ART NATION
Sweden Stage
Art Nation is a Swedish Melodic Rock band in the vein of bands such as H.E.A.T. albeit with both Metal and proggy elements thrown into their music. Lead by charismatic and very talented singer Alexander Strandell, also in Crowne, the band have three splendid albums in their back pocket so have them as my first watch for this year’s festivities was more than ok. I have seen them once before, at the ill-fated Stockholm Rock Out indoor festival and they were terrific then. Now reduced to a four-piece the band showed lots of spirit and was all smiles and it really showed that they were really happy and excited to be playing. The crowd wasn’t huge but way bigger than I had thought it’d be – and the reaction they got was great. And Art Nation was good. Really good. However, the use of backing tracks was a bit over the top, that must be pointed out. Not only was the keyboards pre-recorded but also both backing vocals – at times no one even bothered to pretend to sing – and parts of the rhythm guitars. Why the band didn’t bring on a keyboard player and an additional guitarist is anyone’s guess but that would have helped out a lot on all the stuff that was pre-recorded. That said, the band’s spirit and love for playing made up for all that. A very good gig with a band with a bright future ahead of them.
JEAN BEAUVOIR
Sweden Stage
Here’s a guy I had wanted to see live forever and one of the must-see’s this year. My first encounter with Jean Beauvoir was, like for many other people my age, on the mid 80’s Kiss albums where his name showed up in the song-writing credits. He also played bass on a few songs on Animalize (1984) and Asylum (1985). This had me checking out almost everything the man has done musically – not The Plasmatics, though. His pop solo-albums, Voodoo X and Crown Of Thorns are all brilliant Melodic Rock stuff with Jean’s very personal singing style and way of writing melodies. Opening up with the rap-flirtatious “Are You Ready” from the debut Crown Of Thorns album was a bold but great move as it worked splendidly with its groovy and uplifting rhythms and “Hike It Up” from the same record is a Melodic Rock highlight with its crowd-pleasing chorus.
A few of his co-writes showed up and it was cool to hear the Ramones songs “Pet Sematary” and “My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down”, songs that I think worked better here than with the Ramones, truth be told and Kiss’ “Uh! All Night” is a song that Kiss will never play live – Beauvoir and his band kicked off a damn crowd-pleasing version of the song. Crown Of Thorns took up most of the space here today and even though a ballad like “Standing On The Corner For Ya” is a great power ballad, it felt a bit misplaced here. Another rocker would have been more appropriate. The song “Shocker” from the movie of the same name was written by Beauvoir, Desmond Child and Guy Mann-Dude and performed by The Dudes Of Wrath (Paul Stanley, Child, Mann-Dude, Vivian Campbell, Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Lee) was another nice surprise. Never had I thought I’d ever experience this pearl of a song live. Splendid.
Jean’s solo stuff and Voodoo X was unfortunately cut short here and from the solo stuff only a rocking version of “Feel The Heat” was performed and by the latter only the fast paced “I’m On Fire” with a riff more or less nicked from Deep Purple’s “Burn” was played. Great song but wouldn’t “Voodoo Queen” had been a better choice? Or maybe cut a couple of Crown Of Thorns songs, like the ballad? Also, another Kiss song would have been nice. “Who Wants To Be Lonely” was sorely missed and I wouldn’t have turned down “Thrills In The Night”. Well, well, we can’t have it all, now can we and it was still a pleasure catching Beauvoir live. A killer gig indeed.
EVERGREY
Rock Stage
To catch a band like Evergrey in broad daylight felt a bit, well, weird. Evergrey’s music isn’t exactly the perfect choice for the summer party with umbrella drinks and cocktails, all smiles and happy-go-lucky. This band’s dark. But after the the openers “Save Us” and “Weightless” it stood clear that Evergrey manages to take on a party-happy, mid-day crowd as well – and they did it well. Already as the third song, the single “Midwinter Calls” was played. Its title might suggest cold days and snow but the crowd-friendly, sing-along pleasing chorus had us all chanting along and by then Evergrey had the home-run in their hands. Plus the fact that the band itself was on fire and shot off sparks which gave away them being happy to finally be out and playing again. That was contagious as well. The band had a setlist mixed of old and new stuff and the ending with “Recreation Day” and “King Of Errors” was brilliant. The only down-side was the sound this afternoon where the bass and drums broke through way too much. And no “I’m Sorry”? Maybe that was a good thing, though, to cut the ballads. Anyho, I enjoyed the hell out of the band, something that’s common when it comes to Evergery live from my point of view.
CD & Festival reviews 