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Friday
At about one in the afternoon I arrived to Frihamnen where Metaltown 2009 was to be held. The first half an hour, until the first band was about to start, I just walked around the area looking at merchandise etc.

Dead by April: (4/5)
At 13.30 the first band, Dead by April, started to play. I hadn’t listened to them that much before but though I have to say that I enjoyed their gig. I’m not completely sure about the setlist, because I hadn’t heard all of the songs earlier, but I think it looked something like this:

01. Trapped (??)
02. Angels of clarity (?)
03. Falling Behind
04. Sorry For Everything
05. In My Arms
06. Erased
07. What Can I Say
08. Stronger
09. A Promise
10. Promise Me

Yes, I am serious; they did not play Losing You which is their most known song of all and the only song which I had really listened to before. They ran out of time (they only got 45 min) and were not allowed to play their last song. It felt pretty sad to not getting to hear Losing You, but I still think that it was correctly done by the organisers. If the bands can’t keep to the schedule, it’s their own fault. Overall I think that it was a great performance and I was entertained even though it’s not really my favourite genre.

Pain: (5/5)
Next up: Pain. Peter Tägtgren always delivers live and Pain is one of my favourite live acts ever. They give one hundred percent from beginning to end and don’t waste too much time on talking between the songs. Here is a list of the songs they played (Though I don’t remember the second one):

01. I’m Going In
02. ???
03. Zombie Slam
04. End of the Line
05. Walking on Glass
06. It’s Only Them
07. Dancing With the Dead
08. Suicide Machine
09. Bitch
10. Shut Your Mouth

I wasn’t completely sure about which song the second one was so I choose not to write anything at all. Song number nine, Bitch, was according to Peter a dedication to Michael Jackson who had deceased earlier the same day. To give my point of the setlist I think that they played pretty boring songs actually. I don’t understand why they didn’t play neither Same Old Song nor On and On, which was the song I hoped for the most. I also think that they could have played some more from Rebirth. Maybe Dark Fields of Pain?

Napalm Death: (x/5)
The clock was ticking towards half past three and I went to eat some pizza. A Vesuvio, if someone is interested, because they did not have my favourite Hawaii. This pizza-eating made me unable to attend Napalm Death’s show, though I did not have a hard time hearing it from far away. I don’t feel that I can grade them because I wasn’t really there and I didn’t listen carefully all the time. The thing I know is that they played some songs from their first album Scum. For example Scum, The Kill, Deceiver and the all time classic You Suffer. They ended their show with Siege of Power. Well that’s about what I can say about them. I enjoyed listening to them but I wouldn’t call it great music. It’s funny though.

Trivium: (3/5)
At half past four Trivium entered the stage. I’m not a big Trivium fan, so I can’t mention any song they played. Though it was pretty nice music to just stand and listen to, without thinking too much. Easy listening, as some may refer to it. One thing I remember from the Trivium concert was that one of the guitarists (don’t remember who, and don’t know their names) bragged about the winter in Florida. That the weather we had that day (about 30 degrees Celsius) was like winter were he came from.

Meshuggah: (x/5)
I didn’t listen to them actively enough to be able to give them a just grade. I have never really understood Meshuggah’s music, probably because I haven’t tried hard enough. They come from the same city as me and still I haven’t given them a fair chance. Maybe I should do that some day. I don’t know their songs, so I can’t write any setlist, but I suppose that they played a lot from their latest album obZen.

Children of Bodom: (4/5)
You can always trust Children of Bodom. They always deliver and they always play some great songs. I didn’t catch the entire setlist but I knew that they played Hate Me!, Living Dead Beat, Children of Decadence, angels don’t kill, In Your Face, Hellhounds on My Trail, Blooddrunk and last but not least Hate Crew Deathroll. It was a fantastic gig! Though, in the beginning of angels don’t kill, they had an excerpt from American Psycho. Exactly the same as Shining have in Claws of Perdition. Isn’t that kind of lame? And, it’s not on the studio version of the song, as I have come to understand.

Volbeat: (4/5)
This was the first time I saw Volbeat live. I haven’t listened to them for that long actually, but during the last couple of weeks I’ve listened to them pretty much. Though, I didn’t recognise all the songs so I don’t have a complete setlist. Some songs they played were Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood, Hallelujah Goat, Sad Man’s Tongue, Pool Of Booze, Booze, Booze, The Garden’s Tale (which is my personal favourite), Still Counting, I Only Wanna Be With You and We. They played all the songs that I have really listened to, so I’m very happy with their choice of songs. They had great contact with the audience and performed the songs really well. This is a band that I would love to see again sometime.

Disturbed: (4/5)
At a quarter past nine Disturbed entered the stage. For about 4 weeks ago, the only Disturbed song that I had listened to was Down With the Sickness. When I saw that they were coming to Metaltown I started to listen to them some more and I actually liked them more than I thought I would. I even think that I managed to get the entire setlist. It looked like this:

01. Voices
02. Liberate
03. Just Stop
04. Prayer
05. Meaning of Life
06. Land of Confusion
07. Stupify
08. The Game
09. Inside the Fire
10. Stricken
11. Ten Thousand Fists
12. Indestructible
13. Down With the Sickness

I don’t have any complains about the setlist. Also this was a really great show and the best songs were Land of Confusion and Down With the Sickness.

Slipknot: (5/5)
When the clock stroke half past ten it was time for Slipknot. The pressure in the audience was extreme and I understand why so many people had to leave. I only managed to stand in the front for about half an hour. After that I found myself a new place to stand some 20 meters further back. After a pretty long intro they entered the stage, all nine of them. Some of them had changed their masks since the last picture I saw of them, so I didn’t know exactly who that was who. The setlists looked like this:

00. Intro (parts of Iowa and 742617000027)
01. (Sic)
02. Eyeless
03. Wait and Bleed
04. Before I Forget
05. Sulfur
06. The Blister Exists
07. Dead Memories
08. Disasterpiece
09. Psychosocial
10. Duality
11. People = Shit
~ Encore ~
12. Surfacing
13. Spit It Out

I was a bit sad that they played so little from Iowa. I would have been glad to hear My Plague, The Heretic Anthem or Everything Ends. But still it was an extremely great show and it’s clear that Slipknot really knows how to perform. They are crazy, yes, but they can really entertain. This was without doubt one of the best concerts that I’ve been to. I have to see Slipknot again sometime. But then I would like to see them as a headliner and not just on a festival like this. Then they would probably have time to play some more of the songs that I wish to hear. In conclusion I would say that Slipknot was the best band on Friday.

Saturday
I arrived pretty much the same time as on Friday, though I didn’t really want to see any band until about 15.30. Anyhow at 13.30 I went to see the opening act Evergrey.

Evergrey: (2/5)
Yes, I might be unfair in my grading of this band. I know that many people like them a lot and maybe they would have gotten some more points if I had listened more to them some before the show and if I knew some of their songs. Maybe I don’t understand their music or maybe I just haven’t given them enough time, but I’m not fascinated by what they do. It’s just ordinary music to me, nothing more. I can’t name any songs they played.

The Haunted: (x/5)
Now I was eating again. I didn’t see to The Haunted and I don’t know any of their songs so I didn’t listen that much either. Therefore I can’t judge them.

DragonForce: (4/5)
I’m not extremely fond of DragonForce’s music. Yes it’s fast, really fast, but it’s nothing more than that. It seems as the only thing they want to accomplish is to play faster and faster all the time. Though, I really enjoyed seeing them live because of their energy on stage. All of them jumped around as monkeys on the stage and you could see that they really enjoyed it themselves. I didn’t recognise any of their songs except for Through The Fire and the Flames, which they played as the last song. The singer had a pretty funny comment on this song. “I hope you realise that this is the song that made Guitar Hero 3 famous” he said. And, well, yes I can agree with him. Other songs they played were, for example, Heroes of Our Time, Fury of the Storm and The Last Journey Home. I only know this because they said the name of some songs before they played them.

All That Remains: (x/5)
Food again! Didn’t listen actively on this band, and didn’t really like them either. Probably the grade would be about 2 if I had to give them any, but now I don’t.

My Dying Bride: (x/5)
After my food brake I didn’t go back to the scenes immediately. So I kind of missed out on My Dying Bride too. They sounded rather nice though, from where I heard them and I’m planning on trying to listen to them some more later on.

Mustasch: (4/5)
Mustasch, one of my favourite live bands. This was the third time I saw them. The first time was on Rockweekend 2008 and the second on House of Metal 2009. Though, I have to say that I didn’t think that they were as good now as they were on House of Metal. It might have to do with that I was standing by the other stage waiting for Opeth and was not listening as actively as on HoM, when I stood on the front row. This gig was not bad in any way, just not as fantastic as the last time I saw them. They played all their greatest hits according to me, including: Bring Me Everyone, Down in Black, Falling Down, I Hunt Alone, Black City, Monday Warrior and of course Double Nature. I’m going to see them on Rockweekend this year too so I hope that they will have even more energy then!

Opeth: (5/5)
Opeth must be the greatest band of all times! Their complex, never ending songs and their ability to mix calm, harmonic parts with extremely aggressive growl parts are so extraordinary that no normal human being can dislike them. Beautiful beyond imagination. However, they tend to choose the wrong songs to play live sometimes, according to me. I want to hear songs like Master’s apprentices, The Grand Conjuration, To Bid You Farewell, Harvest. The songs they play are really, really great too, but it would be nice to get to hear something different sometime and not just the same as always. Because I almost stood on the front row I could not take notes of which songs they played during the gig, but I think that I remember correctly. This is how I think that the setlist looked like:

01. Heir Apparent
02. Ghost of Perdition
03. Closure
04. The Leper Affinity
05. The Lotus Eater
06. Deliverance

One hour is far too short time for Opeth to play. Six songs is nothing. On House of Metal this year they had two hours and even that felt like a short time. Two and a half of maybe three hours would be appropriate. I have to see them as a headliner sometime so that they have more time to play some nice songs. This was a really good gig though, and Opeth was clearly the best band on Saturday.

Dir en grey: (x/5)
Didn’t see them that much. Some strange Japanese band that made strange sounds. Pretty interesting band, but I wouldn’t call it good.

Marilyn Manson: (3/5)
Well, what can I say? He’s sick. I expected more than this actually. It seems as he doesn’t even know where he is, and I couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. The ambience in the audience was great though and some this during the show was actually pretty cool. The absolutely best part of the gig was without doubt the Eurythmics cover Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). He also played If I Was Your Vampire, The Dope Show and then many strange songs that I didn’t even know. And he did not play Heart-Shaped Glasses (When The Heart Guides The Hand) which is one of the best songs he have done on later times. He played some from the new album which I don’t know the names of but which are rather good actually. He’s still a freak though.

To sum it up it was an extremely nice festival with lots of great bands, and if the bands are as nice next year I will probably go back to Göteborg and Metaltown then. It was also funny to hear that the tickets sold as much as they did. In the beginning they released 12000 tickets which sold as normal. About one week before the festival the tickets was about to run out so they changed the festival area and some other things a bit and was then allowed to release about 8000 more tickets, and even some more at the entrance. All of these tickets sold out within two days and according to Metaltown's website the number of visitors became as high as 22000! Maybe it will be an even larger festival next year.

Unlike my last visit to Metaltown, I was now staying for the whole weekend. Hotel was booked, clothes had been bought and the festival spirit was on top. Unfortunately, we had some minor setbacks while trying to get to Frihamnspiren so we missed Dead by April's gig. On the other hand, I read some reviews and according to them, we didn't miss much. Maybe for the best, I'd hate to be disappointed in a band I enjoy digitally, because they turn out to be awful on stage.

After standing in a line long as hell to actually get inside the festival area, we made our way through the crowd to see Pain. Man, I love his new sound. Heavy as hell. I might just buy the new album. He ended the show with "Shut Your Mouth" of course, and we felt the pier rock for the first time this weekend.

Then it was time to welcome Napalm Death to the stage. My boyfriend was ecstatic, he's been a fan since forever. I, on the other hand, can't even pretend to like it. But I endured, for my boyfriend's sake. It wasn't so bad really. Just to see Barney's energy was entertainment enough. They ended with "Scum", and left a small but happy crowd behind.

After that, Trivium entered the Red Stage. We didn't move from the Black Stage, because we wanted to be in a good spot for Meshuggah, but we could still enjoy their gig. Awesome band, they really gave everything they had. And the crowd went completely bananas. I knew they had a large base, but I never imagined it was this big. One of the best shows this weekend, without a doubt.

Meshuggah. Another one of my boyfriend's fav bands. The sun was merciless, and I think the crowd was too tired after Trivium, because they just stood there, more or less in a coma. True, when some of the "hits" were played, they awoke a little bit, but it wasn't until "Future Breed Machine" I saw some real enthusiasm. I think the band felt it too, and Jens Kidman knew to blame the sun as he wanted to "destroy the sun", and the crowd started to chant just that. And what the fuck was wrong with the sound??
They should have played in the Close-up tent, the sound there was awesome.

Next up was Children of Bodom. Melodic death from Finland. I've known about them since I was a teenager, but back then I wasn't really into that kind of metal at all, so I kinda ignored them. Until I discovered In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Now, some might say, they are not equal at all. And I have to agree. Melodic death has so many different nuances. But enough of that. Their show was so-so, and yet again I blame the sun and the extreme heat. "In Your Face" is no matter what an awesome song. I didn't stick around for the whole thing, so I don't know if they played "Needled 24/7", which is one of my favourites. If someone who was there could tell me if they did and if it was good, then please do so.

We knew that Volbeat was next on stage so we went to the adult area to get some beer. What better way to watch crazy danish people singing metal-rockabilly, than with a cold one? I was a bit disappointed that they didn't play more of their heavy stuff. It is after all a metal festival. This new sound doesn't impress me. They've become more and more Johnny Cash and less Metallica. Please rethink this strategy of yours, Volbeat. Best tune, Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza, merely because of the fantastic sing-along. And once again, the sound sucked. In fact, every gig on the Black Stage had horrible sound. Such a shame.

We finished our beer and headed out to the Red Stage to get some nice spots for Disturbed. Singer David Draiman entered the stage like Hannibal Lecter, with both straightjacket and facemask to boot. Nice touch but a bit too much for a festival gig perhaps? Naw, it was kinda cool. I had a few wishes, and told my boyfriend what tunes I wanted to hear. And yes, I had a few wishes fulfilled. Stupify
and Down With the Sickness were obvious, but I wanted to hear more from the "Believe" album, I mean, he wore a jumpsuit with the Believe logo on his back. Well, I got to hear Liberate at least, awesome tune. They did one cover, Land of Confusion. May I suggest, next time you're playing a cover, please pick Shout 2000 instead, it's way better live. And yes, I got my Disturbed cherry popped that day.
Oh, and one last thing. The show pretty much sucked. Well, not the old stuff, David seem to control that pretty well. But his voice did not measure up this evening. Sorry, but sometimes it was a pain to listen to.. I actually felt bad for him.

Time for one of my biggest mistakes so far. I wanted to be up close at Slipknot.
Let's face it. I'm not that young anymore. I need some space while enjoying one of my favourite bands, and I can't stand having swetty, stinking brats jumping up and down on my feet, elbows flying around in my face, and why is there always someone who tries to start their own little moshpit right where I'm standing?
I lost my breath from being squeezed into a size small so my boyfriend had to carry me out from the crowd. That's something I'll never do again. Alas, I had to watch the whole thing on the big screen. So was it any good? YES! It was without a doubt the best show that day. As soon as I caught my breath, I could sing along, headbang and do all those crazy things you do while showing your love for the music.
The Blister Exists, Wait and Bleed, Duality (what a response from the crowd!), People=Shit and, the one tune I've been sooo excited to hear live, Surfacing, finally came as an encore. During their last act, Spit It Out (which was awesome btw), Corey Taylor encouraged the audience to sit down. Un-fucking-believable. The whole crowd... sat down. Apart from a few guys to the left of me, booh on you. Corey continued the song and on his mark, "Jump the fuck up", the audience instantly flew up and started jumping. I don't think I will ever experience anything like that ever again. Fantastic, Slipknot!


Saturday

This was going to be my day. My Opeth day!

We didn't rush to the festival area since we weren't that interested in Evergrey. We listened to them from a distance, and it sounded pretty ok. But I want a little more oomph in my metal, and I find them a bit bland. Sorry to all of you Evergrey fans!

Ah, Haunted on the Red Stage. Kicked ass of course, they are a great live act. I didn't really know that much about them before the festival, but sometimes it's like this, you discover bands because they sound so much better live than on CD. After that, you might enjoy the albums more than before. Well, that was the case for me with Haunted. I will definately Spotify them.

On the Black Stage, a very colorful backdrop announced DragonForce. Haha, where to begin? They are a bunch of monkeys or a band who loves to play and entertain? I'll let you decide for yourselves. I really liked the guy in neon green pants who ran around on stage like he was on drugs. And the little dance he did with the bass player (I think it was) was quite cute. To be honest, I was only there for one thing. My youngest daughter was pissed beyond comprehension for not getting to come with us and see Slipknot, Disturbed, Dead by April and DragonForce. She's only 10. So I promised her lots of pictures and maybe a video clip. Anywho, I had to stay for the whole act since they (of course) decided to play "Through the Fire and Flames" as their final song. I pressed Rec and raised my arms to get a nice filming view. Then I remembered. The god damned song is 7 minutes long. Fuck. At 6 minutes my arms start to shake really bad. But I endured. My daughter got her film. Hopefully she will appreciate it because I missed a super cool band on Close-up stage, August Burns Red. And yes, I heard they were awesome.
The gig was nice after all, but the audience was a huge disappointment. I bet 80% were there to hear just that one song from Guitar Hero 3. ZP Theart even pointed out, ironically, that it was them that made Guitar Hero 3 famous, and not the other way around. He knew, they all knew. And he almost apologized for their act, saying they were "getting the fuck out there so you can enjoy the rest of the festival". Guys, you could at least have pretended to have fun, they weren't half bad... right? At least they got their audience response with the final act. It's a shame it didn't come sooner.

Ah, finally a band that was one of the reasons I bought a ticket. All that Remains. Man, that band is HOT! And I got to hear Two Weeks, which is one of my fav songs. I stood a bit far from the stage, but that was ok. The sound was better there anyway. Then, when it was time for the song everyone was waiting for, This Calling, Philip Labonte had a special surprise for us. He invited a girl onto the stage, and as soon as I saw here, I knew who she was. I follow AtR on Twitter, and they wrote about a swedish girl doing an acoustic cover of This Calling on YouTube. And yes indeed, it was her. She got to sing with them. Lucky you! You could tell she was nervous, (who wouldn't be?) but in the end she did a great job. Kudos to All that Remains for doing such a cool thing!


I love My Dying Bride, Anathema, Katatonia and Novembre. But at a festival? No. That kind of music is best suited on a smaller stage where the audience can enjoy the music in peace, and where they can connect to the band. As I thought, only a few hardcore fans showed up, the rest were just seeking shade at the sound technicians booth or because they didn't have anythiong better to do. At least that's what it seemed like to me. I stayed for a few songs, but felt that Metaltown was the wrong forum for their music. Turn Loose the Swans was beautiful as always.

Mustasch came on the Red Stage, but I preferred to keep a nice spot for the Opeth gig. After all, they are my all time favourite band. I missed them so many times it's not even funny. This was my first out of two gigs this summer and I was ready to be blown away! But back to Mustasch. They are reliable, and always deliver. As long as they play those three songs that makes the crowd jump even higher. Black City, Bring Me Everyone and Double Nature. Huge fanbase, maybe because they're from Gothenburg? I read a review today that said something like ..."their talk between songs is better than the songs themselves". I wouldn't go that far, but Mustasch is better live than on CD because of just that - they have an outstanding connection with their crowd.

Ok now I'm lost for words again. pretty much the same as when I was reviewing the Placebo gig. Opeth is my new religion. I even decided to get the logo tattooed on my arm as soon as I can raise the cash to do it. Summer festivals makes me poor. Ok, I'll try to write a few words.
First of all, they look so cool. It's like they stepped into your living room for coffee and decided to play some tunes as a thanks.
The whole act was awesome, of course, they gave us old and new stuff in a great mix. They even took the progressive element to another level during Closure. I actually felt my eyes tear up when I heard the intro for Deliverance. It's impossible for me to say what was best. I can tell you what was worst, though. The fact that they only got an hour to play, and that the sound, again was shit. Thank god Opeth are such brilliant musicians, and that most uf us knew how it was supposed to sound, so we could enjoy the show anyway. Next time, consider giving them more time, since most of their songs are at least 6 minutes long. Still, I got to hear The Leper Affinity from my favourite album Blackwater Park. Ghost of Perdition, The Lotus Eater och Heir Apparent. At Arvika, I hope I get to her Master's Apprentices, The Funeral Portrait, A Fair Judgement and/or April Ethereal.

After that I was drained. Not physically, but emotionally. Just like someone said that I ran into on the way out from the stage. "It was Nirvana! I've seen Opeth eight times and they never fail to impress me. Such great musicians!"
We had some time to kill before our next stop, Cult of Luna. So we got ourselves some coffee and sat down a few hundred meters from the stage area. "We can listen to Dir en grey from here, we said, since we had no interest in seeing them. A few minutes later me and my boyfriend stared at eachother. WTF was that? Something that sounded like a squealing pig being hung by it's tail upside down, or was it a cat in heat? To our surprise, we realized that it was in fact Dir en Grey trying to make music. From where we were sitting, it sounded awful. Maybe the crowd in front of them experienced it differently. Now now, DeG fans, no disrespect to you, I'm sure there's plenty to love with this band. But, my opinion is, they are bad, plain and simple.

Cult of Luna! Omg I love this band! Everything about them is mysterious and beautiful and atmospheric and, and, and... I could go on forever. This is the second time I've had the pleasure to see them live. First time was here in my hometown, and they were just as good back then. I usually compare them with Interpol, the same attitude and even the same stage lighting. Solid red, green or blue with lots of smoke, creating that feeling of something magic. And they both enter, play and leave the stage without saying one word to the audience. They don't have to. All is said in their music. Words are unnecessary.
While standing there, totally caught up in Klas Rydberg's powerful voice, I felt the ground moving. It was like standing on a boat. Is it me? I wondered. Maybe I got a bit too much sun? But then my boyfriend pointed out to me that Marilyn Manson was on stage. Ah, figures. We were after all, on a pier.
Sure I like some of Manson's stuff. Hell, I used to think he was the King of Goth once. But not anymore. In my eyes, he should have quit while on top. He can't deliver more mysticism around his character, we've seen it all before. It's 2009, he's not groundbreaking nor can he shock anyone with his appearance, lyrics or nonsense talk. Anyway, I thought, what the hell, at least I can say that I saw Manson live once. So we went over there. Got some good spots and tried to get in the mood. Sad to say, it was more or less laughable. I bet I'll piss off thousands of fans for saying this, and I admit I wasn't there for the whole thing, but to me, he was a burned out candle. Sorry. He finished his act with Beautiful People, which I hope was a sort of thank you to the crowd below him, who, because of him, rocked an entire pier.

Overall, I had a great time. Therer were a few gigs that stood out more than others, and there were gigs who right down sucked.

I'd like to thank Metaltown crew for making this festival happen, for all the amazing bands you booked, and for organizing everything, it all went really smooth and without complains. Well, one thing. FIX THE SOUND ON BLACK STAGE TILL NEXT YEAR PLEASE!

The good: I got my In Flames tee signed by bass player Peter Iwers! I also got a hug and a photo with him. Awesome!

The porta potties were actually pretty clean. And there were so many, you didn't have to stand in line very long. Thumbs up!

You moved the sideshow tent farther away from the Close-up tent, good job! Last year we had to listen to the what's-it-called guy who yelled about all the freaks he wanted you to see, while trying to listen to music from the tent.

The bad: The food was ridiculously expensive. I spent more on food than I spent on merch. Very bad. 70 SEK for a small carton box with thai food? 50 SEK for a pizza the size of my hand.

Only one water station with thousands of thirsty, poor souls trying to avoid being dehydrated in 25 degrees and no shade what so ever. Fix it until next year. Maybe get some benches with sunshades?

Entering and leaving a stage area. People leaving = one side. People entering = other side. It could be that easy.

Ah well, time to reload batteries for Arvikafestivalen. The bus leaves on Wednesday. Catch ya on the flip side biatches!

I'm tired now so I'm going to bed. Buh-bye!


The fine print: I have a short term memory disorder, and I get stuff mixed up. A lot. But I think I got it all. I think. Yep.

Coldplay
Kent (x2)
Slagsmålsklubben (x2)
Thåström (x2)
Death Cab for Cutie
Hot Chip
Interpol
Johnossi
Familjen
Röyksopp
Depeche Mode
bob hund
The Sounds
Robyn
Albert Hammond, Jr.
Sonic Syndicate
Mustasch (x2)
Saxon
Poison
Def Leppard
Judas Priest
Boy vs. Bacteria
Calis
Grooveberg
Max And The Wildhawks
Stay Ali
DragonForce
Arch Enemy
Shadows Fall
Trivium
Machine Head

01. Archway - Above Ourselves
02. Warbringer - Total War
03. Horned Almighty - The Works Of Witchcraft
04. xLooking Forwardx - 1117
05. Equilibrium - Verrat
06. The Ocean - II. Archaean: Mesoarchaean - Legions of Winged Octopi
07. Evocation - From Menace to Mayhem
08. Spiritual Beggars - Entering Into Peace
09. Hatesphere - Let Them Hate
10. Killing the Dream - If It Rains
11. Riger - Autodafé
12. Promoe - These Walls Don't Lie
13. Dirty Money - Mind In Piece
14. Týr - Ólavur Riddarós
15. Moonspell - Memento Mori
16. Arsis - A Feast for the Liar's Tongue
17. Mustasch - Bring Me Everyone
18. Fight Everyone - Against All Odds
19. Saxon - English Man'o'War

Felt the desire to document the bands I've seen live, so I thought: What the heck, I'll do the classic "Bands I've seen live" journal at Last.fm.

Haven't experienced that much gigs/festivals, but I surely will in the future. I'll make sure to update this journal regularly.

D'espairsRay
Dismember
Ingnis x 2
Division Hate
Marduk
In Battle
Whitesnake
Ministry
Carcass
ムック x2
Avatar
Kent
Soilwork
The Hellacopters
Lillasyster
Martyrdöd
Soreption
Broken Aris
Angel No More
Nidsang
Setherial
Cynical Hatred
Sabaton
Hello Saferide
Danko Jones
Corroded
Wolf
Crucified Barbara
Satyricon
Grave
Zonaria
Degradead
Pain
Napalm Death
Trivium
Meshuggah
Children of Bodom
Volbeat
Disturbed
Slipknot
The Haunted
DragonForce
IllFigure
August Burns Red
Bring Me the Horizon
All That Remains
My Dying Bride
Mustasch
ギルガメッシュ
Opeth
Dir en grey
Marilyn Manson

At the Gates
Alice Cooper
Ace Frehley
Apocalyptica
Airbourne
Aerosmith
Amon Amarth
Ammotrack
Avatar

Blue Öyster Cult
Bonafide
Bullet

Calvera Conspiracy
Crooked X
Carcass
CRASHDïET

Disneyland After Dark (D-A-D)
Dark Tranquillity
Dimmu Borgir
Danko Jones
Disturbed
Def Leppard
Dream Theatre

Evergrey
Engel
Eläkeläiset

Finntroll

Gary Moore

H.E.A.T.
HappyPill
Hanoi Rocks
Heaven and Hell
Hardcore Superstar
Hellfulled

Iron Maiden
Iced Earth

Judas Priest

KISS
Killswitch Engage

Lillasyster

Motörhead
Ministry
Meatloaf
Mustasch
Marduk

Nifelheim

Poison
Primordial
Peter Criss

Quiet Riot

Scorpions
Satyricon
Skiller
Sabaton
Sonic Syndicate
Symphony X
Soilwork
Skid Row

Thin Lizzy
Tiamat
The Kristet Utseende
Testament

Udo

Volbeat

Whitesnake
WhiteLion

Friday
The clock was about seven when I arrived to Umeå Folkets Hus, where the festival was to be held for the third time. After some half an hour I had found my friends and we went to see the first band; Arized.

Arized: (1/5)
Well, I don’t have much to say about them. They played at the smallest stage, called Freja and I didn’t expect much of them, because I hadn’t really liked their music when I had listened to them at MySpace earlier during the day. And they didn’t deliver more than I had expected either, so I only stayed for about 2 or maybe 3 songs before I went on to see the next band on my list.

The Haunted: (3/5)
This was the first headliner (I count all the bands that plays in Idun headliners) so they played at the largest stage; Idun. I can’t say that I am extremely fond of their music, but still I almost saw their entire concert. I don’t know if they sounded better or worse than on the studio recordings, but it was okay. And I liked the huge moshpit that they created by separating the audience into two halves with about 10 meters in between, then count to four and let the two armies collide in the middle. I’m a proud front infantry of the left team, haha. After The Haunted we got a quick look of Remasculate too, but it was only for about 5 minutes so I don’t feel that I can write anything about it really, but I believe that they would be a fun band to moshpit to too.

Amon Amarth: (5/5)
The second headliner of the day and probably the best melodic death metal band ever. Amon Amarth combines heavy riffs with some folk inspired melodies and lyrics about Vikings and norse mythology. Johan Hegg is according to me one of the best growlers, because he can growl in a such clear way that you don’t have any problems hearing what he is singing, though he is growling really deep and dark. They played exactly the songs I thought they would, and in the exactly same order. The set list looked as follows:

01. Twilight of the Thunder God
02. Free Will Sacrifice
03. Asator
04. Varyags of Miklagaard
05. The Fate of Norns
06. Thousand Years of Oppression
07. Guardians of Asgaard
08. North Sea Storm
09. Runes to My Memory
10. Death in Fire
11. Victorious March
12. Cry of the Black Birds
13. The Pursuit of Vikings

And they could also have played Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags between track 7 and 8, I’m not really sure. Though I can say that they are a fantastical live band and I would love to see them again. They also seemed to love Umeå, so we can always hope that they’ll return.

Mustasch: (5/5)
The last band of the day was Mustasch, that started playing at about half past twelve. The pressure from the audience was unbelievable. We stood at the fence in the middle, right beneath the vocalist, Ralf. They started off with I Hunt Alone and then Down in Black. After that they played through all their famous songs, including Monday Warrior, Double Nature, Bring Me Everyone, Falling Down and many more. There was a short encore, and in the end they rounded off with Black City. Ralf had, as usual, a great stage presence and talked a lot between the songs (mostly about ice hockey, for some reason). I even think that they were better now than on Rockweekend last summer, even though I loved them then also. Mustasch is an extraordinary live act that everybody should have the opportunity to behold.

After this I felt a bit dizzy, my legs hurt and I had some bruises on my right elbow, but that only makes it feel more real. At about two o’clock the first day of the festival was over and I walked home towards a long and deep sleep.

Saturday
Once again I arrived at about seven o’clock and the first band was to start at half past.

Death Maze: (3/5)
This is a rather special band. Even if the music is not that extraordinary, the band is interesting. Their drummer is only 13 years old and their vocalist, who is a girl, can growl extremely harsh. I didn’t recognize any song that they played because I had only listened to one of their songs earlier, but the gig was great and there were lots of people compared to the first band on Friday.

Stormwarrior: (3/5)
First band on the big stage was Stormwarrior, a German power / speed metal band. Well, what can I say? The music wasn’t that good, but I still found them a bit entertaining. They played most of the songs that I had listened to earlier; Signe of the Warlorde, Iron Prayers, The Axewielder, Valhalla, Odens Krigare (the Swedish version of Óðinn’s Warriors, which I found very amusing, though I didn’t understand a word of what they sung except for the chorus, because their swedish extremely crappy), Ragnarök, Metal Legacy, Into the Battleand also their most famous song Heading Northe. The thing with Stormwarrior though is that they feel too “normal” in some sense. It’s just a power metal band like all others, singing about Vikings and glory, like all others.

Danko Jones: (3/5)
I can honestly say that I didn’t expect much from this Canadian rock band. Though, they were a bit better than I had expected. The audience was wild, and the atmosphere was great. Though, because I hadn’t listened to them before I have no idea of which songs they did and didn't play.

Opeth: (5/5)
Opeth, probably the best band in the world. They entered the stage a few minutes past midnight to hold a one hour and forty minutes long concert. Mikael Åkerfeldt was as calm as I expected him to be and didn’t try to get the audience to scream or jump, rather the opposite. They started off with an extremely harsh song, Heir Apparent, which was really great, and then continued with a well chosen mixture of aggressive and calm songs. The entire setlist looked like this:

01. Heir Apparent
02. Ghost of Perdition
03. Godhead’s Lament
04. The Leper Affinity
05. Credence
06. Hessian Peel
07. Closure
08. The Lotus Eater
~ Encore ~
09. Deliverance

The setlist was great indeed, but still there are a few things that I would have changed if I had the power to. I would probably have switched Godhead’s Lament and The Leper Affinity to The Grand Conjuration, The Drapery Falls and either Windowpane or To Rid the Disease. Though, it doesn’t matter that much, they were as awesome as I hade expected, easily the best band on the festival, and I would give a lot to see them live again. And musically they are probably better than all the other bands on the festival together.

So, as for a conclusion I can say that the festival became only better and better during the whole time with Opeth as the climax in the end. A successful festival once again, indeed. Though, I couldn't see all the bands that I wanted to see. For example Nifelheim, Torture Division and Guillotine.

Fri 27 Feb – Danko Jones

I bought the ticket to the Danko Jones concert after only hearing one song by them, which was quite good (yes you guessed right it was, first date) but I still had made up my mind that these guy wasn't any good. But I had heard that they were a great live act so off I went and bought a ticket.

Supporting Danko for the evening was the semi local band Corroded. And all I can say is that I am impressed. Corroded is not only the northern Swedish answer to Mustasch they have their own way to play their relentless and muscular hard rock. I had never seen them before, I have never even heard them, so it is impossible for me to say how they have evolved as a band, but they are clearly ready for bigger venues than Spegelsalen in Sundsvalls city hall. Singer Jens Westin voice reminds me of James Hetfields, if this is because of the bad sound, I dont know, but it sounds good!


Let's move to the main act for the night.

Danko Jones is now out on even another of their Sweden tours and the Swedes seem to never get tired of the band's riff filled rock. Mass psychosis at Hultsfred and Sweden Rock Festival have proved it several times.

The best thing with Danko Jones hard rock, is the punk attitude to the music. They never throw in a guitar solo or something unnecessary. They play compressed and explosive blues soaked rock n' roll from the beginning to end.

The masters of performing hard rock live are as most know, AC / DC, but Danko & co are ready to take over when the Australians have stopped for good. The songs "Bounce", "Forget my name" and the rock solid "Woogie Boogie" made the spectators in the crammed City Hall to primal scream.

And we have to mention the cocky monologues that the canadian Danko Jones is the reigning master of. Between almost each song he throws in funny comments and opinions that make the show even more entertaining. Like how the people on the balcony were no VIP people (including me), it was the people down on the floor in front of the stage who were the really important people. Or when he line up the names of dead rock stars that made a difference in the music world, such as Joe Strummer, Bon Scott and James Brown. And he actually mentions Cliff Burton, way to go. Or when Danko ask the guys in the audience if they really want him to blow himself on the stage. Whereupon the band started to play a senseless version of Lover Call.
He said he would do it for 500 kr, blow himself that is, and I believe him.

When the band came back for the encores, starting with Code of the Road, the backdrop which consisted only consisted of a black sheet with Danko's name on it fell down, only to reveal another back drop featuring the cover to Never Too Loud
Not many artists take the time to change the backdrop for a concert. Another detail that makes Danko Jones differs from so many other bands. I have only seen it once, and it was, surprise surprise, on a The Hellacopters concert.

So I say like good old danko, do you want this shit "untz untz untz untz" or do you want this shit!

1. The rules
2. My time is now
3. I like to ball
4. Play the blues
5. King of magazines
6. Never again
7. Baby hates me
8. First date
9. Forget my name
10. Sugar Chocolate
11. Sugar high
12. Invisible
13. Woogie Boogie
14. Fucked up
15. Lovercall
16. Cadillac
17. Mountain

---

18. Code of the road
19. Bounce
20. Sleep is the enemy