias, started packing everything up, pausing to got and catch the show.

Like I’ve said about literally every other band on this festival – it was a good show. I enjoyed it a lot, and I’m superglad I decided to go to see this.

After this, we went back to the camp, wrapped everything up and got it back to the car. On our way back to the festival area we took the moment to distribute some flyers for Sabaton Open Air before having very very very late dinner (1 am), listening to a few Lillasyster songs before we got in the car and on our way home.

Which became a bit of a nightmare. My car has gotten this sudden electronic problem, so it shuts off the lights when it feels like it. Which is not so pleasant on pitchdark countryside roads. The funniest thing is of course the fact that Elias freaked out a lot more than I did, haha, jesus christ.

Eventually, everything worked out and we all got home safely.

Thank you, everyone that I got to meet on this festival, thank you Skogsröjet for another pleasant festival this year, and thanks to all the bands who made it worth! A little extra shoutout to the professionals in Hardcore Superstar and the saviors in Freedom Call. You made it a little extra special.

// Sara

This entry was posted on August 13, 2016 at 7:07 pm and is filed under Concerts, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.