A different view on Sommar Rock Svedala

Thursday - Saturday there was the annual festival in my small home town of Svedala. A year without this festival would feel weird in my book, although I no longer live there.

Thursday: Arrived at the area around 2pm to set the stand. The rain was pouring down, which made this task very difficult. Only thinking of comfortable shoes to stand and walk in I was wearing my purple Converse and Love his running shoes. They were completely soaked through after a few hours, as were our hoodies. Luckily we had both put plastic bags on our feet so our feet remained dry inside our soaked through shoes :) And after we had put on the roof the setting of the stand became somewhat easier. They had to put wooden chips all over the walking areas and the paths as to stop the mud and the slipping. At 5pm the gates to the festival opened. The bands that played today were Singel, Apolonia, K.R.A.M., Electric Boys, Rock'n'Roll Boys, and Wilmer X. In that order. Singel was mostly a cover band, they sounded quite OK, although for some reason the male singer didn't bring it all when he sang Bryan Adams' Summer of '69 with the result that that song sounded quite measly. I absolutely did not like Apolonia. Their music sounded like folk/rock/noise. Mostly just noise. K.R.A.M. are there every year and they sounded exactly like they do every year; quite OK. Electric Boys: do you use any other musical instrument than the bass? Rock'n'Roll Boys were OK. Didn't like Wilmer X. Had heard so much about them, but in the end it was mostly folk/rock and it's not a genre that I'm particularly fond of. Without much ado the day ended and we went to sleep around 1am.

Friday: Arrived at the area around 4pm to reset the stand. This was made difficult by the Crew members as there apparantly was no official entrance for us until the public entrance opened at 5pm. I was pissed off at this since we obviously had work tags, proof that we worked there, and we were not allowed in. But in the end we were showed to an opening and let inside. This day it was raining as well. Not as heavily as Thursday but still raining and our shoes got soaked again, but not as bad as the day before, much thanks to the wooden chips (they had put on more for today). The rain was that kind of unpleasant not-really-falling kind of rain. At 5pm the entrance opened and the bands that played today were Calle & the Undervalleys, Melody Club, Danne Stråhed, The Boppers, Diamantorkestern, and Mustasch. Both I and Love looked forward to Calle & the Undervalleys, since Calle was the runner-up in Swedish Idol in 2009 and he has an amazing voice. None of us was actually able to be there but we heard everything. I loved it when he played his (now famous) version of Walking in Memphis. Next up was Melody Club. I'd class them as new wave or electropop, but they try to look fierce and like rockers. I'm not a big fan and I only recognized one song: Electric. A song remembered from my childhood. Danne Stråhed always brings loads of people so this was when our work kick-started for real. He sings chansons and he does it pretty well, even I can enjoy them from time to time. "När en flicka talar skånska" is pretty much his most famous song and I like it somewhat. My parents were surprised to hear that The Boppers were on the road again. I've heard of them, but never really heard anyting of them. I thought. Then I recognized Kissing in the Moonlight. Is that a famous cover of theirs or are they really the makers of that song? I couldn't hear much of Diamantorkestern since I had loads to do, but I think they were nice. Loads of people wore pins with their name on it anyway. Then it was time for Mustasch. I saw them at Metaltown in 2009 and thought they sounded quite OK, but this time I remained terribly unimpressed. They were just untuneful. I recognized a few of the songs. Like Mine which I think is one of their best songs. But other than that they were incredibly boring. And Gothenburg dialect simply takes the edge of the hard rock, because it sounds so cute xD When the concert ended we simply covered up the stand and left. Went to bed around 1am.

Saturday: Arrived around noon. This time we had no problems getting inside. Today the sun was finally shining. This was the big day and we brough out the "large artillery", a.k.a ballons and cotton candy. This day started out with the children competition called Småstjärnorna (roughly translated into Little Stars) where they impersonate an artist and lip-synchs and dances to a song. A boy being Kiss with Heaven's on Fire won. I like!!! After the competition there was child entertainment on the big stage in the shape of two trolls called Drill & Drull. After this I barely had time listening to Martin Prahl and Anna Hertzman on the small stage because the stand was overcrowded with people. We were given a small break when September played on the big stage. I usually don't listen to pop and I haven't listened to the radio for over 6 years, but I still recognized one song: La La La (Never Give it Up). I barely had time to listen to Skai on the small stage because once again the stand was overcrowded with people. That rush lasted the entire hour Skai played and it wasn't until The Poodles entered on the big stage that I got some room to breathe again. I used to like this band when they first debuted. I still like the song Night of Passion, but other than that I feel that they sound too popish and it's painfully obvious on the song Metal Will Stand Tall, which makes the message of the song sound kind of ironic. During this performance I had to rush out of the area to buy 10 litres of milk at the gas station on the other side of the road. The coffee stand was running out. When I got back I caught a glimpse of my old middle school teacher. He noticed me and waved a little, I smiled back my hands tied since I was carrying two bags full of milk. Soon after I got back The Poodles' concert ended and another rush came crowding the stand again. I had no time listening to Perikles, which I kind of regret since they're a great live band. Everyone loves their song "Var ska vi sova i natt" and when they start playing that song the vocalist doesn't need to do anything; the crowd sings everything. Then everyone went back to the big stage to watch The Ark. This band is giving their final tour this summer and then they disband. The band got big 11 years ago and back then they played on the small stage. I've seen them live three times at this festival, couting this one, which should make it 2½ times ;) I don't know if I like The Ark or not, sure they have loads of good songs, but it's not really my cup of tea. I do love The Worrying Kind though! And It Takes a Fool to Remain Sane is quite good as well. After this was the traditional ending with Vivaldi's Spring and then beautiful fireworks. There was a small rush and then we started packing everything down. Finally got to bed around 2.30am.

I'll probably be there next year as well. So if you read this or my blog, come by and say hi :)