All photos by Karolina E. Piwko
Thursday July 8th
Slash
“We’ve got one more song, and then we’re gonna get out of here…this is Paradise City,” Slash said dryly. Sure, the GN’R-legend’s set at Norway Rock Festival sounded cool, but something reeked of bad motivation and routine. Is Slash already sick and tired of his newfound solo status?
His album has gotten some mediocre reviews, and in 2010 it’s still the years in Guns N’ Roses that makes Slash a headliner 15 years after his departure from the band. “Nothing To Say” and “By The Sword” from his solo album are entertainment enough for anyone, but it’s not until the Guns N’ Roses’ songs that arms are raised in the crowd in front of the main stage at Norway Rock Festival. Therefore “Nightrain” and “Rocket Queen” become highlights of the evening, while “Civil War” is a more odd choice from the GN’R-back catalogue as the crowd most likely wanted to hear “Mr. Brownstone” or “It’s So Easy.”
Vocalist Myles Kennedy is skilled, but what he’s got when it comes to his voice he lacks in charisma. He makes up for it though by being a good all-round vocalist as he’s suppose to fill the role of Axl Rose, Scott Weiland (Velvet Revolver) and vocalists from the solo record such as Andrew Stockdale and M. Shadows in the same set.
Overall this becomes a concert with the characteristics of a cover band, even though it’s always cool to see a man with a Les Paul-guitar, top hat and pilot sunglasses. He’s 44 now and probably got lots of years left with the guitar. However, the question is which project that will be in. A reunion with the classic Guns N’ Roses line-up doesn’t seem very realistic. Velvet Revolver are in shambles, and after this tour, Myles Kennedy probably goes back to his main gig (Alter Bridge), something that leaves Slash in no man’s land. But these weren’t thoughts that bothered people’s minds when the legend played “Slither,” “Sweet Child O’Mine” and “Paradise City” this Thursday night.
Setlist: Ghost/Nightrain (Guns N’ Roses cover)/Rocket Queen (Guns N’ Roses cover)/Back From Cali/Sucker Train Blues (Velvet Revolver cover)/Dirty Little Thing (Velvet Revolver cover)/Nothing To Say/Civil War (Guns N’ Roses cover)/By The Sword/Rise Today (Alter Bridge cover)/Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)/Sweet Child O’ Mine (Guns N’ Roses cover)/Paradise City (Guns N’ Roses cover)
Friday July 9th
Cavalera Conspiracy
Certainly Sepultura exists, but Cavalera Conspiracy is definitely the closest we get to the 90’s version of the giant in 2010. With both Igor and Max Cavalera on the stage the Brazilian gunpowder is delivered with so much power that the crowds’ ears are bleeding long after the gun smoke has cleared.
After Max’s departure from Sepultura in 1997 he and Igor Cavalera didn’t speak until 2006. Of course that lead to the birth of Cavalera Conspiracy and their debut album Inflikted in 2008.
A new record is in the making, and Cavalera Conspiracy sounds a lot like old-school Sepultura. “Inflikted” started the concert and the songs “Sanctuary” and “Terrorize,” all of them from the brothers’ debut album, followed.
Fortunately they’ve brought a bit of their past along with them on this tour as well, and that’s precisely what the crowd wants. And 17 years later “Refuse/Resist” still sounds like it should; Heavy, brutal and powerful.
However, Cavalera Conspiracy isn’t a band created for nostalgic reasons alone, and new songs are already on the way. “Warlord” was the first treat from the upcoming album, and with cool songs like “Hex” and “Black Ark” and the amazing ending with “Roots Bloody Roots” the overall impression was great in what was a long awaited reunion with the two brothers.
The brothers have great chemistry, and they’ve also brought the family on tour. Max’s stepson Richie Cavalera did guest vocals on “Black Ark,” while Max’s biological son Igor Cavalera Jr. made a guest appearance behind the drum kit on “Attitude.”
Setlist: Inflikted/Sanctuary/Terrorize/Refuse-Resist (Sepultura cover)/The Doom Of All Fires/Hex/Wasting Away (Nailbomb cover)/Hearts Of Darkness/Black Ark/Attitude (Sepultura cover)/Ultra-Violence/Warlord/Troops Of Doom (Sepultura cover)/Roots Bloody Roots (Sepultura cover)
Queensrÿche
Geoff Tate and company have never been extremely big in Norway. That’s got more to do with bad luck than incompetence because well over 25 years after their debut Queensrÿche is still a band with great integrity.
From Geoff Tate’s artistic brain, strange ideas have evolved throughout the years and the post-Promised Land releases have gotten bad reviews all around the world. The latter years the aging Progressive Heavy Rockers have raised the bar a bit. There are lots of opinions surrounding Operation: Mindcrime II (2006), but one has to admit that last year’s American Soldier was pretty good.
The Seattle band opened with “Sliver” from the latter before playing “Sacred Ground” from the not so critically acclaimed Q2K (1999). They made up for the less fortunate first impression by playing ”Damaged” off Promised Lands before the more classical songs came towards the middle of the set. Because when Geoff Tate, Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson and Scott Rockenfield kicks in with “Breaking The Silence,” “Walk In The Shadows” and “I Don’t Believe In Love” in between the great “Silent Lucidity” the fists are raised in the crowd.
Geoff Tate sang great and he ”owned” the stage in Kvinesdal this weekend, and just like a great deal of other giants that formed in the same era Queensrÿche proved that their up for it in 2010 as well, even with relatively new songs in the start of the set.
Setlist: Sliver/Sacred Ground/Man Down/Damaged/The Thin Line/A Dead Man’s Words/Breaking The Silence/Silent Lucidity/Walk In The Shadows/I Don’t Believe In Love/Jet City Woman/Empire
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