Sweden Rock Festival Review: Day 2
Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 12:01AM NOW we're talking! If day one of the Sweden Rock Festival was the lazy warm-up, day two really got the festival started. As always, there’s a problem with finding the time to see everything, so for me it was mainly about Steel Panther and Sebastian Bach.
First out was the press conference with Steel Panther. All of you who have ever seen an interview with Steel Panther know that it’s something beyond the ordinary. Yesterday was no exception. I honestly think they got two or maybe three questions, but somehow they managed to fill half an hour anyway. Among other things they said was that they are working on a new album, gave samples of new songs like ”It’s about pussy… so that’ll be something new for us,” burst into spontaneous singing of "Holy Diver" and got all the journalists to follow and so on. In other words, classic Panther.
Then there was time for their gig. And as always, it was good. I’ve seen them two times before, so I know what to expect out of a Steel Panther show. Although, yesterday wasn’t as good as I know they can be. It wasn’t the same atmosphere that it usually is. They seamed a bit… tired? On the other hand, it feels unfair to say that Steel Panther are "tired," because even when they are, they provide far more energy than most bands do. They’re running around, jumping, dancing, giving funny talks in between songs and all of that. I can’t really put my finger on the difference from yesterday between other shows, but there was something. At the same time, I got to hear my favourite song ”Girl From Oklahoma” live for the first time, and that pretty much made the show for me.
Sebastian Bach also had a press conference yesterday, and his guitarist Nick Sterling was with him. It’s funny seeing the two of them together. You may think that they should have sort of a father-son relationship since Nick is even younger than Sebastian’s son, but that’s not the case. Instead, Sebastian comes across as the child, with his loud voice and his naive exclamations: ”Yeah! Wow! Cool!” At the same time, Nick is sitting next to him, pretty silent and modest. I can’t really figure it out.
Anyway, later on it was time for Sebastian Bach to play. My expectations were set high, since I’ve never seen him before and I absolutely love Skid Row. And what a gig it was! Both Sebastian and the band were really giving it all (pardon the cliché) and also that little extra to really make it a great show. For example, Sebastian had learned a Swedish song called ”Small frogs.” It’s a song that we sing here in Sweden during a feast called Midsummer, and everyone knows the lyrics -- apparently even Sebastian Bach! So funny seeing the audience getting very confused before we figured out what was going on and everyone started singing along. ”Quack ack ack, quack ack ack, quack ack ack ack ah!” It really felt like they cared about being here, ”American Metalhead” was suddenly ”Sweden Metalhead” and so on.
Also, before the show started, we got an quick sight of Dee Snider sneaking around in the background of the stage. Could we hope for him as a guest? When the show was almost over and the hope was nearly gone, there was time to introduce ”A very special guest” and there they were: Sebastian Bach and Dee Snider on the same stage, performing ”Youth Gone Wild” as the last number. Do I even need to tell you it was a-w-e-s-o-m-e? Not only did it sound great, they had so much fun and the crowd of course went crazy. Bach also rounded up with climbing the rig, just to show he still is ”youth gone wild.” And yes, it looked a bit strained on the way down, but it was totally worth it.
So, day two fulfilled all my expectations and a bit more. Even though there’s two days and a lot of gigs left, including Mötley Crüe tomorrow and I am a die hard Crüe fan, I think it’s possible that I’ve already seen the best show during this fest: that’s how good Bach was!
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