OK ladies and gentlemen, fellow Decibel Geeks, children of
all ages as the case may be, The Meister is alive and well in Solvesborg,
Sweden for 2013’s Sweden Rock Festival!
Here’s my account of day three of the adventure, the second day of rock
shows.
Thursday June 6,
2013
3am-I awake in a terrible chilled to the bone shiver. I've
never been so cold and apparently the weather here in Sweden is just like back
home in Canada this year which is to say friggin’ crazy with hot one day and
freezing the next! I don more clothing,
almost everything I have in my bag and try to ward off the cold.
5am-I have given up on getting warm or sleep and decide to
get up and wander the grounds, hoping to at least get the circulation of blood
again flowing through my veins.
6am-The Sweden Rock Supermarket opens for business, so I
bought some bread and cold cut meat and things for breakfast and lunches.
7am-I've found my way to the press tent, not sure I’m
supposed to be in here this early, but it’s warm and I can use the charging
station for my camera, cell phone and laptop without disturbing anyone or a
hassle unlike later in the day as I’m the only one here.
9am-Ran into my photographer friend as he came into the
press tent. He had nowhere to sleep last
night and ended up sleeping in one of the security huts for a while and then
finishing the night in the Jagermeister backstage lounge. He must have been cold; maybe I did not have
it so bad! Anyways, tonight my friend
you may share my tent if you don’t get something else sorted out.
Mia Klose (UK)
11:30am-The first band is set to start off the first full
day of rock at the festival and that honor is presented to Mia Klose on the
4Sound Stage. I had tried to search her
music prior to leaving Toronto, but could not find any for purchase. The first song was called Open
Your Eyes I believe anyway and was really good. The attractive blonde led her band into Drive
Me Crazy next and then paused to address the audience. She let us know that the first two songs that
we had just heard were from the debut release called London, so the
music is out there somewhere. They
launched into what she informed us was a new song entitled Living For Love
followed by Can’t Stop Me (if I had to guess by the chorus any
way). About here I lost a bit of track
on Mia’s performance as
another crowd member had noticed my “Monsters of Rock
Cruise” hat and he was sporting the shirt!
We shook hands and he introduced himself as Mark. Mark led me over to another gentleman also
adorned in the Monsters logo shirt and we took our photo for a countdown shot. We exchanged numbers and will try to organise a better theme and countdown shot in the next few days. I left Mia Klose’s show and began making my
way over to the Sweden Stage for Demon’s scheduled quarter after noon set.
Demon (UK)
12:15pm-Survivors from New Wave of British Heavy Metal,
Demon was a show I was interested to see, only having just discovered them recently
with their newest and excellent CD Unbroken. Starting with a recorded intro consisting of
mainly guttural growling, the band made their way on to the stage, with the
lead vocalist, Dave Hill following a few moments later. As he hit the stage they blasted into Night
of The Demon. Dave informed
us that the next song would be from the Unexpected Guest record as
they ripped through Work Of The Devil a track that I was not familiar with,
but probably should be. When Dave asked
the audience “What shall we play next?” he was given an answer that I couldn't
hear but to which he responded, “No, not that”, and asking instead, “How about Sign
of the Madman”? This was a
well received suggestion and the crowd was chanting the chorus along with the
band. From the Unbroken record they next
went to the title track and it came off very well. Standing On The Edge followed
by Heart
Of Our Time were next on the roster as Dave asked us “Are you
drinking lots of expensive beer”? “This
song is about our last time here at Sweden Rock”, he said next as they charged
through Fill Your Head With Rock from the newest album and it
was the chosen theme song for the festival in a past year if I’m not mistaken. As
they began playing Life On The Wire I could suddenly no longer ward off the
pangs hunger and ventured to a nearby
food kiosk for a hot dog. During my snack purchase a gentleman began a
conversation with me about the king of Sweden, saying that this was him as he
showed me the back of a coin. He then
said he would throw it on the ground and piss on it because he doesn't like
him. Then he followed up with “I only
like that he’s a drunk who goes to strippers and likes to fuck hookers”, yes that’s
a direct quote! I moved away and headed
on to the next item on my agenda as Demon started into The Plague.
1pm-I walk past the Rock stage which is presently housing
Raubiter and there’s a huge crowd it seems for them. After pausing for a moment I quickly
discerned that they were not my style at all.
I continued on my way to DBHQ for lunch as the hot dog surely wasn't
enough and a quick change into some shorts. I also
finally found out where the showers were, thank God, it was getting rough
inside the tent!
2:45pm-Feeling quite refreshed, I ventured to the backstage
VIP bar to see if anyone was around. I
saw no-one about, but well, since I’m here a cold beer would certainly be in
order before I head out again to catch Days Of Jupiter.
Days of Jupiter (Sweden)
3pm-at the Rockklassiker stage Days of Jupiter were already
under way and commanding the stage as I approached. Scheduled for a 40 minute set, I was about
10 minutes late in arriving, joining during Superman. During song breaks I can clearly hear the
carry-over sound from the Rock stage as they began Don’t Let Me Fall
which was followed by band intros. Crash
was next and I knew the song from the music of
theirs that I had been able to
purchase prior to leaving Toronto. I
first heard a sample of their music on the Sweden Rock website and liked their
modern sound and compositions instantly.
It was great to see that there were a decent crowd here considering that
they are up against bigger names such as Morgana Lefay and Survivor (where I’m
heading shortly) all on different stages at the same time. Still Feel You Breathe and Bury
Me Alive closed out the set.
Days of Jupiter are part of NEMIS which is an acronym for new music in
Sweden and it’s great to see the support for this, what I believe to be a burgeoning
music scene almost similar the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement.
Survivor (US)
3:30pm-Survivor has a big draw at the Rock stage and it is
packed near the back of the crowd. I’ll
just check it out from here as, to me, Survivor is not worth the effort of pushing
forward, so I’ll save that for someone I’m more interested to see and let this one be more of a hear. They were into High
On You as I took some pictures of the giant TV screen broadcasting
scenes from the stage for the benefit of those way back like me. Rockin’ Into The Night was
next and I’m mostly guessing at the song titles here as I’m not too familiar
with Survivor’s music other than Eye Of the Tiger of course,
finding it a bit too poppy sounding for my tastes. They are actually rocking and I’m pleasantly
surprised here. I have no idea what the
next song was, but following that was announced as Rebel Girl and I
made a mental note
(which my poor memory will lose track of I'm sure!) to check
out some Survivor recordings. And then
they killed all interest and momentum that they had just started building in me
with a keyboard solo of all things! I began to make my
way over to investigate the official band merchandise booth (they seem to be
adding new shirts each day) as the keys wrapped up and The Search Is Over
began. After tuning out a bit in my
dreams of t-shirt purchasing and probably missing a song I was brought back
from my reverie as the famous Eye Of The Tiger brought a
huge surging charge of people as they all rushed in to join the pack.
Huntress (US)
4pm-4 o’clock found me at the 4Sound stage for
Huntress. I'm not sure where I found out
about Huntress and I have an inexplicable desire to like them that is slowly
succeeding, but was a tough sell at first.
I'm sure that in part it has to do with the fact that the vocalist is rather hot, but I keep listening to The Spell Eater album, trying to catch the buzz. I'm
not quite there yet, but I keep trying.
One thing for sure that I just discovered is that she sure can scream
live! I actually enjoyed the first two songs quite a bit and loved the third which may have been titled Destroy
Your Life, although I didn't recognize either from The
Spell Eater CD. Ah ha! She just announced that the last songs were
from the forthcoming CD and I forgot the title basically the moment she said
it, see what I mean about my memory? Spell
Eater was next and I found
myself recognizing the tune and bobbing
my head along with the rest of the audience.
It sure is mesmerizing to watch and hear such an attractive blonde lady give such low
guttural growls like that and then scream high pitched at the next turn. Senicide followed which was
also from Spell Eater before she announced another new one which I'm
pretty sure she said was Star Bound Beast, but I could
be mistaken. Just as they went to launch
into it, the bass player needed to tune, so she stalled well with a good sense
of humour, reminding us that we are the first to hear these new songs played
live and that they plan to be at the merchandise booth later to sign autographs
(odd because I've not seen any Huntress swag over there). I abandoned ship around this time left with
the images of her crawling/crouching down all around the stage, almost looking
evil.
4:30pm-I passed by Rick Springfield playing Done
Everything For You on the Festival stage on my way to see the
accreditation booth about something that I just remembered. Along the way I finally found out where to
re-fill my water bottle, a definite necessity in this blistering hot sun all
day. I noticed several times already
that they are excellent at cleaning here at the festival. Staff in orange vests are always raking up
the plastic beer bottles and paper after a performance. In my wanderings today I've also seen only
one KISS painted face (Paul), which I find shocking being used to better than
50% of the crowd painting their faces at a show in Toronto. I also discovered what I’ll call “The Secret
Bar” on the top of the hill at the back of the crowd at Sweden stage area.
Rick Springfield (US)
5pm-Time to check out Rick Springfield on the Festival
stage, but this will again be something that I’ll do from afar, not willing to
make the effort to push closer. Rick was
announcing that this song he had written with Foo Fighters, Just
Like The Man I Never Was as I saw more KISS faces, a group of three
Genes. I was surprised to hear a Rick
Springfield guitar solo next as I lumped him in with Survivor in the too poppy
for me category and it was not bad either (as guitar solos go) as he got down
from the stage and played it in the photo pit.
A little Crossroads came before Don’t Talk To Strangers
for the chorus of which he was again down in the photo pit with an extra mike
holding it out to people in the crowd to sing the line. Back on the stage Rick announced Human
Touch next during which he was piggy backed through the audience,
slapping hands along the way, to the sound booth (a fair distance away through
a packed crowd). He then climbed the
rigging and sang a few lines from atop the scaffolding of the sound booth
before walking back through the crowd to the stage to finish out with Jessie’s
Girl. The crowd is just a sea
of
clapping hands and sing-a-longs and Rick is obviously a great performer
earning a new respect from me on his stage show alone. A beating heart sounded through the speakers
giving the appearance of a looming encore.
Rick took center stage to inform his fans that it would not be the case
as they had turned him off, but promising to play more the next time. I was actually a little disappointed as I
would have enjoyed to see and hear another couple songs……dear God I hope I’m
not becoming a Rick Springfield fan!
5:30pm-it’s back to the VIP bar for a beverage and I see Mia
Klose hanging out and getting pictures with my photographer friend.
Backdraft (Sweden)
6:10pm-I passed by the Rock stage and Status Quo, hearing Paper
Plane, but I did not linger as I was late for Backdraft on the 4Sound
stage. Backdraft, like Days of Jupiter,
I had heard samples of on the Sweden Rock website and prompted to purchase the
music from there. They have three albums
out, but I could only find one, Here To Save You All from
2001. I learned that this was actually
their fifteen year anniversary and their third time at Sweden Rock. I also read that they were taking the stage
with three guitarists, everyone who had ever been
in the band and true to that
as I approached I counted them. I’m not
sure the titles of the first two songs that I walked in on, but I sure loved
their sound. It’s sad to see that there’s
only a small crowd here for them being in competition with Status Quo, Devin
Townsend Project and Imber on the other stages. They sound
great overall and are playing hard, giving the few fans everything they
have. Devil’s Hand from
my CD preceded No Love during which I saw that one of the guitarists
had his fly totally open, how embarrassing!
They next did a cover of The Allman Brothers song Blue Skies followed
by Angels
High, also from my CD. Out
Of Here was pounding out as I was forced to move on to catch Imber before they
were over.
Imber (Sweden)
6:35pm-Finds me at the Rockklassiker stage for Imber. Imber is comprised of four ladies (2 guitarists, the vocalist and drummer) and a lone, some would say lucky, dude on bass. I know nothing about Imber, but I liked the
sound and even the look (something about chicks with instruments) and will
definitely try to find their music for purchase, which could be hard outside of
Sweden as they are another NEMIS band.
Sadly it appeared that they would be ending their set a bit early as
they left the stage after the one song that I had walked in on. But wait, they’re back for one last song, a
little Huntress style and screamy at times, but I really enjoyed it. I’m not sure of the significance of it, but
they all had black camouflage style grease paint over their arms and a little
on their faces.
6:45pm-Pausing near the back of the Status Quo crowd I heard
Creepin’
Up On You and In The Army Now. They have a gigantic crowd again, but I just
can’t catch their buzz at all and the drum solo killed it for me as I backed
away in search of nearby sustenance in a slice of pizza. Roll Over reached my ears as
I finished my pizza and moved on.
7pm-Saw me over at the Sweden stage again to check out
fellow Canadians The Devin Townsend Project.
Their heavy style was not my type, but I liked how they were all dressed
in red and white hockey jerseys, now that’s Canadian! I came in part way through a song and the
next one was called We’re On A Train, but I left before it was over.
7:15pm-I passed by the 4Sound stage and got a picture of the
Manilla Road banner and set-up on my way to Five Finger Death Punch on the
Festival stage at 7:30pm. Better stop by
Rockklassikker for The Dead And Living first.
Dressed totally in black with their faces painted white, they did not
sound like something that I was into and when they paused playing to address the
crowd in Swedish I could hear Status Quo overpowering them. This stage sound carry over is not too bad considering the close proximity,
but would of course be better without.
7:40pm-Five Finger Death Punch are a bit late in starting,
they have been announced, but not taken stage as yet. A recorded intro “War is the answer” begins Burn
It Down from the War Is The Answer album that
is in my collection. This
Is Your Salvation was next and again this is not really my style,
finding that the music is mostly just thumping noise all sounding the same with
some “cookie monster” style vocals thrown in for good measure. I keep listening to War Is The Answer trying
to catch their buzz, but I guess I have some work to go as the live show is not
winning me over in a hurry.
8:25pm-I saw the “Bullet Bus” on my way to catch Manilla Road and snapped a quick picture (in hindsight I should have stopped and seen if the band was on board). They put on a great show last night and were a highlight for me, knowing that the chances of them making it to Canada are pretty slim. One of my early Decibel Geek articles was a bio piece on Bullet and you can check out the previous day's diary for a short review on the show.
Manilla Road (US)
8:30pm-Manilla Road
had been in progress for about 15 minutes by the time that I got there and they
paused to introduce themselves as being from Witchita, Kansas after finishing
up the song that I walked in on. Metalstorm
was next and I noticed how much older the guitarist was than the rest of the
band, so I will assume that he would be the only original member, but I have
not researched it. I do know that this
is their first appearance at Sweden Rock and they sounded great with a good
mix
of thundering bass and drums but audible guitar as well, sounding very much
like the CD. I’m not sure, but I would
guess that the next one was titled Tonight We Fight, after which
came Grey
God Passes as well as Only The Brave both from the
latest release, Mysterium. They
let us know that they had arrived late last night, but got a chance to watch
the awesome Candlemass (which I missed, opting for sleep instead) as they broke
into Divine
Victim followed by Road Of Kings from the Open
The Gates CD. The soft intro
of the next song from their Metal album gives way to the
biting riffs as it gets going, but it’s time to move along
again and catch the next in line of the bands.
Thunder (UK)
9:10pm-At the “Secret Bar” at the back of the crowd in front
of the Sweden stage for Thunder. I can still
hear Manilla Road quite clearly from here, but I am surprised that there is not
more carry over given the close proximity of the stages and the sweet volume of
the music. Thunder’s intro music starts
emanating from the stage and drowning out Manilla, its AC/DC’s Thunderstruck. The crowd is chanting along with the familiar
recording “thunder”, “thunder”, “thunder”.
I found a little chair in front of a hot dog cart that appeared vacant
and took the much needed opportunity to take a load off my feet and rest these
weary bones a bit. Thunder can be
enjoyed from here, no need to stand up front (you can tell how beat I am as I
usually am not interested unless I can be leaning on the stage)! There’s a fair crowd for them as the singer,
Danny Bowes, called out to see everyone jumping as they started to play. Dirty Love was the first
selection and I recognized it from my You-tubing prior to departing Toronto as
Danny joined in the jumping. I can
already feel the cold seeping into my body as I sit here in this chair; I hope
that expensive foam camping mat that I bought at the Sweden Supermarket does
its job tonight! River Of Pain was
the next selection, followed by Higher Ground. I checked the time and saw that the KISS
press conference was in 15 minutes, but was on a first come, first serve basis
and seeing as there are over 600 accredited journalists here, I think I’m too
late and I’m enjoying Thunder anyway. I
don’t need to go see them answer five (that’s the restricted limit total for
all journalists) questions and take a couple of pictures! What I think was
called Playing on the Radio came next before I started to get
lazy and drowsy sitting here, so I’d better move on before I fall asleep in
this chair and freeze to death for sure, or get robbed or something.
9:50pm-Walked by Amon Amarth on the Rock stage and didn't
even entertain the idea of checking out this band from the little bit that I
heard on the way by. But, I do however
need to wake up a bit or I’m gonna be out for the rest of the night and they do
have a cool Viking ship on stage. OK, I
can’t even last a full song, so I snap a couple of pictures and rapidly “get
out of Dodge” as they say.
Jaggernaut (Sweden)
9:55pm-Let’s check out Jaggernaut on the Rockklassiker
stage, can’t be any worse than Amon Amarth right? Much better, they have a power metal-ish
sound and they seemed really into their show, possessed almost. The sparse crowd here is really enjoying it
with fists in the air and heads banging all around. After the song I joined during the middle of
we got Scavengers Of The World as it was announced and then
band introductions. I’m not a big
supporter of this kind of thing during a shortened set of 40 minutes as it just
takes time away from the music which should be winning you over new fans. Maybe if it was without the few seconds
instrument playing when you’re introduced it would be much better, but none the
less I liked what I heard and will try to find their CD’s. Dancing Fools was a great
sounding composition as I wandered off in search of food, beer and a good spot
for KISS in about 40 minutes.
KISS (US)
10:25pm-Re-fueled with sustenance I worked my way up to KISS
settling for about 25 people back from the stage, not as close as I've ever been
to my heroes (The club tour prior to the Revenge release saw me
leaning on the stage). The crowd was
buzzing with excited chatter, which even though was mostly in Swedish with the song
titles spewing forth I could tell that it was probably a bet on the opening
song. I hate to tell you folks, and you
probably wouldn't understand me if I did, but KISS has had basically the same
set list for a long, long time and I didn't suspect that a new, cool
looking mechanical spider would change that! They opened up with Psycho Circus and I thought
of my Decibel Geek cohort Wallygator Norton as I heard it. You see, Wally is not a fan of that release
so much, but I feel that it has a place in KISStory, more so than a few of the others
that come to mind. It’ll be interesting
to see what happens in The World Series of KISS coming to Decibel Geek during
our KISSmas in July. Shout
It Out Loud followed closely on the heels of Psycho Circus and got
a great reaction from the audience, many of whom were now sporting the KISS
face paint of various members. I remember
dressing up as Gene for Halloween a few times and I even still have most of the
home made costume, maybe someone will invite me to a Halloween party one of
these days and I can spend two and a half hours putting on the make-up
again. Let Me Go Rock And Roll
was next and is a great favourite of mine in the KISS catalogue, but I couldn't
explain why, some KISS songs just are and some are not. I was really enjoying this and singing along
as loud as I could (sorry to anyone standing nearby, I'm a horrible
singer!). KISS is my band and
have prime real estate on the top of my arm in the full sleeve “in progress”
tattoo I'm steadily working on, but I'm never pumped to see them until I get
there and then it’s the best thing ever and I always wonder why I'm not more
amped up to see them. Paul took control
of the mike for a little crowd incitement as is usual during a KISS show. He split he audience into two halves and did
the old this half cheer louder than that half routine, which when I was a kid
seeing KISS the first few times was awesome and I was right into it all the way. Now I just find it cliché and a general waste
of time in which they could be fitting in a new song on the set list, something
like
Parasite that they played during that Revenge club tour and came off
great being another big favourite of mine or a whole host of other classics that
never get the live treatment. With that
said I should mention that I was cheering and screaming right along with
everyone else when Paul called for our side and happy to do so….OK, I'm a
hypocrite and a bit divided here maybe as it’s cliché sure, but fun and a KISS
show is all about fun. I
Love I t Loud came next and kept the crowd singing and fists
punching up into the air. I remember
seeing the video when I was young and being torn. I didn't know much about KISS then, but loved
it all the way, however it appeared a little demonic at the time to me in my
youth and I was torn between the fear of devil worship and parental
disapproval. I do love it loud and KISS
and music defeated all else in my life in those formative mind shaping years to
make me who I am today, it may not be much but I'm happy and I
Love It Loud! The new track
from 2013’s Monster, the best KISS album in many years, Hell
Or Hallelujah was next and the crowd kept singing along as if it
had been one of the early songs and everyone knew it well, a difference from
Toronto last year, maybe the track had not been out as long then, but I'm just
not sure that this music has the impact in North America as it does here. War Machine followed up and I'm
glad that they play this one live as in my opinion it’s the best cut on the
whole Creatures Of The Night album (and I’ll probably get some
flak for saying that, but I can’t always explain my favourites as I mentioned
earlier). Then it was back to the 70’s
for Calling
Dr. Love, which has never been a favourite of mine, nor has the
album Rock and Roll Over, but they sounded great and I sang
along as they thrilled the audience. Off
to the début self-titled classic album next for another KISS staple that even
though has never left the set
list would be just wrong without it with Deuce. Deuce came complete with the
patented (I'm sure it is if Gene can get his hands on it anyway) triple guitar
swaying/bowing in unison. The boys then
threw me for a loop here with the addition of the next track. Again I'm divided as it’s great to hear a new
addition to the set list, but of all songs how the hell did you choose this one
guys? I’d rather hear Gene’s deplorable
tragedy, When You Wish Upon A Star than the generic crap of the
song Say
Yeah from Sonic Boom. Tommy Thayer (let’s not even get into whole costume, make-up wearing debate here) took control of the mike now for Shock
Me including a medley with Outta This World, his
composition from Monster in the middle.
After which we got a little duet with Tommy/Ace and Eric/Peter before
Paul called out to the crowd again. By this time Paul had shouted out “All
right Sweden” or other such phrases several times and every time I found it
strange to hear as I'm so used to hearing Toronto in there but none the less,
Gene was now prepared for his bass solo and he did so in the fine
form that has
become a trademark, popping the blood capsule and spitting the fake blood onto
the stage and down his chest before being hoisted up to the top of the body of
the new stage set giant spider. The
spider has been moving from time to time during the set and now housed Gene for
God
Of Thunder before he dropped back down to the stage. Lick It Up helped to heighten
the frenzy of the audience before Paul proclaimed that he wanted to come out
and see us. These age old, never
changing gags and gimmicks may be cliché and all that, but I love every minute
of it while it’s in progress as Paul whizzed along the wires
to the sound booth
scaffolding to sing Love Gun. The
classic and ridiculously over played to death, but still awesome every time
even though it turns my stomach Rock And Roll All Night finished up the regular
set as they left the stage briefly.
Coming back and taking a couple of crowd photos, which seems to be the
new “in” thing for bands to do, Paul then claimed that we were a better
audience than last night’s in Helsinki and proclaimed us a rock city and they
ripped through Detroit Rock City.
The smell of sulphur in the air with all the fireworks and pyrotechnics
was abound, but that’s what I expect from a KISS
show. If they’re not blowing shit up or shooting
stuff into the air, it’s not KISS! The
amped up formerly disco tune I Was Made For Loving You
graced us now and during the solos, I could see on the big video screen that
Tommy had blood running down his hand, apparently cutting himself along the
way, but not letting it slow him down at all.
Paul then gave us a short solo, which included a snippet of Stairway
To Heaven, while I'm sure Tommy got patched up a bit, before they
closed out the show with Black Diamond with Eric
handling vox and a ton of pyro and fireworks to send us off into the night.
looking mechanical spider would change that! They opened up with Psycho Circus and I thought
of my Decibel Geek cohort Wallygator Norton as I heard it. You see, Wally is not a fan of that release
so much, but I feel that it has a place in KISStory, more so than a few of the others
that come to mind. It’ll be interesting
to see what happens in The World Series of KISS coming to Decibel Geek during
our KISSmas in July. Shout
It Out Loud followed closely on the heels of Psycho Circus and got
a great reaction from the audience, many of whom were now sporting the KISS
face paint of various members. I remember
dressing up as Gene for Halloween a few times and I even still have most of the
home made costume, maybe someone will invite me to a Halloween party one of
these days and I can spend two and a half hours putting on the make-up
again. Let Me Go Rock And Roll
was next and is a great favourite of mine in the KISS catalogue, but I couldn't
explain why, some KISS songs just are and some are not. I was really enjoying this and singing along
as loud as I could (sorry to anyone standing nearby, I'm a horrible
singer!). KISS is my band and
have prime real estate on the top of my arm in the full sleeve “in progress”
tattoo I'm steadily working on, but I'm never pumped to see them until I get
there and then it’s the best thing ever and I always wonder why I'm not more
amped up to see them. Paul took control
of the mike for a little crowd incitement as is usual during a KISS show. He split he audience into two halves and did
the old this half cheer louder than that half routine, which when I was a kid
seeing KISS the first few times was awesome and I was right into it all the way. Now I just find it cliché and a general waste
of time in which they could be fitting in a new song on the set list, something
like
Parasite that they played during that Revenge club tour and came off
great being another big favourite of mine or a whole host of other classics that
never get the live treatment. With that
said I should mention that I was cheering and screaming right along with
everyone else when Paul called for our side and happy to do so….OK, I'm a
hypocrite and a bit divided here maybe as it’s cliché sure, but fun and a KISS
show is all about fun. I
Love I t Loud came next and kept the crowd singing and fists
punching up into the air. I remember
seeing the video when I was young and being torn. I didn't know much about KISS then, but loved
it all the way, however it appeared a little demonic at the time to me in my
youth and I was torn between the fear of devil worship and parental
disapproval. I do love it loud and KISS
and music defeated all else in my life in those formative mind shaping years to
make me who I am today, it may not be much but I'm happy and I
Love It Loud! The new track
from 2013’s Monster, the best KISS album in many years, Hell
Or Hallelujah was next and the crowd kept singing along as if it
had been one of the early songs and everyone knew it well, a difference from
Toronto last year, maybe the track had not been out as long then, but I'm just
not sure that this music has the impact in North America as it does here. War Machine followed up and I'm
glad that they play this one live as in my opinion it’s the best cut on the
whole Creatures Of The Night album (and I’ll probably get some
flak for saying that, but I can’t always explain my favourites as I mentioned
earlier). Then it was back to the 70’s
for Calling
Dr. Love, which has never been a favourite of mine, nor has the
album Rock and Roll Over, but they sounded great and I sang
along as they thrilled the audience. Off
to the début self-titled classic album next for another KISS staple that even
though has never left the set
list would be just wrong without it with Deuce. Deuce came complete with the
patented (I'm sure it is if Gene can get his hands on it anyway) triple guitar
swaying/bowing in unison. The boys then
threw me for a loop here with the addition of the next track. Again I'm divided as it’s great to hear a new
addition to the set list, but of all songs how the hell did you choose this one
guys? I’d rather hear Gene’s deplorable
tragedy, When You Wish Upon A Star than the generic crap of the
song Say
Yeah from Sonic Boom. Tommy Thayer (let’s not even get into whole costume, make-up wearing debate here) took control of the mike now for Shock
Me including a medley with Outta This World, his
composition from Monster in the middle.
After which we got a little duet with Tommy/Ace and Eric/Peter before
Paul called out to the crowd again. By this time Paul had shouted out “All
right Sweden” or other such phrases several times and every time I found it
strange to hear as I'm so used to hearing Toronto in there but none the less,
Gene was now prepared for his bass solo and he did so in the fine
show. If they’re not blowing shit up or shooting
stuff into the air, it’s not KISS! The
amped up formerly disco tune I Was Made For Loving You
graced us now and during the solos, I could see on the big video screen that
Tommy had blood running down his hand, apparently cutting himself along the
way, but not letting it slow him down at all.
Paul then gave us a short solo, which included a snippet of Stairway
To Heaven, while I'm sure Tommy got patched up a bit, before they
closed out the show with Black Diamond with Eric
handling vox and a ton of pyro and fireworks to send us off into the night.
1:15pm-I had planned to catch the end of the Corroded show
as I had quite enjoyed what I heard of theirs before departing Toronto, but I
was exhausted and cold, so I made my way to DBHQ to get some sleep. Goodnight, big day tomorrow!
*****All photography (except the banner and logo at the top of the page) taken by The Meister on location in Sweden, June 4th, 5th and 6th, 2013.*****
Cheers from Sweden,
The Meister
*****All photography (except the banner and logo at the top of the page) taken by The Meister on location in Sweden, June 4th, 5th and 6th, 2013.*****
Cheers from Sweden,
The Meister
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