Another festival has gone by and it always goes too fast. This was my 22nd Sweden Rock Festival since 1998 when it was still named Karlshamn’s Rock Festival. During the years I have seen hundreds of bands and some bigger names in rock several times. I just love going to that festival and meeting old and new friends, seeing great bands, and to party.
This year it was something different. As I could not go last year I had not seen the changes Live Nation have done to the festival. Some are good and some are bad I think. The good things are bigger stages and better production and they have extended the festival area. The bad thing is that they sold too many tickets. The festival was packed with people all day long and of course, there were many great bands to see but I think it was sometimes hard to get through the crowd from one side to the other. I also heard that in the VIP area, there were too many people and you had to stand in queues to get in.
THE MUSIC
The bands started to play on Wednesday and first I saw a little DYNAZTY from Sweden who had a massive crowd and they sounded great. I was then off to see SOILWORK, also from Sweden and they also had a huge crowd in front of the Festival stage. After a couple of songs, I went to Pistonhead Stage, the smallest one in a big tent, where I met up with Rich Dillon and some other friends to see the great Swedish metal band, ENFORCER.
Thanks to Rich I have started to listen to them earlier this year and WOW! What a fantastic show it was. Great songs, loud singing from me and the rest of the crowd and good beers in hand with awesome friends. It could not be any better. After them, I had a pause for an hour or so before the next band AIRBOURNE rocked at the Festival stage (the main stage). They are always fun to see live, energetic, and crazy with great Aussie rock and roll.
There were so many bands to see on the first day. After the assault from AIRBOURNE, I went to see the Norwegian band WIG WAM that I had never seen before. They were good too but I think they would fit better in a club.
Now was the time for one of two headliners this evening, DEF LEPPARD. They always have perfect, almost too perfect, shows and sounds great. Although I would prefer to have some older songs like “Let It Go” or “Wasted” in the setlist to rock it up a bit. It is almost like a big Las Vegas show and of course, they have played there several times.
After Def Leppard I had to change for warmer clothes as it gets cold in the evening. The festival is right beside The Baltic Sea.
My last show on Wednesday was MÖTLEY CRÜE. There was excitement in the air, should they crash or get revenge for their disastrous show at the festival in 2015?
Well, as I have seen them at the Sweden Rock Festival three times I will say that this is the best one yet! The sound was huge and really good and with John 5 on the guitar, the songs were played right. Last time they played, Mick Mars was starting the song “Kickstart My Heart” and then everything stopped and the stage went black. After half a minute they started “Girls Girls Girls“.
Their show was looking good and even Vince Neil had a better night than I have heard from him in a long time. Not in all of the songs but he was ok through the set.
First day done and great music with great friends from all over the world.
THURSDAY 8th June
First band out on stage was a Swedish band named SELF DECEPTION who I have never heard before. I got the tip off Rich Dillon as he stayed in the same cabin as the band itself. They started at 11.30 but when I came into the festival there were already a good amount of people there. I only got to see the last 4 songs but they were better than expected. If you have heard SMASH INTO PIECES you get their sound. They were having a lot of fun on stage and there was pyro and confetti in the air. Fun start to the day.
I took some time off from seeing bands til later in the afternoon when it was time for the new “Supergroup’” of Swedish band CROWNE with members from H.E.A.T, THE POODLES, DYNAZTY, and ART NATION. This was their first show ever and you could tell as it was a bit shaky at first but after two songs the sound and energy got better and they were ok. I then saw the ending of UDO and they always deliver a solid set but surprisingly no ACCEPT songs at all this time.
I met Shawn Irwin and Brian Ronald and saw a cool young band, LIAR THIEF BANDIT, in the Pistonheadtent and they delivered a solid set with rock and roll similar to THE HELLACOPTERS. Next up was a new band from London, England. GREEN LUNG who plays slow and heavy songs like an early BLACK SABBATH. They were great and got a good response from the audience. This was their first appearance in Sweden. Hopefully not their last.
MYRATH
One of my favorite bands since 2018 is MYRATH from Tunisia. This was their third time playing at Sweden Rock Festival as they got to play two times there in 2019. They then played in the tent earlier in the evening and when BEHEMOTH could not come for the last show at Rockstage, the festival asked MYRATH if they could step in and play again as everyone in the audience talked about their first show. So they did and got a lot of new fans who this year welcomed them back.
They started with a new song from their new album which will come out in September and what a great song it was! They played three new songs and all of them were awesome so I am really looking forward to that album.
The show was great with lots of fire and dancers on stage and Saher is one of the best singers right now. This was so far my favorite at the festival.
After MYRATH it was time for DEEP PURPLE. I have not seen them in many years and this was maybe the last time I will see them live. They played a great set of songs but it was slowed down by long instrumental parts with keyboard and guitar solos. I know Ian Gillan is getting old and has to rest in between songs. They were finishing the set with “Smoke on the Water” and “Black Knight” and that was great and the crowd sang loud and proud.
Last band on Thursday was EUROPE and what a great show it was. I have seen them on nearly every tour since the Wings Of Tomorrow in the early 80s and on the last tours I think Joey‘s voice has been harsher than before but here he comes out smiling on the stage and sings like in the early days! One of the best EUROPE shows I have seen in many years. The setlist was great with a mix from their whole career. Second best so far after MYRATH. Off to the cabin for a late-night party.
FRIDAY 9th June
First band to see on Friday was the classic Coney Hatch from Canada and of course, I saw Rich Dillon in the first row cheering at his friends in the band. You can read his full review of their concert HERE.
This was my first time seeing them live and they were really good, especially when Carl Dixon took the mic and sang. Crystal clear voice and it sounds like he hasn’t grown old. I wish they had played “Devil’s Deck” too but they didn’t have much time to play. Good start to the day.
Now it was time for one of my favorite bands, H.E.A.T, and the first time for me to see Kenny Leckremo back in the band after Erik Grönwall left. I was really excited and was standing close to the stage. What a fantastic show they put on and in the middle of the set Kenny said in Swedish, “Here I am running around on stage and can barely not control my feelings inside. This is the greatest moment in my career!” I left the show with a tear of emotion and happiness in my eyes.
Tony Harnell has rejoined his old band TNT from Norway again and I was really looking forward to seeing them live again. I have seen them twice before with Tony and last time it was magical. They had a lot of sound problems to start with and they were not happy on stage about that. I thought Tony‘s voice was ok but he struggled a bit to get to the high notes we are used to hearing from him. They had two backing singers to help him and that’s a great way to sound better live and not use backing tracks. After a couple of songs, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought, so we went to another stage to hear and see PHIL CAMPBELL & THE BASTARD SONS playing a full set of MOTÖRHEAD classics. That was a lot more fun to see and hear. The audience was wild and crazy and sang loudly.
Time to catch some breath and eat and drink and relax for an hour or so.
Going back to the festival to see MIKE TRAMP – Songs Of White Lion and they were great I think. He has lowered the key of the songs so it fits Mike’s voice nowadays. All the classic WHITE LION songs were played and it was great played by the band.
After a longer pause at our cabin, it was time for the big name on Friday, IRON MAIDEN. They started the show with “Caught Somewhere In Time” and then a couple of new ones from Senjutsu. After “Can I Play With Madness” I lost interest in the show, yes I have seen them many times, so I walked away. Don’t know why but the sound wasn’t good where I stood and trying to find a new spot was too hard as there were maybe 50000 in the audience then.
I walked over to the Pistonhead stage and waited for PERFECT PLAN who was one of my most wanted bands to see at the festival. I got to see their soundcheck and right before they started to play the tent where the stage was set was nearly full. Kent Hilli, their singer, is one of the most sought-after vocalists in the melodic rock/AOR genre today. He sang on the last GIANT album, released on Frontiers Records. I also know the drummer Fredrik Forsberg since we have stayed at the same hostel during some festivals.
They played a great set of songs from their three albums so far and added their cover of Foreigner‘s song “That Was Yesterday“. Great show and I was really happy to finally see them live.
SATURDAY 10th June
Woke up to the last day of the festival this year and time passes too fast when you are there. I was in no hurry so I stayed in our cabin until 11 and then I met my son who was there for his first time as he wanted to see GHOST.
First band of the last day for me was MAMMOTH WVH. I am not a big fan of the new metal sound which many bands from the USA have today but Wolfgang Van Halen was a sweet soul on stage and they were ok. They also played a FOO FIGHTERS song, “My Hero“, as a tribute to Taylor Hawkins and it sounded great.
ERIK GRÖNWALL & SKID ROW
I have been a fan of Erik Grönwall since he won the Swedish Idol in 2008 and then joined H.E.A.T. I have seen him live with H.E.A.T many times and I was a bit sad when he announced that he was leaving the band. Then he got leukemia and I followed his sickness on social media and it was so sad to read about it. Luckily he survived and what a surprise when he was announced as the new singer in SKID ROW.
He fits perfectly in the band and I don’t understand all the comments about that they should have got Sebastian back. He is not as half as good these days as Erik. He kills it on stage and has such energy, running around and still taking all those high notes. I am very impressed.
He was also very emotional on stage as this was his first show with SKID ROW in Sweden. I really hope they will come back for some smaller club shows. One of the best shows this year in my opinion.
I have never been a fan of PANTERA but I was keen to see them live when they played at the festival. I don’t know all of their songs but their classics like “Walk“, “Cowboys From Hell” and “I’m Broken” were all cool to hear live and Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante did a great job on stage. It really sounded like the old PANTERA.
GHOST
Last band at the festival and my son’s favourite band, GHOST, came out with a bang! And what an epic show to end this festival with. Nice stage show, pyro, great songs, great crowd and funny speeches by Papa (Tobias Forge). Their setlist was great even though I missed the song “He Is“, one of their biggest hits. A cool thing was that they had different colors of lighting in every song. Red, blue, yellow, white, and so on to end with a colorful mix in “Dance Macabre” with confetti all over the place.
When they left the stage it was announced a big surprise for the audience as this was the 30th year of the festival. Everyone was hoping that they should announce a big headliner or some bands for next year but they only showed the dates for the festival next year which are 5-8 June 2024 and then a big pyro to end the festival.
I thought it was a great year even if Live Nation now has more of their “own” bands on the bill. In the past, they always had smaller bands reuniting and even got TRIUMPH to come over and play and I think that will never happen now with Live Nation.
I will definitely be back next year and am already thinking about it. I hope to see AC/DC make a live comeback with Brian.
Thanks for reading and a big thanks to Rich Dillon, Shawn Irwin, Brian Ronald, Krysti Farnam, and Nathan Knodel for having so much fun. I also want to thank my gang in my cabin whom I love and look forward to meeting again next year. See Ya!
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