Wednesday's gig at Kulturkalaset in Göteborg was nothing short of amazing! Outdoors and free for everyone, the people flocked en masse, estimated to at least 25.000 invading Götaplatsen and Avenyn the most central part of downtown city. There were so many people, the bus and tram traffic had to be impromptu stalled during our show, hehe. We love our city!

I can't even begin to describe how awesome the gig at Wacken was for us! There were literally no end to the fists banging in the sunny air, and I am not sure anything could have made this show better for us. Well, maybe a couple of more songs to prolong the sensation, but not much else.

The next day we had a long travel day, beginning at noon and ending around ten. On paper. We had a couple of hours at the airport in both Hamburg and Copenhagen, and we were all ready for a lot of waiting and boredom. What we didn't expect was that some of the In Flames guys would have exactly the same trip as we did (they also played yesterday). We had some beers and hung out and just had fun, and it made the day go by really quickly!


After another beer at the Göteborg airport, some of us went straight to St. George's, the pub of Henrik from Evergrey, and continued our drinking there. When they closed, Fredrik and I left our luggage at the pub and continued by closing down Kelly's, another pub. Then it was off to Sticky Fingers, but while in the cab I realized I didn't have the keys to my apartment with me; they were still in my luggage at St. George's... It took some telephone calls and some waking up of spouses, but eventually I was let in and could collect my keys and luggage. By then it was time for me to head home. A really nice and unexpected day/evening, and I haven't laughed like that in a long while! I really needed it. Thanks for everything, guys, it was truly a pleasure! "Alright, thumbs up. Let's do this! Leeeeeeerrroooooyyyyyyy Jeeeeeenkiiiiiiiinssss!"
 
/Oscar

We have arrived at Wacken Open Air, flew in a day early to catch the shows of Running Wild and Heaven & Hell. Started by having a beer at the airport around noon, then just kept going. Those Strawberry Frozen Margheritas were awfully good!

We arrived in Åland around noon, gig at nine. Lots of free time, so we took a walk into town. The others tried to flip over the festival check-in booth, but stopped just short of succeeding.

Anders and I found a bike-rental place where we acquired two bikes for €10 a piece. They provided us with much fun during the day! We went up to a classic make-out point next to a water tower (we verified this was actually what it was with one of the locals afterwards), took a ride through the harbor and on main street, where we met up with the others in the band.


In Sweden and Finland, you can not buy alcohol in regular stores. To be able to control the drinking, the governments theorizes, they have kept the monopoly and decide when and where the people of the countries can buy their spirits. The outlet in Sweden is called Systembolaget. In Finland, they are a little less subtle and simply named it Alko.



The bikes were a big hit, as we played with them more or less throughout the entire day. We drove them round and round indoors, kicking at things, we competed in drifting, tried to make a turn without putting out feet down in the truck that carries our equipment (called a "garagevändning" when you take your motorcycle license in Sweden) etc. I lost the key for my bike while trying to make marks in the gravel in front of the stage, but some friendly photographer had picked it up, saving me from having to pay €50 in penalty.



Thank you Åland, for an absolutely amazing time yesterday! There is absolutely no question that you enjoy your heavy metal, and we were very, very excited afterwards. Too bad we had to leave so soon, but we had a ferry to catch. Overnight to Stockholm, then about 13 hours on the bus awaits. Going to the north of Sweden, to Piteå.

The world has lost a great bass player, fantastic song writer and an all-round super musician today. He was a long time really good friend and band mate of both Pontus and Anders since many years, and he was on the short list to replace Magnus in HammerFall two years ago. We mourn his death and celebrate his memory, as a lot friends, fans does as well. R.I.P., Marcel!

/HammerFall

Marcel Jacob dead

A big annual metal festival was held this weekend in Göteborg, headlined by Slipknot and Marilyn Manson, with Disturbed, Opeth and the likes as backup. We couldn't have asked for better weather, the tickets were sold out since a while, and the beer and cider and wine flowed freely. All the makings of a success!



There was an after party at Sticky Fingers last night, and a KISS tribute band was performing, KYSS (means kiss in Swedish). Absolutely fantastic show, Fredrik and I - and everyone else! - were singing and jumping up and down all the time. Fantastic ending to a fantastic festival weekend!

One song from the incredible evening that was April 10th, in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Waking up a Sunday morning a Barcelona bathing in sunlight and 17-18°C in the air is a wonderful feeling! Joacim, Anders and I walked down to the beach for a bit of summer feeling.



I tried to win some more money from Anders - who now owes me £50 after losing a bet that I couldn't stay away from alcohol for a week - but this time he raised the stakes a little: I had to take off all my clothes and streak across the beach and throw myself in the ocean. It was Sunday, for god's sake, and the place was swarming with people! Besides, the ticket I most likely would get for indecent exposure would probably cost me more than I would make on the bet. Perhaps if I had been in my early twenties, when you didn't think so much about the consequences? We skipped the bet, I kept my underwear on and went in on my own. It wasn't as cold as I had anticipated, and the sun warmed me up quickly afterwards!

The venue in Madrid, La Riviera, is a place we have frequented many times over the years. When we woke up this morning, we were greeted with the message that it had been closed and the new venue was Sala Groove, 45 minutes outside of the city. Wonderful...



They have a weird tradition here in Spain, which I don't think I have seen anywhere else. On weekends, everybody involved in the metal show has to clear out of the building as quickly as possible when we're finished playing, so they can get the next batch of customers in, usually for a disco of some kind. Today it seemed to be a porno party of some kind, because the last thing we saw before leaving the venue were guys hanging up huge, pink styrofoam penises! : P



The venue itself was strange and a little unusual, but the audience was so unbelievable we didn't even notice come showtime. Thank you Madrid!