Festival Wettern Gränna

Festival Wettern is a new music festival in Gränna. A small town in the south of Sweden. Famous for it´s candy “Polkagrisar”. During the summer the town is invaded of tourist who enjoy the old and very cozy town next to the lake Vättern and the isle of Visingsö. The festival area is next to the beach and gives the band a stunning view from the stage. During the afternoon and evening seven band from different genres played. I will give you a short review from some of them.

Loud ´N´ Proud 4/10

Loud ´N´ Proud is turning this small festival into a rockfestival. This band from Borås plays melodious hard rock with a raw touch without getting heavy. The songs are definitely worth listening. On Spotify…. The band is so boring on stage that I get slightly provoked. The only thing that cheer up the gig are colourful and stylish instruments. It´s nothing wrong of the looks or image and they are clearly good musicians, but the energy in the music itself doesn´t match the feeling from the band. They exude an overdose of sedatives….. I am live reporter and I put scores on the overall experience. In this case, unnecessarily low.

I see many new hard rock bands. The difference between those who quickly succeed and those who can only continue dreaming is how well they manage to capture the audience’s interest. Whether it is 5 or 5000 in the audience, the focus must be on the audience. Not on each other, not in the floor or anything else on the stage. So please Loud N Proud, give your really good songs a chance and “live” the music on stage together with us who both listen and watch. The guitarist Jimmy Donai gets “approved” for eye contact and for the fact he at least moves a little on stage.

Capricorn 7/10

Capricorn is also from the west of Sweden, Uddevalla. Right now they are in the middle of recording a new album. I am glad they took a break from the studio and gave us a good gig in Gränna this evening. I can imagine they feel the same. Their joy on stage is showned.

The guitars is loud and fast from the start. This is one of many relatively new bands in Sweden with influences from the 70s century with a modern twist. Real Rock n´ Roll with a smell of England. Even though it’s an embarrassingly small crowd and a frugal stage show, Capricorn is making an effort to give us a good gig. The energy and dedication are heading out on the audience together with the smoke. Kristoffer Ekberg is a good singer but also a skilled guitarist. He offers a solo that brings to mind Gary Moore. A sound I love but not often hear from other bands. Thanks for that!

Capricorn is a really talented band that I would love to see again. Isn´t that exactly the feeling you want to have when a band leave the stage? You look forward to the next time they enter a stage.

Bonafide 6/10

Tonight’s most established band that has sometimes been called AC/DC in Swedish. Can I choose, I select the voice of Pontus Snibb in Bonafide over Brian Johnson every day of the week but it’s of course a matter of taste. And as much as I have a hard time to hear someone else than Brian in AC/DC, Pontus is a part of Bonafide hard to replace. His voice is perfect for the sound.

In terms of music I understand the comparison. This is classic hard rock with clear riffs, progressive melodies and choruses that stays in our music memory. Latest single “Smoke and Fire” is a really good song that goes in line with their previous release.

What about Bonafide as a live band? Well, professional but in the same time ordinary…. In Swedish “lagom” or what we sometimes refer to “mellanmjölk” (milk that is not light or fat, in the middle). No more or less. It´s obvious that they have the routine from a long career (the drummer does his gig No. 400 with the band tonight!) and they have a perfectly OK contact with the audience, but this is not a gig I will remember for a long time. The singer gives the audience a running visit and it’s always an appreciated move. They do exactly what is expected of them and sure, they do it well and the music is pleasant hard rock but myself, I prefer stronger drinks. A band I like to have on my playlist and maybe even on my corporate events, but I miss that little extra. What makes them stand out from the crowd and go into the heart. They end with a true guitar battle. That probably can be seen as the shows highlight while the sunset colors the heaven over Vättern pink.

Festival Wettern is a nice koncept and I really hope that they can come back next year. And to all the metal heads out there. Where are you?!

I often hear complaining about the “dead” livestage in Sweden, it´s so hard for young people to watch and play metal etc etc. It´s not dead! It´s the swedish audience that is dead. I go to a lot of gigs, local festivals, rock club events etc all year arround and it´s always so hard for the organizers to get people to show up. Even if the cost is almost 0:-.

So, if you think of yourself as a real metalhead – get out of the house and your phone and get in to the real metal world when you have the opportunity. No one can go to everything but many of us can go to some events during the year.