Day 1
A couple of months ago I realised I wouldn�t be able to visit "Hultsfredsfestivalen". This festival seemed to be the one to visit this summer if you wanted a heavy dose of stoner rock. There were gonna be a lot of stoner bands performing, among others Nebula, Queens of the Stone Age, Roadsaw, Leadfoot, WE, Spiritual Beggars and Dozer.
Then I discovered that a small festival was taking place in the middle of the dark forests of Varmland in a tiny town called Forshaga. And there were gonna be even more stoner rock bands at this festival than at Hultsfred, my summer was saved... This must be the only "town" in the world were the council has hired a dude to be their heavy metal consultant...
This festival is on it�s third year. It started out small and it still is at least in comparison to most other festivals, but it has grown a little from year to year. This year there were 40 bands with musical styles ranging from punk rock to death metal attending, but if you were in to stoner rock (or whatever you wanna call it) this was where to be.
After picking up my backstage pass I was just in time for Lowrider. Due to the weather conditions there were rather poor attendence during Lowrider`s gig. But those who came prepared for rain were rewarded with a good gig by the dudes in Lowrider, although a little short due to a power out during their 40 min. time slot. They played a couple of old and a couple of new songs from their upcoming album. They also managed to squeeze in a Led Zeppelin cover. I was going to do an interview with Peder from Lowrider, but I guess I�ll have to save that one for another time.
A little later it was time for Souldivider, this band was from Karlstad which seems to be a good stoner town since among others also Lowrider, Sparzansa, Remuda Dust and Space Probe Taurus hail from the same town. This band was one of the first nice surprices during this festival. Before this gig I had heard jack shit about `em. To my surprise they even had a singer with a cool voice, he kinda sounded like a mix between Layne Staley and James Hetfield. They also had a bunch of good and catchy songs and they knew what to do with `em on stage. I had a chat with these dudes backstage after the gig and I ended up with a t-shirt and a couple of demos in my bag. So be on the look out for a review of their two demos later on...
On my way to the camping ground I heard some cool sounds from the small stage so I went back to take a look. On stage was a band called Sienna Root doing some heavy 70�s stuff with lots of psychedelic and/or progressive vibes to it. It might not really be stoner rock, but I think that most people in to stoner rock would be in to this to. They reminded me of a softer Spiritual Beggars, with lots of organ and a bit more of that vintage 70�s sound. I got a demo from these guys to, so check the review section within a couple of weeks...
The next band to really knock me, was Norrsken (that�s swedish for Northern Lights). These dudes looked like they stepped right out of Dazed and Confused (the movie) with bellbottoms and all. I guess they were in their late teens or early twenties, and to be this young and shell out heavy 70�s rock in the style of Bang and Buffalo like they had done nothing else, was simply amazing. I had heard their Trouble cover on the Bastards Will Pay tribute so I knew they rocked, but that they kicked ass like this was more than I could�ve guessed. No wonder these dudes got a record deal recently (with Record Heaven).
A lot of the metalheads spent their time getting drunk at the camping ground during the evening but I for one wouldn�t wanna miss Rise And Shine�s gig. I guess they had the biggest audience of the bands playing on the small stage during the first day of the festival. But since they had played on both of the earlier DIST festivals I guess that word of mouth had spread about their live gigs. This is a pretty cool band and Josabeth Leidi has a lot of presence on stage.
Abramis Brama uses swedish lyrics to their brand of heavy 70�s rock or stoner rock. I for one have always had a hard time with swedish lyrics (it doesn�t seem to fit to rock `n� roll), but it worked for November (classic swedish 70�s band). To my surprise I must say that swedish lyrics really works for Abramis Brama. And they were a kick ass live band with a very carismatic singer. They got their 2nd album coming up soon. I guess I�ll have to get a hold of the first album also so I know their stuff when it�s time to review the new one...
When I finally reach the camping ground I discover that some asshole had been in our tent and looked thru our stuff. They made a mess in the tent but all they had found was a couple of bottles of Pepsi. Our tent wasn�t the only one they had been in. A couple of metalheads of the not to bright kind had left their wallets and cellphones in their tents and one of the girls kept complaining that "this always happened to her on festivals"... duh
Day 2
At 8 o�clock in the morning there were to much noise at the camping ground to continue sleeping, so after three hours sleep it was time to get up and to locate some food. Since the foodstands at the festival were closed we had to take a walk to the closest supermarket to stock up our junkfood supply. Then followed four slow hours until it was time to walk to the festival area. The first band out this day was Space Probe Taurus from Karlstad. I had heard rumours that they were really good, but they were even better than I expected. They played a very heavy kind of stoner rock with some similarities to bands like Black Sabbath and Monster Magnet. They had added their own touch to their kind of heavy stoner rock, it was real heavy s**t, with lots of psychedelic touches to it.
I had to leave the Space Probe Taurus gig early to catch Remuda Dust at the big stage. They played stoner rock the way you�re used to hear it, heavy, catchy tunes in the vein of Fu Manchu, Dozer and others. Some of the guys from this band seemed really young, and to be this young and already kick ass the way they did, it�s quite an accomplishment. If you haven�t heard Remuda Dust you can check out the last track on the Molten Universe compilation. They also just released a new 7" this spring, so if you want you can check out my upcoming review.
Sideburn was the next stoner act on the small stage. I didn�t catch their act from the start since the gig before them were delayed and to top it off someone told me the wrong new timeslot for their gig. They had some trouble with the sound quality, but their gig kicked ass anyway. It was a long time since I last heard a guitar with as much fuzz as this... After the gig they told me that they have an album coming up, if I�m not mistaking it was to be released by Beard Of Stars Records (Vinyl Magic/Italy).
That evening at 8 o�clock I finally got to see Half Man on stage, they sound fantastic on their studio material but they really come to their right on stage. They started their gig with a cool cover of Pink Floyd�s When You�re In. They had the best sound by far on this festival, I guess it can�t hurt to bring along their extraordinary soundman, he was almost as a fifth member. Among the eight songs they played were two new, yet unnamed, songs and a version of the classic Sugar Mama that sent shivers down my spine. The only thing surviving from the original version was the lyrics, the rest was a ten minute long heavy psychedelic delight with an amazing job done by both the band and their soundman. They closed their set with Two Perverted Men In The Swamp, they used to have this song as an opener, but it works as well as a closer. This gig left me with a stupid smile from ear to ear, I was as happy as a pig in shit. I can�t wait to see these dudes on stage again...
The last of the "stoner" acts to enter the stage this festival was The Quill and many of the things I said about Half Man apply to them too. Their studio material sounds really good but when you get these dudes on stage they rock even harder. I know there are people in the "stoner community" that think the singer has to much of an 80�s sound in his song style. I, on the other hand, think that it�s quite refreshing to not have to hear the same kind of vocal styles over and over again. And when you catch this band on stage you�ll see that there�s a different kind of fire in the song style during a live performance. The band also sounds really heavy when they play live and it was really cool to hear the long and heavy psychedelic instrumental parts of their set.
Later that evening me and the dudes from Half Man tried to enjoy the performance of Napalm Death, but we all thought it sucked... Is it an age thing, or...?
All in all this was an amazing festival, it might even benefit from growing a couple of sizes. But if they keep the same kind of attitude I think they can handle a larger audience. Keep up the good work...
