Sweden Rock Review (with pictures)

[MysticX9]

Cool review and pics Zod, glad to read you enjoyed Saxon!

Did DeMartini play his early solos the way he used to? When I saw them several years back he played them in a slower, bluesy style which, while good, was disappointing as I am a huge fan of his playing on the first couple of albums.

Anyway, hope I can make it over there for one of these festivals at some point, sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[Bear]

awesome pics and great review Zod!! thanks dude

Bear

 

[AMBR]

Exactly. Metal Camp is the only one I'd still consider, for exactly the reason you mentioned. One of the problems with these multi-day Euro festivals is (as you know), they get to be too much. To be able to escape for a few hours, to the river Tomlin, might make things quite ideal.

Zod

Thanks for the review! It really brought back memories. I've been having a hard time this summer skipping Europe and sulking at home. While I certainly understand the exaustion/cost factor of going to festivals overseas, I'm a total addict. Certainly helps to have the VIP access. I don't know if I could hold up without it. Gives you a quieter place to chill away from the crowds. We spend a lot of time back there recharging.

Of the ones I've been to, I loved Sweden Rock but the commute between the festival and accomodations was annoying as hell. You're right about the weather; either too hot or too chilly. I always ended up with a light jacket wrapped around my waist for the cold parts. Annoying during the day, but worth it in the end.

Yea, and I saw the whole sharing of the water bottle thing, but luckily I had my own collapsible water bag that I kept refilling.

Bang Your Head is Germany is a really special festival and I'd LOVE to go again. The town of Balingen is a 10 min. walk to the fest so I was able to go back to the hotel if I needed something. Also a good portion of the standing area in front of the stage (one stage) was paved which cut down on the dust factor. With attendance at approx 15,000 it's smaller than some of the other fests, but in some ways that makes it better.

 

[General Zod]

Did DeMartini play his early solos the way he used to? When I saw them several years back he played them in a slower, bluesy style which, while good, was disappointing as I am a huge fan of his playing on the first couple of albums.

He did play them in a much bluesier fashion, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I thought he was true enough to the integrity of the original solo, yet displayed his growth as a player. Personally, I don't need to hear 95% of guitar solos played note for note (as they are on the disc). If I'm going to see a great guitar player, I'm totally cool with it if he wants to expand on or update his work, or just be "in the moment". Just my $0.02.

Bang Your Head is Germany is a really special festival and I'd LOVE to go again. The town of Balingen is a 10 min. walk to the fest so I was able to go back to the hotel if I needed something.

The smaller size is definitely more attractive. How far is it from the nearest airport?

Zod

 

[AMBR]

The smaller size is definitely more attractive. How far is it from the nearest airport?

Zod

Yea, I think you would really like this festival. It's a manageable size. One stage may seem like a downside, but there's not that exhausting running to catch all the bands you want to see. If you aren't into the band playing, you hit the VIP tent which is nearby, so you can still hear in relaxed comfort. It's also only 2-days. This year it's June 27&28. I'm so disappointed I'm not going.

Here are this years bands to get an idea of the caliber:
JUDAS PRIEST
QUEENSRYCHE - doing the whole Mindcrime thing
SAXON
ICED EARTH
WHITE LION
GREAT WHITE
RAGE
GRAVE DIGGER
AGENT STEEL
HARDCORE SUPERSTAR
TANKARD
OBITUARY
ONSLAUGHT
ENSIFERUM
KORPIKLAANI
FORBIDDEN
AGENT STEEL
LIZZY BORDEN
SECRECY
BREAKER
TYR
AGE OF EVIL
CONTRACRASH

It's a HUGE plus to be able to walk to the festival. They also have one helluva KICK ASS pre-party the night before. It's in an enormous tent and has everything from bands to beer to strippers, lol. A LOT of fun, though a bit hard on the system if you flew in that day. Ben and I were up like 40 hours in a row, lol.

We flew in to Stuttgart. From their you take a short train to the main train station. It matters which train you take from there to Balingen. Some are express and take an hour and 15 min. The others take an hour and 45 min. You can check the schedule and buy tickets online. I think the express trains are more expensive. The only hard part was that it was confusing to find the Balingen platform because it's a small village. The people at the info desk helped us out, though. The train station is right in town.

 

[pollution]

Yea, I think you would really like this festival. It's a manageable size. One stage may seem like a downside, but there's not that exhausting running to catch all the bands you want to see. If you aren't into the band playing, you hit the VIP tent which is nearby, so you can still hear in relaxed comfort. It's also only 2-days. This year it's June 27&28. I'm so disappointed I'm not going.

I was over for Bang Your Head last year also and loved it. I liked the one stage set up so didn't miss any bands because of bad scheduling and also had no need to hurry anywhere at any point. The Balingen town is really nice too with hotels available near the festival site (btw if you decide to go, I believe it is very recommended to book your hotel really early).

I was hoping to go back to BYH this year too. But they changed it to be the same weekend as the Tuska festival 15 mins busride from my apartment. So in the end it was a very easy decision to go to Tuska for the 6th year in a row

Thanks for the great review Zod! As a festival addict it's always nice to read up such stories. Never been to Sweden Rock myself (and probably never will, it's in Sweden after all.. hehe) If the lineup for the Tuska festival looks good to you one of these years and you decide to go to another Euro fest, it's a great option too. About 11000 - 12000 people a day so not as huge as many of the Euro fests and located as downtown Helsinki as possible, about 300 meters from the main train station. So the festival site is only about 12 miles from the closest international airport and there are plenty of hotels within walking distance. Basically everything else needed is within walking distance too and public transport works great if wanting to get out of the city. Shoot me a PM if you want more info some day. Here's a pic of the Tuska festival area from 2005, nowadays the stages are a bit different but generally it's the same still: