Sweden Rock Festival Review: Day 4

Photo credit: Kim NordlundSuddenly the last day of Sweden Rock Festival arrived (last Saturday). So far it had been great and since Mötley Crüe were suppose to close the fest, I was of course very excited. Also the sun stopped by Sölvesborg and the weather was great. During the day there were some good bands playing as well, like Girlschool, Electric Boys and Crucified Barbara, but just as the days before it was mainly about the last gig. At least for me.

When Lynyrd Skynyrd finished playing at the main stage it was two and a half hours left to the Mötley show, which for me meant it was time to start crowding. I got a spot by the fence right in front of Mick Mars' side of the stage and then there was waiting, although everyone was in a good mood and time actually went by quite fast. Before we knew it, it was time and Mötley got on stage and kicked it off with ”Wild Side.”

As always with Mötley Crüe, you get a great show. I’ve seen them three times before, last time in London in December with Def Leppard and Steel Panther, so I know what to expect. Funny thing about them is that after every show I’ve seen, I’ve been telling myself nothing can beat that – but they prove me wrong every time. Especially the two last times I’ve seen them. This time it didn’t even matter that it was pretty much the same show that I saw six months ago: it’s still Mötley bringing it and they’re great. Maybe it’s hard for me to be objective since it’s my favorite band, but still. Also I think they were a bit more on fire this time than in London.

Lot of reviews afterward dhon’t agree with me. Other writers are calling Crüe lazy, nonchalant and saying the band’s "all about business." And yes, Vince Neil isn’t a great singer anymore. He is not able to sing everything as he used to and takes a lot of help from the audience. But the high notes are still there. And yes, the setlist is a bit too predictable. It would be fun if they could mix it up, but at the same time they play the songs most people want to hear. I know I wouldn’t appreciate if they didn’t play ”Kickstart My Heart” next time I go see them, even if I’ve heard the song live four times before. To call them lazy and nonchalant because of that? Well, I don’t agree.

The show kept on going, the crowd was going crazy (at least where I was standing) and of course one of the peaks was Tommy Lee's drum solo. Doesn’t matter if you’ve seen it before, it’s so cool. This time a girl named Veronica got the chance to join him and I couldn’t be more jealous. Maybe that should be my new goal in life, to get a ride with Tommy in the Drum Coaster. Although I don’t get why he’s playing to that kind of music, some electro style, but I guess that’s his new thing?

Since Too Fast For Love is my favorite album, I was very happy when they suddenly played ”Piece Of Your Action.” Never heard that one live before and that was probably the highlight for me. As I said, the setlist could use some imagination. Which songs would you want to hear live?

Mötley Crüe setlist:

Wild Side

Live Wire

Too Fast For Love

Saints Of Los Angeles

Shout At The Devil

Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)

Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)

Looks That Kill

Piece Of Your Action

Primal Scream

Smokin’ In The Boys Room

Drum Solo

Dr. Feelgood

Girls, Girls, Girls

Home Sweet Home

Kickstart My Heart

Photo credit: Kim NordlundSo, to sum it all up, this year’s fest was really great! Since I’m a huge fan of Glam, obviously, this year’s Sweden Rock suited me perfectly. Hopefully they will have just as many Glam and sleaze band next year as well. The promoters need to add Crashdïet and Hardcore Superstar to the lineup. It feels weird being at a rock fest in Sweden without those guys. And yes, I was right when I said the best gig was played the second day. Doesn’t matter how big of a Crüe fan I am, the highlight of the festival was without doubt Sebastian Bach. I’m still laughing when I’m thinking about him singing ”Quack ack ack” and nobody understood what he was doing until after a while. Or when Dee Snider joined him on stage and the band just started to play ”We’re Not Gonna Take It” as an intro, but they ended up playing the whole song with both Bach and Dee on vocals. And then of course the finish with ”Youth Gone Wild,” one of my absolute favorite songs. Amazing!

Comments

[Allyson B. Crawford]

Kim! Thank you for these awesome reports! I hear you on the Motley setlist issue... love them, but it would be great if they mixed it up a little.

[devin]

i would love to see them play knock em dead kid, bastard, danger, anything of Theatre of pain or sola.

[Metalboy!]

Kim! Thanks for the excellent reporting of this Seminal and Legendary GLAM METAL Band. I also appreciate you providing the set list.

When I saw Motley Crue last Summer, the set list was pretty much the same, but we consider ourselves very lucky as they added "10 Seconds To Love" into the track order and had the whole place singing along!

How was Darkness? One of the few new bands today who make it job numero uno to Bring Back Glam! I'd love to hear what you thought of those guy's performance, since I have not yet been fortunate enough to see them.

[Kim Nordlund]

Metalboy! Sorry, I know I promised to tell you about The Darkness in the sum-up, but here it goes instead: to be honest, I wasn't that impressed by them. During the first two songs Justin seemed to have forgot he was playing for a crowd. He faced the band almost the entire time, with his back facing the audience. A bit weird. Then they got it together and he started being the kind of energy package that you expect. Although, I'm not a very big fan of his head voice, at least not in all of their songs. Excited about their new album coming out soon (August?), just to see if they're doing the same thing as they did in 2003, or if they're trying something new. Sure, "Permission To Land" was great, but it's been almost ten years, so what will they bring this time? To be fair, I didn't see the whole show, I had to leave for a press conference so I missed "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" and "Love On The Rocks With No Ice" - pretty sure they rocked those songs and that would have made the whole show for me.

[NikkeSixx]

I assume you missed both Night Ranger and Slaughter because you missed to mention them. Slaughter was probably the biggest surprise of the whole festival since you and I and everyone else has seen the videos on youtube and know how bad Mark's voice is these days, but holy cow he must have trained for weeks and underwent 4 surgeries because they were in TOP SHAPE! I mean you could see how happy they were when people actually sang along and didn't just sit on a bench and chew on a hot dog. Hell, Mark even climbed down from the stage and came over the barricade to sing Eye to Eye IN the crowd ( I was lucky enough to get to sare the mic with him and he grabbed my hand and said that was awesome), people went nuts! I'm still humming Mad About You

Oh yea and Night Ranger were just plain bad ass and blew away most of the other performers on the whole festival

I completely agree with the Sebastian Bach thing, his voice was unbelievable! Didn't hit one single lae note when doing the high and raspy ones and the band was on FIRE!

[Metalboy!]

Dang! With I had been there. Christian saw The Darkness at Rock On The Range here in the States and said they were great. Still dyin' to see 'em for myself. Maybe they'll be in better form.

What press conference did you go to?

[Metalboy!]

BTW, Kim, great photos, particularly the one of Mick Mars. Classic!