Sweden Rock Festival 2022

At 4.15AM on Tuesday morning we started packing up the car and at 4.30 we drove off to pick up the last person. Around 5AM we finally rolled out of the city and headed south towards a week of fun, music and friends. If it wasn't for covid this would probably have been mine and bf's 9th time at Swedish Rock Festival, instead it's our 7th time. The best part about this festival is how happy and carefree everyone is, and that ambience was extra strong this year. AFter two years of not being able to come here everyone was so exalted to be back. The crowd was happy and merry even with the not-so-perfect weather and even the bands on stage seemed extra excited to be back on stage facing the screaming crowds. It was amazing. Even more amazing than usual. 

We kept the tickets that were supposed to be for 2020, felt a bit odd to use two-year-old tickets to exchange for our wristbands, but hey! Thanks for keeping them valid for these two years!

Going to Sweden Rock Festival

We arrived around lunch and started building our camp. We're always in the same spot on the same camping. And it was so great to see all of the people again! We usually oonly meet once a year at SRF and two years without seeing each other was just too damn long! In the two years since we could last see each other the camp had gone from being (mostly) in our 20s to being a whole bunch of 30+ people, several of whom had become parents in the meantime. Crazy!

After the camp was built, bf and I went to exchange our tickets to wristbands, buy this year's merch and procure soda to make rum&coke in camp. Our mission was successful!

Wednesday was the first proper day of the festival, but me and bf had no bands we really had to see until in the evening when we went inside the concert area and watched Raubtier. I don't know a lot of songs by them and the one I know the best, they didn't play, but damn the energy they brought and the crowd had just made the whole experience magical! 

Thursday was our busiest day! We started the day with Alestorm. After a short break with food and drink in the camp we went back inside. Everyone but me was going to see Devin Townsend, but I went to see Eluveitie and that's probably the best concert of the year. The band was so extatic to be back on stage and the crowd was so excited to be there! It created a magical experience where I spent equal amounts of time jumping, screaming, clapping, singing, and thrashing around in the mosh pit. Eluveitie also taught me I'm too old for mosh-pits now. Everything hurt afterwards! xD

In the evening we went back inside to see Dropkick Murphys, Volbeat and the one band I had looked forward to for years! Nightwish! To my eternal sorrow I was only 14 when the band broke with Tarja and so I never had a chance to see them live with her, but I saw them twice with Anette and this was my first time with Floor. And wow, did she deliver! The whole band did. It was amazing and the experience was only marred by the guy who kept jumping like crazy (both into me and on me) every time they played a song newer than Imaginaerum. On the other hand, every song older than Imaginaerum had me scream-singing in his ear so I guess we're even xP

Friday was a calm day spent mostly in the camp where we got to partake in the traditional activity of "decorating" the first person to pass out in the camp. In the evening we went to see In Flames, which, surprisingly, I haven't seen before. Surprsing considering how many times they've been at SRF and Metaltown. 

On Saturday we were all pretty miserable after four days camping and drinking and head-banging. All around happy, but oh so done with sleeping in tents. That morning we were invited on a backstage tour of the festival thanks to one of our camp members being an ambassador for Hi-Fi Klubben. It was a very cool tour and we got to go up backstage on the second largest stage while Honeymoon Suite were playing. And we got to take a look at the backstage area where the bands hang out. Nothing so glamorous as a green-room on a festival, but it was still a pretty cool experience. 

We decided to leave on Saturday evening instead of Sunday morning. So for our last trip inside the festival area of 2022 we saw Hardcore Superstar and then Within Temptation. I've seen both of those bands before, three times each. But they were just as good. Hardcore Superstar has some crazy on-stage energy. Within Temptation is always extremely powerful. If I could sing like Sharon I'd never shut up. 

The band that would close the entire festival was Guns 'n' Roses. None of us are super fans of the band, and some of our camp members who've been to SRF more times than us told us about the last time Guns were at SRF and they didn't go up on stage until they were almost an hour late. They wanted to see the first few songs and give Guns a chance to redeem themselves. We decided to get in the car instead and start the 7-hour roadtrip back north. While in the car I kept talking via Messenger to the people who stayed for a bit, and found out Guns were 30 minutes late to go on stage this time. Our friends didn't even stay to hear one song. Such a shitty attitude from Guns to end an otherwise amazing festival. 

We started the drive around 10.30pm and arrived home around 5.30am. That shower after you come home after a week of camping is divine. Sleeping in your own bed is like a piece of heaven. 

Going home from Sweden Rock Festival

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