This is one I’ve been highly anticipating all year long folks. This is “THE” summer festival for me. Now don’t get me wrong, I do love many of the fests I attend, but Time To Rock has something special about it. Let’s see if I can convey that.
Time To Rock Festival only came on my radar with last year’s event, despite going on since 2006. They expanded last year and amassed a truly outstanding roster of bands. This is what splayed it throughout my FB News feed. The schedule of awesome bands is what got me there. The event, the concertgoers and moreover the event staff is what made me fall in love. All of those things in the melting pot are what makes it. It’s just an aura, a vibe, a feeling when everything comes together! And I was made to feel so welcome into this festival family.
And so 2024 sees me making my second consecutive appearance at the event in Knislinge, Sweden. For my personal tastes, the lineup is not what last year’s was, but it’s still nothing to sneeze at! So many great bands and some real highlights for me. Getting there is also quite easy…….well, unless you’re me🤣. I work overnight shifts at home, often sent on projects in other towns and cities by my company.
So I worked Wednesday night, finished and got home about 8am. From there it was filling the daily work reports, breakfast, shower and packing my bag! Less than 3 hours later I was at the train station for the 3-plus hour journey from my current city of work to the airport. Said journey included two trains and a bus and put me at the airport about 5 hours before my flight. It was either that or arrive late or spend big money on an Uber 🤦🏻♂️.
I Flew to Copenhagen, by way of an Icelandic layover and basically slept the entirety of both plane rides. From there, a train journey to a bus connection followed by a 10-minute walk and I was exhausted but on-site around 2pm Friday. Meeting the folks who I’d be staying with (for the first time aside from a few FB messages) I immediately felt at home. They were so very welcoming and friendly. What was much less friendly was the weather. A torrential downpour thundered loudly off the roof of the veranda where I was having a beer and a chat with these lovely folks. Thankfully it did not last overly long and the sun was once again pushing through.
The cruel joke of rearranging the festival grounds confused a tired old 🇨🇦. But I found the press tent. After checking into the press tent where the lovely Madeline sorted out my photo vest, it was on to the first band of Time To Rock 2024.
Farsot had the difficult task of launching Time To Rock 2024. Now, I’m pretty sure I caught a little of these guys at Sweden Rock this year on a stage outside the grounds. The name strikes me anyway. They sounded decent, just not strongly engaging for me. Plus I was a little preoccupied with roaming the festival grounds to survey the changes since last year.
I believe that about 5000 tickets were sold this year, more than last year. I, and many others, were concerned about how that would affect the festival. Did they expand too much? Will it be overcrowded? I was assured by my friend, the Time To Rock Production Manager that it would not lose its charm and that was correct. As I walked around the grounds, the remaining two stages were not open for business today. But you could still walk by. A few changes to the layout, but overall it was really not that much bigger at all.
The third, smallest stage was moved a little more to the left than last year and the fencing opposite that had been pushed back. That fencing pushing back, of course, enlarged the area in front of stage three. But not so much at all and the stage is in a better position as well I felt. Plus last year aside from port-o-let toilets along that fence it was kind of a desolate area. Now the entire barrier was lined with vendors hawking (not thuah) their wares. It always looked “unfinished” to me last year and now is a bit of a happening destination area of Time To Rock that I’ll definitely shop at later.
The other thing I noticed (and it was a bit of a sore spot for me last year) was that there seemed not only more quantity, but more variety of food vendors. I didn’t check out each and every one. But last year kebab or Gyros or wraps dominated the scene…. basically all the same thing. And several places with burger too. Now there was my beloved Casey’s Fish and Chips and I also saw Mr. Moose and tacos and Pulled Pork stands.
Sme’ns Baglomma was band number two and as they began the rain did as well. The band did not get heavier, but the rain did. My camera, wrapped in a plastic bag for protection which was not doing much, clicked away. They appeared quite fun on stage. Looked like they had personality with the bassist sporting a bowtie and the drummer/singer’s kit set up front and center. The rain, not letting off drove me to the solace of the press tent.
I ventured out again for Släkkten who I saw here last year also. They play what I would call something like party pop (if that’s not something I just made up). They would be, I imagine, a great dance party band if the sun was out and you had a beer in hand with friends. However, that was not the case and I was again to press for shelter.
My taped-on plastic bag for camera protection was peeling off and I could hear the rain hammering the press tent’s tarp. These things prompted me to skip Torsson and hope the rain would clear soon. Suddenly it did and the sun shone through. This weather can’t decide! Venturing out I caught a bit of Torsson which was not my flavour particularly. But it was a great chance for the initial fish of the fest!
Well, I was wrong. I thought that EBBA Gold would be a Swedish ABBA cover band. Not one of those songs did I pick off as an ABBA song 🤣. Was actually quite engaging and definitely a lot of fun to capture photos of. There was a lot of stage motion and activity and some sweet expressive facial displays. Hopefully, I caught it all well on film. But with wet feet, puddles everywhere and the colder than home temperatures it was back to press for a warm coffee.
I ventured out again for the 10pm start time of Kee Marcello. Kee Marcello, of course, best known for his tenure in the band Europe, post “Final Countdown” era. Kee has also released quite a catalogue including his 2016 solo album Scaling Up, which I quite enjoy. Tonight however it was a concentration on Europe and I was very pleased to see that Jacob Samuels of The Poodles handling the vocals. There was a lot of stage action and fun to photograph. And quite possibly was that the bassist from Electric Boys up there as well. Overall a great show, easily surpassing the last time I saw him in Hamburg, Germany.
Closing out this initial night of Time To Rock 2024 would be Mike Tramp doing songs of White Lion. Of course, Tramp is most known for being a member of White Lion, but I never was a fan of their music. So for me, I spent the majority of the set chatting with friends near the back of the audience.
Overall, an excellent day to launch Time To Rock Festival 2024! To my fellow North Americans, When you plan to attend here next year, I highly recommend adding this pre-party day onto your ticket. The price difference is very low and every bit worth it! Like myself, you may not “get” the smaller Swedish bands, but at the very least you will hear live music as you explore the festival grounds, learn your way around, get the lay of the land and meet friends new and old.
TIME TO ROCK 2024: Full Coverage Page
Cheers,
The Meister
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