Blackberry Smoke and Massive- KB, Malmö, Sweden 11/6/14

This was the 2^nd time for me to see Blackberry Smoke this year and I was really looking forward to it and hoped they would play some new material. Sue had never been to this venue before so before we had dinner we went over the venue and guess who was standing outside smoking a cig, but the one and only Charlie Starr!  Sue and I had a small chat with him and explained this was our honeymoon and we were big fans of the band. He said he would dedicate a song to us, which was nice but I was wondering if he would really remember 4 hrs later?

          Anyway, we headed over to the Malmö Bryghus and tried their 5 beer sampler and they were all excellent. I think my favourite was the Winter Ale and Sue liked their Belgium style ale. We were not feeling like burgers so we ate at a Japanese restaurant run by Korean people (They did not know what Hamachi was (Japanese for yellowfin tuna). Anyway, the meal was very good and we were ready for some southern rock!

          We met up with my friend Mats and his friend Lars for another beer. Massive, were a R&R band from Australia and they played about a 40min set of AC/DC meets Guns and Roses style music. A lot of cliché and attitude but solid rocking songs. The singer was perhaps 5 feet tall but was totally into it and had a cool voice as well.  Audience gave them a good reception.

          It was 21 when BBS hit the stage with a short little like jam and then into their standard opener on this tour, Like I Am. It was leave a Scar earlier in the year, which was the 2^nd song. IT was a straight up set of good old BBS songs focusing still on the material from the Whippoorwill album a lot. I noticed in that track that Charlie now had a delay pedal and changed the solo a bit. Also the jam in Sleeping Dogs was longer before they did the Midnight Rider part. They should just leave that out and do their own jam.. They really need to jam more, then they would really be a totally amazing band. If they could change the set lists around more and jam, they might be my favourite band. Anyway, it was great to hear them play the Lynryrd Skynryd song, Whiskey Rock a Roller. Suits them well.  The band was really touched when the audience sang Brandon happy birthday in Swedish. He also got one of those plastic Viking hats with the horns (There were no horns on the Viking hats!) and schnapps. The encore was a brand new song called Rock and Roll Again and sure enough, Charlie dedicated it to Sue and I, the newlyweds.. Very touching and we had moved up to about the 3^rd row in the center. They ended the show with Shaking hands with the Holy ghost.

          It was a great night. Wish we could have met them afterwards and thanked them but maybe the next time….

Set List: Intro Jam, Like I Am, Leave a Scar, I'd Be Lyin', Six Ways to Sunday, Good One Comin' On, Crimson Moon, Pretty Little Lie, Sleepin' Dogs>Jam, Midnight Rider>Sleeping Dogs, Sanctified Woman, The Whippoorwill, Restless, Happy Birthday Brendon, Band Introductions, Up in Smoke, I Ain't Got The Blues Any More, Everyone knows she’s Mine, Whiskey Rock a Roller, One Horse Town, Ain’t much left of Me> When the Leeve Breaks> Ain’t much left of Me, Encore: Rock and Roll Again, Shaking hands with the Holy Ghost