Short But Sweet
As a guy who has been to most of the Sweden Rock Festivals since 1998, this year was very different for me. I was not supposed to go at all because I had some other things in life to take care of over the same dates.
Suddenly, in May, I thought to myself, what am I doing? Of course, I have to go at least for one of the days and meet friends coming there from all over the world and so I did. I bought a one-day ticket for the first day of the festival, which was on Wednesday, 4th of June. I got picked up by some friends already on Tuesday, so I got the taste of festival mood for two days.
Opening day of the festival
After a first day of just meeting up with friends and drinking some tasty beverages, it was now the day I had been looking forward to. The opening day of Sweden Rock Festival 2025. The first band for me to see was The Night Flight Orchestra who blends Abba with classic rock from the 70s and early 80s in such a great way. The band was solid and did a great performance, even if it was early in the afternoon. There were already many people in the festival area and I saw both people wearing t-shirts with black metal bands and more traditional metal bands dancing together with big smiles and arm in arm.
A cool thing they always do when they play is that they want the audience to make a long conga train that dances through the audience while they play “West Ruth Avenue“. I can tell you that it was really long this day. They played some songs from their latest album, Give Us The Moon, which came out in January this year. See my review: NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA – Give Us The Moon.
A great set from The Night Flight Orchestra was over too fast. I then ran over to the Pistonhead stage (a big tent stage that can hold up to 3000 people) and watched the last 3 songs with a punk rock band named The Headlines.
They really had the crowd singing and jumping to their cool songs. The singer Kerry Bomb was drowned in sweat in her one-piece body suit. She got in the crowd and made the people around her make a mosh pit while she stood in the middle and sang the last song. That was really cool to watch.
Danish Dynamite
Next up was the now classic Danish hard rock band Pretty Maids with singer Ronnie Atkins. They drew a big crowd to the second biggest stage, the Rock Stage. They are really loved by the Swedish audience and there were a lot of songs sung along, such as “King Maker“, “Future World“, “Back To Back“, “Red Hot & Heavy” and “Please Don’t Leave Me“.
They even played a song that has not been played live for a long time, “Hell In High Heels“. Another great show on a sunny afternoon.
I did catch the last two songs in the big tent with The Mercury Riots from the USA and they sounded great! That is a band to watch for if you like blues-based hard rock like Dead Daisies etc.
Melodic comeback of the year
Alien from Sweden played at the smallest stage named Blåkläder Stage, but even if they have not made any big noise in the rock world for a long time, they now have a new album out that sounds similar to their earlier albums, which are classics in the AOR/Melodic Hard Rock world. The singer Jim Jidhed, together with guitar player Tony Borg and drummer Toby Tarrach, are the remaining members and they had help from a little choir on stage that really helped the sound to be as in the old days.
Jim still sings great and Tony still looks like a younger brother to Ritchie Blackmore. They played a great set and the audience loved it from start til finish.
The Rain
After Alien, I went to the cabin and had a bit of rest and drinks with my friends there. We looked at the weather apps as it became darker in the skies and it showed that it could come a little shower in the evening. I walked back to the festival area and met up with my friend Hilda from São Paolo in Brazil, who I was looking forward to watching Opeth with.
We stood front row and talked during the Within Temptation show on the Festival Stage and she was really anticipating seeing Opeth as it is her absolute favourite band in the world. The smoke filled the stage, the band came on and the bass sound from the drums pounded in my chest like I had never felt before.
They started to play their second song into the set and it started to rain, a little at first, but I thought I had promised Hilda to see this show together, so I stayed, for a half minute, then it poured down like it was raining meatballs. I had to leave, but Hilda stayed the whole show. Salute to her for that. I was wet all through my clothes and there was almost nowhere to hide from the rain, so I had to run all the way to the Pistonhead tent.
Best and last band for the day
I stayed in the tent for one and a half hours as I was going to see the band Sacred from Gothenburg playing there after Opeth. My clothes did not dry up as it was a bit cold. When they put the band name on the screen behind the drums, I forgot everything else and was excited to finally see Sacred live. They released their debut album in January 2025 and I love it. See my review: SACRED – Fire To Ice (Album Review).
The sound was great and they started with “Into the Light” and from start to finish it was an absolutely amazing show. The guitarist Jonathan Hallberg had a big smile on his face all the time and the singer Gustav Blide just nailed it! What a singer !! He is up there with Todd Michael Hall from Riot V and Geoff Tate. They even played an amazing cover of “Queen Of The Reich” from Queensryche and they delivered.
They played almost the whole debut album and the audience loved it. If you like bands like Iron Maiden, Riot, Queensryche, Helloween and other bands in that vein, you have to listen to them. I can’t wait till the next album and I hope to see them live again soon.
The End
When Sacred finished, I was tired and still wet to my bones, so I thought I’d better go back to the cabin and have a last drink before I got to bed. When I walked out to the big field, Slipknot was playing at the Festival Stage and I stayed to watch the last songs, but it was only noise in my ear, so I left.
I am happy that I went to the festival even for one day. I love my friends that I met there and now when I sum it up, I am even happier about it.
In loving memory of my friend Thomas Dahlbom
I normally stay in another cabin with friends that I have known since the early 2000s, but not this year. I went there to talk and have some drinks with them and I walked by them on Thursday when I was heading back home to say goodbye and give them all a hug because they mean a lot to me. I am really happy that I got to see them because now one of the guys, Thomas Dahlbom, is no longer with us. He was found dead in his apartment in July and it really hurts. He was a great character and we always laughed about his silly and crazy stories every year.
Thomas, you will be missed, love you brother and rest in peace!
Life is short, be happy and be kind to each other and don’t forget to rock and roll all night.
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