Sara Hammerzmith

I already linked to DT, but I’m just gonna post the Youtube video right here. The whole Carolus Show from Sabaton Open Air, for you to watch! This is the show I talked about a few days ago. Ahhh. This is epicness. Epicness.

// Sara

So the last day had come. The day for us to head home to wherever we came from. When we woke up I expected it to be really wet outside, but I was happily surprised to see it wasn’t! Of course, my chair was drenched, but that’s a minor thing. We set up the table and the sound-system for one last time, for one last breakfast at the amazing and cozy grounds that is Skogsröjet. We talked about the festival, about Lordi, about the festival, about Lordi… yeah you know. The normal things.

After this it was time to start packing down and go home. Packing down was fairly easy, and after two rounds we had gotten everything to the car. Now, the trickiness started.

As you might remember, our car was stuffed UP TO HERE with stuff when we traveled down, but we figured that if we re-packed everything, we should be able to get everything down into one bag each, and I managed pretty well. So instead of one large bag and two Disney Princess-bags, I ended up with one bag. And instead of a million bags, Michelle ended up with two. What a relief.

Of course, this didn’t help the boys too much sadly. Once they had gotten in we started to pack things on top of them. But you know, at least they survived! I was told Ludvig couldn’t exactly see anything, but you know. The only thing he missed out on was the returns of the dinosaurs, so no big deal.

After reaching our destination and saying good bye to the boys for this time, we headed on further to Katrineholm for Michelle to catch her train. We also took the opportunity to take an early dinner in the shape of pizza from Prima Vera Pizzeria, I wanna give a HUGE shout-out to them as they were so generous giving us soda and salad for free. We sat down in the central park of the city and had dinner and recorded a podcast. We knocked over our colas a couple of time and had good laughs all in all.

After a while we even laid down and fell asleep for a short moment, and this is the first time I have ever slept under bare sky in the middle of the day! But it was also well needed. I was dead tired after this festival, and I think that little nap re-powered me a lot. We also came across these funny looking ostriches, or a statue of ostriches. What on earth. We were probably very tired.

I said good bye to Michelle later and headed for a short drive home. Saddest drive ever. And when I hit Karlstad, I was greeted with thunder, rain and lightning. First time I’ve ever seen lighting in real life!

This festival was so epic. I wanna thank everybody involved – Ludvig, Albin, Michelle, Renata, Sofia, Johanna, Joiz, Izabelle and Angelina for making the festival what it was. Of course, I wanna aim a big thank you to the amazing bands as well – Alestorm, Steel Panther, Hardcore Superstar, Dream Evil, AVATAR, PAIN, Michael Monroe and more. And of course, the amazing people who work at the festival. Thank you!

Thank you all. See you next time!

// Sara

So! The day had come! We went to this festival mostly because of Steel Panther (and Fatal Smile, but we all know how that worked out...) so we were beyond excited! But not only for the sake of Steel Panther, but because fellow monstermaniacs and metalheads Ludvig and Albin were going to join in! Unlike yesterday, Saturday morning was very hot so we found ourselves taking “showers” with the cold water we had preserved in 2L cola bottles. That was cold as fuck, and we squealed a lot, but it was also veeeery nice to cool down.

Around 1pm I went to the bathroom and made it just in time to pick up Ludvig and Albin that had been driven to Skogsröjet by Ludvigs dad. It was so nice to see Ludvig again,and also to meet Albin! I brought them back to our camp where they made themselves at home and we sat down and talked a lot of Lordi. It’s so nice to catch up with monstermaniacs, I tell you.

It was soon time for Crashdiet, so we started to slowly move towards the area,but not before we had headed to the car to lock up some valuable stuff, when Ludvig stops, right next to the schoolyard and looks at us.

“Hey guys… ain’t that Satchel doing the double dutch?”

And it was. It was fucking Satchel doing double dutch on the schoolyard. We were all tempted to say something, but we figured we’d leave him alone and went to the car. But when we came back, he was still there, so Michelle took the opportunity to yell “HEY! Satchel! LOOKING GOOD!” Haha, he laughed a little and gave us the horns. I wonder how much he hated us.

Anyway, when entering the area we noticed Steel Panther HAD in fact added a signing session,which was AWESOME. And I hate myself for this. I had planned to bring some Steel Panther stuff just in case, but forgot it. Damn it damn it damn it.

Anyway. We headed directly for Crashdiets stage and waited for them. Last year, they cancelled their show so it was basically up to proof if they’d show up or not. Gladly, they did!

The gig was good. It was good seeing them again, it’s been so quiet in the Crashdiet camp lately. I must also add, Simon has gotten quite a dashing style! The setlist was pretty predictable though. “Cocaine Cowboys”, “Drinking without You”, “Riot in Everyone”, “Breaking The Chainz”, “Generation Wild” and so on. But I’m very glad they played “Damaged Kid”, my fave song off “The Savage Playground”.

Fun story: When we were standing there watching Crashdiet, something or someone came out behind us. We heard people whispering and we were like what, what are you all going on about. So we turned around. And A WILD MICHAEL FUCKING STARR + STIX ZADINIA APPEARS! Like. WHAT. What the hell you know. Apparently they are Crashdiet fans? Haha, it was fun anyway. Second time it happens.

After Crashdiet we picked up some early food and prepared to get in line for Steel Panther signing session. We watched Dregen a bit on a distance and once we were all finished with our dinner, we headed for the line. We were not first in line, but pretty far ahead. Eventually, the band showed up and we all collected our items (for me, Ludde and Albin it was the Skogsröjet program, and for Michelle the poster).

The first thing that happened when I came to the table was Michael raising from his seat to bend over to hug and kiss(?!) me and asking me how I was doing. Sweet man. Brings me back to Gothenburg in 2012. Stix asked me how I was doing and Satchel asked me to keep close eyes on Albin so he wouldn’t get into trouble. Until we seattled that maybe I was the one getting in troubled and he asked me to brofist that. Lexxi shook our hands and told us he was glad we came.

The meeting is about 30 seconds long you know, but this little can do so much. And before people go apeshit. Yes. I know we are not any special to the band. But it’s still nice.

After the session we headed over the car to lock up our newest signed items and then back for Michael Monroe, partly because I really wanted to see him, partly because Steel Panther was going on after him.

Michael Monroe delivered an energetic set as usual. You can NEVER be disappointed when you see this man, because, regardless if you like his music or not, him as a frontman will get to you, and get to you hard. I love this man.

Fun story: When we stood there during Michael Monroe we felt a few people pushing onwards and coming up alongside us jumping around and all. After a quick glance we realized we had ended up next to Peter London and Simon Cruz + entourage. Hahaha. Second time in a day, it’s like we attract rockstars. Well, I guess we could have gotten worse concertpartners, they were just as into it as we were.

Steel Panther. We headed for the first open spot we could find, that so fittingly happened to be right next to my long friend Renata from the UK! After all these years it was great meeting her. And where else, than at the Panther gig? Ok,truth to be told, we had met earlier by the bathrooms, but yeah. Reunited at Panther! Where else!

Anyway. After a while the gig started and it was a good gig. the pressure was intense, and UNNECESSARY. I can deal with pressure, but thats so fun about pressuring so much you can’t jump or anything? People! Get some manners! The crowd sucked too. The crowd wasn’t even close to the crowd we had in Oslo and London, and this kinda ties back with what I said earlier about Alestorm, and that some groups, even amongst metalheads, are more dedicated than others. I guess some subgenres just don’t wanna show their passion, haha. (Fanthers are great, though)

The gig was good, but not great. The band had fantastic energy, but the setlist was beyond boring. It was the same old thing over again and they forgot about “Tomorrow Night” and “The Burden of Being Wonderful”, for some reason.

After Steel Panther we rushed over to buy some ice-cream, you know, one last ice-cream and ran over to watch Hardcore Superstar wrap up the festival. Again we decided to get rid of some energy and I don’t think we were still at any point, except from when a guy who plays in Supercharger came to talk to us (Rockstar moment n. 3, here we go!). We also made sure to have a little and small jenka train to “Last Call For Alcohol”. Only four people in it, but damn, at least we did!

Hardcore Superstar are the perfect headliners for this festival. They are perfect for wrapping this festival up with all the love they shed over people. “We don’t Celebrate Sundays” echoed in the forest, and as the sound died out, so did we leave the festival ground too for the last time this festival.

Just as we had gotten to bed, it started to rain and the thunder came around us. I guess even Heaven cried over the fact the festival was over.

TO BE CONTINUED

// Sara

So yeah. First day of the festival, Woohoo! Despite going to bed so late, we still woke up early. I guess it’s somewhat of a curse when it comes to festivals. No matter how hard you try, you will always end up waking up early. Well well. Tiredly we went off to pick up both our table and our breakfast that we had conveniently left in our “minifridge” in the car, and at last, we could sit down and enjoy breakfast to the sound of whatever obscure songs I had decided to put on the iPod for this event.

This day it was actually rather chilly outside. The last few weeks has been immensely hot here in Sweden, but the winds were chilly as hell. Gladly, I had my precious Sweden Rock blanket with me, and Michelle… well she used her sleepingbag. Which worked fine. Until she fell over. Jesus fucking Christ. Only Michelle.

Anyways. Sooner or later, we decided to exchange our tickets for passes and headed for the festivalarea for the first time. See, Skogsröjets festivalarea is not big, as you might now. There is a reason we call it the coziest festival on Earth. Because it’s small. And sweet. And cute. And also, no bands collide. The stage-schedule had been delayed, but when we finally god a hand of it, I must say… I was a little disappointed.

I love getting programs for all festivals I go to – as a souvenir, if you like, but mostly to read about all the bands. For this years edition, Skogsröjet put in little to NO information whatsoever about the bands, barely even what stage they played on (‘cept from the schedule) and even better, they forgot eight bands, including Steel Panther. I’m not sure what happened this year – Skogsröjet is usually very well arranged, but this year it seemed to have dived right down.

Anyway. We started our whole festival so to speak with Dream Evil. It’s been a little while since I saw them, and I was beyond happy to see them again. They delivered pretty good, if you ask me!

We later continued on to watch PAIN on a distance, meeting up with a friend we met at last years fest! It was awesome seeing you again, Metal-Danne! PAIN gave us a powerful gig and sure proved to us that he ain’t going anywhere. I was impressed, to say the least!

After PAIN we headed directly towards Tube-stage for what was to become the best gig of the entire festival – Alestorm. Most people should know by now that I have an immense fascination for pirates, so a band that combines metal and pirates are no strangers to be. I still remember when I saw them back in 2010, only I was surprised as fuck to hear them play one of my all time favorite ESC songs, Wolves of the Sea.

The gig was intense, and it was fantastic. Pretty much as I would expect it. But I got to tell you this.

So, we were standing like, in the middle of this little crowd right, and there was an ongoing mosh-pit right in front of us, so we had full-display on the thing, without being involved in it. There is this one guy that hit himself pretty badly, and was bleeding profusely from his nose, all over his face. He was happy regardless – jumping around. The medics tried to get him to come out to get patched up, but he didn’t care. Eventually, the medics came out in the crowd (which was pretty calm aside the little moshpit) and took him with them. He came back later, cleaned up with some paper up his nose.

He comes back just in time for “Keelhauled”. And the first thing he do, is to hit himself again so badly his nose start bleeding just as much as it was previously. HOW THE HELL DID HE EVEN MANAGE I DON’T GET IT?! The look on the medics faces were hilarious though, they literally looked like “YOU AGAIN?” and threw out paper to him in the audience. Haha, sorry, but I just find it hilarious in a way that the same person manages to hit himself so badly twice in a row.

But yes. Alestorm delivered an AMAZING gig, and perhaps half of it was made by their amazing crowd. I’ve started to notice that some fangroups, even within metal, are more dedicated than others.

After Alestorm we decided to grab some food as we were starting to get real hungry. Michelle went for langos and fries and me myself I went for thaifood. I just fucking love asian food, people. After eating and collecting some sweaters for the chilling night, we headed back to catch Avatar.

Avatar is a band I first saw back in 2011 together with Maria when they were the supporting act for Hardcore Superstar here in town. They were pretty good, intrigued me more than anything (here we go with the bands with images, again) and we were very happy to see them. They delivered a powerful gig and it also helped me and Michelle get our first real slayer-neck for the festival AND get rid of energy. I mean, we were about to hit the sack soon…

After Avatar we headed to the main-stage to catch a few songs of Megadeth, but pretty much all our motivation was lost when our phones started to act up + getting tired, so after a couple of songs we hit the road in an attempt to load our phones, get our some angry energy screaming like this (I realized I didn’t link it in the original post, damn it). We travelled all the way to Vingåker in order to very… criminally obtain a few posters. It’s not like they had a million of them sitting all over the place, haha.

We got back around 2am, and hit the bed and feel asleep immediately…

TO BE CONTINUED

// Sara

Wohoo! Time for me to at last write about Skogsröjet. It’ll be in four parts covering all four days.

First of all, I think this festival ended up being the most deorganized EVER for me packing-wise. I sat all day chatting with Ludvig and Michelle before I realized it was a mere two hours before Michelle was arriving, and had to fast-pack everything at the quickest pace I have ever done so. Somehow, I did manage to get everything with me. Who would have thought.

Anyway, I went to pick up Michelle, we went home again to tuck in all my stuff in the car, we went downtown to pick up food, and then home again because I did forget something – my pink vest. After that, we FINALLY started driving towards Skogsröjet. But not until we had, thanks to ducttape, set up the stereo and GPS system. The car was pretty overloaded, I might add.

The road down was awesome. We hadn’t talked for a few days, making sure to have subjects to talk about for the long journey. And so we did. And screaming. Loads of screaming. You know, this kind of screaming. After going for a while, we figured it could be a good time for a pitstop to have some food, and after missing a few of the spots we had planned to stay at, we finally found this place called Våtsjön where we pulled over and walked down to the lake… And I tell you. I’m glad we missed all the other spots, because seriously… the beauty of that place was insane. We just sat there, staring at the view, eating our subway and listened to a very explicit SlipKnot. What a combo.

After the stop, we headed onwards to the festival. We got there around 22 (10pm) and to our dismay, there were NO parking guards whatsoever, so we really just drove in there, parked somewhere we hoped were right and went to ask the information if they knew 1) where we could exchange the tickets 2) what to do with the parking. Of COURSE, the ticket-exchange had JUST CLOSED, and we asked them how the hell they had thought this was gonna work with the camping, and they told us it would “hopefully” work if we just brought our tickets.

And of course it did. Because just as they lacked parking guards, they also lacked guards for the camping, so pretty much anyone could go in and out. We went in, located a spot we liked and then proceeded to get our tents and get set up. The only downside, I guess, about our location was the high grass. It was HIGH AS FUCK, but on the other hand, we figured it would be very soft to sleep on!

See this shit?

After setting up our tent as well as Ludvig and Albins tent, we headed back to the car to finish the rest of our subways and check some things online. Right in the middle of the pitchblack night someone knocked on our window and asked if we were up for hanging out a bit, and sure why not.

Just that we didn’t hang out for an hour or so, but for many hours until I somewhere around 4am said fuck this shit, we are going to bed. Said and done. We met up with some sweet Sabaton fans on our way back that was surprised to see us, and wondered when the hell we arrived, given it was 4am. Hahaha, I can understand the confusion!

Later than we had planned, we went to bed. Great. This wasn’t exactly the start you wanted to get, but oh well!

TO BE CONTINUED

// Sara

Well well well! At last I’m home, and at last I’ve gathered myself together to finally write this little thingy. A summary of Sweden Rock 2014! It all began at home really. Me trying to pack smartly, and failing miserably. This year, I had decided to drive all the way down to Sweden Rock, and of course home as well, and this leads to me going: Fuck it, I have all this space in my car, I’ll rearrange it later. Said and done, basically.

TUESDAY

So well, yeah. I drove, and drove, and around 9pm I finally hit the wonderful place of Norje. I parked my car and my dear Anna came and met up with me outside the festivalcamping to guide me to their camp, or, as we would come to call it, the Cradle of Filt. I was greeted by the rest of the campmembers, set up my tent and joined them a short while for some small talk before hitting bed.

WEDNESDAY

Well, here’s the deal. I only had a three day pass, but decided to get down to Norje already on Tuesday to hang out with the people and to make sure I got to camp with them. So this day was mainly spent walking down the market they have outside the arena, paying a visit to Sweden Rock Shop and also meeting up with Hansi, a norwegian friend of mine I hadn’t seen for AGES. Like, literally, seven years since I last saw him. Things have changed soooo much. Well. I can’t show you much from this day, beside this lovely picture of my VERY organised tent.

Phineas & Ferb are literally with me EVERYWHERE, I swear!

THURSDAY

So, finally, the day had come for me to be able to join them sweeties on the festival area. We started the day with watching Bombus, before I headed over to Festivalstage to watch Pretty Maids. They were well good, and they also brought out the sun on this cloudy day!

After Pretty Maids I headed over for Roxie 77’s unusually short gig, and his many… MANY guitarists on stage. It was a pretty epic thing to see, and I really REALLY like the initiative taken about inviting aspiring guitarists on stage!

After Roxie I headed for some of the recordtents in hunt for Sabaton’s “Heroes” and H.E.A.T’s “Tearing Down The Walls”. Two years ago I bought “Carolus Rex” AND “Address The Nation” on Sweden Rock, so I figured that as far as it’s possible, to make it a tradition to buy Sabatons and H.E.A.T’s album on the festival. I also found myself going away with “All You Can Eat” from Steel Panther. I went back to camp and met up with Hansi and we headed for Tesla. It was a pretty fun gig, if I may say so! After this I headad back to the camp again.

Here’s the deal with Cradle of Filt – we weren’t the greatest partycamp. We weren’t the drunkest or anything. But you know what? I found my people. These are the kind of people I like spending time with. And we had quite fun. Cycling and all.

The name Cradle of Filt (Cradle of Blankets) comes from that we all literally spent time curled up in our blankets. And everyone but Oliver had a Sweden Rock one, too. Amazing. The night moved on and Anna tagged me along to Rob Zombie, which might have been the absolute best decision this festival. I found a new band. And no, I don’t know what it is with me and monsterbands. Apparently, a band needs to be somewhat monstery for me to like them. Haha.

After Rob we headed for Alice Cooper, being really excited. As you guys know, Alice Cooper is my housegod, and this marks the 7th time I’d see him in concert, but I was still as excited as always. I must admit – I didn’t write down the setlist, so I don’t remember exactly what songs he played.

What I do remember however, is that he played “House of Fire”. And “He’s Back”. And I nearly died inside. I’ve always wanted to hear these two, but I can’t recall ever doing so. God damn it. Alice Cooper is this one artist that continuely delivers everything you’d ever want in a musician. All the time. I didn’t leave the gig unsatisfied, I just kind wished he had been the top headliner so I could have ENDED my festival with this epicness.

And the fact that he invited Rob Zombie on stage for “School’s Out”… Anna and I joked about it on Rob when he covered “School’s Out” on his show that, maybe Alice won’t join him, but he might join Alice. And then he did. Ahh. Perfect.

After this epic show all that was left to do was for us to hit the sack and prepare for Friday.

FRIDAY

This day started out fairly early for me, beginning with the National Day’s Celebration with Janne Schaffer. Janne is my childhood hero basically, both as a sologuitarist, but mostly for his part as Zebran in Electric Banana Band. And Electric Banana Band was exactly the first actual concert I began my day with.

So. I saw this band a few times when I was younger, obviously, and the show I watched the most as a kid on videotape was Trazan & Banarne, and I’m not sure if I’m willing to explain it upright to you guy who are not from Sweden, but it’s basically about Trazan, a tarzan alike man who lives with his monkeyfriend Banarne in a treehouse somewhere. Occasionally during the show they’d join their band Electric Banana Band and perform a song or two. Anyway.

It was really good to see them, and I was well surprised to realize how good they were. I mean, I shouldn’t have been, or perhaps I’m just surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. It was sure one of the highlights of the whole festival for me, either way, I loved it.

After Electric Banana Band I sat down infront of the stage, right in the middle of the burning sun and started reading Oscar Dronjak’s new book while awaiting TNT’s signing session. It was a bit of an odd feeling, you know, just sitting there, getting burned in the sun, but on the same time, it was magnificent. Reading a book written by one of your favorite musicians while hearing some obscure band in the background. And I got sooo caught up in it, hadn’t Hansi texted me I would probably have missed the session.

Which wouldn’t have been too bad. After waiting for 30 minutes, TNT decided to cancel their signing session. Thanks for that one. I was a bit stressed – I had a tight schedule. They were supposed to start 14.45, and I had planned to be out of the session by 15, and then have an hour to go to my car and change the camera battery before heading for Oscar’s signing session which would begin at 16. It doesn’t take more than 10-15 mins to walk to the car, and changing the battery perhaps 5 mins or so, but what I was worried about was getting back inside in case of queues. And why I couldn’t do it AFTER Oscars session was because TNT started their gig at 16.45. And I rather miss Oscars signing session than the concert.

So here I found myself at 15.15, hurrying like hell, but gladly, making it all in time. Well in time. The m&g with Oscar was short, which was good, because I always die a little inside of starstruckness so had it been longer… yeah… ambulance please?

Well well… after that, headed to the TNT stage only to realize it was almost 40 minutes left til showtime, so I sat down with my amazing book again and started reading… and reading… until I was interupted by a guy asking if he could take my picture because he found it so interesting that I was at Sweden Rock, reading. Hahaha, sure be my guest! Why not!

Oh well. After a little while, I met up with Hansi again and TNT started playing. They played the exact same set they did previously on Stockholm Rocks, but I do absolutely think they had a better energy this time around. Like they really enjoyed it. And thus, I enjoyed it far more. And again you know… Tony Harnell… Mmmmm. I love it.

After TNT I had QUITE the gap until W.A.S.P was gonna play, so I took the oppurtunity to stroll around…. recordshops… again. This time I left with a “Shake City” CD, a band I’ve never ever heard of before. It was gonna be well exciting to hear! I love doing this thing, going into recordstores and randomly pick up CD’s of bands I’ve never heard of and then when I get home listen to it and just.. AHDLAJHDA!

But most importantly. I found the “To Beast or Not To Beast” vinyl. I hesitated a bit at first, but then I realized that Lordi is probably the only band I don’t have a vinyl of. So home with me it goes!

After picking up the little gem it was time to head for W.A.S.P. I came around about 15 mins or so before they were going on stage, so the crowd was pretty big. And with my new vinyl I wanted to avoid as much as drama as possible, so I stood as far away from the stage as possible without loosing sight of the band on stage (I can’t stand looking at big screens, doesn’t feel like you watch the show)

Well, what can I say? I did really enjoy the show. W.A.S.P put on a show only W.A.S.P do, and I really enjoyed from the moment it started to the moment everything just died. Yes. Literally. During “Blind in Texas” the whole soundequipment just died. And W.A.S.P walked off stage. Kinda wished they had at least said thanks and good night (taken a bow that is) because now they kind left us in uncertainy wheter or not they were coming back. But they didn’t… so…

After this I went out and bought late night dinner for myself. The day had been pretty heavy due to dehydration, so yes, hate me if you must, but I did skip Black Sabbath due to illness. I was at the parkinglot, so I did HEAR the whole show, but I didn’t see it. Kill me if you like, but at some point, health comes first (Unless it’s Lordi. Lordi always comes before health)

SATURDAY

Last day of the festival. Mixed feeling as hell. You know, this is the type of festival you really don’t want to end anytime soon. I started my day with Danger Danger, which was one of the bands I actually went here to see. It had been four years since I last saw them, and this is one of these feel-good-bands I just love to death. The set they played was great, although, I was a bit worried when Ted Poley came out in the audience during “Don’t Walk Away”. Since he was heading in my direction. And this means people flooding. AAAAAH. My nightmare, basically. But all in all, loved the show. Amazing. I also managed to meet up with Sofia, Johanna and Angelina during this. Amazing!

After Danger Danger I headed back to my car to drop off some luggage. To make it simpler on the day of take off, I decided to start pack a bit in advance. After I was done with this, I rushed back to the festival area to catch Powerwolf.

There was once a night, in the middle of October many years ago when my friend Thomas called from Belgium, asking me to help him get home. “I’m here, lost in Belgium in Powerwolf makeup. I wonder what people thinks“. That line kinda stuck with me, so here I found myself watching the band he’s spoken so fondly off.

And I was well surprised how good they were. They are that type of metal I like. Amazing. Yet another band to add to the list, I suppose!

Camptime deluxe is what happened after Powerwolf, together with the awesome camp. It was somewhat heartbreaking knowing this was our last day together, but we were also pretty glad. Coming home to a bed and all you know. We decided to head back to the area for Necrophobic, which was perfect, because it was right before Billy Idol.

Billy Idol… What can I say. I saw him a few years ago here at Sweden Rock, and I loved it already back then, and I loved it just as much this time. I don’t really have words for it, to be honest. Epicness, that’s what it was. And I was glad I got to end my festival with this.

Actually. Not really. While I thought I had left the area for good, when I was doing my pre-packing and all during the evening… I started miss the place. And when Volbeat started playing I was just like… fuck this. I’m heading in again. One last show you know. So I put on my Perryhat and wrapped the Sweden Rock blanket around me and went in, without camera, without cellphone, without ANYTHING ut my blanket and car key. And watch one last show, before it was over for good.

Ah. I hate this feeling.

SUNDAY

The day for departure had arrived. We had decided beforehand that Anna was actually gonna ride home with me instead, so she wouldn’t be squeezed and I wouldn’t have to go completely alone. Everyone from our camp left one by one until it was only me and Anna left struggling with her tent. Hansi said he was gonna come by and say one last good bye before departure, and while waiting, or neighbours started getting a little… uh with us.

It’s all kinda hilarious. First they asked us if we had “gotten any” and then proceeded to ask if we wanted “some norwegian cock before leaving”. Anna got frustrated and yelled at them to go home and I wasn’t sure if I was gonna laugh or cry. And then I saw Hansi appear and I TELL YOU. I had to try REAL HARD not to actually say “Ah, sure thing! And he comes there!”. But to be honest, I wasn’t sure how Hansi would react if I did it, so I decided against it. But it would have been hilarious to see the faces of the neighbours if I had actually done it, haha.

After all was said and done… We went down to the car (with more and less struggle) and after packing in everything, in the trunk and in the backseat, gone to the bathroom one last time and all, we finally hit the road. Not really.

We actually got stuck in QUITE the carqueue. And hilariously enough, there was a bus behind us. The speedlimit was 30, and we were pretty close to the car infront of us, and the line was barely moving, yet the bus driver kept horning us. And then he tried to drive around is in a refuge, I mean, what the hell? What were we gonna do, FLY? We actually saved the buscompany’s name, I’m still pondering to pay them a little visit….

Anyway. The road home was pleasant. We drove the wrong way once, panicked a bit in Värnamo but all in all, all was good. We had a good time listening to music, talking about EVERYTHING AND NOTHING and even doing some lyric-writing. All based on this Sweden Rock festival.

This festival was BEYOND epic. Thanks to EVERYBODY involved; Anna, Linn, My, Tyr, Jana, Sofia, Johanna, Hansi, Oliver. You are the best guys!

// Sara
( I can’t be bothered to spellcheck this entry, just so you know)

So guys! The day had arrived. At last, it was time for Stockholm Rocks! I had chosen a bus that departed a little later than I usually do, as I wanted to avoid my often very cranky morning temper which you know, tend to ruin my whole day, and I must say it did help a little, even thought everything got even better after a little chat with Mr Australia. On the bus though, I began to realize how limited my time was. My expected arrival was at 14.20, and the first band started at 15.15, though the first band I wanted to see didn’t start until 16.15, and my hotel was located a little bit outside center, AND, the arena had been changed to Gröna Lund, so all of a sudden, I didn’t have too much time on my hands.

Gladly, the bus arrived 20 minutes early, allowing me to, still stressed, get my SL card, get candy (for breakfast), and lunch and nightfood. I planned to hit the hotel by 15, and so I did! Once I was checked I pretty much inhaled my food, got ready and hurried to Sergels. I was really worried I wouldn’t make it in time, as the planned arrival for the train to Gröna Lund would arrive 16.15, which was the exact same time Reckless Love had their stagetime, and to make it even better, the damn train was late. Damn damn damn damn.

Once at Gröna Lund and Tyrol, I hurried pretty much ALL I could muster, only to realize, the festival was a bit delayed! Reckless Love started only moments after I arrived but hey! I was well lucky, don’t you think? Anyway. They started off with ” I Love Heavy Metal” and they were just sooo energetic. I’ve only seen Reckless Love twice before, but I always remembered them as one of the more energetic bands in this, I don’t know, world? Yup.

They followed up with two of my favorite songs, “So Happy I Could Die” and “On The Radio”. The show was very energetic, but then again, what would you even expect from these guys? The two times I’ve seen them previously they’ve always delivered, like, A LOT. The crowd was pretty good, it was rather thin, but it’s kinda understandable. Early performance, together with new festival and the lack of a big fanbase kinda do that.

Eventually they wrapped up the gig with “Night on Fire” and “Hot” before leaving the stage and making way for Gus G. I was surprised, I must say, to see the crowd leave the stage. I was under the impression that at least the front row would stay and queue for H.E.A.T or TNT, or Gus G, or Marty Friedman. I guess I was wrong.

(Reckless Love Setlist: I Love Heavy Metal / So Happy I Could Die / On The Radio / Bad Lovin’ / Edge of Our Dreams / Back To Paradise / Sex, Drugs and Reckless Love / Born To Break Your Heart / Beautiful Bomb / Animal Attraction / Night on Fire / Hot)

You know, I don’t complain. I went on to the front row and placed myself on Rivers side, for a change. I always used to stay on Dalones side, but as you know, he’s not in the band anymore so now it’s mainly potato-potato about the whole thing. Eventually, Gus G started and went on with his show.

He delivered a pretty darn good set, and he had Swedish singer Mats Levén with him to sing the tunes. I can’t say I’m, you know, into him, like I am with Reckless Love and H.E.A.T, but I really enjoyed the show! Quite a lot!

Eventually he finished his set and the wait for Marty Friedman began. At this point, I had the very big pleasure of getting to know two individuals – Alex and Elisabeth. Alex and I chatted for a little bit before he went back to his friends, but Elisabeth and I really bonded. It turned out she, much like me, was here to see H.E.A.T and I was glad to find someone to share the concert with it. I rather go alone than not at all, but it’s always better when you got company.

Marty Friedman got on the stage and gave us practical EARGASM with his roundabout hour long guitarsolos. Seriously. I’m not always a big fan of all instrumental shows, but damn. This was well worth it. What a man! Both he and the second guitarist he had with him just completely blew my mind. Sadly, I had to leave for a while at the end because of the “epillepsy-lamps” that for some reason makes my heartcondition act up. But after a few seconds of fresh air I was back again and could enjoy the end of the show.

After Marty, the REAL wait began. While Reckless Love and TNT might have been the biggest motivation for me to go, H.E.A.T was probably the band I looked forward to see the most. As you know from my review, I fucking LOVED “Tearing Down The Walls”, and a concert of it’s tour CAN’T be bad.

The anticipation from mine and Elisatbeths side was pretty high, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more exicted before when I’ve heard the song “The Heat Is On” start. For those of you who doesn’t know, this is H.E.A.T’s “Scarctic Circle Gathering” (I’m just assuming close to everyone who reads my blog are Lordifans)  The band entered the stage and started off the show with the albums opener, “Point of No Return”

They followed up with the newest single “A Shot at Redemption” and I don’t know man. TNT is said to be the headliner, but seriously, the crowd was rather big for H.E.A.T! Bigger than I expected it to be. Or to be honest, I don’t know what I expected. “Better off Alone” was the next song before it was time for one of their biggest hits, “1000 Miles”.

You know. For being a large crowd that was the crowd at Sthlm Rocks, they were rather silent and perhaps… boring? I’m just you know, thinking back on Steel Panthers crowd, and how INSANE they were during “Community Property”, and the rest of the songs, and here, nope, not even for “1000 Miles”… What the heck. Maybe it would improve later on in the show.

Sadly, it didn’t. Neither during the single “Mannequin Show”, the very popular “In and Out of Trouble”, “Beg Beg Beg” and not even for “Emergency” who seems to be a rather big favorite. I just want to assure you people, I WAS at the frontrow, but seriously. The action was VERY VERY little. Which is a shame, because the band?

They were insane, as usual. I’ve said it so many times before, and I’m probably ALWAYS gonna say this: H.E.A.T is the best band to this date. They ALWAYS deliver, not matter what (like, bad audience), and they ALWAYS do it with that HUGE (and heartbreaking) smiles of theirs. This is why I’m constantly looking forward to go to H.E.A.T. shows, because the likely hood of me getting disappotioned are basically ZERO. Not at all. Gifted, passionate musicians. That’s what you get from H.E.A.T.

They wrapped up a fantastic concert with “Breaking the Silence” and “Living On The Run” before it was time for them to leave the stage. But not until they had taken a photo with the crowd. A photo both me and Elisabeth are visible on. Amazing. Second time it’s happened now. Great. I must say, I was surprised of how long their set was. I expected them to play about an hour or so, but the setlist is rather intense.

(H.E.A.T setlist: Point of No Return / A Shot at Redemption / Better Off Alone / 1000 Miles / It’s All About Tonight / Tearing Down The Walls / Mannequin Show / Late Night Lady / In And Out Of Trouble /Beg Beg Beg / Downtown / Enemy / Eye for an Eye / Danger Road / Emergency /-/ Breaking The Silence / Living on the Run)

After H.E.A.T, much to my surprise, most of the crowd left the stage. It was time for the headliner – TNT, which was actually the band I mostly came for. Both me and Elisabeth stayed put and chatted, and not a minute to late, the norwegian + american men stepped on stage and opened with “Invisible Noise”.

And I’m just gonna say this. I died. Ok. Seeing TNT with Tony Harnell has been a LONG, LONG DREAM for me. I never thought it would actually happen, but it did. Today. At Tyrol. At Gröna Lund. Right there, on Victor Borges side (Eric Rivers side, OX’s side, Lexxi Foxxx’s side, depending on your fandom). I… I am at loss for words. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing or hearing, for that matter.

They continued with “She Needs Me”, and “Downhill Racer”. I might just as well add. The crowd was small. H.E.A.T had a greater crowd, which surprises me. Why was TNT the headliner, if they didn’t drag enough people? To be honest though, I’m not too surprised when all comes undone. I’ve never really met anyone at ALL that likes TNT, so I guess in a way, there were more people there than I expected.

After “My Religion” it was time for the legendary Ronnie Le Tekrø to show us what he was made off. Seriously, it’s been seven years since I last saw TNT and damn… I’ve missed them. They moved on with “Forever Shine On” before the first hit of the night came – “Tonight I’m Falling For You”. Despite having a smaller crowd, their crowd was more into it.

After “End of the Line” it came. The song. The one.

“Intuition”. I… When they started the intro… I just…. First I blanked out, much the same I did when Kita left Lordi. I heard the chords, but I couldn’t place the song. Of course I knew all along it was “Intuition”, but you know that feeling, or perhaps that moment, when that ONE THING you’ve waited for, for so long, when it finally happens, and you can’t even understand it? That’s basically what happened here. And hearing TNT, with Tony Harnell, doing “Intuition”. I’ve said it many times before, but you know. If I die today, I will die very, very, very happy.

“As Far As The Eye Can See” and “Seven Seas” followed suit until they wrapped up the entire show with “Northlight” and “10.000 Lovers”. They thanked for the night and left the stage. During the entire time they had had fairly good energy I’d say – of course, Tony Harnell is no Erik Grönwall (because it is like what, 30 years age differences?!) but they have this chill energy experienced band has you know.

(TNT setlist: Invisible Noise / She Needs Me / Downhill Racer / My Religion / -Solo- / Forever Shine On / Tonight I’m Falling / End of The Line / Intuition / As Far As The Eye Can See / Seven Seas / Northlight /10.000 Lovers)

However, I was rather surprised to how short their set was. It was only about an hour long, making me question even MORE why H.E.A.T wasn’t the headliner of the festival. Oh well. No big harm done, really!

After the show, Elisabeth and I left in peace and went our seperate ways once we reached Sergels Torg.

All in all. This festival was beyond epic. I was so glad to see three of my favorite bands gathered in one place, especially being that two of them are bands you rarely see. Thanks Stockholm Rocks, for this epic experience, and thanks Elisabeth for the company.

Over and out!

// Sara

Like I mentioned some days back, I had planned to see Olly Murs in Stockholm. Haha, funny, isn’t it? planned to see. As if I didn’t see him. But I did, but for a while it seemed like I wouldn’t.

5 o Clock traffic delaying the bus. Long walk to the hotel. Checking in.

The receptionist at the hotel actually recognized me from when I stayed there when going to Bon Jovi. How amazing isn’t that. I love it. I’m sure as hell going back to that hotel, no doubt.

Getting ready for the show. I had big plans on what to wear, but being in a bad mood, which I am a lot lately, I settled with an overzied Mickey Mouse shirt tucked into skin-tight jeans with a conchobelt and black Converese copies. After all, DisneyChannel was the place I discovered Olly Murs at, so Mickey sure do the trick.

Getting to the arena, getting completely lost at Gullmarsplan. Seriously, I went the wrong way twice. Eventually I found my way. I was so late even the security had gone inside. Gladly, the only thing I missed was the supportact, Ulrik Munther which I didn’t want to see that much anyway.

Placed far in the back. Or perhaps more in the middle. A bit away from the stage, regardless. When he began with “Army Of Two”… it felt like the world, or the universe disappeared. “Dance with me Tonight” will always be my number one song by him, and letting go of everything in that song, dancing the night away, or at least how it felt like, is exactly my kind of medicine. It’s a shame I didn’t have enough courage to dance with the guy in front of me, his friend didn’t fancy doing it him. Oh well. You live and you learn, right? The climate in the room though. How everything floated, dancing with him in “I’ve Tried Everything”… Oh my goodness.

I’m not gonna write a full length about this. I’ve sort of lost my touch with writing about concerts, not sure why, but I sure felt like I was in the Right Place, the Right Time, right there, at Arenan, with Olly Murs, the band, and a lot of other fans. Watching an amazing performer singing some of the absolute most feel good songs you could ever imagine.

Thanks Olly, for one of the most perfect nights of my life.

Oh I might add. I actually forgot my camera at home. Yap. The person who usually always make sure I always have my camera with me, actually forgot it. I even had the camera charger, but not the camera. Hence the quality. But you know, who cares.

Setlist:
Army of Two / Dance With Me Tonight / Personal / I’ve Tried Everything / Hand on Heart / Hey you Beautiful / I’m Ok / Oh My Goodness / Loud & Clear / One of these Days / Superstitious / Please Don’t Let Me Go / Dear Darling / Right Place Right Time / Heart Skips a Beat / Troublemaker

“So this is what it feels like, being at the right place the right time”

// Sara

So, like I said, we were going to Stockholm in order to see the Rock of Ages musical. I saw the movie twice or even more in the cinemas, and I figured I had to see the real deal. I figured on beforehand that it would be slightly different from the movie, and I wasn’t sure what I had to expect. I’m just gonna point out here that I’m not a regular musical visitor, in fact, it’s been years since I last attended one, so in case you’re someone who attends them often and reads this, it won’t make a lot of sense to you.

Anyway, about the musical. I don’t know what to say – more than WOW. It blew me away. Like I stated earlier, it’s been some time since I actually saw a theater, and it was rather pleasing to actually see some live-acting on stage. I might have to start to attend to more musicals or theaters as of now.

Apart from that, I think the cast is perfect. It’s a fine mix of (for someone as uncultured as me) famous and not-so-famous actors and musicians, having Johan Rheborg, Peter Magnusson, Hanna Hedlund and Joacim Cans amongst them. Hanna Hedlund, she’s one of my childhood heroes so it was a pleasant surprise to see that she was in! I had no clue. Very talented, delivering to the top.

How about the show itself then. Well, I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard in a very long time. A lot of the contains were just pure comedy gold, and this mixed with an amazing storyline and brilliant music just made this perfect. I must admit that at times I had difficulty keeping up with the timeline, but I think this has a lot to do with that I’ve seen the movie so many times, and was expecting it to be a little bit like it, even thought it was… practically NOTHING like it. I guess the “Anyway you want it” scene was the same… But I’m not sure if any other scene was, and not to talk about all the “cut” songs. It really gave a little extra, the little extra that actually made the movie fade a little bit.

I’d recommend everyone to see this musical, regardless if you like the movie or not, and regardless if you like 80’s metal or not. It’s pure comedy, great music, and of course it’s all performed by amazing people. I know for sure I’m planning to see this musical at least once more, preferably more than once.

// Sara