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Epica @ TRIX, Antwerpen, Belgium 18/10 – 2017

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on October 18, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, minitour. At 4 in the morning I left my place at home in Karlstad and drove all across the country (well…) to the airport. Yes, I know. Me. Driving. Truth is, I couldn’t really find a bus that would allow me to get on the plane in time, hence, this happening. I normally prefer to go by public transit otherwise, because you know, then it ain’t my problem.

Got to the airport in pretty good time, you know, around an hour or so before the plane was gonna leave – my style you know. The ride was quite uneventful, some stupid people refusing to listen to the cabin crew – if you so dearly wanted to sit together, then perhaps you should have pre-booked your seats. Idiots.

Landed in Brussels, took the train toward Antwerpen pretty instantly, because really, what is the point at staying here? Brussels is all nice and cool, but mayhaps another time. Once on the train I felt content, scared, and a bit excited. It’s the normal mixture of emotions you always get when going some place new.

Now, I’ve been in Antwerpen once before, but I was driven here by someone, and we were only here for the show. And well, I was only here for the show as well, but this time I had to you know, find my way to a hotel and everything.

It was quite easy to find, which made me really happy. What I didn’t realize is that I had managed to end up in the highly orhtodox Jew neighbourhood of Antwerpen, which was quite interesting to see. To see the differencies from different part of the city, and to discover their culture a bit.

For this stay, I had chosen Ambassador Suites Antwerp, and since I decided quite last minute, I got a big room. A room to fit four people. The kind of room we’d need for a Lordivacation, to be more exact.

Got ready in the room, and then I awaited Sjorvens arrival to have some dinner, and then head off to the show. I had decided, and yes, you will all hate me for this – to skip out on the supportbands and head straight for Epica, as this gig was really more of a “oh they are playing here so lets just go” kind of thing.

Sjorven was stuck in traffic, but eventually he made it, and we made it to, the ever so usual, McDonalds for some real on tour cuisine. But, you know what they say – time runs fast when you are having fun. So we had to rush back to the hotel, to pick up my phone that I forgot, and then to walk to Trix.

And got a bit lost, or something. So we got delayed. Like, very delayed. When we finally arrived at the venue, I heard “Essance of Silence” echoing from the inside, and not only that, but my favorite part of it. Of course, right? But on the plus side – there was no queue! No line! No waiting time! We got inside just in time for the song to be over, and “Universal Death Squad” starting.

Epica

So, as I said, “Universal Death Squad” was next on the list, which was amazing. I’m still not too big of a fan of this song, but what can you do? “Ascension” followed lead, and then “Dancing in a Hurricane”, which I love so much. That song has come to grown so much on me. And not only that, but the mood it sets in the venue. I saw several people just starting to dance. I love the oriental elements to the song… seriously.

“Victims of Contingency” was next on the list, throwing us right back into “The Quantuum Enigma” era, and my personal favorite “Unchain Utopia” was next on. I still cannot decide if it’s the band that is untight, or if I’ve fallen out of synch with this band. But it’s something that is just not right when they play it, and it has been so lately.

They wrapped up the set with “Cry for the Moon”, which always makes for a huge sing along. The venue is not that big, but it felt like it was thousands of people in there, let me tell you.

The band thanked for the show, and left the stage. Coen very soon came back in, starting off as he usually does with his handheld keyboard – apparently all the other keyboards fell down, and for once, he was left with only this.

“Beyond The Matrix” was on the list, and the whole arena bounced. It’s good to see a show down on the continent, where the audiences are actually good, you know. And pyro! They wrapped up the entire set with “Consign to Oblivion”. Sjorven joined the wall of death, and then he never came out. I sort of panicked for a second. TRIX isn’t THAT big, how the hell does someone vanish like that?

After the song, the band thanked for the evening, took their mandatory picture and left the stage for good this time. I went off toward the front row to try to find Cyril which I knew would be here, and gladly, after finding him I also found Sjorven. Who had gotten me a setlist, what a precious person.

After saying all of our good byes and all, we walked home toward the hotel, which took a lot longer than it should. We were stopped on the road asking if we had cocaine, so we were like, yeah, lets just get out of here.

Eventually we made it back, I got up to my room and Sjorven went home. I packed up my stuff and prepared for the next day, as I was heading off toward Vosselaar.

// Sara

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Lordi @ Hell Rock Fest, Ciudad Real, Spain 16/9-17

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags , on September 16, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, we slept in big time, which was soooo nice. I know we didn’t go to bed THAT late in Norway, but still – always good to catch some sleep, and rest. Once you are on a vacation and all, you know.

I hopped in the shower first thing when I woke up and then we packed our stuff and headed out to the car. We stayed in Madrid, and the show was about a two hour drive away from the city, so we had a long drive. But before we could go, we had to have some breakfast, and we decided on KFC. So we had a pleasant KFC meal out in the sun. I think this is the point that it finally hit me I’m in Spain. As always on tour, I tend to lose grip on time and space, and that includes where the hell in the world I am.

Once sort of finished, we FINALLY jumped in the car and started the looong drive up to the place. I was of course dealing with being the DJ for the trip, and after a long, scenic and beautiful drive we finally found ourselves at the venue… or festival. And well… I mean.

I know it is a small festival. But this was something else. There was one open air stage – I didn’t even realize it was an open air festival – there was one bar with drinks, one place where you could get tokens and one merch booth. There wasn’t even a foodplace. Which confused me, and also made me very happy we brought some leftovers.

The first band I watched today was Prima Nocte, a female fronted metal band that was pretty good actually. I enjoyed the set!

I also saw Iridium, but eventually decided to head back to the car to get some rest, as the sun and heat were getting to me and I felt my blood sugar drop real fast. I spend a long time there, resting and getting ready, and waiting for the sun to drop. I made my way back in when Morphium was just about to wrap up their set, and ironically enough I was given a setlist. And I hadn’t even been watching the band. Like, what.

Once the sun went down, it went very very cold. Very rapidly. So cold I had to get back to the car to pick up another cardigan to wear outside of my leather jacket. Seriously! I took the time out of the pit to also pick up on a festivalshirt, because much to my surprise, it was actually pretty nice.

Soon enough though, it was time for the band of the bands to perform. At 00.30, or more like, 00.40, Lordi went on stage (so late right, I know!) and started off the set with Skeletor and “Let’s Go Slaughter He-Man”

Lordi

The band then continued on with “The Riff” and.. the front row was pretty good. It always fascinated me how Lordi is like, the biggest smallest band. They always have people waiting in line at the front rows on festivals, even in Sweden, at least a couple of hours before they go on, and it’s always full. Despite this the bookings aren’t there. Why? But aside that, it was a bit… well what you would expect from a small festival like this.

The new song in the setlist for the summer, “Demonarchy” was on the list, and this is still as good as the first time I heard it live. After all, it is my own favorite off the “Demonarchy” side so obviously, it makes me happy. “Hellbender Turbulence” was fired off before OX was set to have his moment. I think I’ve said it before, but I have never enjoyed a bass solo as much as I’ve enjoyed OX’s this year. He’s still doing the funk / dance kind of solo, and it really is one of the highlights. A priestess, or nun, comes on stage to tell him to shut the hell up, but he just slays her, and “Bite it Like a Bulldog” is a go.

Mana launched us into “Babez For Breakfast”, which is so good to see as a return. The cowbells chimed, which is sort of my queue. But Mr L didn’t reach all the way. For those of you who are perhaps new readers or don’t remember – for the past six years I’ve spent “It Snows in Hell” upside down at the barrier. And on certain occasions Mr L took this as a queue to try to drown me. Some occasions were more successful than others. As on the rest of the tour, it was merged together with “Children of the Night”

“Hug you Hardcore” was next on the list, followed by “Sincerely With Love”. Another new surprise for this summer, “Sick Flick” was introduced, and it took me all up ’til now to realize that the “Down with the Devil” thing is happening here – with the priest pressing a cross on Mr L’s head. I didn’t really pay attention on Vicious Rock, and for the first time in my life I wasn’t going there with a Lordi fan – which made it all a bit awkward when I tried to ask him where it was.

An old favorite – “Nailed by the Hammer of Frankenstein” was ripped off, followed by “Blood Red Sandman”. And I think I’ve said it before – but I’ll say it again. You know you have seen a band, perhaps too many times, when your timing is timed perfectly with the band. Even on a live version.

Nalle started playing the intro, and “Hard Rock Hallelujah” was a go. Surprisingly, the crowd wasn’t going as nuts as I thought they would. That’s new. Usually festivalcrowds like this loses it during this one. Hm. Amen came out, alone, did his hand-thing and “Devil is a Loser” was a go.

A sidenote, on the whole “seeing-a-band-too-much”. Nathan sent me a message during the show, asking if they were still on, and I simply sent him a picture of the stage before Amen walked on. And he was like “Ah, Devil is a Loser!” only to moments later say “Wait. Did I just call out the songs only by the lights? This is a new level.” and it’s so true. Haha.

“Who’s Your Daddy?” was the next song on the list, before they rounded the whole show up with “Would you Love a Monsterman?”. The band thanked for the show, and left the stage.

Soon after, after sorting some stuff that had to be taken care of, Santi and I left the festival ground. At like, 3 am. Two hour drive. And I was getting up at 7.30.

Fun, huh? See guys. The tourlife has it’s backside, too.

// Sara

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Serious Black @ Sala Caracol, Madrid, Spain 15/9 -17

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags on September 15, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, this is going to be a ride from start to finish. So bare with me, seriously. So, in the morning after Battle Beast we got up… well a bit early, I will say, but we did also go to bed fairly early so it was a win win I guess. We took the airport train out to the airport, I said goodbye to Hansi who were going to continue homewards and I got ready for my flight.

The flight was uneventful, the only thing really was that Santi, who was coming in from Mallorca, had his plane delayed, and at the time we had really no idea of knowing when he would come. So, once arrived at the airport I found a nice spot and sat down and waited for him.

An hour and a half later than he was supposed to arrive, he arrived and we headed off to the car rental place. Upon now, I notice the doors for Serious Black is opening at 19, and at the time we arrived at car rental place it was 18. Where there was a line. Because the place didn’t have enough cars or whatever.

So, at like 19.30 or so, we finally got our car. We drove to the hotel, and were lucky to get a decent parking spot. At 20 or so we were at the hotel, resting one moment, getting changed and then hitting the road again, as Serious Black would go on stage at 21.25. So, we left the hotel at 20.30 ish and left with the car at 20.50, when it was half an hour drive to the venue. Oh shit.

So, we arrived at the venue at 21.23, cutting it close…. and then we spent another 30 minutes ish looking for parking.

So for the first time in my life, I’ve managed to miss out on a band. We gladly found one of those big parking houses like ten minutes away, and we walked shitfast to the venue and arrived somewhere in the middle of the set.

Serious Black

So, yeah, the venue was half full, which was good to see! I mean, last time I saw them they were opening act for HammerFall and Orden Ogan and we weren’t many fans. Three albums in now, and they are doing so good on their own headline tours.

They had a whole theme going on based on the recent release “Magic”, and it was nice to see them with more of a stage show. Correct clothing, nice surroundings. Sadly, I do not remember exactly when in the set I actually came in, but the first song I can still remember hearing is “Castor Skies”, so lets take it from there.

“Lone Gunmen Rule” was next song on the list, and what I really love about this little gig is that, the turnout was relatively good, and I was happy to see that like, all the people in the venue knew the songs and were big fans. I shouldn’t be surprised, it’s a headline tour, but still. It makes me so happy.

“This Machine Is Broken” was next song on the list, then followed by “Now You’ll Never Know” which is, as you guys know, my favorite song on the most recent album, so I was so happy to see they actually played it.

“As Long as I’m Alive” was fired off, followed by “Setting Fire To The Earth” before it was time for the single off the recent album, “Burn Witches! Burn”. “I Seek No Other Life” and “High and Low” wrapped up a pleasant evening, and the band thanked for themselves and left the stage.

We hung around a little bit in order to catch up with them quickly, before we head off back. We tried to find a place to eat – Burger King – and instead started cruising the streets of city Madrid while blasting Rammstein about as loud as we could.

It was a beautiful evening and night, and a nice drive back to the hotel and we got to bed to enjoy a nice night of rest before the big day tomorrow.

// Sara

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Amaranthe @ Uddeholmsladan, Uddeholm, Sweden 2/9 – 17

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags , on September 2, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, the day was here, Amaranthe playing in Uddeholm, a small town from where I live in Sweden – probably the most unexpected city for me to ever catch a show in to be honest. But here we were.

We left fairly late, decided to stop by my summer cabin to have some barbecue, sort of, before going to the venue. My summer cabin is in the very same city as this venue, so it’s sort of perfect. In a way, you could say I live there.

So, we made it to the venue about an hour or so after the doors had opened because of various delays, but it didn’t really seem to matter and quite frankly, I sort of expected this to happen – that there would still be some spots available at the front row. It’s usually like that, you learn with time.

So, with that said, we claimed our spots at the front, and waited for the support band to begin.

JD Miller

Supportband for tonight was JD Miller, a fairly fresh Swedish band that says to be a mix between Evergrey and Eclipse, and I do feel that description fits them well. They put on a very good show – very energetic and a good vibe from the stage, but I can’t say I enjoyed the music that much. Sorry guys.

After this, the little wait for Amaranthe began and I’ll tell you a little bit about the venue while I’m at it, shall I? So, this is a barn. This is what the venue is called – The Uddeholm Barn, but it is in fact a beautiful barn. It was quite cold, but that aside, it was really nice. A big contender to Le Petit Bain in France, as far as being best and coolest venue goes.

And just like that, it was time for Amaranthe to start. The intro started rolling, and then pouring out into ”Maximize”

Amaranthe

They opened up strongly with ”Maximize”, and then launched themselves right into ”Boomerang” – as they have done the whole tour really. It’s all as if it’s going by routine. Of course, in a way it is, but it’s something about this band that makes everything, everything they do, seem extremely rehearsed.

The power pack and one of my now personal favorites ”Hunger” was next on the list, which gave them a little bit of response from the crowd. The crowd was bigger than I’d expect it to be in a place like this, but not too responsive. Well, yet that is.

They continued on with ”Invincible”  and quickly followed it up with ”1.000.000 Lightyears” before moving on to my personal favorite album of Amaranthe, ”MASSIVE ADDICTIVE” in the shape of ”Trinity”, and then ”True”.

Nils and Elize do really work well together, voice vice as well as chemistry vice, but I do also have to admit that I miss Jake. No matter how much I love Nils, I’ll always miss his vocals a bit. But don’t get this the wrong way – I love everything Nils does. I couldn’t have found a better replacement. And speaking of Nils, Andreas was missing from the line up today, so Jonathan from Dynazty had filled his place. So glad to see.

The duet between Elize and Henrik, ”Fury” was up next before Elize had her own little solomoment with ”Endlessly”. I do really love this song, and it’s magical when she performs it live, but it’s becoming a little too much focus on Elize, or is it just me? This is a three vocalist band, after all.

Morten had his own little moment before it was time to rip off, what is my favorite song off ”Maximalism” – ”On The Rocks”. I love this song live though, it’s just so good. ”Automatic” was next on the list before my all time favorite song – and I guess almost all of the venues too – ”The Nexus” was ripped off.

Elize came out on her own from the side, started off the sing along that is ”Amaranthine” and it did make me so happy to see they have this kind of following up here. ”Call Out My Name” wrapped up the whole set, and the band left the stage.

The intro for ”Digital World” poured out of the speakers and the band came on stage for their last four encores, starting with ”Digital World” that later turned into ”That Song”. ”Dynamite” was ripped off before they performed the last song for the evening, ”Drop Dead Cynical”. The band thanked for the evening and then walked off stage.

The show was good. I’ve seen this same set a few times now, so I guess it’s starting to get old for me, but that aside it was good. The band still feels a bit rehearsed, a bit off, but I don’t know if it’s just me or this is just really the case.

After the show we headed off right home, slowly, as the rain had attracted the frog invasion and we tried to not kill any. Which was easier said than done.

// Sara

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Civil War @ Falkenberg Rock Fest, Falkenberg, Sweden 26/8 – 17

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized on August 26, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, yeah, this thing about Sabaton Open Air being the last festival didn’t exactly happen. And I suppose you are not surprised, so perhaps I shouldn’t be either that I wound up on yet another festival, but this time, in a lot smaller scale.

Since we were really only interested in one band on the bill, we decided to get a one day ticket, and to head down somewhat in time for the band to enter the stage. For once in my life, we actually left in a good amount of time. We even had time to stop by in Gothenburg to pick up some food. Even better, we had a bit of a shitty incident on our way from Gothenburg to Falkenberg, which ran as smooth as ever as well!

Once at the arena, we simply went inside and watched the remainder of Liv Sin’s set. It was a great set – she’s a really cool frontwoman, and I enjoyed it a lot.

After the set, we were escorted out of the venue because of soundcheck, which was a bit… weird to me, if I can say so, but oh well. It means we had better chance for front row. And when they finally opened the doors again, we gained our spots. Perfect!

Civil War

Right as announced, the band walked on stage and started off the set with “USS Monitor”. This was the first time for me seeing them with their new singer, Kelly Sundown, and I was about to learn that this was his first show in Sweden as well. Good on you Kelly!

“St Patricks Day” was next on the list, tightly followed by “Gettysburg”. As I sort of imagined, the turn out as far as FANS went, wasn’t too big – BUT – the house was somewhat full. Just energydrained. “Deliverance” off their most recent album was next on the list, and I guess about this time I can honestly say that I love Kelly as a front man for Civil War. He is doing such a good job! And he fits right in.

“A Tale That Never Should be Told” was next, followed by one of my personal favorites “I Will Rule The Universe”. “Tombstone”, which was quickly grown into one of my personal favorite songs was next, and seriously, probably the best moment on the entire show. I really love this song.

“Bay of Pigs” wrapped up the set, they left the stage only to return to finish off the set with “Rome is Falling”.

The band thanked for the time, and left the stage.

Personally, it was soooo good to see them again, I loved it. I have missed them, I really have.

After the show, we excited the venue again, went outside and watched that band outside, and then came back in, at least I was, to catch Lillasyster. They had a better turn out, I guess they are somewhat of a local band, or just very very big. I’ve seen them once or twice before, so I enjoyed the set even if I’m not a big fan. Was a nice wrap up.

After the show, we headed back to the car and drove to a nearby breakstation where we parked for the night and went to bed. Tomorrow was time for new adventures.

// Sara

 

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Sabaton Open Air: Day 4 – Saturday

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags on August 19, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

Last day of the best. Absolutely dead from going to bed too late and getting up too soon in the morning – but what can you do? We had to get up early regardless because of spots for Sabaton. Sjorven went ahead of me as I started to pack up and prepare, but I wasn’t far after him.

On my way to the parkinglot to get changed – for some awkward reason I kept half of my stuff in the car in the parkinglot, and half of it in the tent. But it wasn’t a too bad idea, as I ran into Tero and Susanna, my neighbours from Graspop Metal Meeting earlier this year. I was introduced to some of their friends and we had a nice chat before I had to leave to make it for the first band of the day for me, Thobbe Englund.

Thobbe Englund

I don’t know if this person needs any major introduction – but he’s the previous guitarplayer in Sabaton who left the band last year, and had his last show with Sabaton on this very festival. But now he was back, and with his own band with that.

He opened his set with “Sold my Soul”, and the crowd… I mean, it was okay. I actually thought he’d have a bigger crowd seeing he was once in Sabaton, but I guess a lot of people simply don’t have any interest in him as a solo guy. Can relate though.

“Annihilation” was next on the setlist, then followed by “Steel & Thunder”. “The Glow” and “It Burns” was next on the list before Thobbe showed us a guitar solo – he is a guitarist after all – before continuing with “Wildborn” and “The End of Oil”. The reception from the crowd was pretty good – I’m guessing a lot of people simply know him from Sabaton and hasn’t paid much attention to his own work, and most people were also already waiting in line for Sabaton.

“Break The Chains”, “I Am” and “Trägen Vinner” rounded up this show as Thobbe thanked for the day and left the stage. After this, I headed over to the other stage to catch a local band of mine, Lancer.

Lancer

So, I will admit I have never heard this band before, but I knew they were from here and wanted to watch them because of it. They were really good actually – I enjoyed the show a lot, and they gathered a good crowd. Fun to see, and I will watch again some day.

After Lancer I went back to Sjorven to hang out a bit and slowly watch Eternal of Sweden before I was set to head off back to the other stage to watch Avatar.

Avatar

I prefer to watch Avatar in the dark. So as you know, I was already not a fan of watching them so early in the day at Graspop, and they had yet an early set here in Falun as well, but it’s better than nothing.

The band walked on the stage the way they always do, and they opened the set with “Hail The Apocalypse” as per usual this year, and quickly followed up with “Paint Me Red”, “New Land” followed suit. Something I really love about Avatar – as with any other band like theirs, is that they stick to their concept and really act out on it. Making a show out of their music than simply the music. And you all know I’m very weak for that.

“Bloody Angel” and “The Eagle Has Landed” was next songs on the list, followed by “Get in Line” and “Vultures Fly”. “Murderer” and “Let it Burn” rounded up the show before they ended the whole set with “Smells Like a Freakshow”. The reception from the crowd was great, I’m glad to see how great it’s going for them. Really.

It was such a good show that I barely even wanted to leave my spot up on the hill to go back to Sabaton queueing.

Per default I saw Evergrey, which put on a pretty good show, but I need to admit I’m not a that big fan of this band, despite seeing them a couple of times by now. But still, better than nothing.

At this time, it started to get pretty thick, which isn’t so weird given it was about time for Sabaton to come on, once Steve Harris was done on the other stage.

And finally, after some wait, “In The Army Now” finally started rolling.

Sabaton

“The March To War” started echoing, and “Ghost Division” started off yet another Sabaton show. Soon, it’s going to have been ten years of torture. Ten years of torture. Oh well. I shouldn’t complain too much, should I, seeing that “The Art of War” was next on the list, and I pretty much forgive everything when this song comes on.

“Blood of Bannockburn” was next on the list, followed by “Swedish Pagans”. I’m so glad to just get over with that song so early in the set. I really don’t get it. The obsession. I really don’t.

“Attero Dominatus” was next on the list, and it is sooo good to see this song back. I missed this song during the Last Tour, so I’m more than happy to see it make a return. And then of course, the highlight of the show for me was next – “The Last Stand”. I cannot get enough of this song. Ever. Like, EVER.

You know, Sabaton tend to always have the same jokes on their shows, but this time it was funny. Jocke asked all of us Swedish speaking people to just randomly start screaming at whatever he said, just to confuse and weird out the non Swedish speaking, so he literally just said “ok, lets scream” and all the Swedish speaking people did so, and I know that all my friends that I was there with, that happened to be non swedes, just looked at me like “what did he say, what did he say” and me and the security guard just looked at each other and smiled. Oh if they only knew.

Another favorite back is “Panzerkampf”. I am not sure why this song ever actually disappeared from the setlist, but I’m glad it’s back. The adrenaline rush that is “Sparta” was following next, before it was time for them to play a song that, as far as I understood it, they have only played once before – “Wehrmacht”. Was really cool to see it live, really!

“Screaming Eagles” followed suit before it was time for another highlight of the show, “Carolus Rex”, which was instantly followed by “En Livstid i Krig”. And you know, I’m no big fan of this song in particular, but I’ve learned to appreciate it, only for the baby bears. Those who knows what I mean, they know.

“Diary of an Unknown Soldier” started echoing through the speakers, followed by “The Lost Battalion”. This song is still as magical to me was it was the first time I heard it on Sweden Rock 2016. “Winger Hussars” and “Night Witches” wrapped up the set before they left and the video from the storming of Normandie appeared, and “Primo Victoria” was set off.

“Shiroyama” was next, and they ended it all with “To Hell and Back”, and then left the stage.

While I was a bit disappointed in the setlist – Sabaton is good at false marketing – these boys still never disappoint me with their live shows. And as long as they keep “Winged Hussars” so I can get myself a proper slayer neck I’m very, very happy.

However, the night didn’t end here for us. Next stop for us was up the hill, to watch the last band of the festival – Grimner.

Grimner

I have seen Grimner twice before, when they were supporting Korpiklaani on their Swedish tour, and I enjoyed it a lot. I have one of their albums – “Frost mot Eld”, and I really, really like them.

They put on a really good show. They had a good turn out, despite being the very last band, and I enjoyed every single minute of it. Folkdancing to “Bastu”, headbanging the hell out of oneself to “Eldhjärta” and so on… It was a good ending.

After the show we met up with Helle, Martine and Joran for a one last good bye before going back to the tent and going to sleep. After all, it had been a long day.

// Sara

 

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Sabaton Open Air: Day 3 – Friday

Posted in Concerts, Music with tags on August 18, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

Friday, Friyay! First of the long days at Sabaton Open Air. Sadly, I’m lazy so I spent most of the time lying in the camp, organizing, going into Falun for my daily Pokéstop and just hanging around until the first show of the day for me started, which was Follow the Cipher.

On our way to the show we ran into Jenny, one of the girls I had in my Camp Ellen on Graspop, and we watched the band together.

Follow the Cipher

Follow the Cipher is a local band from Falun, and I must say I really liked them! Not only did they have good music, but they had an interesting stage show as well. And most people who read my blog knows how well I like well planned stage shows. Definitely a band I’ll watch again if I have the chance

After Follow the Cipher I went to the car to eat some left overs from yesterday, going back to the tent to organize some stuff, and then rush back to the area for Dirkschneider

Dirkschneider

You know, we joked on Wacken about that Udo is everywhere. I thought he was playing Wacken, but he wasn’t – even so, he was then announced as one of the first bands for Wacken next year. So basically, Udo is everywhere. And he was at Sabaton Open Air as well.

So, with Dirkschneider he still plays Accept songs, and it was magical for me to hear “Princess of the Dawn” which rapidly has grown into one of my favorite songs with them, made me very happy.

Other than that, the set was really good and I’m glad we managed to catch him.

After Dirkschneider we went up and claimed our spots for HammerFall. This is a small festival and I figured it wouldn’t be impossible to claim a front row spot for HammerFall, and although we managed, it wasn’t super easy.

But, we waited, and then it finally began

HammerFall

The intro started to roll, the band walked on stage and started off their set with “Hectors Hymn”. They quickly followed up with “Riders of the Storm” and this was the moment where it just… dawned upon me.

This band, much like Sabaton, has been with me for ten years. This is the first heavy metal / power metal band that I ever listened to, they are the ones who showed the way. As the years passed, they faded, I faded, and a mixture of emotions came up inside of me when they started playing this song, as I realized how much I love this band – and how much I’ve missed them. It was so good to see them. So fucking good.

“Bloodbound” was next on the list, followed by my all time favorite “Any Means Necessary”. I honestly cannot get enough of this song. Period.

“Renegade” was next on the list, followed by “Dethrone and Defy” from their newest album – “Last Man Standing” and “Let The Hammer Fall” and lastly “Built To Last” was fired off before something special started happening.

They were celebrating 20 years since the release of “Glory to the Brave”, and because of this, they had brought in a group of well established folk musicians who accompanied them for “I Believe”, “The Dragon Lies Bleeding” and “Glory to the Brave” specifically, and before doing so, they had their own solo as well. It was magical to see.

“Hammer High” rounded off the set, and the band walked on stage. When they came back, they fired of “Bushido” and “Hearts on Fire” as encores before thanking for the time and leaving the stage.

While it was a great show, I will admit I had hoped for more seeing it was the 20 years anniversary of the album. But, it was still good. So I’m content.

After HammerFall I joined Sjorven to see some of his friends and we wound up being there until 5 o clock in the morning before finally, going to bed. So late.

// Sara

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Sabaton Open Air: Day 2 – Thursday

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags on August 17, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

Thursday. First day of waking up on festivalgrounds, it is a special feeling you know. You are home, but o the same time you are not.

Since the festivalgrounds didn’t open until 17 later this day, Sjorven and I had decided the day before that we were about to go and have proper lunch together, considering we don’t hang out much or often, and considering we were going to town regardless to pick up the orders I had made for Sabaton Open Air and Skogsröjet beer, it was simply a perfect oppurtunity.

So, off we went through the beauty that is the small forest before you get to centrum, off to the liqour store to pick up beautiful bottles of Sabaton Open Air beer. It was a large order, carried in a bigger box as I helped my non-Swedish friends to get their hands on a few as well. And of course – Skogsröjet beer.

After this, we headed over to the pizzeria we had spotted the other day and had a delicious meal. We then headed back to the festival area, had a drink or two before going inside the area. The first thing on the agenda for me, was the Sabation signing session. I picked up my The Last Stand vinyl and made way to the line. I stood relativel close to the French Division, and managed to say hi to Alexandre. Always a joy.

I’m legit sure that I stood in that line for a good hour before reaching the front, but it was all worth it. One more vinyl to my collection, and it was indeed nice to meet the boys again. Very chatty, Chris and I ended up in a disucssion about signing sessions, and me and Tommy about haircolors. Nice.

After the signing session, I headed back to the car to rest a bit before dinner and Freedom Call.

Freedom Call

Freedom Call had gathered a nice crowd, and the they delivered a very good set. Despite not being very much into them, I enjoyed the show a whole lot. It was really fun. Strong songs, anthems and hymns. Just what I like.

After the show, we headed off to have some late night snacks and watching some of Pain before going to bed. At least for me, that is.

// Sara

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Sabaton Open Air: Day 1 – Wednesday

Posted in Concerts, Music with tags on August 16, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, finally the time was here to get to the last “major” festival this year – Sabaton Open Air. Due to having my friends arrive already on Monday, I decided to get there as early as possible, which would be Wednesday. Delay after Delay made my arrival later than I had expected it – but hey – I made it there, somehow.

Apparently, this was all encountered with issues. Firstly, the parking only offered a pay system I do not use, which means I had to call my mother, who had to make the payment, then go to a electronics store to get help to get a picture of the phone so she could send it to me so I could prove to them I had paid parking. What is so fucking difficult with using cash…? This is a big no no for me that parking is 1. Not able to be pre-purchased, and secondly, only option while at the parking is by Swish. A big no no.

Secondly, since I had my ticket arranged for me beforehand, all I needed was to pick up a camping ticket, which as informed you are supposed to be able to do once there. But this was issues as well. I had to buy it from the website, because for God knows what reason, they could not sell camping tickets at the booth until the next morning. And I could not buy it online – because I had withdrawn all my money to pay for the camping upfront. Ironic, isn’t it? I was lucky as hell though – a gentleman from Germany has accidently purchased a camping ticket which he didn’t need, so we solved it as such that I bought the camping off him, making everything correct in their systems.

After that, I met up with Sjorven and we headed down to Falun to have some, well, it was supposed to be lunch but by this time it had turned into dinner. Dinner means Subway by the river, and it was nice to catch up. We headed back to festival grounds where we put up the tent and then off to see the first band of the evening for me, Mark Zero. – I will let you know something – I did forget my camera at home, as it seems, and because of that, only phone images will happen.

They put on a really good show – the little tent they played in, the bar tent which held the pre-party that this wednesday was, and the tent was packed. Happy to see!

I was introduced to some of Sjorvens friends as we waited for Brothers of Metal to begin.

Brothers of Metal

So this is a band I wound up seeing by accident on Sabaton Open Air last year, and I loved them. So I was looking forward seeing them again, and so was a lot of people.

They put on a really good show – as I expected, and I’m glad I came early, even if it only was to see this band perform.

After BOM I will admit that I headed straight for bed. It has been a long day, and tomorrow was set to be an even longer day.

// Sara

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Wacken Open Air: Saturday (Part 4)

Posted in Concerts, Uncategorized with tags , on August 5, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

So Saturday, as I mentioned earlier, was quite the busy day for me. I’m not sure if there were particularly any more bands that specific day than any other, but most of the bands played right after each other, leaving no time to do other things once Powerwolf started later in the evening.

But first things first, pretty much the reason I got here started early in the day: Twilight Force.

Twilight Force

Ok so, I know, or have learned by now that bands are probably and usually a lot bigger than I expect them to be, at all times, but this was ridiculous. The tent was PACKED. Which made me really happy to see. And then, the intro started rolling and they opened their set with “Battle of Arcane Might”. They were well recieved by the audience. They continued on strongly with “To The Stars” and then “Riders of the Dawn”.

Funny note: During “Riders of the Dawn” Thomas and I fake galloped, and his step counter hit its daily goal, simply from going to this show. Now that’s what I call a work out!

“Enchanted Dragon of Wisdow” was the next song on the list, quickly followed by “Powerwind” before the paradenumber that is “Flight of the Sapphire Dragon” was ripped of until they closed the show with “Gates of Glory” and “The Power of the Ancient Force”.

While the show was really good, I couldn’t help but to notice that they didn’t seem very tight. It sounded a bit off, but I wasn’t sure if it was just untight, or if they do other versions live.

After the show, we went back to the camp to chill out and relax a bit, and I was getting myself ready for the signing session as the time went by. Got there pretty good on time, there was a small line already gathered up for the Twilight Force signing, but not too bad. The band came and started to sign eventually we got to me, and the “problem” – not a problem but I don’t know how else to put it, is that I got some of the die hard fans in front of me in the line, which cause a huge stop. Not for me personally, but I spent a good ten awkward minutes with Lynd becasue the line could not proceed because they had to greet and talk to literally every single member. It got so awkward Lynd even struck up an awkward conversation where he confirmed they were a bit rusty.

Finally the plug undid and I could proceed and get out – and for those of you who think I’m so rude who just “want to get out of there” – Powerwolf was about to start their show soon after this, and I wanted to drop off my vinyl and put on make up before the show. And, I made it.

So, Jonathan joined me up and we went back to the festgrounds and got positions for Powerwolf. Far in the back, like, real in the back. But better than nothing, right? And you kind of have to choose your positions after where the mud is, in all honesty.

Powerwolf

“Lupus Daemonis” started echoing through the speakers as the band (I assume, couldn’t really you know, see) walked on stage and then fired off the show with “Blessed & Possessed”. The crowd for the show today was huge, which I kind of hoped you’d understand by us being far in the back. We were in the infield still, but really far away. It was an ocean of people. And then I think about the little clubs Powerwolf plays in Sweden… It’s so interesting how different it is.

“Army of the Night” was next on the list and to be honest… I would go through the entire list song by song, but the thing is – it is the same. The same that it has been all of the “Blessed and Possessed” tour, with perhaps losing a song or two here and there depending on if it’s a club or a festival gig. What I really miss is “Lupus Dei” at the end, which they haven’t seem to have had at all this festival tour. Interesting.

Aside that, the band performed a good set and the audience had a good vibe. A well enjoyable show!

Alice Cooper

Right after Powerwolf, I walked over the other stageto witness Alice Cooper. It felt really, really weird I will admit to not have seen him at Gröna Lund as I usually do, but what can I do about it now? Nothing.

For a lot of people happy surprise, he actually opened with “Brutal Planet”. I was really happy to see this. The place was really packed, I’ll also let you know. Somewhere in the start, Jörgen came from nowhere and picked up, as he, Sandra and Johan were standing right outside infield, and wanted to ask if I should join them instead, which I did. Because it didn’t really matter, the band was tiny anyway.

The setlist was good – it was a lot and a bunch of the good old classics that are used to and expect to hear, but also a few that for me where a bit unusual – such as “Woman of Mass Distraction”, “Halo of Flies” and “The World Needs Guts”. It was good to see him perform one new song as well – “Paranoiac Personality”.  Aside that, as I said – the same old, same old. “Frankenstein” and the monster, the beheading, all of the old tricks. I did miss “Billion Dollar Babies” though.

And on top of that, I really appriciate the Lemmy tribute they do. I love it when musicians recognize each other this way.

It was a good show – what else to expect from the man himself if you think about it, perhaps band should look to him and take notes.

After this, it was time for my only small break. I was heading over to Wackinger Village to catch Serenity, but some idiotic person had thought it was gonna be fun to switch the road signs out, so it took longer than it would need to find my way there – and before people flame – I used the break time to look through the shopping part toward Beergarden, so this is why I got lost, otherwise I would probably have wound up in Wackinger right away.

Serenity

So, of course, because of some idiot person, I missed out on my favorite song with Serentiy – but at least I only missed one song. They played a really nice set – short naturally, and was interrupted a lot due to having the same play time as Amon Amarth – we would hear Serenity, but feel the beats from Amon Amarth. George even joked about that they could use Amon Amarths drummer instead of their own.

They had a woman with them on stage to do some duets, but sadly they didn’t do “The Perfect Woman” which I was hoping a bit for as they had her with them, but you can’t get everything, right?

After Serenity, I headed back toward the infields and picked up pizza and drink to have a late night dinner while watching Avantasia

Avantasia

What I really like about Avantasia is the setting and how it works. I know it’s a metal opera, which makes it so enjoyable both simply to watch the way I did with a drink and a pizza, but also as someone who’s into it, as I did, well partially tonight but also on Tuska.

The setlist is somewhat similar as to what they have had the past year – not surprising seeing it’s the same tour, but I thought it would be a little special because you know Wacken. I wasn’t even at the Infield for this one, but holy damn. If I thought there was an ocean of people for Powerwolf, there sure as hell was one now.

The set was really enjoyable though. It was the perfect ending for the festival and the evening, and even though it may only be the third time I’m seeing Avantasia, they have never failed to entertain me so far. I hope I get to see them again some time.

After this, I left the Wacken grounds behind, quite early in the evening for once, and started packing up my camp as I heard the rain smatter on the tent outside. Tomorrow started the journey home, and I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it, I must admit.

// Sara

 

 

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