Sweden Rock Festival 2015 is over. There is a reason for this being called Europe’s (or was it the world’s?) best metal festival. Check out how our reporter Odd Inge Rand experienced these days in in south of Sweden filled with old and new, famous and unknown bands from all over the world.
Thursday June 4th
Slash
One of Sweden Rock Festivals biggest profiles this year is Slash, and putting him on stage at 04.00 am must have something to do with travelling logistics. Nevertheless, around 30.000 people greeted Slash, Myles Kennedy and the rest of the Conspirators early in the afternoon, and they did not disappoint.
They started off with a convincing “You’re A Lie” before the first Guns N’ Roses visit in “Nightrain”. From then on it was a 50/50 draw between the guitar legends Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver to his own solo material with Myles Kennedy and the rest of the boys.
“Back From Cali” and “Wicked Stone” sounded great with one of today’s best rock singers Myles Kennedy. He also gives the old Guns songs a great spark, with “You Could Be Mine” and “Sweet Child O’Mine” as convincing as it gets, before saying goodbye with stadium anthem number one, “Paradise City”.
Exodus
“Blood In Blood Out” is one of 2015 finest Thrash albums so far, and with “Zetro” Souza returning to the fold, this summer looks really good for the old Bay Area thrash outfit.
But for the second time in a row, Exodus went on stage at Sweden Rock without their main axeman Gary Holt. With Holt out of Exodus to tour with Slayer, the audience was let down once again, or so it seemed.
“Black 13” started it all, and the loss of Gary Holt was actually soon forgotten as the band shred their way through a couple of songs from the latest album. And before Exodus got to the really old stuff, “Zetro” also dug in to the Rob Dukes-era with “Iconoclasm” and “Children Of A Worthless God” off “The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A”.
30 years has gone past since Exodus’ first record “Bonded By Blood”, and the crowd at Sweden Rock seemed to have followed the band all the way. The played half of their debut album, including “A Lesson In Violence”, “Metal Command” and “Piranha” before ending the set with “Strike Of The Beast”. Along the way, we got “Pleasures Of The Flesh” and “The Last Act Of Defiance” from the grand 80s and “Blacklist” and “War Is My Shepherd” off “Tempo Of The Damned”.
With that, they covered 30 years of Exodus and the band sounded tight and energic all the way through. A great set indeed.
Def Leppard
A new Def Leppard album is in the pipeline, but this summer it’s the hits all the way. Teaming up at Sweden Rock Festival for the third time, it was a great travel from 1981 to 1999 of the Leps original material (they also played “Rock On” off the covers album “Yeah!” from 2006).
Pyromania and Hysteria takes a huge chunk of the set list as always, but that’s how we like it. Including “Rock Rock (Till You Drop)”, “Foolin'” and “Photograph” to “Animal”, “Rocket”, “Love Bites” and “Pour Some Sugar On Me”.
Joe Elliot’s voice holds up well, and the guitarist turned health-freak Phil Collen delivers a great performance with Vivian Campbell playing the second violin both musically and show-wise.
It was a 90 minute party on the biggest stage on Sweden Rock for Def Leppard this year, and 35 years after their first album they delivered a blistering set loaded with classics. A dream come true for a festival crowd witnessing a band that ruled the hitlists in the late 80s.
And the 80s never went away, as we all know.
Friday June 5th
Dokken
You never know which state Don Dokken is in before he opens his mouth on his first song of the day, but in his first visit to Sweden Rock Festival since 2001 he was actually quite okay.
Starting off with Back For The Attacks “Kiss Of Death”, guitarist Jon Levin set the standard. And 18 years since George Lynch left, Dokken has now had the same guitar player for the last 12 years.
With Dokken, it’s the 80s all the way, even if they have released almost twice as many albums since their comeback in 1995 as they did between 1981-1987. A sunny festival site in Sweden got many 80s favorites served, including “Breaking The Chains”, “Paris Is Burning”, “Just Got Lucky” and “Tooth And Nail”. And the only visit to the “new” Dokken was the 20 year old “Too High To Fly” off Dysfunctional.
But it was not a dysfunctional set at all, because Don Dokken delivered the goods in a satisfactory way. And it helps to have Mark Boals on bass, whom we all know as the singer from Yngwie Malmsteen’s Trilogy-album. Together they sang the harmonies from Dokkens 80s material almost as we all remember them.
You can’t really expect more.
Mötley Crüe
Through the years, Sweden Rock Festival has always been the place to catch the big comebacks in rock. Twisted Sister and Whitesnake returned to the scene in 2003 before Judas Priest returned with Rob Halford in 2004. In 2005 it was Accept with Udo and Mötley Crüe.
Back then, Mötley Crüe delivered a convincing show. That was not the case when they returned seven years later in 2012. So how about this time? Well, with Mick Mars increasing health issues, and Vince Neil’s capabilities as a singer, we had our doubts.
Touring “The Final Tour” seems to be a good idea for the four headed monster from Los Angeles, even though the show started alright, kicking it off with on of the latter Crüe-anthems; “Saints Of Los Angeles”. The setlist was not a surprise to anyone, containing memories from the 80s like “Wild Side”, “Live Wire”, “Looks That Kill”, “Shout At The Devil” and “Girls, Girls, Girls”.
But, of course, it all went south in the end. Vince Neil lost track during “On With The Show” and “Too Fast For Love” where we were left with some embarrassing lip-sync, and they probably performed their worst “Dr. Feelgood” in history.
The rhythm section sounded great, though. It is Vince Neil who drives the express train to the grave with this band. And that’s sad, just like their show at Sweden Rock 2015 was.
Saturday June 6th
Ace Frehley
Ace is back, and he told you so! Seven years since his last visit, the former “Spaceman” in Kiss has delivered a new album, called “Space Invader”.
Well, he didn’t spend much time promoting it on Sweden Rock this year, because after the set opener “Rocket Ride”, he played two tracks of it (“Gimme a feelin'” and “Toys”) and that was it.
In other words, Ace gave the Sweden Rock crowd a real retro fest on the last day of the festival, including Kiss classics “Love Gun”, “Shock Me”, “Cold Gin” and “Deuce” to his own classics like “Breakout”, “2 Young 2 Die”, “New York Groove” and “Rip It Out”.
He was in great spirits, surrounded by great musicians like the returning Richie Scarlett, The Cult-bassist Chris Wyse and drummer Scot Coogan who also sang on “Love Gun” much better than Paul Stanley did for Kiss two years ago.
He is 64 now, and he for sure has not lived his 64 years as a saint. But a happy legend delivered a good set at Sweden Rock, still with the image as one of the coolest rock guitarist in history.
Extreme
Other than the big acts that Sweden Rock simply can’t afford (Iron Maiden, Metallica, AC/DC, probably Van Halen), the festival spectators it pretty close to have “seen it all” all the way since it’s debut back in 1992.
But still, in 2015, Sweden Rock pulled a rabbit out of the hat with a name never displayed on a Sweden Rock-poster until this year; late 80s blockbusters Extreme. And Gary Cherone, Pat Badger and guitar genius Nuno Bettencourt both sound and look the same 25 years after “Pornografitti”, alongside newcomer Kevin Figureido on drums.
And they are still heavy on the “Pornografitti”-repertoire, having spent much of last year playing the album in full on tour all over the world. That meant another round of “Decadence Dance”, “It’s A Monster”, “He-man Woman Hater” and of course the acoustic stand-outs “Hole Hearted” and “More Than Words”.
They even threw in “Kid Ego” and “Play With Me” from their debut album, because most likely, the crowd at Sweden Rock knew very well who Extreme was before they broke big in 1990-1991. Completing the set with a few “II Sides To Every Story”-tracks like “Rest In Peace” and “Cupid’s Dead”, Extreme delivered the goods at Sweden Rock, even though Gary Cherone was way off pitch a few times.
Nuno Bettencourt on the other hand… Wow… Time has really stood still.
Judas Priest
Sweden Rock Festival 2011: Judas Priest delivered a great set on their big scale farewell tour, we said our goodbyes, and that was it.
2015: The Priest Is Back! Retirement was in other words not a very good idea, most of all thanks to the Priest new motor and guitar bad boy Richie Faulkner. They also have a new album out, last years “Redeemer Of Souls”, and Judas Priest has really entered a new era, although Glenn Tipton is pushing 68 this year.
But it all comes down to Rob Halford, and a couple of month before the Metal God turns 64, his voice holds up very well. Because along with new songs like “Dragonaut”, “Walls Of Valhalla” and “Redeemer Of Souls” he screams his lungs out to classics like “Jawbreaker”, “Devil’s Child”, “Love Bites” and “Painkiller”. Not exactly like the old days, but impressing enough 42 years since Judas Priests album debut.
With that in hand, Judas Priests performance at Sweden Rock 2015 was a great finale for a great festival who this year presented itself with (mostly) great comebacks from stellar acts (Priest, Def Leppard, Exodus, Michael Monroe etc..) and a few great names who has not visited the festival before (Slash, Toto, Nuclear Assault, Extreme).
The past is back next year. Wonder what 2016 holds for us. Are you listening, Eddie Van Halen…?
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