ROCKWEEKEND 2009

DATE:

VENUE:

Thursday 9th July - Saturday 11th July 2009

Kilafors Herrgård, Sweden

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATOR; CHICKENFOOT; GEMINI FIVE; U.D.O.; ARCH ENEMY; MUSTASCH; PARADISE LOST; CRUCIFIED BARBARA; CORRODED; PURE MANIA

SATURDAY

NAPALM DEATH; DIMMU BORGIR; EDGUY; QUEENSRŸCHE; HEAT; HOT LEG; NIGHTINGALE; SCAR SYMMETRY; MEMORY GARDEN; WOLVERINE

D-A-D; W.A.S.P.; DARK FUNERAL; TESTAMENT; DIA PSALMA; LA GUNS; DEAD BY APRIL; WOLF; FAST FORWARDS; TAD MOROSE

Reviews & Photography by Mark Holmes

H.E.A.T.

With H.E.A.T. onstage at around 8:15pm, food beckons once again, so I opt to eat rather than watch the Swedish rockers set. I do catch a little from the back of the festival site and, although not to my taste, seems well received by those gathered to watch.

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SATURDAY 11TH JULY - PART 2

I first saw Edguy at the UK's Bloodstock indoor festival in 2003 when they were added to the bill as a last minute replacement for Hammerfall. On that occasion, I remember finding their rock/metal tunes a little too cheesy and unashamedly plagiarised from various other bands. The next, and last, time I saw them was at Bloodstock Open Air three years later. This performance I found to be very Spinal Tap - not aided by their delayed entrance of half an hour as roadies struggled to hang a huge backdrop at the rear of the stage, only for this to be almost entirely hidden by a pair of wings that extended from a large dragon statue behind the drummer only two songs into their set! Three years on, and time to approach the cheesy German metallers afresh. When they play 'Lavatory Love Machine', a song about shagging an air hostess in a toilet as the plane is about to crash, it reminds me of everything I despise about them. The music is performed well, and although Edguy are evidently entertaining to some, I dislike both their music and patronising Spinal Tap aesthetic. Mindless cheese.

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DIMMU BORGIR

As Rockweekend 2009 approaches its conclusion, black metallers Dimmu Borgir hit the left hand stage next with their quasi-theatrical show. And it appears the Swedish are more precautious with health and safety legislation than in the UK as I'm briefed, along with the other photographers, that the shoot is only for the first two songs as pyros commence thereafter and to, basically, get out of the photopit as quickly as possible. Photographing Dimmu last year at a UK festival was for the first three songs during which they used pyros for most of that time, on a windy day, with heat from the billowing flames rather intense and blowing in my direction a little too close for comfort! Appearing just after 11:30pm for an eighty minute set, the Norwegians commence with 'Spellbound (by the Devil)' from 1997's 'Enthrone Darkness Triumphant' swiftly followed by 'Cataclysm Children' from 2003's 'Death Cult Armageddon'. Then, as the melodically rich orchestral intro to 'The Serpentine Offering' plays through the PA, it's time to evacuate the photopit. And the pyros are used to dramatic effect, particularly when Vortex sings his clean part midway through said song and gerbs placed across the front of the stage propel jets of sparks upwards, and then further pyros at the top of the stage kick in as a wall of sparks cascades down. It is a sight to behold and enhances the melodramatic essence of Dimmu's music to great effect. And the band are reassuringly on form, as my previous experience of seeing them live earlier this year was not too memorable in a show that was marred by both technical glitches and some shoddy drumming by the usually reliable ex-Vader sticksman Dariusz Brzozowski. Thankfully, Brzozowski is faultless tonight, as are all band members, and each song is performed with blackened zest, including 'Allegiance'; 'Puritania'; 'The Mourning Palace'; 'Kings of the Carnival Creation'; 'The Sacreligious Storm'; and set closer 'Progenies of the Great Apocalypse'. It is also interesting to hear Shagrath talk to the crowd between songs in a 'polite', soft-spoken voice, abeit in Swedish (badly I am told!), of which I can understand very little, as during UK shows, he's always perpetuated the growling when communicating to audiences, so it's nice to catch him in a less pretentious mode. Dimmu are quite stunning at Rockweekend, consolidating my belief that they are best witnessed on a big festival stage. Awesome.

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NAPALM DEATH

Unfortunately, I only manage to hear the opening minute or so of Napalm Death's set as they appear on stage at 1:00am, at which time I have to travel back to Söderhamn. It is interesting to observe members of the band watching the last half hour of Dimmu from the side of the right hand stage (bassist Shane Embury is instantly recognisable from a distance with his trademark frizzy hair!).

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QUEENSRŸCHE

I admit to never fully being a Queensryche fan over the years so when they appear onstage just after 9:00pm, I am significantly less excited than many others present, and it's undoubtedly the largest crowd of the day thus far. Eschewing tracks from their seminal and most famous work, 1988's 'Operation: Mindcrime', the bias in Queensryche's set is towards 1986's 'Rage for Order' ('Neue Regel'; 'The Whisper'; Screaming in Digital'; 'Walk in the Shadows'); 1990's 'Empire' ('The Thin Line'; 'Jet City Woman'; 'Empire'), a couple of tracks from new album 'American Soldier' ('The Killer'; 'A Dead Man's Words') and early 80s number 'Take Hold of the Flame'. During the course of seventy minutes, I find the American prog-metallers distinctly unengaging. And it's not simply because I've never been that much of a fan - a substandard sound through the PA mars their performance, and dare I say that Geoff Tate's vocals are occasionally off-key during particular passages. Queensryche deliver far from a bad performance, it's just that one would expect much better from a band of this stature and reputation. Very average for me, although I'm sure many a longtime fan would disagree.

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