OT: The Wild Board Jukebox Thread: Part Deux

[MK9]

Oh man, that's just depressing. Here in Sweden we have public service radio with dedicated metal shows. Real journalists that do interviews with the artists and discusses their albums. We get 3-4 songs with commentary from the bands, the critics point of view and the audience reactions before/after their shows.
Growing up, we had great shows such as "Rockbox" , "Metalljournalen" and "Rockdepartementet".
Many metal bands that now dominates the world stage listened to that growing up, and took notes.
When I was in the 20-40's we still had great (smaller) local venues that could host bands such as Motorhead, Accept and Thin Lizzy, but nowadays the live scene has dried out in this small town (80.000 or something)
We have a great live tradition since the 60's, we were called Sweden's Liverpool because of the many great bands originating from here. Some of those is well known across the world such as Roxette, with multiple #1 US billboard hits and Arch Enemy.

But now the kids are more into their phones and don't like to get out and meet people as much as we did.
Everything's going to shit.

It's not all bad. There are still festivals here that do a phenomenal turnout. Rockfest in Wisconsin is always a great time. I've had other priorities the past few summers, but I generally tried not to miss it. 3-4 days of hard rock & metal and a lot of partying.

As you can see, they don't lack for attendance. 5:

The lineups aren't as great as they used to be as there is a TON of competition with other festivals to get big acts and of course the touring costs are insane now since COVID. 5 (?) stages? Might be 6. Can't remember. One stage is just tribute acts. One is local (Midwest bands). A couple mid size and the main stage. Obviously not as big as like Wacken or Hellfest, but still good size.

But here is this years lineup. However, as you can see, not a lot of Euro bands at all:

 

[MK9]

Oh and yes, Avatar has played Rockfest multiple times. They're definitely a crowd favorite.

 

[Sweetnut]

It's not all bad. There are still festivals here that do a phenomenal turnout. Rockfest in Wisconsin is always a great time. I've had other priorities the past few summers, but I generally tried not to miss it. 3-4 days of hard rock & metal and a lot of partying.

As you can see, they don't lack for attendance. 5:
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View attachment 1046470

View attachment 1046467
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The lineups aren't as great as they used to be as there is a TON of competition with other festivals to get big acts and of course the touring costs are insane now since COVID. 5 (?) stages? Might be 6. Can't remember. One stage is just tribute acts. One is local (Midwest bands). A couple mid size and the main stage. Obviously not as big as like Wacken or Hellfest, but still good size.

But here is this years lineup. However, as you can see, not a lot of Euro bands at all:
View attachment 1046471

That's massive. Not many bands that rock my boat, but if I get to see them live it might change my mind. The euro bands have their run across europe right now with the festival run ongoing. Every country has their own festivals with more or less the same bands touring.
And some of the Swedish bands had to cancel their US dates because of the new administration's harder rules to get into USA. I know the Hellacopters had to cancel gigs, and the band The Sounds singer Maja Ivarsson was not getting into US. The rest of the band had to hire a US singer to replace her at a US show. That sucks. And there was another band that had to cancel their US tour because of their political views.

 

[Sweetnut]

I found an edited clip of Blind Dog's last gig, with yours truly captured in some frames. It was a blast.

 

[Sweetnut]

 

[Sweetnut]

 

[Sweetnut]

This is from the annual polar prize ceremony. This year Queen was awarded the honor.
The Polar Music Prize is one of the most prestigious and unique music prizes in the world, crossing over musical boundaries and awarded to individuals, groups and institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements. Laureates from a wide range of countries, cultures and continents have received the Prize in Stockholm from the hand of His Majesty, King Carl XVI Gustaf.

This song was performed by Tobias Forge of Ghost, with the guitar virtuoso Fredrik Åkesson (Opeth, Arch Enemy, Talisman, Tiamat).
Fredrik is one of my friends. A humble, funny and friendly dude. Very talented.
It was performed in front of Queen, with the King and Queen of Sweden sitting next to them.
I can tell both Tobias and Fredrik was very nervous.
So by two degrees of separation, I know both the King and Queen, and Queen.
Pretty cool, eh?

 

[Sweetnut]

The first time I saw Ghost live at the Sweden Rock Festival they were a mystery. The new band that no one knew who the members were. All masked and mysterious. Rumor was they were all famous in other bands. Who was the players behind the masks? I knew nothing about their music, never heard them before. All hyped up. Did I know any of them, did they managed to keep their mouth shut?
When they entered the stage, I didn't know what to make of them. They didn't sound like the hard core satanist band that I imagined they would before I heard them. It was a rainy night. Midnight.
Then a figure dressed in papal gown entered the stage.
He sung like a pop singer, the music was strange.
Mind blown.

They sounded like this in the early days.

 

[Sweetnut]

Then Tobias went with a completely different mask in this live in studio performance. This is a song from their debut album. This is when I figured out it was all for the joy of it. Just have fun and go with the flow.

 

[Sweetnut]

This song got a pretty big chunk of air play in Sweden. It was so bizarre, with the satanic chant in the beginning, in latin with an swedish accent, and the ironic feel of it, it became an instant favorite.
Later Tobias spoke of his stepmother who was a fanatic christian with her own fabricated religious beliefs that she tried to force upon him when he was a defenseless child. That led him to rebell against christian religion and inspired him to become the anti-pope.

 

[Sweetnut]

This is when they started to fully embrace the great combo of comedy/horror themed music videos.
A great catchy tune too. I love Tobias sense of goofy humor and his acting skills.
A while after this was released, they started to win grammys and got commercial success.
Not bad considering they were banned from playing in the USA in some places around the bible belt.
And all the protests...

 

[Sweetnut]

I think this song is great, the riffs and dual solo work is outstanding. This version of the band is one of the best IMO. From the third album Meliora, winning Best Hard Rock/Metal Album at the 2015 Grammis Awards. A hymn about the dark lord of the underworld.

 

[Sweetnut]

This is a funny one. It became a big hit in Sweden, got massive air play and they got to play live at the grammy awards. Lots of religious grandmas singing along to a hymn praising Satan without knowing what the song was really about.



In Rolling Stone's readers' poll of The 10 Best Songs of 2015, "He Is" was ranked fourth. Brittany Spanos wrote that with the song Ghost "hit a psychedelic note, going back to metal's folkier roots from the Sixties and Seventies."

 

[Sweetnut]

This fan-made video is one of my favorites. @MK9, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy Linnea Quigley's graveyard dance in this one.