Festival report: Way Out West
Thursday
The day started off well enough. I woke early and had a good stroll around central Göteborg and managed to get myself fairly oriented to city. I also had a surprise run-in with Viktor Sjöberg in an empty parking lot and his dog Douglas suprised me right back, sending my cup of coffee flying through the air. Things were off to a good start! The majority of my afternoon was spent exploring the Konstmuseum (I think I'll be needing an Ivar Arosenius print at some point) and then it was time to meet more friends and start the Way Out West concert experience.
I missed openers Function, but Low exceeded expectations with their set at Trädgär'n. I'm only moderately familiar with their catalog, but what I saw was understated, elegant and quite powerful. Following them was another American act, Woven Hand. Naturally, I came to WoW primarily to see Swedish acts, but since Woven Hand tours Sweden far more often than the US, I made sure to make this show and they did not disappoint one bit. Frontman David Eugene Edwards has an incredibly intense stage presence, on par with Neurosis, easily one of the most emotionally demanding bands I've ever been fortunate enough to see.
Knowing fully well that there would be no way to top Woven Hand, I still set out to Pustervik to catch some more bands for my evening's entertainment. ...And You Will Know Us By Our Trail of Dead was packed solid and admitting no new patrons, so I went upstairs to check out Last Days of April. The wait was slightly longer than expected, but Håkan from Division of Laura Lee/Carcrash Records kept things interesting from his position behind the DJ booth. As for LDOA when they did finally take the stage, they were 100% solid despite a less-than-stellar placement in the lineup. I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed. Another time, another place perhaps.
(AR)
Friday
At last, the start of the 'real' festival and the Boredoms set things off right. I was bit hesitant, having been disappointed by a show sometime around the period of "Super Æ", but this was something else entirely. My impression is that today's music was based on (or at least similar to) the recent "77 drummers" performance. It featured a steady onslaught of three pounding drummers and the reappearance of Eye's percussive guitar tree. The meandering psychedelia of years ago was vanquished from my mind and I let myself get lost in the endless hypnotic beat. I still can't say that I'll always be into everything the Boredoms do, but it's undeniable that they are always interesting and this performance certainly lived up to the hype.
I tried my best to avoid Salem Al Fakir's weak Billy Joel impression at one of the many beer tents before securing myself a proper position up front for Hello Saferide. The show was everything I'd hoped for: charming and sweet; equally balancing the upbeat, poppy material with the darker, more soulful (and often far more satisfying) ballads. All of the proper album highlights were played as well as a brand new track and the recent "I was definitely made for these times" single. It wasn't quite the transcendent experience I had hoped for, but it was quite nice to finally hear the songs in-person from the band's own instruments.
After Hello Saferide, it was proper time again for more beer and meeting friends. Finally got a chance to meet up with contributor Simon Tagestam (his SMS: "Hey Avi! You at the festival? Watching rubbish Laleh...") as well as a multitude of other folks. The next band to catch my attention: The Hellacopters. An experience made all that much greater from standing next to Fredrik Holmgren of Startracks who would constantly interrupt himself to yell things like "Oh my god! This fucking song! Yes!". Yeah, they were pretty good. And then The Hives - jeez, now there's a band that know's how to work a crowd of 16,000. Performing a few tracks from the forthcoming "The black & white album" as well as a plethora of classics, Pelle and the boys put on a proper show. Even if said record ends up being a total disaster, they are still a band not to be missed on tour. That's been obvious ever since the first time I saw them blow The (International) Noise Conspiracy off the stage.
Having now hooked up with another IAT contributor, a certain Jonas Appelqvist along with photographer companion Sofia Qvarnström, we decided it was a good time to exit the main festival grounds, seek nourishment from something besides weak Swedish lager and headed up to Sticky Fingers for Juvelen and Laakso. Once we arrived, it became instantly obvious that we made the right decision because the venue filled up right after our arrival. The unmistakable Ebbot Lundberg kept the people entertained from behind the decks as we waited patiently for the show to get underway.
Juvelen proved himself to be a considerably bigger draw than I anticipated and the crowd gushed with adoration as he strutted back and forth across the stage. No backing band, just lights, smoke and a guitar. That's all he needed. The females in attendance didn't seem to mind that he kept shedding layers of clothing as well. Impressive, for sure!
Of course, the big draw of the evening, especially for me, was Laakso and they were absolutely everything I had hoped them to be. Anthemic and glorious, perhaps even a bit cathartic. They played the hits and then they played some more. Annika Norlin came out and joined them for a rousing version of "Italy vs Helsinki". The band performed with fiery vigor and not a single moment was wasted. Some say that Laakso is currently Sweden's best band. I'm inclined to agree.
I should've called it a night following Laakso, but instead I set out on a fool's errand for a proper after-after-party. A wasted effort and a long walk home, but a good way to clear my jetlagged-rattled head and wind down. Lesson learned!
(AR)
Due to a wedding on the Saturday I was only able to attend Way Out West on Friday and I also had to leave early (halfway through The Hives' decent set) which meant I missed all the club nights too. Instead of getting to see Moneybrother, Regina Spektor, Juvelen, Laakso, TTA, Säkert!, Kanye West, Franke etc I was treated to the dire 'talents' that are Salem Al Fakir, Laleh, Albert Hammond Jr and the now questionable lot of The Hellacopters. Salem Al Fakir and Laleh could have been the worse festival combo I've ever witnessed, I was in shock by their horrible performances. Thankfully, Hello Saferide turned out to be a hint of sunshine in the rain, her set was much better than I expected it to be (I'm half a fan). The weather was rubbish, it was humid and rained most of the time, but the festival itself was nice. I love festivals near city centres! I'm definitely coming back if there will be a WoW in 2008, as long as I can go to the day when all the good bands are playing (no weddings then, please).
(ST)
Anticipations for the forthcoming album by The Hives are sky-high worldwide. And by all means, they should be. We're talking about a band putting up with a lot of pressure from, like, everywhere; the media, the record label and, most of all, the fans. And they know it. 'Cause what we saw was a hungry band eager to show off some new tunes and live up to the live rumor they've earned. After being locked up in studios around the globe for a long, long time it was quite obvious that Howlin' Pelle, Chris Dangerous, Vigilante Carlstroem, Dr. Matt Destruction and Nicholaus Arson wanted to kick ass. And maybe that's what made it come off as overkill. Sure, the band is a really tight one; the entertainment is top notch (especially Howlin' Pelle's banters wherein he heckles the crowd while stating that what we're watching is the greatest band in the world) but there's a downside to the enthusiasm. The new songs suffer from the furious tempo on stage. And frankly, those songs were the ones I wanted to hear. The new single "Tick tick boom" is a good choice for the first one out from "The black and white album" with its hooks and easy sing-along, but as a whole, the other new ones tleft me a bit disappointed. The patented Hives-sound was all over and that's what I'm having problems with. Been there, done that. But hey, don't worry; the gig as a whole wasn't a disappointment. It's when these guys from Fagersta play the wonderful "AKA I.D.I.O.T" from my favorite album "Barely legal" the show starts for real! Elegant as always, they deliver punk rock for the masses with crowd pleasers such as "Walk idiot walk" and "A little more for little you" (dedicated to Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters who was celebrating a birthday). Pelle had the crowd right where he wanted them, following his every move. And guess what?! His voice lasted the whole show. A seldom heard thing.
To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of electronic dance music, or Prince for that matter. But I can tell when competent music is performed and this was one show that proved me wrong. Performing inside a club and not on a stage at an outdoor festival definitely improved Juvelen since his music is made for the dance floor. And the crowd danced! And that's what it's all about I guess. The live show is secondary in this case and it should be, as long as you have great music to back things up. The hit single "Hannah" is a perfect example of that. Sung in a high falsetto over samples and a hot-tempered distorted guitar, the tune almost gets me down on the dance floor myself. And that is perhaps the best review you can get from me, seeing that I very rarely do such a thing! I have problem with the fact that a lot of the songs get kind of monotonous, but this one man show was a small success. At least if you're dancing.
Entering the stage 1:30 am and what a show they put on! Laakso's "Mother, am i good looking?" is one of this year's best records this far and Avi, photographer Sofia and me weren't the only ones at the venue with that opinion. Right from the first chords of "Worst case scenario", the band kickstarts into a euphoric journey full of Markus Krunegård's lyrical anguish with the added glam touch and disharmonic guitar licks of Bear Quartet's Jari Haapalainen. You could definitely tell that the band really loved this gig as they repeatedly stated that the clock was too much. The wonderful storytelling on "Västerbron", the heavy metal shouts on "In my blood", the reckless drumming on "Hang me in the Christmas Tree" and, of course the duet with Annika Norlin on "Italy vs Helsinki"; all that made this gig a tremendous experience.
(JA)
Saturday
The euphoria of the previous evening must've still been with me because I rose early again, ready and raring to go despite very few hours of sleep. I had some doubts about passing on The Pogues the previous night, but those fears were allayed from friends who declared the performance to be a pathetic travesty of a freakshow. No thank you! So with that, it was off for another long day of performances, starting off with Florence Valentin who were a perfect, rousing way to start the afternoon. The band's ample membership filled the Linné stage and their considerable energy got the crowd moving. That's some classic Göteborg indiepop done right and I'm glad they're back.
From Florence Valentin, it was back to the beer tent for refreshment after a quick glimpse at Shout Out Louds who were just as exciting as expected (read: not very). Caught a few songs from Sparta somewhere in there, then back for more beers to allay the boredom of the mid-afternoon lull. It was quite telling that the random dude Devandra Banhart invited up to perform a song far outshined the man himself. Moneybrother, sadly, proved to be equally lackluster, especially when compared to the full band with strings show I saw at Umeå Open two years ago. Again: no thanks.
Peter Bjorn and John on the other hand, delivered a strong and confident set, no doubt a testament to their endless tour schedule. Seeing as how they are still a small-stage act in their native Sweden, the set was all top-shelf material of wall-to-wall hits. Once again, Annika Norlin came out for a duet, this time filling in for Victoria Bergsman on the ubiquitous "Young folks". Well done! Funny that I had to travel thousands of miles to finally see these guys in the flesh, but I know it won't be for the last time. A small taste here at Way Out West whetted my appetite for the band's forthcoming club tour in the US this fall.
A break now for dinner (including a decent Swedish microbrew! shocking!) and then back in time for Säkert!, yet another festival highlight. Obviously I'm a big fan of Hello Saferide, but seeing Annika with the good folks of Isolation Years (plus Henrik Oya of The Spacious Mind and Jakob Nyström's sister Lovisa on keys/backing vocals) was fantastic. No gueststars today as all duets were aptly handled in-band, not that it mattered. They wrapped up the Parksommar tour here in top-notch style. The driving stomp of set-closer "Allt som är dit" was perfection and the crowd responded in kind. After that, I wandered over to catch the tail-end of The Ark's set, but was driven to seek shelter by the pounding rain. Had I been up front with sympathetic souls, I'm sure I would've loved it, but I opted for the easier (and drier) choice of watching from the safety of the beer tent. Hearing Ola Salo deliver a verse from "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg" during one of their triumphant breakdowns was a nice touch.
Lily Allen replacement Teddybears STHLM proved to be far better than expected. Despite having a softspot for the band's obnoxious early years as a hardcore band, there's no denying the group's reinvention as the new century's biggest hitfactory. Each and every song, another solid gold single. It also must be said that the overwhelmingly surreal experience of thousands singing along to final track "Punkrocker" was a capper. "Cuz I'm a punkrocker, yes I am!" Oh, really?
The spectacle of Kanye West was alluring, even moreso with the promise of a PB&J cameo, but my friends and I opted instead for the elusive Franke. Bad move! Not that Kanye West would've been much better (reports have not been flattering), but Franke was absolutely dreadful. The sound was shit and so was the performance. By far the biggest disappointment of the entire festival. Wisely, we decided to cut our losses and headed back to the Norrländska Generalkonsulatet for late-night Randy and Bruce Springsteen singalongs plus plenty of Norrlands Guld. Now that is a proper way to end an evening and a perfect conclusion to the Way Out West experience.
(AR)
Anders Wendin has been a class act entertainer ever since the days he fronted the sadly missed Monster. Something that's oh so obvious at this gig as well. As with The Hives, Moneybrother also have a new record due to be released and the focus is concentrated on material from that one, "Mount pleasure". Apart from the first single "Just another summer" ,I have not yet heard the record, but what they presented live sounded great and familiar. And that is, as always, a problem. The songs sound a bit too alike live. But when putting on such a live show, you're excused. This, the only Moneybrother festival gig this year, was a pure discharge after just recently completing a summer tour. And with hits like "They're building walls around us", "The pressure" and the marvelous final number "Reconsider me", you just can't go wrong. Too bad the guys (presented by Anders as the most attractive band out there) had some difficulties with the sound at times, but that's a problem I can overlook. I can't wait to see this again in a more intimate club venue some time soon.
I'm sure everyone knows about Annika Norlin's Säkert! by now. But I could never imagine that she'd bring such an all-star team to Way Out West. The fellow musicians were, among others, Mats Hammarström and Jakob Nyström from Isolation Years, Henrik Oja from David Sandström Overdrive and Tonteknik and other studios way up north (he's like the Swedish equivalence to Steve Albini, lots of great records bear his mark)! Aware of this fact or not, the crowd was euphoric and sang along to every song. The feeling in that big tent was a warm and fuzzy one and just what this, in Annika's own words, more outspoken cousin to Hello Saferide deserves. As much as I adore HS, I must say that Säkert! gets to me in a more direct way. And that's not at all just about me understanding the words, the music is more exposed and in your face. This is exactly why this was a really nice experience. With only one record out, the band can only do so much, but what they did was more than enough. Hearing Jakob singing Martin Hanberg's part on "Sanningsdan" is something I will remember as one of the finest things from this festival. The only downside was that Juliette & the Licks drowned some of the more mellow songs with their mediocre rock n' roll. Definitely nothing that Annika can be held responsible for. All in all, one of the finest shows at the festival!
(JA)
What can I say? Way Out West was a smashing success. And I nearly missed it. Who could have thought that this rookie-festival would sell out as fast as it did? With such a strong line up, it was a matter of time really, but several weeks ahead? And with me being quite lazy, well, Friday came and I still had no ticket. I did try though, I even went to the black market, but no. The Hives, Hello Saferide, The Hellacopters, and I wasn't there. Saturday came and I was about to lose all hope when luck finally came about. 200 extra tickets where released on demand and I got one. Off to the festival then!
Even though I couldn't make it the day before, I wasn't all bummed out. Saturday actually held a couple of really good and exciting Scandinavian bands as well. I missed Shout Out Louds due to my ticket problem, but since I've already seen them on just about every festival this summer, I couldn't care less. A little part of me felt sad for not being able to see the Saturday opening act Florence Valentin though. Instead, I arrived right on time to catch the one and only Moneybrother. In 2003 I saw Anders Wendin perform on one of the smaller stages on Accelerator, The Big One. Some had heard of Monster, none had heard of Moneybrother. And the gig was great. The two following records, "Blood panic" and "To die alone" were also great. Moneybrother was here to stay. But things change - sometimes you can only push things to a limit and thereafter it becomes boring. Anders Wendin and his colleagues give their best, but the news songs simply won't stick to my mind. No, more of the old Anders and less of Bruce Springsteen/Ulf Lundell.
Peter Bjorn and John. I've given these guys a hard time in the past, I know. I still think "Writers' Block" is a mediocre record, but live these guys rock! The place is crowded and I even forgive those who wait for that one special song alone. There's no Victoria Bergman on guest vocals today, but Annika Norlin from Säkert!/Hello Saferide still manages to give a golden touch to the indie anthem "Young folks". The gossip of today is, or course, what will Peter Bjorn and John pull off when they are to play with Kanye West this evening? Speaking of Annika Norlin, I was quite sceptical of her new project Säkert! when I heard the first single "Vi kommer att dö samtidigt", but yet again, I'm overwhelmed by the outcome live. It just sounds great. A little bit more raw and intense, exactly how I like my music. Annika Norlin is truly something special.
I skipped Timo Räisänen to get something to get something to eat and a new set of dry clothes (the sky opened up during the Regina Spektor concert, of course). I wasn't that sad about it, you've heard one Timo song, you've heard them all. Come to think of it, having already released two records, with a third on the way, and still getting to play just about anywhere, the guy must be doing something right. But you can't argue with hunger and cold. The Ark played about every festival I've been to this summer as well, but I still haven't been to an entire concert up to now. Why you ask? Well, it tends to become quite static after a while. This time it's different. As Ola Salo points out, it's the almost the end of the summer and soon enough it's back to school or to the old job. And we don't want that. So they play and we sing along.
Lilly Allen had to cancel, say hello to Teddybears STHLM! I've never been too fond of this band either (I know, I sound like a grumpy old man), but you can't argue with the hits. Who can say no to "Cobra style", "Punkrocker" and "Hey boy"? But there's Way Out West for you, bands you didn't expect to do well, did awesome instead.
I really wanted to get in the day before as well, but the Saturday alone gave me the chills. Too bad I was trapped inside a manic crowd during Kanye West (and yeah, Peter Bjorn and John did play "Young folks" again. This time it sucked though), I really wanted to see a couple of songs with Franke. Next time perhaps.
(CS)
Who's who:
CS: Christian Stenbacke
ST: Simon Tagestam
AR: Avi Roig
JA: Jonas Appelqvist
Pics by Sofia Qvarnström