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Sabaton Open Air – Day 2: Saturday 20/8 2016 pt.2

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on August 24, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

So. The wait begun. It was six very very excited and happy Monstermaniacs that eagerly awaited Lordi. It’s always so weird for me to see their backdrop, to see their crew and everything appear in Sweden. I’ve gotten so used to see them overseas that the mere thought of them being at home is just so strange. I can’t quite grasp it. And this was the first time Jonathan would ever see them, and it was great to get to enjoy it together with Martine as well… It was just.. perfect.

LORDI

And even more perfect did it become when “Estimated Time of Arrival” started.

I swear to God, the guards looked very suspiciously at us when they saw me and Michelle lip synching the entire thing, but you know… heard it so many times now. They got on the stage, and set off with “Nailed By the Hammer of Frankenstein”.

They quickly followed up with “Bringing Back The Balls to Rock” and then “Get Heavy”, which was a supernice surprise! Ever since I heard it again at Tuska I’ve been asking like literally every Lordi fan where the hell that song was, because it’s absolutely killer! “This is Heavy Metal” – With the heavy metal dude – and “The Riff” where the next songs on the list, I am not a hundred percent sure about the exact order as I didn’t write down all the songs, but.

And then. Somewhere around this part of the setlist, one of the major surprises for me came: “Scare Force One”. As you all know – this is my absolute favorite song on that album, like it’s not even fun how much I love that song, and to hear it again… It’s like, Lordi did everything right with this era for me. They brought back “Deadache” for the regular tour, and they played “My Heaven is Your Hell” on Sweden Rock and now “Scare Force” was back. It was so amazing. And most amazingly of all was acting out the song together with my original GroupieBFF Martine. Seriously.

Then of course, the highlight of the night “It Snows in Hell”, and according to Jonathan, the guards had looked so confused at us. That they weren’t sure what they were supposed to do. And for the first time forever, Mr Lordi even turned his own head upside down to us. Speaking of that. The band interacted so much with us. It was almost like the six of us where the only fans that existed for them. It was.. a nice feeling, but also odd. I’ve never seen them so on their game before as today. It was nice to see.

“Devil is a Loser” was next, followed by “Hard Rock Halleujah”… and then.. exit and Mr Lordi came back, asking us if we wanted more. And that’s when we did it. What we’d waited for to do. He asked us if we wanted more and we said…

“FACE DOWN, ASS UP, FACE DOWN ASS UP!”

Mr Lordi looked so confused at us, going “What…?” and we started yelling “HUG YOU HARDCORE, HUG YOU HARDCORE!!!”

And he just shook his head, “no no no” and we yelled back, “OH COME ON!!! COME ON!!! PLEASE!!!” and he just said “No, that is not going to happen” and we gave up. It was worth a shot, and we have also now finally managed to completely freeze Mr L on stage. Fantastic.

Lordiii

The encores were the usual ones – “Who’s Your Daddy” and “Would you Love a Monsterman?” And then they left the stage. Jonathan actually got Mr Lordis towel!

It was an amazing set. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing this set felt. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Lordi so on top of their game as I did today. Thank you so much for a mindblowing show guys!

Right after this show, we wrapped Jonathan in the Swedish flag and sent him off to his meet & greet while we headed off towards Sabaton.

SABATON

The runtimes on the running schedule were a little confusing, as it never mentioned if it was any breaks between the bands, but clearly it was. We got ourselves some good spots in the back, and I must admit, because of the break, I started to question myself if perhaps we should have gone to the meet&greet as well, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Then, “In The Army Now” started, and I started to get excited, feel my adrenaline pump… intro started… “Hello FALUN! We are SABATON, (…) and this is GHOST DIVISION!” and off we go… but it wasn’t until after this, when Jocke says “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME CAROLUS REX” where I knew that no. I was exactly where I was supposed to be. “Carolus Rex” is honestly one of my jams. “Carolus” and “The Art of War”. Those are simply my jams.

“Ballad of Bannockburn” was third song, and as Jonathan hadn’t gotten back from the meet&greet yet, I decided to record it for him since it’s his favorite, but just then he came back, so all good! And then.. jumpfest deluxe: “Swedish Pagans”. Seriously, I had a little circle around me, because no one wanted to stand close to me. Probably because I’m jumping back and forth, side to side and my hair has quite a radius when headbanging.

Then, “The Diary of an Unknown Soldier” started and I just stopped breathing. Like I already told you, when these orchestral kind of arrangements starts… I just stop for some reason. This was of course followed up by “The Lost Battalion”, and god I just love that song. “Soldier of Three Armies” was next on the list, it’s like every band is just doing it for me tonight!

After this, the show stopped up for a moment to take a moment to appriciate and thank Thobbe for his time in the band. It was, after all, his final show. To do this, they had put together a little video of him. It was… emotional to say the least to see this. It was just.. it’s so weird to think about that this was the end.

Right after this – “Cliffs of Gallipoli” was brought back. And seriously… First and foremost, I simply love this song and this album, but it also became monumental because all of this festival, because of some things happening right before departing, I’ve had the line “broken promises they won’t be coming home”. All festival. And to then have Sabaton play the song live just became… very emotional.

“Counterstrike” was next on the list, followed my other jam “The Art of War” before something big happened. About guitarist. And a little blonde fellow was invited on stage.

Tommy Johansson. 

Better known as, Sabaton’s new guitarist.

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It was amazing to get to see the new guitarist being introduced to the band, seeing him brought in, and get to see his very first show with the band. So, I can know say I’ve heard “Resist and Bite” with four guitars, and the rest of them with three guitars.

“To Hell and Back” was next song, followed by live premiere of “Sparta”. I’m not a big fan of this song on the album, but it DOES make a VERY good live show I must admit. Holy hell.

“En Livstid i Krig” was brought out before we had a bit of a breakdown on stage, Hannes accusing Tommy of being a bit cocky for “having been in the band for like 15 minutes” so they dared him to sing a song. And that’s when we knew. “Gott Mit Uns”.

And this was just soooo good. I’ve missed this song since “Noch Ein Bier”, so it was great to see it again. And Tommy is one hell of a guy!

After this, they left the stage and my personal favorite moment of the show started. You know what I’m talking about.

Lights out.

Helicopter siren. 

Redlights. 

Orchestral arrangements.

“Nightwitches”. 

Seriously. I can’t describe to you how amazing this is. It’s like I said many times before – these guys, they know how to paint with music. Like Pocahontas paints with the color of the wind, Sabaton paints with music.

Next song on the list was “Shiroyama”, seriously, I love this one. “Primo Victoria” and “Metal Crüe” with the fireworks from hell rounded up the show, and the boys thanked for themselves and left the stage.

While I do miss some songs – “The Last Stand”, “Winged Hussars” to mention a few, I enjoyed this show so much. And I love this band so much. Everytime I go to a Sabaton show I remember why I love these five men so much, and why I have devoted my life to them. Sabaton, again, I love you.

Sabaton

Right after this, Jonathan and I headed back to the car for some late night drinks talking about Sabaton and Lordi and whatnot and then going to bed.

What a day it was!

// Sara

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Sabaton Open Air – Day 2: Saturday 20/8 2016 pt.1

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on August 24, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

It was really the best feeling in the world at the moment when I woke up in the morning, in only my regular pyjamas and even feeling it being a little on the warm side. Never before have I felt this amazing feeling at a festival, and trust me, this has just given me a blooded tooth as we’d say in Sweden, to do this again and again and again. And how convenient, isn’t it, to already have the living place set up when you arrive? Oh yeah.

Started out originally with sitting down, trying to figure out the lyrics to “Hug You Hardcore” and chatting with some people before a wild Paula appeared outside my car door for some breakfast hang out. After a while she left and I started to drag myself out of bed, and with the help of Michelle and the very kind guy Lalla, I put up both mine and Jonathans tent before going back to make my car less messy and then, onwards to Falun Centralstation to pick up Jonathan.

It’s the craziest thing – I’ve known this guy for like, eight years, and this is the first time we’d ever meet. I was unsure if I’d find him, but once I arrived (late, of course, what else?) and I saw the blonde guy in a jeans jacket I knew it was him. And it was SO WEIRD. To see him, and hug him and talk to him in person, that the person you’ve talked to on the computer for the past eight years is actually a real person.

We got back in the car, talking about everything and nothing while getting back to the site. Went to campsite to drop things off and then continue to sit and talk and essentially, catch up. After a little while we got into the area to catch the first band of the day live.

Amberian Dawn

So, this band was one of the supporters of the Delain show I caught in Belgium last year, and I’ve been dying to see them again, so believe me when I said I was excited to finally see them again, and the convenience of them playing Lordis stage on top of it all.

They performed a good and enjoyable set, and I’m glad we managed to catch them!

Amberian

After this, we dodged for the front row, put up our Swedish flag and the long wait for Lordi began. We decided, since we had the flag up and everything, to take turns watching it when no band was playing the stage. So at first, I went off to get some food because I was basically dying from hunger, and after that, Jonathan took a stroll around the area to check it out while me and Michelle guarded the flag. Not too long after that it was time for me to leave to get in the very, VERY long queue for the Sabaton signing session…

At first I stood there, 15 minutes prior to start and being angry with myself for not taking “The Last Stand” book with me so I would have had something to read. My phone was running out of battery and dumped by the Swedish Caroleans so I literally had no entertainment and I get bored and restless so easily.  I thought of asking Jonathan to go pick up the book for me, but we solved it in a better way – Jonathan kept me company the whole line, and also wound up getting signatures as well!

signatrues

We queued for almost two hours for this session. That is seriously the longest I’ve ever waited in a SIGNING line. I’m sure someone out there was waited longer, not to mention the people who were in the front, but yeah, it got a bit heavy because of the burning sun. And to make it even worse, the Swedish Military Defence had their little obstacle course with them, and I stood there with my Boda Borg veins pumping me wanting to go through it. But, at least we got to see Helle do it! That was fun.

We got to the signing, got our signatures and then went off to the car to drop them off and to pick up the stuff Jonathan had planned to bring to the meet and greet with Lordi. Because yes, that’s right folks! He did win it, after all! So happy.

After this, we decided to get dinner and watch Sorcerer from afar before Equilibrium, in order to not take any stupid risks. We were a bit unsure sitting up there, because unless we heard something wrong they said something like “We won’t wait 27 years til next time” and we were like WHAT THE? But then again, they only had like one album out so… Well, it gave us a brainteaser.

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After we were done with dinner we went down to Bandit Stage again and joined Paula, Helle, Ted and his friend at the front for Equilibrium.

Equilibrium

So, I have a lot of friend who likes this band, so I got a bit excited of finally seeing them myself, and I really, REALLY enjoyed their show! I have to pick up some albums with them, that’s for sure!

It was also a big show for Jonathan – he experienced being crushed by a moshpit for the first time, and he also witnessed his very very first Wall of Death in person, up and close! It was monumental. The boys in the band put on a really, really good show, like I already said, I really enjoyed it. Thank you!

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And after Equilibrium, we reclaimed our spots at the front row and the long wait began.

TO BE CONTINUED

// Sara

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Sabaton Open Air – Day 1: Friday 19/8 2016

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , on August 22, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Interestingly enough, the car was actually not as broken as we originally thought it was. It turns out, what my father originally thought was like, an engine problem was really just one of the front wheels almost coming off. Lucky me this didn’t occur halfway to Falun! Despite this, I still decided to leave fairly early on Friday morning anyway, and I actually for once managed to get going in a fair good amount of time.

On my way up to Falun I took the opportunity to listen through “The Last Stand” in preparation for tomorrow. And holy shit let me tell you this – when “Diary of an Unknown Soldier” started I was simply just enjoying it… until I heard the background arrangements, and recognized them from “The Lost Battalion”. As you all know about me, I love big and epic arrangements. And these orchestral arrangements they have with their songs – also with “Nightwitches”, I just… What happened is that I first started breathing very heavily. Heavy panting, perhaps. And then I just stopped breathing and when “The Lost Battalion” started… it was like something in me just exploded. It’s just…  I can’t even really explain it. But every little inch of my body just exploded, because of the build from the previous song. Perhaps I’m the only person in this world who can feel this, who lets the song just eat you up and spit you out… So essentially, I had to pull over to calm myself down before an accident happened.

Then, I continued onwards to Falun. And it isn’t much to say. I passed Borlänge and Kupolen, and I revived some memories from the Peace&Love festivals I used to attend, and you always went to Kupolen to charge your phone. And always this classic line “It’s so good to back home here in Borlänge” – aka the time I found out Sabaton was a Swedish band.

Once I was in Falun and at Lugnet, where I by the way just to stay when I went to Peace&Love – so it was a bit of coming home, actually – everything went pretty fast. Not sure if you guys knew this, but my combicar is actually now a festivalvan, so everything was already done, so I got the wristbands, went to the car and got changed, and then into the festival area. Headed directly for the merch stand to pick up a Hysterica album for the signing session, then the festival shirt – you know, Lordi’s name is on it after all – and then onto the next merchstand to pick up Sabaton’s new album. Yes, I have indeed preordered the Tank edition, but I really really love these books they made, and I really want THAT version of the CD so… it had to be done.

sabatonn

I sat down on a hill casually watching a band while opening the CD and going through it. Seriously, I LOVE These little books. After some time has passed, I headed over to the signing area to meet with Hysterica. The first thing that happens when I get up to them is the bassplayer saying “OH NICE! A GIRL!” and I told her “Yeah, likewise!” referring to the lack of female (full female) bands on festivals. It was nice meeting them!

Brothers of Metal

While waiting for the signing session to begin, Brothers of Metal had just started to play on the stage, and I did quite frankly like the music that was coming out, so I decided to check them out. I really like the show they put on, they were extremely entertaining and I do look forward to see them again some other time. And their cover of “Swedish Pagans” was to die for, really.

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After this, I headed back to my little car or van or whatever you want to call it to chill out a little bit. I called Paula over to hang out a bit before going back to the area to catch Hysterica.

Hysterica

So, this is a band I haven’t been all too familiar with for too long – I’ve known of their existance, but never checked them out too much, until it was set I was going to this festival, and started to check out bands, and that is the story of how I fell in love with them.

They put on a real good show, I enjoyed it like hell. I think it’s so fun, the singer looks so cute and innocent, but she’s a real metal beast, it was such a contrast to see her on stage. Supercool.

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After this, again, headed back to the car and did some real nice hanging out with Paula and Michelle, talking about everything and nothing, listening to Lordi’s new single “Hug You Hardcore” that was accidently released. It’s suuuuch a good song! I can’t get over it.

We moved on to continuing the, party? in the common room of the cabins where we also got to catch up with Martine, Joran and Ted, and for me – to meet Helle for the first time. Of course, as the rude people we are we forced them to do the Vegemite challenge. I’m starting to finally get together all the people I want to have tried it, and then, videocompilation!

Hours went by and soon it was time to head back to the area for the last band of the day – Bloodbound

Bloodbound

Like seriously, you guys know about my love for this band. And when they walked on stage and started off the show with “Iron Throne”… You know, sometimes I forget about this band, and how fantastic they really are. Like you know… when you just hear the intro for “Moria” or for “Stormborn” and everything you cease to exist. It’s just you and Bloodbound, on this quest towards whatever we are doing. You feel yourself getting lost in this temporary world that is Bloodbound.

bloodbound1

Aside that, because I could go on about that forever, it was a very good show. The boys delivered a tight and energetic set, and was the perfect wrap up for the first day of Sabaton Open Air.

Right after this, I crawled back into my little car getting ready for the next day. First and foremost, it was Lordi, and secondly, Sabaton and last but not in anyway least – the first time I’d ever get to meet Jonathan.

// Sara

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Skogsröjet 2016: Saturday, August 6th, Rejmyre, Sweden

Posted in Concerts, Uncategorized on August 13, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

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

Vanity BLVD

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

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

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

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

Art Nation

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

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

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

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

The Quireboys

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

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Quiet Riot

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

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Helloween

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

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

rojet7

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

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

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

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

// Sara

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Skogsröjet 2016: Friday, August 5th, Rejmyre, Sweden

Posted in Concerts, Uncategorized on August 12, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, after a few ifs and buts I decided, very last minute, to go to Skogsröjet on Friday morning despite previously planned on Thursday evening. Regardless, of course, later than planned as always, I got on the road towards Rejmyre, or well, Röjmyre as it’s called nowadays. It’s a fairly short drive to be honest – at least compared to Sweden Rock – it takes about an hour and a half down from where I live to the festival area.

I was getting a little stressed since I really, really wanted to make it to this band called Haunted by Destiny who played at 11:45, but gladly I saw on my clock I’d arrive about 30 minutes prior, which would be enough to arrive at the stage just in time, despite having to get my bracelet and all.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Jokes on me. When I get to Rejmyre, and pay for the parking they tell me to keep driving quite a bit and I wind up on a parking site in the middle of nowhere. Well, as much as nowhere can be in a little town like Rejmyre. The parking guard told me there’d be a bus going at 11.40 to the are. Well shit.

I waited for the bus since I didn’t wanna take any chances, and to my delight, once at the area, the line for wristbands were short, and no line into the area, so gladly, I didn’t miss a whole lot.

Haunted by Destiny

Haunted by Destiny is a local band (I guess we can call it that? Norrköping?), melodic metal I’d say to make it easy for myself. They delivered a very good and energetic set, I was not disappointed! It was well worth coming out early to see.

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Right after their show I went for the merch to pick up their album before heading back to the parkinglot to start getting my stuff out. That’s when someone jumps me from behind.

I guess most of you guys know me – I’m not easily scared so I really just inhaled and looked behind me because in all honesty, there’s only so many people who could actually be doing this. Of course, it was my dear friend Robert saying hi in the manner that he and I say hi to each other – by jumping each other.

He then proceeded to pick up me up and run away with me with the words “No time to explain, Ztringtroza starts now!”, and I can honestly say – as someone who keeps a low profile at festivals and don’t party, this must be one of the most random things to ever happen. At least this early at a festival. I explained to him I had to go and set up my tent and he says “So why are you still here?” Seriously. I love this guy.

I got on the bus back to the parking, which was easier said than done since apparently the bus company and Skogsröjet had some communication problems or so – Skogsröjet said the buses would circulate, the bus got confused as to where I wanted to go. Like ok. Eventually, like, 45 minutes later I managed to get back, and this time, since I had a lot of time, I would try to walk. With the luggage, it took maybe 15 minutes – mind you, with packing. So that was a relief. Spent the next hour or so to walk between the camping and the parking lot, setting up everything. And then, I changed my clothing and went back to the area to enjoy what was left of The Hooters.

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The Dead Daisies 

Right after The Hooters, I headed over to the smaller stage to catch The Dead Daisies. In case you’ve missed it – The Dead Daises are essentially one of those supergroups, I guess you could call them. I have been listening a little bit to them prior to the festival, so I looked forward to see them.

And they delivered! Sadly, it seems to me either it was a bit of a boring crowd or they were too starstruck or something, because yeah, not the best reception. BUT – the band put on a good show!

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Freedom Call

After the Dead Daisies I went and bought food and made my way over to Bandit stage again… With a bit of a heavy heart – in all honesty. The 69 Eyes were supposed to be playing, they were more or less the band I actually went to this festival for (aside always going here, hehe) so I was.. yeah I can’t deny it, I was really bummed. But, with my hamburger as a good company I figured I’d at least check this band out, seeing a lot of my friends likes or at least have talked about this band.

And I was not, I Was NOT disappointed, not in the slightest. I really, really enjoyed the set, and I salute the singer for making me feel less alone with my wasp problem (seriously, they were creeping on my face) so, I was really, really glad they came. It, in the end, was a very good replacement.

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Right after Freedom Call I headed back to the camp to first and foremost get changed, and then secondly pick up the last few things from the car before hurrying back to the area to catch Kamelot

KAMELOT

So Kamelot! It’s a band I’ve been meaning to check out for the longest of time but never really done so until very recently before this festival. I’ve heard the stuff Elize Ryd has done with them, obviously, but aside that not a lot. I did however figure I could expect a lot from them – and seriously, I was not disappointed!

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The lightshow! It’s probably, for Kamelot fans or people who’ve seen them a lot, not anything special, but I love these kind of bands, like Kamelot, that has a thoroughly worked through set and show. They don’t just get up there and play, but actually makes it a SHOW. Some bands could learn from it! And Kobra absolutely slayed it on stage. I’ve gotten myself  a new love in her.

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HARDCORE SUPERSTAR

I left Kamelot a little, little early in order to not miss a single second of one of my favorite bands – Hardcore Superstar. As you all know, they play pretty much every year at Skogsröjet, and I really hope Skogsröjet keep on booking them every year, as it’s always pleasant to know that “no matter what band plays, you will always have Hardcore Superstar there”.

As usual, I mean, nothing can literally go wrong with Hardcore Superstar. They are a superdedicated and energetic band, and just watching them fills you with adrenaline. It was a pretty average show in a way – no real surprises songwise, but still amazing. It was also good to see Angelina be on stage again and get to be one of the first customers on Hardcore Superbar… And when they played “We Don’t Celebrate Sundays”, and you just feel the adrenaline starts going up, as you are all getting ready for that very last chorus…. Just as it’s about to come…

The electricity is cut. 

Some confetti blew out, the stage went completely silent, but the crowd kept on singing, at least the full chorus. The band stood like frozen on stage, and it was like someone just paused everything. It was the most anticlimactic moment I’ve ever been to at a show. That timing of the powercut, it’s priceless! Jocke asked us to wait, so we did, and after fibbling a lot with the electricity, they came back and finished the set with “Moonshine” and “Above the Law”.

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Seriously though. Something that got me, is that most of the crowd stay. I won’t hold it against the people who left – as W.A.S.P was starting on the other stage, but most of the crowd actually stayed. It’s the love and dedication for a band that keeps up. It’s beautiful to see.

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So, after HCSS I headed over to see one of those bands I’ve seen so many times, or well, many times without actually trying perhaps I should say. I wasn’t sure if I was gonna stay all of W.A.S.P, since I’ve never been that big of a fan of them, and my legs were extremely sore from all the walking, but, I wound up staying all the while.

It was a decent show. It was… pretty much what once can expect from W.A.S.P actually – it was good, but yeah. Something is lacking, but I don’t know what it is.

After W.A.S.P, I found my way back to the camping and fell asleep to the tones of the orchestral versions of Powerwolf songs, getting ready for the second and last day of the festival.

// SAra

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PART FOUR: Tuska Open Air, Helsinki, Finland 1-3/7 2016

Posted in Concerts, Finland, Travels, Uncategorized with tags , , on July 25, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, right after the show the French people decided to leave for the hotel as Marianne wasn’t feeling very well, and Nathan and I took the opportunity to look at the merchstand, only to realize that Lordi did in fact not have any merch with them to this show. Oh well then. After this we headed back to the city to meet up with Sophie and Marianne at McDonalds.

It was a nice rejoice – Marianne was feeling better and we sat down and had a proper meal and chat about the amazingness we had really just witnessed back at the festival. We left fairly quickly after finishing like half the meal as I wanted to head back to festival ground to catch Avantasia live, but not before we had gotten changed.

And you know.. I always have a hard time deciding what to chose, and I’m very positive that this ultimately became the reason we got a little bit late for Avantasia. I was seriously beating myself up all the way back to Suvilahti, because the song “Avantasia” was the song I really, really wanted to see and seeing it was pretty early in the set, I felt pretty screwed. I remember how I even sat and checked to see how long the songs before it was, just to try to calculate, sitting and saying to Nathan “And then again Tobias talks so much so perhaps…” and Nathan seriously did the most amazing job calming me down.

The thing is, we made it to Suvilathi/Sörnäinen exactly when they started playing, but then we had to get to the festival and inside the gates as well. I kept saying to Nathan “I swear to God, they are going to the last ‘Avantasiaaaa’ when we get in”. I was so stressed, Nathan telling me it will be fine, me stressing a little bit more… and finally we made it in and we heard Tobias say “This is ‘Ghostlights'”.

“Ghostlights” was the song ahead of “Avantasia” in the set, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt as relieved as I did in that very moment. And then.. it was time for the big moment… “Avantasia”.

And like.. I fell in love with this song the moment I heard it. You know how you sometimes have these songs, that as soon as you hear them everything simply makes sense, when you get chills all over your body and you enter this euphoric state where it’s just you and the music? Yes. That’s it. That’s what is going on with this song.

And it was just as perfect as I imagine it would be. Yes, I did see Avantasia at Sweden Rock, but I wasn’t a fan then you know.

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The show continued on, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I’m not going to go in depth, but seriously, I sure as hell enjoyed myself! Which is sort of fun – At Sweden Rock I got bored very quickly, but I guess we can all agree on that being because of the cold rather than the show. They put on one hell of a show, Thank you Avantasia!

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After the show we headed back to the hotel. We contemplated for a moment to go to Bäkkäri for some shows as a part of an afterparty, but decided against it when we both were really tired. So instead, we went to a store, bought goodies and went home, put on some music on the speakers and laid in bed talking about everything and nothing and planning for tomorrow.

Quite a pleasant night, don’t you think?

// Sara

 

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PART THREE: Tuska Open Air, Helsinki, Finland 1-3/7 2016

Posted in Concerts, Finland, Uncategorized with tags , , on July 23, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

It was a surreal and almost dreamlike moment when the castle started to make its way onto RadioRock stage. It was… I had a hard time grasping that what was to come next was indeed Lordi and not some other band with a huge set up. That is how long it’s been since Lordi used a stage like this, this big. Nostalgia is really just the first name on the feeling on this.

As we watched the poor crew set up the stage (poor crew as in having every ones eyes on them) we talked and chatted and were just you know, basically getting ourselves excited for the gig. Discussed the castle layout. Discussing how the hell Lordi was even going to fit on stage… and then we noticed it. Awa’s and Kita’s masks on the drumset and keyboard. It was… a bittersweet? Would that be the right word? It was a strange and emotional feeling seeing the masks of the ex-members, the Arockalypse masks, on top of that, from the ex members on stage. Jesus Christ, this show was really about to become an emotional rollercoaster.

And then… before we knew it… Ralph Ruiz gets on stage, lipsynching to “SCG3”. Hearing them open with “SCG3” instead of “ETA” was the weirdest and most surreal thing ever… and when the drums started, pyro starting and everything launches us into “Bringing Back The Balls To Rock”… I can’t even. I can’t even describe how surreal and odd it was. And then when this chanting starts… “Get Heavy… Get Heavy...” It’s like, is this real? Is this fanta-sea? Who knows. “The Kids Who Wanna Play With The Dead” was next on the list, followed by mine… well, not my favorite I guess, “Biomechanic Man”.

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And it’s after this Nathan grabs my arm and looks at me with big eyes. I’m just staring at him like “what the fuck man?” and he just looks at me and goes “Do you hear it?!” and I’m just there like “No???” and he’s like “THE CHAINS; THE CHAINS!!!” And I’m still confused before it hits me.

“Pet The Destroyer”.

You see, all the day, all up to the showstart, we had talked about how “Pet The Destroyer” would probably be cut from the setlist because of lack of Kita, which was really sad, seeing I had gotten soooo pumped for this song, and in all honesty, it’s really one of Lordi’s best songs. So, with that said, we were all very very convinced that “Pet The Destroyer” wouldn’t in any sort of way happening.

Until it actually did.

I… I’m trying to find the words. The words when the realization hit that they are indeed playing that song. All I can say for sure is that it was the best moment of the show, and that I am forever grateful they played it, after all.

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“Rock The Hell Outta You” was the next song on the list, followed by OX’s repeating the old trick on beating up the poor person with the baby before “Blood Red Sandman”. I’m pretty sure it’s about here some time where OX’s fires off his bazooka and are, well, basically an inch or so away from blowing Amen’s head off.

“It Snows In Hell” was the next song and for the first time ever Sophie has joined in to do the upside down thing. Just as hilarious as always, really.

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“Who’s Your Daddy?” was up next, followed by “They Only Come Out at Night” before they left the stage and Amen came back, and this time through the castle doors. How majestic isn’t that! He came out, did his thing, and “Devil is a Loser” was a go. They followed up by “Would You Love A Monsterman?” and wrapped up the whole set with “Hard Rock Hallelujah”.

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First of all. Can we all appreciate the sound of silence? Now my heart awakes to the sound of silence…. and what I mean with this is, Mr Lordi not talking between the songs. I love the sound of silence. More songs got to be played that way. And you know what was even better? Did you hear that? The sound of NO “Sincerely With Love”! That silence I enjoy even more than the talking thing.

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But aside that… reliving this set… this stage setup… It was magical. And the most magical moment was in “Hard Rock Hallelujah” when Nathan puts his arms around me and we have Sophie in front of us jumping together in a clan. Because one thing is clear – Without “Hard Rock Halleujah”, us three would not be here together. We wouldn’t even know each other. It’s hard to grasp sometimes.

After this amazing show we tried to collect ourselves and headed back into the central of Helsinki.

TO BE CONTINUED

// Sara

 

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Sweden Rock: The Aftermaths

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on June 26, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Wow. So I’ve fallen out of shape of blogging quite a lot. It’s been three weeks now. I’m quite frankly sorry for that, and I don’t really have a good excuse for any of it. I’ll just hope I’ll be able to pick it up a notch starting from here.

So basically, this is going to be a short and quick little blog about Sweden Rock. It’s been a few weeks since the fest really, and I… haven’t had any inspiration to write anything, so this will become what it will become really.

Todays fest has been… a big mixture of emotions, I guess you could say. It’s been by far the weirdest festival I’ve ever been to on many levels and because of everything that happened, but it’s also been euphoric.

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I’ve been up earlier than I have ever been on Sweden Rock because of Epica and Lordi’s early play times, I’ve always been up longer than ever because of Avantasia. I have never in my life spent so much time on the campgrounds as I did on Sweden Rock this year, and for the first of possibly ever I got to practice my intense engineering skills when rebuilding a dying party tent about ten times before letting it die.

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We’ve for the first time ever been down to the beach in Norje and chased each other around with seaweed. It’s been a time for new friendship and old, it’s been the time for mishaps such as missing out on Sabaton’s signing session (gladly, I was actually watching Lita Ford and then Foreigner, so at least I was doing something important!) or forgetting your camera in the camp for Epica, but I also got to meet Lita Ford which is… I can’t even put words to it. I’ve gotten to meet one of my biggest role models and heroes in life, and I don’t even know how to put words to it. Lita Ford, what a woman.

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I’ve seen so many good things. Amaranthe as the opener of the fest for me… I witnessed Queen together with good friends I only see when they tour with their band, I’ve seen Sabaton perform “The Lost Battalion” for the first time, I got to witness our fanclub’s logo as the backdrop for “Karolinens Bön”. I’ve screamed my heart out to songs like “I wanna know what love is” and “Jukebox Hero”. I’ve witnessed the epicness that is Avantasia – which also holds the discovery of the festival. I’ve witnessed my friend participate in championships in air-guitar, I’ve seen Twisted Sister say goodbye… I saw Sixx AM tear things apart… I’ve witnessed Finntroll… I don’t even know where to start or end anymore. Epica… I can’t even tell you, not even begin to tell you how much I love this band. Simone, what a godess. I also beat my own record – this year I came home with 22 albums and five vinyls, what a record!

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And Lordi… First and foremost, seeing Lordi again on Swedish soil was extremely…. odd. It was weird. As someone who’s seen them more abroad and made it a bit of a sport and see how many countries I can see them in, it was weird seeing them at home. And at Sweden Rock. I can honestly admit, I never thought I’d see Lordi at Sweden Rock. But here it was. And… what makes it even more special is the fact that they played “My Heaven is Your Hell”. That particular song was my first ever favorite Lordi song (before “Deadache” and “Hate at First Sight” came along.) And… it was… At first, I couldn’t even connect what song they were playing because I’ve only heard it once live before, but then… I just stood there. It was like the world disappeared under my feet.

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We’re here. At the best festival in the world. With the best band in the world. And they are playing the best song they ever made.

What could possibly be better?

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// Sara

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Butcher Babies @ Fryshuset, Stockholm, Sweden 29/4 – 16

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on April 29, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

I’m going to be completely honest, because first and foremost, you blogreaders deserve that, and secondly, I think I already told you what I’m about to say. I had forgotten about this gig. When I stood with my co-workers and made jokes about some clubs that are closed, I forgot that I for REAL had this day off, and not that I the club I was working had closed. And I couldn’t for the life of me remember at first WHY I had the day off before I remembered I was going to see my dear Butcher Babies again. I think, in all honesty, that my brain is still you know, mashed potatoes because of my upcoming job and because I have yet to land after Australia, but like, how is it even possible? Like, this is Butcher Babies premiere in Sweden, so it’s not just any gig!

I spent most of my journey to Stockholm listening through Sumo Cyco’s debut album. I’m going to be honest – I had doubts in my mind last night about going in the first place because of stress reasons, but upon hearing Sumo Cyco and falling in love more and more for every second I listened to, I figured I had to go.

Once in Stockholm, I got to the hotel, checked in, bought some food and watched Gossip Girl before it was time to get ready and make my way to the venue. Unlike other times, I’m actually staying at Vanadis this time, which is my second choice hotel after Hotel Micro. I had completely forgotten Vanadis actually includes breakfast, but I’m not so sure about the damn hill you need to walk…

Anyway. I got to the venue about 30 minutes after the doors had opened, praying that Sumo Cyco really DID begin at 19.30 so I wouldn’t wind up missing them. But no problems, really. Once there… well. There were close to NO people there. The front row was covered, and then maybe… five or six more people? I just stood there and gasped and were like “where are all the people…?” So I went back outside to hit the merch. I picked up Sumo Cyco’s debut album and a shirt from both bands.

Back inside the venue and eagerly waiting Sumo’s start… which they did right on time and opened with “Cry Murder”.

And seriously… Like… This is a band in my taste. I don’t quite know how to explain their music to you – it’s metal, but very influenced by either like… hip hop? Or world music rythms. It’s very very funky, very rythmic at times, and I’m IN LOVE with their charismatic singer. She’s all over the place. ALL OVER.

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Like literally. More often than not would she really run into the crowd to get it going, and during “Fighter” she got up on the guitarists shoulders and they both got around the venue.

Well, I… I’m sort of speechless. Despite being short, it was an amazing set. I’m not sure if they managed to pin all my favorite songs, or if the album is just that good, but I honestly couldn’t have had a better set with them, under these circumstances you know. Seriously, thank you Sumo Cyco, you guys alone made it worth coming out.

So, OH. By the way. After “Cry Murder” I found that Robert had just arrived, so I pulled him up next to me. I dumped my stuff on him before going to the bathroom, and by the time I came back he was gone. And I was like “what on Earth…” and then I noticed he’d just gotten us front row spots. Kaching! Thanks Robert.

Right on time, the lights went out and Butcher Babies hit off their show with “Blonde Girls All Look The Same” (haha Heidi, very funny, especially now that you’re blonde again). And… Well, first of all, by the time they entered, a few more people had found their way to the arena, I can’t give you an exact number but at least a 50 – 100 people where there by now. So that’s good – but there wasn’t any major pressure, which was good for us.

They continued the set with “The Butcher” followed by “Gravemaker” and well, gladly, the crowd was… I must admit a little cold, I guess there were some pits going on, but not a lot. BUT – After “Igniter”, when Heidi asks if there’s any crowdsurfers there for “Jesus Needs More Babies To His War Machine”… then shit got started. Crowdsurfers came from EVERYWHERE, and I’m not sure if you guys know how I feel about them but… They are fine, as long as I don’t have to get them on me. And it’s hard to avoid them at front row, you know?

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“Mr Slowdeath” was next on the list before one of the bigger hits of the night – “Monsters Ball”. I guess… I talked to a guy when I was at the merch, who didn’t really know either band, but “it’s metal so I’ll go”. And I got the feeling he wasn’t the only one, because everyone seemed to know this song. Which is all fine by me, but you know. You noticed the difference.

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As far as the band goes… Butcher Babies are Butcher Babies. Carla and Heidi as front women are absolutely amazing and charismatic, but… it was something that didn’t just catch it. I guess some of the things they said or so felt a bit forced. And you can sort of tell directly when that happens. But hey – everyone can have a bad day. Or perhaps I was too blown away by the woman on stage before them that it was hard to melt it in time for the Babies. BUT – despite this, they all had a good energy and a good vibe, despite the lack of audience response.

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One of my personal favorites followed – “Dead Man Walking”. Seriously, I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love this song and how happy I was that they actually played it. Damn. “Thrown Away” was next on the list before they walked off stage, and everything went green. And then we heard it. Those small notes. Robert and I just looked at each other in excitement.

“They’re Coming To Take Me Away”.

It’s really a cover, but damn they do it so good! Seriously… it was about to become one of the highlights of the show… until they brought up Henrik Englund from Amaranthe to sing it with them. That moment, having Henrik join them on stage made it THE highlight of the night. Oh my god, seeing him on stage again was one of the best things ever. It reminded me of how long it was since I saw Amaranthe. Good grief.

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“Magnolia Blvd” followed – and for those of you who know me for long, this is the song that got me into Butcher Babies in the first place, and it’s always a party when this song comes on. The song was followed by the Deathsurrond Medley, which consists of “The Deathsurround”, “Goliath” and “I Smell A Massacre”.

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They wrapped up the entire set with “Axe Wound”. They thanked for themselves, and left the stage.

Well… It was a good show. In all honesty, I feel they had a better energy at Graspop -but I really don’t blame them. But despite that, I did really enjoy the show, they put on an amazing show and I still love them. But you know… Sumo Cyco might have overshined them.

After the show, Robert headed for the meet & greet and I went back to the merch table to pick up on the other CD available with Sumo Cyco because, why the hell not? Met one of the bandmates and had the oppurtunity to tell him how much I loved the show.

After this, I left the venue and headed back to Vanadis. Seriously… Despite this night being a bit “outta sight, outta mind”, I’m so glad I finally went, so THANK YOU Sumo Cyco for with your music convincing me to go, because I enjoyed it so much. Thank you all, I hope to see you soon again.

// Sara

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Powerwolf @ La Cooperative de Mai, Clermont-Ferrand, France 2/4 -16

Posted in Concerts, Music, Travels, Uncategorized with tags , , , , on April 2, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, the good thing about Clermont-Ferrand is that they realize that people traveling on trains might actually have luggage, and they served us with both elevators and escalators. Hallelujah! Day was saved, I guess. Or at least our arms. Sophie was a doll and helped me carry a suitcase, sweetheart.

So, once in Clermont-Ferrand we started looking for our friends and the apartment, and after walking for a little bit we bumped into our French friends who’d come to greet us! It was Marianne as front runner, and she had Nicolaus and Lea with her. So, we kept on walking for some time until we finally made it to the apartment.

Once there, we all started to get ready. Getting changed… And with that said, it was time for a few more people to do the Vegemite challenge. Marianne was first out and yeah, no, she didn’t like it. Next up was Lea, and she wasn’t a too big fan of it either, and then… last in line was the mother of it all – Sophie. She is the one who started this whole thing, and despite testing it before she figure she’d give it a try again. She did, and… it looked like she was gonna vomit. Madlen made the way to the toilet clear, but Sophie just dashed for the kitchen instead.

After this, make up time. For all of us really. Madlen has her usual make up, and since I have a weak heart for Roel, I figured I’d go for one of his versions. To co-operate it a little more, Marianne went for Attila and we gave Sophie Falk’s face. She didn’t really have much of a choice, but she didn’t seem to mind.

Once all done, we headed down to the usual place – McDonalds. We had some quick dinner and again, I always overbuy. I have a hard time estimating how hungry I really am. Sophie had waaay too much fun with her Falk make-up and kept taking photos with weird alterations to show us all.

Once done, we went to the venue. And the thing is… We see this big black crowd of people, and we all are like “is that the venue?” “But there are so many people!” and I don’t know, I just found myself wrapped up a bit of the clarity of the moment, but the confusion for us.

Directly, we found Daniel and Toni and went to say hi, and Madlen found some of her friends as well. So, basically, that’s what we did. We stood around in the line, catching up on ALL the things that had happened in the past, what, 14 hours? (sarcasm) and once the doors opened, we got inside. The interesting thing with this venue was the fact that they had different doors depending on where you’d bought your tickets. That’s a first.

So, we got inside the venue and we scored decent spots on the first and second row, together in a little group on Charles side of the stage (Amen’s, if you speak Lordi) and the wait began. And really, not too long after we got in, Serenity got on stage.

And again, FLAWLESS set! Seriously, these men keep winning me over the more I see them. Like I already wrote, flawless set and they were over way too soon. I can’t believe this is the last time I’m seeing them for now, I already started missing them as they went off stage.

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I think it was at this point I asked Nicolas to keep my spot for a moment while I went out and got two bottles of water – seriously, you are always in a need of this. And then, before we knew it, Battle Beast went on stage.

Just as yesterday, “Let it Roar” was the opening song and seriously, this band live is beyond amazing. “I Want the World… And Everything In It!” “Out on the Streets” were next in line, but honestly, what made this night just a tad bit better than yesterday must have been the company, you know? We were a fairly large group this time, which made it even better.

“Touch in the Night” as next on the list.. you know, like I stated above, just better. Just perfect. In fact, the whole set was just perfect. Everything about this night is just perfect, right in this moment. All good things comes to an end though, and before we knew it they wrapped up the set with “Out of Control” and walked off stage.

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You know, sometimes, when you’re anticipating a show, and the excitement builds up, and soon enough you can cut the excitement with a knife, because that’s how thick it is? You could say this is what was going on at La Cooperative De Mai between Powerwolf and Battle Beast. Exhaustion after an amazing set, but also excitement for Powerwolf, first gig for both Marianne and Sophie, so you know… bubble’s about to burst!

And then… Lights out, intro on and “Blessed and Possessed”. And this you know, this is the moment where the bubble bursts. When everything that was built up inside, inside of everyone at La Cooperative De Mai just explodes out and gets blended with the energy radiated from stage into one big mass of emotions.

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“Coleus Sanctus” was next on the list, followed by “Amen & Attack”. Seriously, can we just, appriciate how fantastic this band is? I’ve probably written this already about them and others, but seriously, is there anything more glorious in this world than the men and women in front of you on stage? “Sacred and Wild” and “Army of the Night” were the next on the list.

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I’m actually going to cut this a bit short, because I honestly don’t know what to say. It’s just… Everything was perfect. Best friends, best band on stage, and despite not knowing most of the people in the place, are all coming there, coming together for this. For the metal mass. And it’s in everything from howling in “Werewolves From Armenia” to the germans prank on the band, to half of the venue kneeling down for “Lupus Dei” (Thanks Madlen & co for including us in the ritual) even thought I must admit I thought the audience could have caught on a little better than they did, it’s like when people don’t sit down for “Spit it Out”. Like, come on, for the band!

Way too soon did the encores hit and the set was wrapped up with “Sanctified With Dynamite”, “Kreuzfeuer” and “All We Need is Blood”.

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I headed over to the merch to pick up some Battle Beast merchandise and then Serenity, and I believe it’s somewhere here that we all sort of lose track of each other. All I know is that Madlen went out, Soph and Marianne were originally with me, but once I made it to Serenity I found myself hanging out with Cyril and one of the leaders of Serenitys fanclub. It’s strange, isn’t it, how people move around and how easily you lose each other? I got my CD signed by Serenity and went out of the venue and spotted Daniel and Toni, and asked if they knew were Madlen were. By the time we found her, the French girls were back and finally we were the group again, haha.

The rest of the night were spent spending time with each other, joking around, talking a bit, basically just enjoying each others company (well..) one last time for this time around. But, as time passed on, it became time for everyone to go their separate ways and it became one of the most heartfelt good byes in a long time.

Thank you, everyone involved in this night – new friends and old friends, and of course – the bands. Thank you!

// Sara

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