Metaaaaaaaal!

It's been a long time coming, but last Thursday I finally got my first real dose of the Swedish metal scene. Slayer have been taking Swedish melodic death metal stars In Flames around the world with them recently on the Unholy Alliance tour with Children of Bodom, Lamb of God and Thine Eyes Bleed.

Originally I wasn't going to go to this, having already seen In Flames and Bodom, not being a massive slayer or Lamb of God fan and not knowing Thine Eyes Bleed, but a few weeks ago my good friend Werner won a competition to meet In Flames before the show and invited me to join in...so I got my ticket just before they sold out and tagged along to Stockholm Globen... :)

There was a fair amountof intial confusion over the details of the meeting, and we'd actually been at the arena for 2 hours before we got to go inside, but it was well worth it, even if we missed most of the first 2 bands. We didn't get to meet the entire band, as one guitarist (Jesper) is currently on a break and Anders (vocals) was spending some quality time with his wife and kid before the show (it's odd to see a pram being wheeled into the backstage area at a rock concert...), but those we did meet were cool. Peter (bass) and Daniel (drums) played and beat myself and Werner respectively at Fifa 06 on the Xbox 360 (though I only lost 2-1, as opposed to Werner's 8-1), then we talked a little with them and Björn (guitars) before getting autographs and pictures (to be posted later, when i get hold of them).

Then we left them to their warming up and wandered back outside with our shiny new standing tickets to catch the end of Lamb of God then the entirety of Bodom's set. Now, I remember saying I was disappointed with their set at Wacken due to timing etc being a bit sloppy, and the issue was the same here. The performance was excellent, but they could really do to remember that they're there to play music, and start listening to each other and get it right. I'm not going to rant any more about this, but I'm not going to let their presence influence my desire to go to a concert or festival again. I know they can do it, because they did it the first couple of times i saw them, but for whatever reason they've made it not worth my effort to see them again.

In Flames, on the other hand, were spot on - a perfect example of an excellent metal set. Despite having to adjust to a slightly different line-up, the timing and performance were both spot on, and proved their worth as both musicians and entertainers. They seemed slightly more relaxed than when I saw them in Sheffield earlier in the year, probably on account of having less to prove, with Anders talking and cracking jokes with the crowd all the way through the set. They've received a lot of stick for their past few releases, but having bought their latest effort, Come Clarity about a month ago, and seen them again knowing the songs off that album, I can safely say they're still one of the best bands out there.

Not being a huge Slayer fan, I opted at this point to retire to the seating and donate my ticket to one who was much more in need of it than I - Erika, the girl who drove us to Stockholm for the gig. Now, 'm not going to say much about Slayer, and I suppose they're good enough in their own way, but they've never been my idea of an interesting or particularly entertaining band on record, and they successfully transferred that to their live performance. Don't get me wrong, the timing and musical professionalism was spot on, tighter than almost any band I've seen, but after about 20 years (maybe more, I'm no afficionado), I would really expect them to have grasped the concept of stage presence. I guess people who like them just see something in them that I don't...

I should probably add that despite all the above whinging, this was an excellent night, and a big thanks to Werner for arranging it and Erika for driving us there (if either of you ever read this!). I suppose I'm just becoming a bit desensitised to the whole gigging thing, and I've seen enough bands to be critical of those who really aren't doing it for me. I still had an awesome time :)

Riga, again...

From Riga part 2

From Riga part 2

Ok, so it's been a while and I'm a little behind with this one... Also, I realise my blog is starting to look a little repetetive (a repetetive sounding word itself - type it out if you don't believe me), but I swear that isn't my fault. You'll notice all the excursions I've done so far have been done first time off my own bat, then again when others have decided to follow suit. So there.

So anyway, a short while after we had our small "native English ghetto" trip to Riga, Outi and the staff at "Park Travel Agency" discovered a cruise to the very same place for the princely sum of 69 Swedish Kronor (£5, for all you limeys out there :P ). At first I wasn't going to go, but Västerås really is quite small, and about a week beforehand the wanderlust got me again, and the fact that there were getting on for 70 exchange types already going persuaded me to sign myself up.

After a little last minute panic with the availability of Saturday morning train tickets, I travelled with Estonian Ingrid (plus her friend from back home) and Swedish Martha first to Stockholm, and then to Frihamnen (which actually cost more than the whole cruise), and the ship set off at 1730 Swedish time.

Not quite as large or glamorous as the Gabriella we travelled on to Helsinki, our boat (which I forget the name of) was nontheless good value at the price, so we couldn't complain. However, it did become a bit beyond a joke when the "turbulence" began. By about 1030, our relatively large group had been considerably diminished by the unorthodox movement of the ship, so by the time it calmed down, those of us who had managed to brave the storm or were completely unaffected (some people just aren't right) had a relatively quiet night, but pleasant nontheless. On reflection, with 3 cruises in as many months, the fact that this was the first time we had to put up with such weather was something of a blessing anyway...

Riga itself was much quieter this time, what with it being a Sunday, and going around with different people (i was the only native English speaker on this trip) meant I saw a few things I'd missed last time around, but generally we took it quite easy, and pancakes, cheese and coffee (not necessarily in that order) were more the order of the day. Our time was quite limited, what with the travel time there and back being longer than to Helsinki, so by half 3 or so we were all in the alcohol shop then on our way back to the ferry :)

From Riga part 2

Second night was a bit more lively, and party was indeed had. I'd add more, but by this stage it all seems relatively similar when written down...suffice to say none of us had had much sleep by the time we got back on monday, and it was about 10PM by the time i started my essay to be handed in by midnight...but I'm a professional, so i made it :) Good trip all round though!

Snow!

Yes, that's right, it's the 1st of November, and it's snowing! This is what Sweden's about! I'm rather excited, took a picture out of my window, see! Wooooooooooooooo! :D

From Västerås Cont