Sweden Rock Festival 2001 - Reports
Surviving
Swedish beer!
Ken
playing the Hammond (with Andy Pyle on his right)
Tally
ho! me jolly Heepsters, heres a tale of great rock and Europe's worst beers.
To us Scandinavians it is a well-known fact that Sweden is a place of personal
restriction and the lousiest beer imaginable, and so my companion "Morfar"
and I had brought a decent supply of shomking material with us, as we drove
from rainy Denmark to just-as-rainy Sweden. We spend the evening before
the concert at a very expensive salmon-fishing river not catching anything
but runny noses, but we could hear the music from the festival even though
we were 15 kilometers (10 u.s.miles) away and so spirits remained high.
When we woke up friday we were greeted by sunshine and when I spoke with
Ken on the phone he sounded relaxed and ready, so Morfar and I went to the
festival with the greatest of expectations. The festival is a rather small
venue, with the two main stages fronting eachother so that one band can
set up while another is playing..Great idea! There was longhaired Swedish
youngsters everywhere all sporting band/tour t-shirts from various metal
groups, the beers were really shitty and extremely expensive and the stage/festival
crews all seemed utterly amateurish so Morfar and I had a good laugh at
the scene as we found ourselves an unnoticeable spot to shomk before the
concert. Time flies and suddenly we heard sounds comming from one of the
mainstages..We rushed to the stage and went frontrow just as Ken Hensley
and band appeared. At this point there were maybe 500-1000 people gathering
around the stage but Ken and the band was greeted most enthusiastically.
I am an idiot in remembering setlists so I cant recall the exact chronological
order of numbers, but it was something like Easy Living, The Return, a number
from the upcomming album named ?, Stealing, July Morning, Lady in Black
and the encore was Gypsy with the Hammondextravaganza at the start like
at the Vention. First I have to say that I never saw a place get packed
that fast! Within the first two numbers the crowd had escalated from about
500 peeps to well over four thousand! (I checked with ticket sales). Ken
was his usual smiling, concentrated self, eager to make things run successfully
with the new band and all, but he soon found out he needed not worry. The
crowd went crazy! People were singing along, clapping and whistling all
through the concert, many of them younger than my 28 years! Before I comment
on the band I have to drop a line on the new number, the teaser for the
Running Blind CD. I didnt catch the title of the track, but it was a supergreat
number in line with the old "heavy" numbers, from before Heavy meant Metal.
Slow and heavy, lots of nerve...Ken made a few comments on moving to England,
getting back on stage where he belonged, doing what he loves..Making music!
And even though the new CD is running more late than blind I promise you
all that if the whole CD is of the same standard as this one number is,
it is well worth waiting for! Wow! Obviously the crowd loved it! The old
classics were ofcourse what made people go bananas and Ken moved along with
the enthusiasm playing wildly on the Hammond, making trippy sounds on it
(like really trippy, industrial, oldschool freakout-Heepy-Hammond-tilt!),
jumping up to grap the guitars, singing with the audience and generally
doing the "frontman" thing to the full extend! In all this I had a hard
time shouting, singing, clapping, jumping, headbanging, drinking, photographing
and singing some more, all at the same time but I managed! Now I should
comment on the new band. Its a drummer, a guitar, a bass and backing vocals.
The backing vocals first. Ian "Moon" Gould and a woman whom I think is Pip's
daughter(?) were placed on the left side of the stage (from the audience's
p.o.w.) and were, as the rest of the band, smiling and relaxed.
Dave
Kilminster & Ken Hensley on guitars, with Dave Wagstaffe & Andy
Pyle back
I
had expected them to play a much larger part in the soundpicture but they
were very laid back. This might have been due to the short rehearsal-time,
but it left Ken with most of the vocal work which ofcourse was no disappointment.
What they did, however, was VERY pro-sounding and tight, just like a Heepchorus
is supposed to be, working in perfect unison with the leadvocal. Great combo
of voices and with a great understanding of Heep-vocals. Excellente! Now
to the guitarist, Dave Kilminster. Placed midstage, next to and in front
of the backingsingers, Dave Kilminster did a fine job at both lead and rythmsections.
It was obvious that he wasnt allowed to show off as much of his skills as
he wanted to, finishing most numbers with a few wild riffs on his axe, and
albeit he is not Mick Box he played his part smoothly and skillfully and
with an individual touch. The couple of solos that were granted to him were
delivered hard, wild and no-nonsence style! Dave Kilminster seems to be
the youngster of the pack, and a very promising one too. Next comes the
bassplayer, Andy Pyle, placed right on stage, almost behind Ken's organ.
Andy has the veteran-musician look. Totally calm at all times, stepping
a bit back out of the spotlights, and with a rare but flashy smile. Andys
bassplaying was supersteady and tight, though he was less playfull than
the Heep-bassists were used to. I kept giving him the "thumping thumb" sign,
but I guess he didnt see it. Nothing lacked in his department, however,
and Andy Pyle might very well be the biggest asset to Ken in forming the
new band. It was great to see and hear such professionalism. Lastly the
drummer, Dave Wagstaffe. I saved him for the end because Dave was the surprise
of the bunch. I had ofcourse expected Ken Hensley to hire people who knew
what they were doing, and so he had, but Dave wagstaffe did a bit more than
that. Heep's drumparts seem easy but theyre not, and Dave Wagstaffe had
it down like had he been schooled by Lee himself. Tight and upbeat, always
at the egde of a swirl while sticking to the number thorough, almost like
hes playing a whole-number solo without ever stepping out of his place,
this guy got a lot of positive comments from the crowd after the show. Great
performance from Dave Wagstaffe, I hope everybody gets a chance to hear
him do his thing! Reviewing my comments on the musicians I must point out
that I have extensive experience in listening to music and musicians and
so many other less "spoiled" listeners would probably praise these guys
much more than I have, and they surely deserve it. Long after the encore
was over one could still hear the crowd singing the refrain from Lady In
Black and there was no doubt that the Ken Hensley Band had rocked the crowd
beyond my wildest expectations! After the gig I talked to a few fans at
the backstage entrance, and when Ken came around he was all smiles and looking
great as we went off to the merchostand where a good crowd waited to get
an autograph and a handshake from the Maestro himself. We were supposed
to go dine with Ken, but in all the commotion we got away from him and decided
that it was time to really get into our investigation of the low standards
of beer in Sweden. We checked out Glenn Hughes, who still can sing like
a mofo, drank and shomked and enjoyed the sun, and by the time we got drunk
enough to get lost from eachother and stumbled into each our cab (at the
same time) we both had had an unforgettable time. When I woke up the next
morning, sick to the stomach from drinking Swedish sewerwater (beer), I
remembered gambling on some CD roulette at the festival, actually winning
a CD despite my altered state of mind, and as I looked through my pockets
to see what I had won I saw it was incidently "Lady In Black"- A Heep compilation
from 1994 I had never seen before!! In conclusion, the concert was fantastic,
the new band played freaking great and with the high standard of the new
number I have no hesitation in proclaiming..THE WIZARD IS BACK! You better
believe it!! In true Heepsterity...
Esbern
taking a pic of himself, with the crowd behind him...
Esbern
"Rainbow Demon" Johnsen, Copenhagen!