Stone Sour @ Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden 16/11 – 17
So, three weeks of weekend tourings has reached the start of the end, and so I went on the train, again, seems to be a new normal for me, and headed off to Stockholm for a pitstop and then onwards to Germany. But this must have been the trip to hell.
On my way to the trainstation, it dawns upon me that I have forgotten my SL card, buscard for public transport in Stockholm. Which I had topped up specifically for this. While seated on the train, I realize I have forgotten my carry-on pouch which contains my toothbrush and toothpaste, and then a day worth of necessities, in case my checked in bag would get lost. Oh well. Fuck my life. And then I realize another thing.
I forgot the concert ticket at home.
There were a few frantic moments of panic, until I could read on the ticket in my mailbox that it’s fine to scan it directly off your phone at the entrance. Thank. Fucking. God. On top of that, the train got delayed.
So, once in Stockholm I went back to Birka Hostel, my new “home” in Stockholm, and conveniently enough, I had the exact same room as I had earlier this year when I saw Sabaton. How awesome? Ran off to a convenience store to buy my now third travel toothbrush and some paste and then down to Sergels Torg to once again meet up with Robert.
This time around though, we chose to have dinner at Burger King instead. Why not you know. We headed off to the arena and got a bit lost at first. It’s a bit confusing, seeing the venue is Annexet, which is not really Globen, but still is Globen. Eventually we found our way in, made the bathroom break and then headed off to the merchandise. Robert picked up a shirt of each band, and then into the venue.
It was somewhat empty in fact, to my surprise but also to our joy, I guess. Ida and Adam soon joined us, two of the people I met while at Graspop, and it was BEYOND to see them again. And then.. lights out and show starting.
The Pretty Reckless
First time for me to see this band, and I listened a lot to their “Going to Hell” album at the time it came out, but after that I kind of lost track of them? If that makes sense, but I was very happy to finally see them.
They walked on stage and just stood there, almost as if in pain, and then started off with “Follow me Down” which is the perfect mixture of both subtleness and in your face kind of thing. They followed it up with “Since You’re Gone” and “Oh My God”.
“Hangman” was next to the list, and even if the crowd might have been a little bit thin, it was still a good vibe coming from them. The band was delivering as well, so it was all good. “Prisoner” was next, followed by one of my personal favorites “Sweet Things” before they cranked out their big hit “Make Me Wanna Die”. Or I don’t know if it’s their big hit, but it was the first song they released anyway. Somewhere here, Robert manages to drop our beerglass. ALL OVER MY NEW BATTLE BEAST HOODIE. And Ida’s hair and dress. Oh well.
Guitarsolo was ripped up before “Heaven Knows” which is also one of my own personal favorites, it’s the perfect crowd song, if you think about it really. “Going to Hell” and “Take Me Down” wrapped the set for this time, and the band thanked for themselves and left the stage.
While I enjoyed the show, I still found it a bit dull. Musically they delivered, but I wish to have seen more energy in them, I’ll admit.
After this, I headed out to the bathroom, and still miraculously made my way back where we were, and Robert was nowhere to be found. What the hell. Turns out he’d gone too, after all, so I made my to the side of the crowd rather than in the middle of it. And before Robert even returned, the intro started rolling..
Stone Sour
As they came on stage, they opened the set with “Taipei Person / Allah Tea” and the crowd… sort of lost it, I guess. It’s not exactly as I’ve seen it happen before, but the place had gotten packed and everyone was in a good mood, and the band seemed to be too.
“Knievel Has Landed” was the second song on the setlist, and Corey was… he was good. He was energetic. I’ll leave it at that. “Made of Scars” followed suit, and “Reborn” was next. The crowd was decent, but not really there yet. BUT – when next song was announced, they woke up a little bit
“Say You’ll Haunt Me” took place, and I do personally love this song a lot, so I was more than happy. “30/30-150” followed suit, and then “Hesitate”, which he fittingly enough dedicated to all of us ladies. Thank you for that, Corey. I love this song.
“Tired” was next, and the thing is… The band performed. And delivered. But I miss that energy. They lack that energy that I wish to see in a live band, which surprises me. Even Corey Taylor was a bit calmed down, and it felt like it was just another day at the job for them. Which it was, in a way.
“Rose Red Violent Blue (This song is dumb and so am I)” from the most recent album followed suit, alongside “Do me a Favor” and “Cold Reader”. At this point, the crowd had warmed up a little bit… but still not entirely there, you know?
“Get Inside”, “Song#3” were done and then… Corey started singing, and the whole arena more or less exploded. Yeah, I guess you can guess. “Through Glass”.
After the song, they left the stage and the intro for “Gone Sovereign” started echoing, and they returned to finish of the song. A screaming competition between the sides emerged, to set the intro for “Absolute Zero” and FINALLY the crowd woke up. Well, for a second anyway.
The whole set was wrapped up with “Fabuless” before they, for real, left the stage and said their good byes.
Robert and I hung around for a while, and we both managed to score setlists despite not being in the front, and he also got a pick. How awesome, huh. We hung around for a while to make the line go down, and then got out and got home to our respective places.
It was a good night with good friends, and I loved that. Tomorrow, Germany.
// Sara
Sara Hammerzmith 
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