Posted in Uncategorized on January 26, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith
It is now just a little over a week left before I’ll be seeing my dearest monsters again, in Germany of all places. Scare Force One is just an AMAZING era if you ask me, and thus I just can’t afford not going to see as many of their shows as possible. I’m really looking forward to Spain though, but next week is going to be epic, not only because of Lordi but also because of Serious Black, Orden Ogan and HammerFall. And this Friday is going to be awesome because of Amaranthe.
The carousel is just rolling now. And to add a little extra spark to it all, Argo managed to dig up that Stala&SO. are doing an acoustic show in Helsinki on the Friday that I/we will be there before Amaranthe. I mean. How fucking perfect isn’t that? I didn’t make it to Sabaton in Belgium, but right now I’m like ONE GIG away from having a gig every single day on the week… It would be convenient if someone happened to throw in a gig in like I don’t know, On The Rocks on that Thursday too. You know, just to help me out a little. Perhaps I should have checked the gig scene in Stockholm before I made up my mind about when to go to Helsinki.
But yes, Stala&SO. Will be fucking Awesome. SlipKnot, Stala, Amaranthe, Slipknot. I like it.
Ruslana is a Ukrainian artist mostly known for her victory in Eurovision Song Contest 2004. However, this is the song that really got me caught up with Ruslana.
She performed this song live at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 as the opening act of the whole show. Not only did I love the live performance of the song, but just… the like, how do you put it, the passive aggressiveness in the song and the lyrics and just the whole product you know? The beats the drums… her voice… Yeah. Ruslana is quite the thing, if you ask me. The song can be found on the album “Wild Energy”, however, I’m not sure how easy it is to get a hand of it. I sure have to do it now that I know what album it’s on.
“Lil Ol Me” by Gideon Gleeful, episode “The Hand that Rocks Mabel”. The reason I choose this one over the others are the melody. The catchy tune, the melody and Thorups voice. It’s all really just spot on, and I kinda love how they, at least in the clip, shows HOW he knows all of this things, yet everyone thinks he’s a psychic. Haha, love it.
Posted in Uncategorized on January 23, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith
You know, on days like this, when it’s getting closer and closer to a gig or a bunch of gigs, the days are mostly filled with preparations. Like booking the last things (Frankfurt hotel – CHECK!) getting all the necessities, starting to map out what the days will look like and like I mentioned before, also plan on what to wear.
I’ve been running around downtown today picking up a lot of new accessories and a new jacket (love it!) and also a few extra things to customize a few things, but most importantly, I got this little baby:
So it kinda makes it official: The first gig of this year will be Amaranthe, next week in Västerås. It’s so convenient, it will end about half an hour before the last bus leaves, so I won’t even need hotel. Those concerts are the best kind of concerts.
So yeah. The updating might be a little shitty the following days, and you all know why.
All the lights are turned towards social injustice and the decadence of the upper class on U.D.O’s newest album “Decadent”. It’s been two years since “Steelhammer” came out, and he’s now back with a new album where he points out all the large bad habits of the society, and the division between the poor and the bad. The album was recorded at Double U Studios and was mixed by Mattes and mastered by Jacob Hansen.
The album is twelve tracks long and consists of pure metal ala U.D.O as we know him from before. To sum this album up, you could say it’s like riding a small boat on the ocean in stormy weather. The album opens up with the fairly speedy “Speeder” and launches right into the heavy title track and the storm is a fact. After this, it’s calming down for a little moment before starting to storm again in “Mystery” and “Pain” before going down again and up when “Breathless” arrives, only to calm down for the rest of the album.
While the subjects indeed touches my heart and he’s done a good work pointing out all the things we do “wrong”, I can’t say this album is perfect. It’s pretty okay – but nothing revolutionary, and most importantly, nothing new. It’s the same solid and bold kind of “power”metal we are used to hear from U.D.O, all the way back to Accept, and the album has more dips than it has highlights, if you ask me.
The album is fine – it’s pretty much what anyone would expect of U.D.O. It’s sure worth having in your record collection, at least.
Posted in CDs, Uncategorized on January 21, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith
Wiihoo guys! So today it arrived: My Serious Black fanbox. Haven’t been waiting for this one for forever, only like, two days unlike the Kitchen Box from Lordi. I was so excited when I got the text this morning I’ve been walking around giggling all day just wanting to dig into it, but I had to finish a couple of schoolassignments – WHICH I HAVE NOW. Good on me.
And also. While trying to book the flighttickets to SAS, which ended up being more like SAS taking the money and not giving us tickets, it’s a good thing it came. Or else there would have been a massacre or two. Anyhow:
So here it is! This is the box in all it’s glory. So what is really inside of it? Well first of all:
The album itself of course! This is the limited edition with three bonus tracks I haven’t listened to yet, but soon soon I tell you!
So what is this? Well first of all, it’s a merchandise pass. Means that, if I want to, I get 10% when buying their merch at their show. The card is a Certificate of Authencity, same thing that was in Lordi’s box. And then three picks from each of the string bending members! LOVE IT.
THIS THIS THIS! Remember the old idol cards you’d have when you were younger? THEY ARE FUCKING BACK. And they are signed too, that was QUITE a surprise actually, I had expected them to just be plain! But nope, not here! LOVE IT.
And the last thing in the box: The Shirt!
So, I went with a size Medium shirt naturally, since it was the smallest one available. And… maybe it’s me who’ve been wearing too many girlies for the last couple of years, but seriously, IT’S HUGE! It’s like a tent? I could bring this to the festival and live in it? And I had even thought about taking a larger size so I could make a dress out of it… Well, that sure wasn’t necessary! We’ll see what happens with this one.
Well, that was that… I hope we are luckier when we talk to SAS tomorrow so we can get this damned trip booked THIS YEAR.
Posted in Uncategorized on January 20, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith
This video perfectly explains my mood right now. The tour for this winter/spring is slowly starting to come together and I’m literally SQUEALING over here over all the amazing things that will happen. Concerttickets and Flighttickets were booked today and as soon as I get my money hotels and busstickets will be booked and in just a mere couple of weeks we will be on our way to one of the most intense and amazing little trips EVER. I’m looking forward to it like crazy, and I’m beyond certain it will be amazing.
Ahh. I can’t even be bothered over the fact that I did one of my school assignments completely wrong. Can’t even care about that right now. On February 4th. Me. Paula. Michelle. Germany. Epicness.
Posted in Uncategorized on January 19, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith
Currently listening to the new U.D.O album as I try to calm down after a “long” day with getting quite a few things done. Job applications, school assignments and meetings in the stable. I’m finally out of my illness, so it’s back to life now I guess.
With back to life, I kinda mean 2% schoolwork, 2% work 2% horses and 94% planning concerts and travels. This is actually one of my favorite parts about traveling for shows – the planning part. When you are looking up airplanes, hotels, trains, buses, tour dates to find the most suitable ones, and when everything is a perfect match… there’s no better feeling than that. When everything just falls into place.
And then the booking process starts and once you’re done with that, all the small planning begins. How much luggage are we going to bring, what are we going to wear (stop metal heads. It’s absolutely okay to plan this ahead if you are interested in it) plan out the schedule of the day – where will we eat, who gets what, how long will we queue, are we going to try to meet the bands or what are the plan?
The “pre-production” of traveling for shows seems to be a bit underrated in my opinion, or maybe it’s just me who loves it, but it’s the anticipation you know? When you have all your flight tickets and concert tickets and what not and then you just know that soon, SOOON. Soon we will have the best time of our lives.
I have pondered for a few hours what to blog about, as most of my day has been consumed by school assignments I really don’t know what to write about. So I thought I’d give you a little share of some of my favorite songs, Alright? Alright.
So, I will put these songs up in no particular order, just as I come to think of them.
First of all, “Don’t Be Afraid of Your Dreams” by Go West. I’ve already written about this before I believe, in the 30 Days song challenge. I consider this my all time favorite song. Mostly because it’s pretty perfect as it is, but on the same time, it inspires me. And I discovered this song at a time when I needed it the most, and despite being the soundtrack for a slasher movie, it just… means so much to me. The music makes me happy because it’s that PERFECT 80’s kind of pop that you can’t even replicate these days, that just pumps me, those beats hello? The keys?
But on top of that… the lyrics. THEY inspire me. THEY make me strong, helps me let go of some of my anxieties as it goes and… yeah I don’t know what else I can say about this song. It’s just amazing. And important. So important.
Next song is “Intuition” by TNT. I’m sort of starting to notice a pattern here – both songs are about not being afraid to do what you want and keep fighting for what you want. And this is basically what my life is about, so no wonder really. But aside that, this is probably, to me, the most ultimate 80’s rock anthem. I don’t think TNT ever really got the success they truly deserve, which breaks my heart. The melody-line in this one just… It just puts me in a happy place. This is the kind of song I put on when I’m really down, or need to make a decision. Hearing Tony Harnell going “One decision” in my ear kind of you know… sets me off. To achieve things.
Can’t make an entry like this and not include Lordi now, can I? “Deadache” by Lordi. This is also a song I can relate to so much, since I also keep the skin of my mothers face… no just joking. “And loneliness – it makes nights endless” has sort of become my tagline in everything and anything. I should probably have it written on a vest if I ever get one. This is an easy-peasy song, 80’s kind of vibe to it (do you sense a pattern here?) but it’s the chorus – the “big” chorus, especially the last one with the pitch change that just… How do you even describe the feeling, you know that one where it feels like your whole inside is about to jump out because you are so excited and happy? That’s what “Deadache” do to me.
“Days Gone By” by Slaughter. Ahh Slaughter… how much don’t I love this band. I usually consider it my number one band, but on the later years they have fallen down to third place as I started to judge bands a little more on how much I can “interact” with them – like, how close they are and such. Lordi gets closer because I have more memories with them. And so on. I waited up until 2012 before I managed to catch the lovey-doveys live, and it was one of the best days of my life. I couldn’t even BELIEVE it. Slaughter. In Sweden? Like really?
Anyway. “Days Gone By”…. first of all, this song is so beautiful. The melody line, the simpleness of it leaving Mark and his amazing voice to do the work just ahhh. And the song… well. Sometimes it feels like I have lost a lot, friends, and what not, because of time slipping out of my hands. I especially think about one person, I’m not going to mention her on here though. So yeah.
Last song I’ll bring up for this time is “All About Us” by t.A.T.u. So, all of you who were surprised – raise your hands. Interesting fact, this, still to this day, marks my MOST PLAYED SONG of ALL TIMES. This was before LastFM days though, so no technical record of it, but I remember it having 888 plays on my iTunes before the computer died. And no other song has reached that far since. t.A.T.u and I go waaay back, many, many years. They are one of my favorite duos (alongside Go West and Lili & Susie) and particularly this song.
I remember the video terrified me like hell when I was younger, when it was new, and I saw it. But what I love so much about it, is the friendship. The fucking strength of friendship. They are fighting, but despite that Jelena turns around to come get Julia after the dude is doing major shit business. That, is friendship that doesn’t die. And those are the kind of friendships I strive to have, and well, I do have them with a close amounts of friends, for example, Jennie whom I’ve had ENDLESS of fights with, someone I’ve stopped talking to for YEARS and yet we always found our way back to each other. Because it’s all about us.
Wow. So this turned out to become a lot more personal and emotional than I had actually planned this blog entry to be, but I guess it just allowed you all to get to know me a little more and my priorities in life. You should always pay attention to what songs people like the most – they can tell you so much more about the person than you ever knew.
Posted in Uncategorized on January 17, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith
Whoo people! For the first time in forever, or more like, since July, we went reality questing again. This time around, they had closed the quest that was unconquerable for us, and there was quite few new quests, so we were excited as can be!
We started off the whole day by nailing Bootcamp within the first five minutes! The day looked promising. We immediately did Tivoli after, since we kinda…. hate it. After that we went back and forth on the old quests and we managed to get done about 15 quests in the first four hours!
But, most importantly, we finally got to try out TimeHunt, one of the newer quests. It was… exhausting, but hella fun! First room was fairly simple, but the second room, where you are supposed to spin the wheels…. JESUS CHRIST. I have all the respect to DJ’s from now on…
The ballroom was fun though. Not only did we look and finish the task, but we also played around a bit, like, burying Emelie deep under the balls. Because, seriously, how often to do you get to play around with giant balls?
We also got to try out “The Castle”. And you know what. I LOVE THE QUEST. Sadly, this quest became the one who defeated us. The last room… JESUS CHRIST, how did they even! It’s amazing. I love the scenario, and you felt kinda royal doing the whole thing. I look forward to conquer it the next time, but considering that we got through it almost immediately up to the last room without any problems kinda shows how badass we are, since one of the tasks was to climb an inverted staircase…
But you know. In the end, we managed to complete 23 out of 24 quests, and I think that’s actually pretty amazing. Had we had the arm strength we needed, we would have gotten The Castle too, but you know – there’s always a next time!
AND, on top of everything: Team Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was NUMBER ONE UNDEFEATED the entire day! WOHO!
Sara Hammerzmith 