Sweden Rock Festival 2009: Riot - 6th June 2009
Set list: Narita / Fight or Fall / On Your Knees / Metal Soldiers / Johnny's Back / Sign of the Crimson Storm / Swords and Tequila / Wings are for Angels / Bloodstreets / ? / Storming the Gates of Hell / Outlaw / Dance of Death / Thundersteel // Warrior
Final day of SRF 2009 and, of all the bands at Sweden, two of the ones I was most excited about were Riot and Blackfoot.
Riot, formed by guitarist Mark Reale in 1975, I last saw live at Donington in 1980, Blackfoot I last saw supporting The Scorpions on the Animal Magnetism tour, also in 1980. Neither band sported the same line-up almost thirty years on, surprise, surprise! Guttingly, both bands were on at the same time, on different stages, but that was not going to stop me from seeing both; I would clone myself. Simples.
I elected to see Riot first.
I got there just as they took to the stage and I couldn’t have been happier as they began their blistering performance with one of my favourite tunes, the barnstorming instrumental, Narita. This track can melt your eyeballs. I love it. To be honest, you could have stuck a fork in me right there and then, cos I was done. Everything that came after was just gravy. I never expected to enjoy them as much as I did at the first Monsters of Rock festival, but I did. This was the Thundersteel line-up, reformed for this tour and they were on fire and t he set list featured plenty of songs from that fine recording. It was different to the 1980 line-up though (and no, Guy Speranza didn’t swallow a bee at Donington, that is rock and roll lore and it never happened - I was there, I know!) but it was every bit as good. Swords and Tequila was another blast-from-the-past that pleased me greatly, as did pretty much everything I saw and heard. Vocalist Tony Moore, wearing an ‘Obama 44’ jersey, sounded great and, indeed, the whole band sounded really tight which, after such a long time apart, was a testament to the hard work they had obviously put in to get their act together. Some classic songs, such as Johnny’s Back, Flight of the Warrior, Bloodstreets, and Thundersteel really kicked ass, as well as a new one Wings Are For Angels, (from their upcoming album).
Riot showed that they are a class act and can still teach any of these young whippersnappers a thing or two. Alas, I couldn’t stay ‘til the end of their set if I wanted to see Blackfoot. So with uncharacteristic fleetness of foot, I headed away from the Rock stage towards the Sweden stage to catch the tail end of Blackfoot.
Riot, formed by guitarist Mark Reale in 1975, I last saw live at Donington in 1980, Blackfoot I last saw supporting The Scorpions on the Animal Magnetism tour, also in 1980. Neither band sported the same line-up almost thirty years on, surprise, surprise! Guttingly, both bands were on at the same time, on different stages, but that was not going to stop me from seeing both; I would clone myself. Simples.
I elected to see Riot first.
I got there just as they took to the stage and I couldn’t have been happier as they began their blistering performance with one of my favourite tunes, the barnstorming instrumental, Narita. This track can melt your eyeballs. I love it. To be honest, you could have stuck a fork in me right there and then, cos I was done. Everything that came after was just gravy. I never expected to enjoy them as much as I did at the first Monsters of Rock festival, but I did. This was the Thundersteel line-up, reformed for this tour and they were on fire and t he set list featured plenty of songs from that fine recording. It was different to the 1980 line-up though (and no, Guy Speranza didn’t swallow a bee at Donington, that is rock and roll lore and it never happened - I was there, I know!) but it was every bit as good. Swords and Tequila was another blast-from-the-past that pleased me greatly, as did pretty much everything I saw and heard. Vocalist Tony Moore, wearing an ‘Obama 44’ jersey, sounded great and, indeed, the whole band sounded really tight which, after such a long time apart, was a testament to the hard work they had obviously put in to get their act together. Some classic songs, such as Johnny’s Back, Flight of the Warrior, Bloodstreets, and Thundersteel really kicked ass, as well as a new one Wings Are For Angels, (from their upcoming album).
Riot showed that they are a class act and can still teach any of these young whippersnappers a thing or two. Alas, I couldn’t stay ‘til the end of their set if I wanted to see Blackfoot. So with uncharacteristic fleetness of foot, I headed away from the Rock stage towards the Sweden stage to catch the tail end of Blackfoot.