Next up was Jinjer. A band I had heard a lot about, but never really listened to. Still, other people in the camp were going to see them so I decided to tag along. It was an experience for sure and they were really great. Amazing stage presence! Another This Is playlist saved on Spotify.
After Jinjer I decided to head to the official merch stand and get my first Slipknot T-shirt since I was fifteen. Skillet was starting 15 minutes after Jinjer ended, but I figured I could get my shirt and head to the stage in 15 minutes. It's usually possible. However, they had payment issues and it took me FORTY-FIVE minutes to get the T-shirt. I managed to catch three songs of Skillet. Luckily one of them was my favourite song by them. Unfortunately this was probably the weakest concert I went to this year.
After Skillet I headed to the festival brand merch shop to get this year's T-shirt (gotta have one for every year), and then I met up with a couple camp mates to watch Within Temptation. They're here like every two or three years so I've seen them like six times at this point, so my excitement wasn't peaked this time. However, they always deliver and I got chills throughout most of the concert. Stand My Ground live keeps bringing me to the verge of tears. The first song I heard by them, back when TV still had entire channels dedicated to music videos.
Back to camp for a bit more partying before heading back in the festival area to see Slipknot. I had previosuly seen them at Metaltown 2009 and Metaltown 2013, but it's been twelve years and this was probably my most anticipated show of the entire year. They delivered. This was the show where I went so hard my neck hurt for the rest of the festival. Worth it! Only criticisms I have are that the vibe check pauses were too long, ending the set with Scissors probably wasn't their best decision, and where TF was Before I Forget?
After Slipknot we chilled with some food and drink in camp before bedtime.
On Thursday I headed back to the festival early with some camp mates to see Brothers of Metal. Same situation as with Wind Rose in that I had only heard one of their songs earlier, Yggdrasil, and so I only knew that one. They were amazing live, though, and I saved their This Is playlist on Spotify as well.
After Brothers of Metal we went to have an ice latte and watched Dark Tranquillity on the big stage from a bit of a distance. We wanted to see them, but neither of us were that into that band so a bit of a distance, hiding under the shade of a parasol was optimal. I've seen Dark Tranquillity before and they always deliver.
Afterwards we returned to camp for some partying, except the sky opened up and we got torrential rain for an hour during which we all hunkered down in our tents. When the rain stopped the party continued. Later I returned to the festival area alone to see Sex Pistols. When I started to listen to them alongside Ramones and The Clash back when I was 16 I never thought I'd ever get to see the Sex Pistols live, so this was kind of a dream come true.And holy shit they delivered, it was a great show.
Back to camp for some partying and later in the evening we all returned to watch Korn, which for me ended up the disappointment of the year. Yeah they sounded great, the music was spot on, but when I left after an hour they had said absolutely nothing to the audience, the crowd work was non-existent. They went out on stage and did their thing and that was it. From time to time Jonathan would aim the mic at the audience for us to sing, but there was never any prior interaction, so whenever he did aim the mic at us everyone was caught off guard and it only ended up in awkward silences. Last time I saw them at Metaltown 2013 I remember it being very different.
Instead of finishing the concert I went back to camp to hang out, have some food and a couple last drinks before bedtime.
Friday was cold. The sunshine had been exchanged for clouds and strong winds. The morning had some rain, but it didn't last. Unfortunately the constant strong winds made the weather terrible. Whenever the wind temporarily lulled the day was actuially pretty warm, but the wind just ruined everything. The first band we went to see was Apocalyptica, which we watched from the opposite stage waiting for Orbit Culture.
Orbit Culture is a band I've heard a lot about, but never actually listened that much to. That will change after this show because holy shit, this was probably the best show of the year. Another This Is playlist saved on Spotify. That mosh pit was one of the biggest I've seen. There was a short spout of heavy rain during the show. Me and the camp mate I went with just looked at each other like "It'll pass" and continued headbanging.
After Orbit we returned to the camp and spent the rest of the evening trying to be party while the wind was trying its best to make us miserable. Most of the camp had lost interest in going inside to see Scorpions in the evening, especially considering it was oh so bad the last time we saw them at Sweden Rock Festival. But me and one camp mate eventually decided to go anyway. It was definitely a weak performance. Musically they hold up, but vocally... it's bad. At least they managed to get the crowd to sing along this time ♥
After Scorpions I went directly to bed. After the chilly Friday I felt very ready for Saturday to be the last day and then go home.
On Saturday we woke up to more of the same wind situation. At least there was no rain. We packed up half our things before heading in to watch the last show of the year. Joddla Med Siv. Back in 2023 they had them on a smaller stage and they severely misjudged how popular these guys are. The entire area was packed with people, all the way through the entrances. People were climbing the fences and the surrounding trees to watch them. So this time they put them on the largest stage, the gig felt less intimate as a result, but at least there was room for all the people. Yet they filled the entire area and it was a huge party.
Once the show was over we packed up the rest of our stuff and headed to the car to start the journey back home. We arrived home at around 11:15pm. I had a shower and unpacked, chilled a bit in front of my PC and then went to bed. And slept for 12 hours.
Sweden Rock Festival is always the highlight of the year and always a constant party, but at the end of the Friday most of us are always like "I miss my bed. And my shower. And my fridge. And my bathroom. And not having to queue for everything. And not having constant noise." Best damn week of the year but it's always amazing to come home. See you next year! ♥
For even more videos check out my instagram post :)