The Copenhagen Psych Fest- Stengade, April 24-26th, 2014

Following the trends of a lot of cities in Europe (Berlin, Oslo, Liverpool, etc...), Kasper from Levitation Records decided to organize our very own here in Denmark. It was pretty ambitious to try to get around 50 bands, mostly pretty unknown, underground and mostly Danish at a small venue. The web sites for this festival were a disaster with little or no information about the bands. A name and a link to a Facebook page is not information about a band, I hate to tell them. Nearly worthless… You need to have a written description of each act, a link directly to web sites where one can actually read about the band and a place where you can hear some music or a video link, as this could really help to bring people in. Anyway, they will learn for the next year…..  let’s get to the positive side of things, which was the cool gathering of mostly young people I had never seen at any of the shows I go to, the great sound (thanks to the very hardworking WILL), the bands for putting on interesting performances, cool psychedelic wallpaper projections by the Malmö Kristallen people (although they could be more active in changing them more often and giving some sort of light show, which was really lacking..).. The wallpaper made the places look cool for sure.

          The main hall was where all the more known bands played, while upstairs, a smaller scene was set up where there was also a bar, smoking room and a small place for selling merch. This could have been greatly improved with a long table on the wall giving each band some space to sell stuff. The merch was just chaos and most bands never even had anything or sold very little as it was not clear to anyone where it was, how to see it, etc. This could be improved a lot. There was plenty of space along the wall where the smoking room is and a lot of that was just filled up with junk, a sofa, extra tables, etc.

The schedules were off by 15mins to an hour so it was quite hard to figure out who was playing when and then they switched the Little Brain Attack (France) with the Wands and it was not posted or announced at all. Anyway, I arrived straight from work on the Thursday and Turquoise Sun was the first band on at 16:15. This is the guys from the old band from Jylland called Ancient Monuments. ØSC played a gig with them a year ago or so. Very nice folks and the new band are pretty eclectic. A wide range of songs from very dreamy pop like Tame Impala plays to more diverse stuff with saxophone (he never really plays any long solos, just small blips here and there), funky at times, etc.. The keyboard player is very good and they all play excellent together and three of them sing. The last track was called Oracle and I liked this one a lot. It started off with a theme on the guitar quite close to One of the Days by Pink Floyd and then a funky riff kicked in and it totally changed direction. A promising new band, pity only about 20 people saw them play.

          I had never heard Echo Electric before but they reminded me straight away of Brain Jonestown Massacre style material, with that 60’s edge and good energy and a quite clean sound. They are a five piece band and had a very passionate and excellent front singer who also played guitar. The vox organ really gave them that 60s sound. The lead guitar player had this twangy almost surf guitar like playing style at times. Solid set but I did not see it all.

Set List: Nothing without You, I fell Blue, Cruel (video), Medicine, Wanna be with You, Night Time Queen, Baby, you’re on Fire, You don’t really care about me

Next, I went upstairs to catch Thor Bøding (guitarist and vocalist in Syreregn), who was playing solo upstairs. He played a mixture of his own originals (see the video for Stoffet), young flowers, and some other obscure Danish stuff from the 60s. He is excellent. He played to maybe 15 people like Echo Electric… not many people showing up. They had a 160 3 day tickets pre-sold, so that is pretty good.

          The Roosters were a young new band that I had not heard of with some members for the hedgehogs (I think). These guys were young and just did not catch my ear. They are playing 60’s inspired stuff but it was just too straightforward, not really trying anything new or different and not very psychedelic at all. In fact, none of the bands so far would I consider psychedelic rock. I went back upstairs now to see what the hell KogeKunst was and got a great surprise! This was a duo that were really interesting, passionate and doing their own thing. They had a two piece drum kit that he played standing so he could also play guitar (sort of) and the other guy also played guitar. They also had a keyboard they would use later. This is really difficult stuff to describe but let’s just say the guys were into and giving 200% and playing raw, messy, music with a special energy. I was sucked in and enjoyed it a lot.

Little Brain Attack

         A few more people where now around by the time Little Brain Attack (France) hit the stage around 20:30... They were running about 30mins behind already. I had never heard of this band before. They played to about 40 people I guess and they had a great time and had driven all the way from Paris to play. They were a 5 piece band and reminded me a lot of the UK band, Spiritualized. It was the same sort of vibe with some nice spacey guitars at times but no real solos in this band either. They played a bit too much the same to start but then got more energetic at the end of the set, which I liked better. The band had a lot of technical problems and considered the gig to be quite horrible. Pity..

Below Dreaming switched with ET Tumason. He is a great performer and this was the 4^th time for me to see him. He is from Iceland and a passionate solo performer like a sort of twisted John Lee Hooker or something... I just love the guy and he is a very cool person as well. I filmed one of his songs…

          The Wands are one of the more well-known bands on the bill today having released music outside of Denmark and played around a bit in Europe. I had seen them once when I played with White Hills in Malmo and they were very good. They just have a great authentic 60’s sound with really nice dynamics between the guitars and the singer has cool lyric just like what they would write in the 60s’s, even though I doubt these guys have even tired LSD.. Seems the young generation are not into psychedelics or even smoking weed, as I don’t think any of these bands were high. Seems they are more into speed, cocaine, MDMA, etc... much worse and dangerous stuff and of course drinking! Anyway, this is a great band and the best so far today. The room was pretty filled up by now.

Set List: Circles, Door, Totem, Colours, Hello, Spell My, She’s Electric, the Dawn, Get it Out, No one,

I went upstairs and caught a little bit of Below Dreaming, which features a female vocalist, two guitars, bass and drum machine. This was not really my thing but it was pretty out there and experimental for sure. There were only about 15 people watching them. The smoking room upstairs always seemed to be filled up there... A lot of Danes are showing up to be seen and to hang out and are not really into the bands anyway… They are often quite rude and just talking loudly, even when these bands play mellow tracks, not even caring or aware that this is annoying and disrespectful for the artist. Go outside if you just want to talk and have no interest in the music…

Fribyttedrømme

          One of my favourites on the Danish scene these days, Fribyttedrømme was next and the room was pretty packed and the band was in a great mood. The first two songs were really energetic and the audience was really into it as well. The band is more relaxed and feeling more comfortable with their songs which take inspiration from the Doors, Pink Floyd and Alrune Rød. The highlight of the show was the long spaced out Pink Floyd piece called Fribyttedrømmen. This was a least 15mins and towards the end the crazy guitar player, he came out into the audience and actually lay down on the floor and then his friend laid down and suddenly, nearly the entire audience was lying on the floor as the track just slowly came to an end. Wow…. What a trip. Never seen that before at a show… The band ended their 40min set with another upbeat track. Fantastic set... That was the 3^rd or 4^th time I had seen the band.

Set List: Kosmonaut, Himmellegemer, jeg graver huller I Mørket, Fribyttedrømmen, Fem er det magiske nummer

A Tree of Night

Sadly, by the time they had finished and I had run upstairs, A Tree of Night was just finishing. I saw like the last 30 seconds. ØSC played a gig with these guys two years ago in Roskilde and they were really good with some cool songs. I basically saw nothing... Damn… got the set list though:

Set list: Vulture, Call, Sunrise, Absent, Raga, Tree

          It was getting quite late and Papir was supposed to start at 22:15 and it was almost 23 now so I sadly had to leave as I had to be up at 6:45 to go to work. So I missed Papir but was told they were absolutely amazing and floored the place. I also did not get to see Baby Jesus, Wonderland or The Electric Set. I spoke to some of my friends and they all left after Papir who finished at midnight. It was a great night and a lot of young people I had never seen before... something is happening… the scene is growing...

Day 2

          I left work about 2:45 and got home around 3:30, had some time to change clothes and pick up my equipment for the gig later with Agusa. All the heavy stuff was put on one day, which was an interesting choice and a pity that the great Finnish bands, Mr, Peter Hayden and Dark Buddha Rising were so early. Magnus was there and managed to get one of the 1 day tickets so we had a beer in the sun with Daniel and his girlfriend from Heavy days in Doomtown festival.. 

          Jesus on Heroine started things off about 16:15. It was a beautiful sunny day outside so people were happy to just hang out in the nice weather rather than be inside. I think there was like 20 people watching this band. Their opening song reminded me a lot of Sundial (UK). IT was a big band with 12 string acoustic guitar, two guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and a percussion guy. Some of the guys switched instruments and vocals but more or less their sounds sounded really similar and in this UK psych view from the 80s..

          When Mr. Peter Hayden (Finland) started at 17:30, there was only 2 people in the room besides the staff and myself. I even told my friends they were starting but they did not come in from the nice weather for another 10-15mins… Anyway, the band sounded great and the set was more or less one long 45min trip and only material from the new double CD-vinyl release called Arch Dimension Now. This is dark moody music, mostly instrumental but some vocals by one of the guitar players. Heavy riffing, occasional solos, loud, penetrating… hypnotic… Not a whole lot of people experienced the show, perhaps 20.

          RA is a four piece band and I am not really sure how to describe them. There were still very few people here yet. It was a bit too normal or something for me. I filmed one track and you can see what you think. Upstairs was a unique act called Jin & Daun, as Swedish synth duo with Rikard from Flowers must Die and a nice Asian lady. I filmed nearly the entire last piece of their set (missing the last 1mn or less). They had a lot of gear on a small table and she seem to make the mostly deep drone stuff while Rickard experimented with some small gadgets and a kasossolator pad, etc.. I like it..

          Dark Buddha Rising (Finland) was up now and this features two of the guys from Mr. Peter Hayden (the keyboard player from MPH plays guitar) and the other guitar player. The usual singer, who lead the blood ritual has left the band as he is moving to Brazil. They had a 
keyboard noise maker guy instead. Some people like my friend Jacob came out from hiding to see these guys. A pretty small crowd still, maybe 30-40 people to see this intense show. They played 45mins and it was 3 pieces of music, I believe. Not sure from what releases. I really love the moods these guys create. Powerful music…

          I was playing on the main stage next with the Malmö based band Agusa, who has recently released their debut record on the Kommun2 label. I played with the band previously in Malmö but this was the first gig with the really cool new young drummer. It took us a while to set up but in the end the sound was great on stage and the room filled up and two girls came and danced on the stage and we played a solid concert. The crowd seem to really be into it. The music is like Progressive rock from 1975, with some Swedish folk music themes thrown in and me making space sounds in the open sections…. I had a blast…

          In between a few bands were playing upstairs and I occasionally ran up there and took a photo or shot a short video but since the schedules were all off, I don’t know who these acts are but enjoy…

          Narcosatanicos from Jylland were pretty damn cool. They play dark, slightly chaotic, heavy spaced out psych music. They are pretty powerful, with three guitar players, bass, drums and saxophone. They also have their own movie projected on the screen. The lead guitar player on the left, I don’t think he realized but he was standing in front of their projector and so he blocked off usually about 50% of the screen with the shadow of his head! Anyway, the place was packed and it was a really cool concert. The first part of the show they had really short songs, one was really a lot like 1972 Hawkwind. Later they had somewhat longer tracks but nothing like a 10min freakout… High energy dark psych stuff…

Set List: Narcodoom, Vile, Voodoo Jesus, King Crust, Sax Jam, Nausea, Salt, Haunzinationsrhusch 

          Trummor & Orgel (Drums and Organ) are a duo as the name suggests from Sweden. They had to drag this huge Hammond B3 and Leslie speaker onto the stage but in the end they sounded great and the crowd and people were quite into it. This kind of set up really limits what you can do but the organ player was fantastic, as was the intense drummer, to really mix it up a lot. Sometimes they were funky, happy, high energy… People dug it.. Westerbur and Rowe, is an US drum and organ duo, but the organ player also plays a lot of spacey keyboards.. some of it reminded me of what they can do also…

          Things were more than 1hr behind now so it was looking like the Cosmic Dead would not hit the stage before 1 in the morning. I was getting really tired but I had to see my friends in this band play.. De Underjordiske was next on the big stage but I ran upstairs and caught a couple of songs by Danske Så ddddwho I think was Danske Spor. This was a young kid playing his guitar and harmonica and singing his heart out in Danish. Not too many people but a few.. The Technicolor Poets had a completely new line up from the last time I saw them at Drone. It was now a female singer, drums, bass and guitar. Previously they had two guitar players and I did not recognize any of these people. Anyway, some of the new tracks reminded me a bit of Jefferson Airplane.  The guitar player had an intense way of playing but did not do any solos. Seems hardly any of the young bands know how to play solos or fit them into the music properly.. I am not sure..

          De Underjordiske (it translates to the underground people or something like that) were also very young and had a good crowd. I was getting really tired and don’t really recall much of what they were really like but I was not into it. They had a really good groove that people were into but again, all these guitar players and long rhythm sections without singing and no solos. It was one of the few bands with a lead singer and he was really into and very good as well. The crowd liked them..

          The last band of the day was the Cosmic Dead from Scotland! They had flown over early and slept most of the day and were pretty fresh and happy to be in Denmark. I spoke to them on and off over the last many hours when I came outside. It took a while for them to set up so it was perhaps 1:20 or so before they started. They said they would play the entire new record and then the next record which is not out but they played a very short and intense set of only the new record and were done in like 35 mins or so. Pity they played so short. I think people really wanted more. They technically had a curfew at 1 at the venue due to the neighbours but it went well overtime last night and that was a Thursday. I loved them and people were also into it… A great night.. I shot about 10mins of video from the back of the hall.. Great 2^nd day…

The Cosmic Dead (always facing the back of the stage....)

          Sadly, I could not make it to the festival on the 3^rd day due to having to spend sometime with my family. This day featured 17 bands including The Hedgehogs (the band the organizer plays in) VED (cool Swedish psych band), Elevatorfører, Telstar Sound Drone, Lorenzo Woodrose (solo), ET Tumason, and the Telescopes plus many more. I am sure it was another great day.. thanks again to Kasper and everyone at Stengade for making this a smooth and great event. For next year perhaps they should have fewer band and start a bit later. I don’t really see any point in having these bands come on at 16 and play for 5-10 people. No one came to see the bands before 19… I was there both days and not a single band that played between 16-19 had more than 20 people watching. This is not cool really. So start a bit later, have fewer bands and perhaps let a few of the bands play longer sets. Try to get Vibravoid and make a proper web site also.. Congrats to the organizers... KASPER..... Peace..

Church of Misery and Tombstones- BETA, Copenhagen April 20th, 2014

This was an interesting way to celebrate Easter, with some friends and Church of Misery singing about serial killers! Easter was originally a holiday to celebrate the goddess of sex and fertility, before the Christians stole and converted it into something else… Anyway, Sue and I had a nice dinner and then showed up a bit early and talked with the guys in COM. They are such nice people even though we struggle to communicate a bit.

          Tombstones, are a Norwegian band trio playing doom. I only have their album called Vol. II, which we heard today but they have released 2 since, which I have not heard. The guitar player said they were heavier, slower and more bluesy. They started right at 21 and there was only a few people in the room but as soon as they heard the music start they came up the stairs and I guess there was about 40 people watching them. They played a 45mins set of some pretty heavy stuff. The guitar player and bass player did a lot of trading lead vocals. This was really doomy but not a lot of variation, in the sense that there were no guitar solos. It gets a bit too boring if he does not change his guitar tone (he did not use any pedals either) or solo. They could use another solo guitarist. People gave them a fair reception. I filmed the 2^nd song Unveiling. 

Set List: King of Daze, Unveiling, Obstefelder, Red Skies, Black Moon

          Since the bands shared backline, they only had to set up some cymbals and the singer’s synthesizer and they were ready to go at almost 22. The band opened up with a new song and the sound was very loud but great where we were standing. The place was pretty packed and people were really into it. It was easy to make some contact with the band as well. I filmed the 2^nd song. The band played about 75 mins and since it is nearly impossible to understand anything he sings, it was only when they played a long jammed out version of Born to Raise Hell, that the crowd could participate! The new guitar player is really great and fits in very well. He is a big fan of Jimi Hendrix and likes to solo, he told me.  This is just what the band really needed! Tom was going to be hard to replace as he was a great guitar player. They played a total of 9 songs in about 75 mins, with some cool jams in some of the songs. We were hungry for more and only got Candyman for the encore. Great show and night.

Set List: Brother Bishop, ?, ?, Born to Raise Hell, Monster, ?, Shotgun Boogie, Encore: Candyman

Roadburn Festival, Tilburg, Holland April 9th-12th, 2014

This is my 9th year in a row coming to Roadburn, my favourite festival in the world.

Weds April 9^th

I flew out of Copenhagen about 12:30 and landed in Amsterdam around 14. It was a beautiful day and I had some really great conversations with some guys on the plane. One was from Mumbai and the other a Nigerian living in Finland for 15 years! It was quite easy to find the hostel and Lasse he was standing in the door way of the place having a smoke when I arrived. The other guys were not arriving till later so I went around to some of the local record shops after I dropped off my stuff. Record Friend and Concerto are cool stores but I did not end up buying anything, I really wanted the new Seun Kuti but they only sold it as a bundle with a free ticket to the show Friday and it was too expensive. Amsterdam is a cool town and I love just walking around and seeing all the strange and cool art, people, unique streets and canals. Very nice.. I had dinner at Meghna or something like that, an Indian place just around the corner from the hostel. Food was good and I asked them to make it really hot and they tried but I asked for some fresh green chili as well and they were pretty surprised thinking they had made a really hot dish but they had not. It was nice food. I went back to the hostel really satisfied and my Finnish friends, Santtu and Jukka, who DJ at Roadburn, they came by the hostel and hung out the rest of the night. My Swedish friends who also play in OSC and the Carpet Knights also came by and it was a cool party while we waited for the others. Their plane was delayed 2hrs in Copenhagen and it was like nearly 10 when they arrived and we were all quite happy by now and they had been drinking at the airport so were pretty drunk when they walked in the door. Far out…. I crashed out at 11:30 but some of them stayed up partying until 5 in the morning.

Thurs April 10^th

The Copenhagen Gang waiting for the Tram in Amsterdam

Magnus and I went to a great place called Light/Dark and had an energy smoothy and a great avocado goat cheese bagel sandwich. Yum…. We all met at the tram stop at 9:30 but Lasse was not up yet so we were delayed another 30 mins by the time the next tram came. Our timings were off all day. We got the central station and just missed the train to Breda. Half the group got split and got on a train to Hertbotenbosch and we took the next Breda train. We happen to meet Santtu and Jukka again, which was great. They ended up getting there about 20mins before us. We just missed the bus to Hilvanrenbeek by 5mins and so we had to wait another 30mins. By the time we got to the hotel it was 13:45. I still needed to get to the venue and sell the extra ticket that Lasse was supposed to buy from me and I held on to since Jan and then just a week ago he bought it from someone else, which was not cool. Anyway, I caught a bus within 10mins of arriving at the hotel, and it went the wrong direction and I was now 5km in the wrong direction and stuck and no bus coming for 55 mins.. I was fucking desperate and as I really wanted to see Brutus and sell this ticket, which I knew was not going to be easy. I stuck out my thumb and tried to hitchhike. After like 10mins a car that passed came swinging around and they picked me up. Some super nice Belgium guys said they could notice a Roadburner in distress and that I was! What luck..

I got there, got the wristband and then started walking back and forth down the street with the bars and by the venue. There were 4-5 others trying to sell tickets also but most just standing in one place. I need to maximize my chance of being seen and this paid off as a cool Swedish guy found me and he needed a 4 day ticket for a friend from Eindhoven! Great luck. I did not get the full price but 150€.. I learned my lesson though now. Can’t trust some of these people for shit…. I will never buy another ticket to help them out again after partially being screwed…

Anyway, straight into Brutus, which was too packed on the floor so I hit the balcony and was able to squeeze nearly to the front. Band was in a great mood and the people were totally into their rocking groove. The singer drank constantly, as he usually does and says  a lot of funny stuff. The crowd loves it.. It was great to hear a lot of these new songs live and they come across even better than on the record. I think these guys are one of the best of the 70s style bands around. If they would just have 2 songs every show that they just jammed it out with some longer solos the crowd would love them even more. Especially me.. 

Next up was Sourvein on the big stage but I only caught like 10mins as they stopped playing 25mins early! What the hell??? I think they wanted to party some more rather than play. The singer was looking for some mushrooms! They are so heavy and intense. I like them in small doses.. Some went to see 40 Watt Sun but said it was a bit boring. A lot of intense stuff like Beastmilk (Finland) or Lord Dying (Death metal) but I next checked out Samothrace. Saw some Danish people and met Marko (Swiss band Phased) and his beautiful wife, Sand. I filmed the first number which was pretty good but I could see where it was going so I headed off to see the Shrine.

I hung out with an old Finnish friend that I also see at Sweden Rock every year or nearly. They were fantastic but the bass player had some technical problems and was very annoyed and threw his bass into the audience and then jumped in himself while the band just kept on rocking and playing some ripping solo guitar. It all got sorted out and they were back on track in 5mins.. Crazy way to start the show…

The Cult of Dom Keller

The Cult of Dom Keller from the UK. The room was totally packed but I found a place next to Martin (Litmus) and his wife Kate. We had a nice long chat while they finished setting up. I was not sure what to expect as I had never heard these guys but damn, they were great. It reminded me a lot of 90s UK psych bands like LOOP, a bit Sundial, etc.. The bass played  some really tight grooves with the drummer while the guitar player and organ player played pretty spaced out stuff at times and did all the vocals. I enjoyed the concert a lot. It was really hot in there though. I was really sweaty afterward and also thirsty. Now we had to make some choices between Conan and Goatess. I met Nils and Sven outside and we decided to get to Goatess early and it was the correct decision as it was excellent….

Goatess has a great sound in the Bat Cave (Stage 01) and started off quite spacey with some really cool stuff and

Mühr

then the massive grooves kicked in. Christian, the singer is a very charismatic guy and an excellent front man. What he lacks in voice, he makes up with performance and passion in his delivery of his vocals. I know some people just think he sings poorly but it is not what you should focus on, focus on the way he puts his words into the heavy music, then you get it…. It was a powerful set with more guitars at the beginning and more riffing at the end.

Set List: Full Moon at Noon, King One, Shadow Land (new song), Tentacles of Zen, The Orange

After Goatess I took a chance and went to see a Dutch band called Mühr in the Cul de Sac. They had just started when I came in and their concert was one long like 50min piece of spaced out cosmic doom, with elements of OM, Lamp of the Universe/Arc of Ascent and drone doom like BONG. They had two guitar players and they both played really cool stuff not just what you would expect. It was for sure Cosmic DOOM..

BONG

The last band of the day was the mighty BONG on the main stage. The bands have not been that loud or massive this year on the main stage. I think they must have put some sound restriction in. Anyway, we were all totally psyched. It is really hard to describe what it is about BONG that I really love. It is very simple but so effective. One note for an hour but it is the right note, the BONG note, and the combination of straight heavy doom, one phased out cosmic guitar and Indian drone, just hits me in the right stop. Awesome stuff but again, they are given 70mins and play just about 55, which is a bit disappointing. It was a great way to end the night and day. Wow..

Day 2

This is the Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth curated day and it looks to be awesome. Check out the video above that was showing on a lot of the screeens in the different rooms.

Amazing set. Promise and the Monster, were a three piece all female group with acoustic guitar, flutes, hand drums, synthesizer, harpsichord and just beautiful voices. I was pretty mesmerized but sadly could only see the first two songs before MAGMA was to start. I have nearly all the Magma albums but have never seen them live. I was really looking forward to this and they did not disappoint.  The bass player is just amazing. They actually all are all great and the voices in a strange made up language. Far out. Great sound and lights as well. One did not know how the normal RB crowd would appreciate Magma, if they would just not get it and leave, which Walter was not sure of either as this is a very musically challenging day. Anyway, the room stayed packed the entire show. It was a great concert and they did not just stick with old music. They actually played most of the set as recent material. Such incredible intensity in this band.

MAGMA

After Magma I managed to get a spot in the front of the balcony in the green room to catch the rest of the Harsh Toke set with Lenny Kaye form the Patti Smith band. They were having a lot of fun and jamming on the song Rollercoaster, Gloria and a lot of crazy guitar, spoken word like poetry stuff from Lenny. It was fun and crazy but a bit out of hand at times as the drummer was wanting to play all this really fast stuff like Earthless or something and Lenny was wanting to bring it down. Lenny mostly lost out! Both Harsh Toke guitar players just kicked ass on lead guitar. They all smoked a joint on stage which is something you don’t see too often at concerts. Fun show.. Crowd was into the chaos as well.

Now it was straight back to the main room and I stood with Martin (Litmus) and Kate and their friend. Comus are always so cool. Just utterly unique music and his voice is somehow in another world. I only saw three songs but it was fantastic. Even the new ones sound great. I will have to get that 2^nd lp. The place was pretty packed as well on the main stage.

Set List: Song of Comus, Diana, Out of the Coma, The Herald, The Bite, The Sacrifice, Drip Drip, The Prisoner

I was very curious what the Nicklas Barker (Ankedoten, My brother the wind) and Reine Fiske (Dungen, Elephant 9) were going to do. It was two of these modern mellotrons and some other desktop synth gear. Nicklas said they had no plans, just freeform. I watched about 30mins and it was really cool dreamscape stuff a lot like mid 70s Tangerine Dream. Great lush sounds and cool movies. I filmed about 5mins but did not have a very good spot. My friend Anders, a big guy was right in front..

Anyway, next up was Änglagård, whom I had seen at Sweden Rock a couple of years ago but their sound was being blasted by Michael Schenker on another stage and plus they choose to play this really mellow laid back set and it was raining so it was just not that good. Today, it was something completely different! The band seems to be totally energized from having been invited and also recently playing in Japan with the Crimson Projekt. They were really intense but great moods and dynamics. IT was a new keyboard player and he also played saxophone. I was pretty blown away by this concert. I was up on the balcony with Magnus for the whole show.

I think we missed the last little bit as Claudio Simontetti’s Goblin was on the big stage with a tiny overlap.

Claudio Simonetti's Goblin

We found a great place on the left side of the mixer. The sound was very good but sometimes the keyboards were a bit too loud. Overall, it was great. They played 3 tracks before they started showing any movies along with the music. I was a bit worried it was not going to happen but they started with two tracks from dawn of the Dead. This was the Romero version for sure as I had recently seen the Argento version ad it was different from this. There was bits from roller, Demoni, Phenomenon, Suspiria (of course) and others. It was a fucking cool show. A great band. All great players. with a few guitar solos and a great bass playing.

Sula Bassana

We could have gone to see 30 years’ war, just the end but I had been inside and seen band after band with no break for 4½ hrs and I need some air and some food so Magnus and headed over to a Turkish place. We got back just a few minutes before Sula Bassana started in the Het Patronaat (the church). The crowd filled the place up but not totally packed, which was nice. I saw Santtu and my other Finnish friend. I was curious what this was going to be like but it was not what I had hoped actually. Sula Bassana solo band is Electric Moon but Reiner from Zone Six and the Pancakes. They started off with some quite heavy stuff that sounded just like Electric Moon freakouts but with more guitar. The sound was not very good to start as it was mostly bass and drums. Way too much bass. Pity. The synths were totally lost in the sound. They played Dark Days, maybe The Night?, and some others from his albums but I had hoped for some of the more cool 60s like stuff from Dreamer, more spacey stuff but it always ended up with heavy fuzzed out phased out electric moon style psychedelic, which is not what I really wanted to hear. I can see Electric Mon for that and I had hoped this would be different but it was not really. The dark days track with the mellotron was the best as it was a real space rock number. Great guitar playing but both Rainer and Dave. People got a heavy psychedelic experience for sure. I just had hoped for something different. Seems all of Dave’s bands end up sound the same now, pity, as can make such a diverse range of cool music. He is giving the people what they want though. I think he will one day get tired of this as well.

Most of the people I know were at Candlemass which were playing the entire Ancient Dreams record. Seen them many times and knew exactly what to expect. I had hoped for something different with Sula Basssana but also got what I sort of expected. I caught the last song of Candlemass, Solitude but that was it.

Papir

I tried to get into Papir but the room was too packed so I sat down for a while in the big room and spoke with the photographer, Jacob Denson (dk) and rested my very tired legs and had another beer. I saw one track of Opeth and that it not my kind of music. I managed to get into see the last 30mins of papir and they totally killed it. Nicklas was on fire and the sound was great. I had never heard a Papir show with the guitar so loud but that is the way it should be. Fucking killer stuff. The best guitar playing I heard all day.

Last band of the day was Elephant 9 plus Reine Fike. I had heard the record at Øyvin (Black Moon Circle’s) place and it was cool. Very spacey and then very intense dynamics and that is exactly what it was here as well. This show started out very slow, Reine almost not playing at all. The organ player was totally amazing.I loved his style. Amazing drummer and bass player. It took them 20mins before much happened but when it did that was it. Just incredible intense drumming, bass playing, organ and finally super cool guitar. It took him forever to decide what he was going to do and where but eventually the Richie Blackmore in him came out and the other strange talents he has as well. It was a great concert. One of my favourites today in the end. I was pretty exhausted in the end though.. Great day. One of the best in Roadburn history perhaps!

Day 3

10:15 Got a bit less than 8hrs sleep. Up and had as shower, juice, tea and a small sandwich.

12:15 Sitting shoeless in the sun in the garden at the hotel. The weather is great. Cannot see the computer screen so it is hard to see what I am typing. My feet are sore but I had such an amazing day yesterday… Wow… Today will be a lot less intense but also some cool bands.

14:00 I am sitting and have some ribs and fries to start the day. I had just met and spoke to Walter and it was a like a dream for him that everything went so smooth yesterday and all the bands were so excellent. Magma.. who would have ever though at Roadburn. … It really opens up the possibilities for the future..  Roadburn is already almost limitless anyway in what styles are allowed. It is more or less only pure pop, country and hip hop.. just about everything else goes…

16:00 I started off near the front for 11 Paranoias and that was loud and intense stuff. Mike Bong, plays a not very complex guitar but man, the sound he gets, he chooses the right chords and effects combination. Massively spaced out. They had a guy doing some electronic drones and he also played the saxophone. It was pretty cool. I caught about 30mins of the this German electronic group, E-musik Gruppe Lux O … Three synthesizers and one guitar. It was nice cool music a lot like mid-70s Kraftwerk or Tangerine Dream. The guitar player hardly played anything very interesting which was a bit sad and no lead guitar really. They played it a bit too safe with the grooves.. a bit too predictable. They needed some cool visuals. I like the Nicklas Barker- Reine Fiske better. Same kind of vibe.

Circle… wow.. what the fuck.. how to describe that. A simple drum beat starts the show off while the band gets undressed and then dressed in their spandex and spikes and then into a long repetitive track that morphs into and out of Heavy metal, and just strangeness and back and forth for an hour. What a mind fuck and unique concert. Totally blew us all away! There is no other band quite like these guys. Utterly unique and talented..

I was up for some straight up stoner rock and got that with Gozu from the USA. I really liked the last record and the singer has a cool voice and they have the stoner groove down. I really could have used some more guitar solos and a bit more variety on the riffing but damn solid band just delivering the goods for 40mins and rocking out. I liked the last song, Alone quite a log. The crowd was not packed but into it…..

Set List: Meat, Ghost, Bull, Meth, Riddle, DRI, Irish, JMV, Alone

I watched the first few songs of Scorpion Child and man I was so disappointed. The singer has an amazing Robert Plant like voice but their songs are just so generic and Led Zeppelin want to be but the players are just not up to that kind of standard. Not interesting or inventive bass playing, very normal guitar riffs and hardly any solos….. They want to be like Rival Sons or the Answer, etc..  I left after 2-3 songs..

Rich (Carlton Melton) and Mike BONG

18:00 I went out and got some air and ran into the Carlton Melton guys and Glitter Wizard guys and had a nice chat. Everyone was doing great. Rich and Mike Bong were chatting. Nice to hang out with those guys for a few minutes before back into for some more intense music.

YOB

I checked out one song of YOB… the place was totally packed to the brim and the bass sound was just too much. I could hardly find the guitar sound. Super cool visuals while they played but I don’t like there new direction at all. I did the first couple of records but not much else by these guys.

Carlton Melton started off with a killer heavy hard rocking piece and Rich just killed it on the guitar. Andy next switched from drums to guitar and the band spaced out for 20mins or so and then back to some heavy space rock. I think people were pretty blown away. I think we will have a pretty cool show tomorrow. Even more spaced out..

I did manage to catch some of the Age of Taurus set and they rocked like hell. They remind me of a mix of Candlemass and The Sword (first album territory). They have some really great songs. Huge guys in this band.. After these guys it was into the green room to catch the Finnish band Mansion. I really liked their EP. They played a cool set but I only got 20mins or so before going to see LOOP.

LOOP was for sure the best thing so far today. The sound was so amazing and the sound guy used a lot of effects on the PA, including extra delays and panning effects. It was a super psychedelic sound and they really rocked and he played great spacey guitar solos for the first half of the concert. The last few before the encore was more hypnotic and loop like stuff. They came back and did two encore songs including Mother Sky by CAN.. They played it a lot like Vibravoid does.

Set list: Soundhead, Nail, Pulse, Straight to the Heart, Fade Out, Collision, Vapour Arc Lite, Feverknife, Afterglow, Buring, Breathe, Mother Sky (CAN)

Harsh Toke

I just hung out in the big hall after loop and talked with the guys from Papir, while Harsh Toke set up and soundchecked. I stayed and saw the first two jams. I really like this stuff a lot. The guitar player on the right, he also played a great keyboard solo in the 2^nd track.

Glitter Wizard is a band I did not want to miss and I needed to get there early to make sure I got in the room. I have known the synth player, Doug Person for many years. Super talented guy. They were running behind and were late getting everything set up. They started at least 10mins late. They totally smashed the place. Huge energy in the room as they played their super cool and unique brand of high energy 70s rock, humor and psychedelia with a bit of space rock thrown in! Fun…  They even played my request, Wizard Wagon, which he said they had not played in a couple of years. We were all singing along. The new songs where really excellent as well, especially this one called Atlantis. What a great band. Wish they could have played longer.. That was the end of Day 3. I will play tomorrow so have to keep my head together and get some good rest.

Glitter Wizard!

Day 4

14:00 We had a relaxed morning and are sitting in the sun at a bar across from the Cul de Sac with Mogens and the guys from Papir. Mood is really good and it is beautiful weather. I will soon go get my artist wrist band, food coupon, drink tokens, etc.. We are supposed to load in and set up and soundcheck at 15:30. People at the venue are really cool and a German guy named Martin asked if he could do the sound and it was all ok with us and the venue so that is great.  A lot of cool bands again today but I will not get to see much today, which is a pity.

17:00 All went well with the setup and soundcheck and I was very happy with the sound and my equipment was working as it should. The Aqua Nebula Oscillator concert was too packed so I could not see or hear any of it but I heard they were pretty cool. A six piece line up, which was different than what they normally have.

Avatarium

18:20 I had dinner with Clint from Carlton Melton and then ran off to see about 15mins of Avatarium, the ex-Candlemass bass player’s produced band. They were really excellent. Very cool songs, a great female singer who also played some acoustic guitar. They had one really cool video during the song they said was their new single. Cool band.

19:30 I caught the first 20mins or so of the Papermoon Sessions, as these guys are all my friends and all of them except Lulu, have played in ØSC currently or in the past. It was long spacey stuff with cool guitars and two bass players, which was nice. I could not hear Nicklas’s guitar almost at all, which was a bummer. The place was packed and people seem to like it a lot.  I will play with Carlton Melton in the Cul de Sac bar at 20..

22:00 Wow.. that was an amazing concert and experience. I had so much fun playing with these guys. The place was packed and hardly anyone seem to leave so I think they were really into it. It started off very slow and space with me and rich doing a lot of synth stuff and then Andy on guitar. Real Scum Beat was a heavy jam and Rich just ripped it up on the guitar. He was totally into it. Palmer was also with drums but not so intense a track and then Andy just played great guitar in the droney spacey new track called Tilburg Blues. I had fun playing this one. The last part of the concert was really intense with a heavy version of Pink Floyd and then Hawkwind. People seem to love the show… I was pretty exhausted afterwards. We recorded both from the audience and soundboard so maybe people will get to hear this again.

Set List: Country ways>Spider Webs, Real Scum Beat, Palmer, Tilburg Blues, When you’re in (Pink Floyd), Time we left this world today (Hawkwind)

There was some other cool bands playing like Harsh Toke and the Luminerians but I was pretty done for so I just hung out and talked with the guys in CM and fans on the street, a bit with Sula Bassana and Lulu, Mike Bong and his girlfriend, etc… It was a great but intense way to end Roadburn. I did actually hear the last 20mins of the LUmierians while hanging out with Rocksanne, Sabine and a few others that came by like Martin (Litmus).

Day 5

Why are the trains just fucking chaos in Holland every fucking year???? I am on a train now finally going to the airport and it is 12:39. I was supposed to arrive at the airport a bit before 12! The train we got on at Tilburg (met Santtu and Jukka) went to Breda and then we switched to a train that said Amsterdam Central-. Schiphol. When it got to Rotterdam, we sat for a while and then it started going back the direction we just came??? They had cancelled it and rerouted it. All the messages were only in Dutch so what the fuck???? I will not miss my flight but still I will only have 1½ hrs max or less if this train makes..

So who were my favourite bands this year????

Magma, BONG, Mühr, Glitter Wizard, LOOP, Carlton Melton meets Dr. Space, Elephant 9

Sweden Rock 2014

Black Elk Medicine Band- Santa Ana 7” (Valley King Records VKR707)

BEMB is a new band from the San Francisco Bay Area lead by Issiah Mitchell (Earthless, Golden Void) on guitar and bass, John McBain (Wellwater Conspiracy) on drum programming and Phil Manley on guitar and synth. The title track features Issiah doing what he does best and playing lead solo guitar over programmed drums. It has a special sound the opening track but a bit of the vibe of Black Elk Speaks from Hawkwind’s Space Bandits (if you stretch your imagination).. Flip the 7” over and you get As the Sun Rose on Dec 29^th, 1890. This track is just a dreamy guitar over a synth drone and surely a nice track to play as the sunrises on anyday… I wonder if they have made a full record? The 7” comes in a really nice sleeve with cool artwork, a single cardboard insert with the cover and a square sticker as well. They are all handnumbered to 500 copies.

http://valleykingrecords.wordpress.com/