stian mathisen

Just got back from my third trip to sweden rock festival (greatest festival
on the planet). The main event for me this year was Judas Priest, but to be
honest I was a little dissapointed. They played a set similiar to what has
been posted here earlier, but the order of the songs was re-arranged.
Anyway, instrumentally all was well, but Rob sounded pretty bad at times. He
really struggled with some of the high notes, but his mid-tone singing was
excellent. As most of you know he is an amazing presence on stage, and the
stage was really cool with chromed pitchforks and an elevator in the back
which led up to a higher platform. All in all it was a great experience to
finally get to see JP with Rob, and it was a good show, but I feel it could
have been better.

Of the other bands I saw at the festival In Flames and Brainstorm were the
best. Helloween did a good show as well, and Children of Bodom also did a
nice gig. I saw Slade, which was awful, and Axel Rudi Pell, which was pretty
good. I watched Exodus a little, and they seemed pretty good as well.
Nightwish is a band I don't particularily like on CD, but live they were
amazing. I was truly surprised by how much I enjoyed their show. I missed
Scorpions (which I later heard did an amazing show), but I managed to see
TNT, which was very good. I don't particularily like their kind of hairy
80's metal, but they're a great band to see live. All in all it was a great
weekend at a great festival. Can't wait till next year!

I know there are other people at this NG who went to the festival this year.
Anyone else have any experiences from SRF they want to share?

--
Stian Mathisen
http://www.metalprovider.com/kaihansen

I like several of these bands. I just saw where Nightwish is trying
to work out a deal on a US release of the new album. I thought Century
Media had already signed them up to a deal, but maybe there was an out
on the contract.

Sounds like you had a good time at the show.

irontom

Well, I just returned home a couple of hours ago from Sweden and now
even though I really need to get some sleep, I think I'll give my review
instead.
I agree with Stan that I came away from Priest being somewhat
disappointed. I avoided reading any setlist details before seeing them
so I'm sure many of you can understand my surprise of not being
surprised at all by what they played. I guess my expectations were just
too high as I hoped they would come roaring back much like Maiden did on
the 1997 "Ed Hunter" tour. Bruce had been out of the band for a while
and when he returned they pulled out some real classics on that first
reunion tour like "Powerslave" and "....Mariner". Priest on the other
hand gives us the "Demoltion" tour setlist minus any Tim Owens songs. I
had really hoped that they would play a couple of the AWESOME Priest
stuff that the Halford band did over the time period they were around. I
just don't get it. Halford does "Never Satisfied" and "Staind Class"
while Priest plays ****ing "Turbo Lover"!!!!
Anyway, so I wanted some surprises in the Priest setlist but didn't
get any. That said, they looked great, the sound was very good although
Rob sounded a little too loud in the mix. There were a few minor
mistakes but everyone makes mistakes. The stage looked cool.....very
METAL.
I actually felt that the crowd could have been a little louder and
that the band didn't seem to really into it. Maybe they were a little
tired or something. Most of my friends who I was at the festival with
agreed on this point. But "Victim of Changes" was AWESOME!! And for some
reason I was really into "Heading Out To The Highway" .... never one of
my favorites. And "Beyond The Realms..." was amazing as well.
I also was a little surprised that Rob never thanked the crowd or
fans in general for supporting Priest since he left. I think he could
really be cool by thanking Ripper Owens for the great job he did. (I
know I'm gonna get killed for that one. Let it rip.....) After all these
years away, I guess I wanted him to acknowledge the fans, the band,
Ripper for keeping Preist alive. Instead he just gave the usual
performance like nothing ever happened. Oh well, no problem.
As for the rest of the festival, the site was geat. The weather was
fine except for the deluge during Nightwish and In Flames. As a
American, I thought the fans were awesome. I met some really cool fans
who were surprised that I flew all the way over to see a gig in Sweden.
I was offered many free beers just for going there! But the most unusual
moment was when one of the guys working a food stand asked me where I
was from. When I told him that I was American, he told me that he was
Iraqi. After a few uncomfortable seconds of not being sure how to
respond, I asked him if he any family still in Iraq and if they were OK.
Luckily, his family is fine and he is still suportive of the U.S.
actions there. He even pointed out that some of the others working his
stand and the next were Irainian and Afghani and Palestinian. We had
about a 20 minute talk (and this is at about 5AM, by the way) about
middle eastern politics and they were all pretty cool about it.
I walked away from that feeling good that dispite what CNN / FOX shows
us, there are some people from over there who believe that the U.S. is
helping them and they are greatful.
As for the other bands, OPETH were great as they always are. UFO was
very good even without Schenker. Scorpions (I thought) were very good
but many other people were saying they weren't happy with them. Oh well,
I've never seen them perform "Lovedive" before (the song, not the whole
album) so that was cool. Nightwish was very good but I ran for cover
when the rain came. Children Of Bodom were very good. Heart actually was
great I think and even Y & T was good. TNT was better than I expected.
Europe got a great crowd response and I liked them even though they are
a little "lightweight" for my taste.
OK, I'm done. I need sleep.
Tom

irontom

Well, I just returned home a couple of hours ago from Sweden and now
even though I really need to get some sleep, I think I'll give my review
instead.
I agree with Stan that I came away from Priest being somewhat
disappointed. I avoided reading any setlist details before seeing them
so I'm sure many of you can understand my surprise of not being
surprised at all by what they played. I guess my expectations were just
too high as I hoped they would come roaring back much like Maiden did on
the 1997 "Ed Hunter" tour. Bruce had been out of the band for a while
and when he returned they pulled out some real classics on that first
reunion tour like "Powerslave" and "....Mariner". Priest on the other
hand gives us the "Demoltion" tour setlist minus any Tim Owens songs. I
had really hoped that they would play a couple of the AWESOME Priest
stuff that the Halford band did over the time period they were around. I
just don't get it. Halford does "Never Satisfied" and "Staind Class"
while Priest plays ****ing "Turbo Lover"!!!!
Anyway, so I wanted some surprises in the Priest setlist but didn't
get any. That said, they looked great, the sound was very good although
Rob sounded a little too loud in the mix. There were a few minor
mistakes but everyone makes mistakes. The stage looked cool.....very
METAL.
I actually felt that the crowd could have been a little louder and
that the band didn't seem to really into it. Maybe they were a little
tired or something. Most of my friends who I was at the festival with
agreed on this point. But "Victim of Changes" was AWESOME!! And for some
reason I was really into "Heading Out To The Highway" .... never one of
my favorites. And "Beyond The Realms..." was amazing as well.
I also was a little surprised that Rob never thanked the crowd or
fans in general for supporting Priest since he left. I think he could
really be cool by thanking Ripper Owens for the great job he did. (I
know I'm gonna get killed for that one. Let it rip.....) After all these
years away, I guess I wanted him to acknowledge the fans, the band,
Ripper for keeping Preist alive. Instead he just gave the usual
performance like nothing ever happened. Oh well, no problem.
As for the rest of the festival, the site was geat. The weather was
fine except for the deluge during Nightwish and In Flames. As a
American, I thought the fans were awesome. I met some really cool fans
who were surprised that I flew all the way over to see a gig in Sweden.
I was offered many free beers just for going there! But the most unusual
moment was when one of the guys working a food stand asked me where I
was from. When I told him that I was American, he told me that he was
Iraqi. After a few uncomfortable seconds of not being sure how to
respond, I asked him if he any family still in Iraq and if they were OK.
Luckily, his family is fine and he is still suportive of the U.S.
actions there. He even pointed out that some of the others working his
stand and the next were Irainian and Afghani and Palestinian. We had
about a 20 minute talk (and this is at about 5AM, by the way) about
middle eastern politics and they were all pretty cool about it.
I walked away from that feeling good that dispite what CNN / FOX shows
us, there are some people from over there who believe that the U.S. is
helping them and they are greatful.
As for the other bands, OPETH were great as they always are. UFO was
very good even without Schenker. Scorpions (I thought) were very good
but many other people were saying they weren't happy with them. Oh well,
I've never seen them perform "Lovedive" before (the song, not the whole
album) so that was cool. Nightwish was very good but I ran for cover
when the rain came. Children Of Bodom were very good. Heart actually was
great I think and even Y & T was good. TNT was better than I expected.
Europe got a great crowd response and I liked them even though they are
a little "lightweight" for my taste.
OK, I'm done. I need sleep.
Tom

jgbintbass

Excellent trip report, Tom.
Rock Hard Ride Free...

jgbintbass

Excellent trip report, Tom.
Rock Hard Ride Free...