BBQ Season to start already?

Well, I can't say I was surpised arriving back in Höör after a few days in Sandivken over christmas. I've read the weather reports and seen it has been raining most of the time but it's hard to get used to these green winters (I miss the snow at least)... But it is a beautiful day today and I must admit it is nice with some sun. Should really get dressed and GO OUTSIDE while it's still up perhaps?

Need to go shopping some before Peter comes home from work so I can prepare dinner. Yep, spending my christmas holiday as a housewife (even watched the TV Shows about the same from Vancouver and Hollywood so I know how to behave now :O)...) But it's no issues with making a meal now, I have a big kitchen, a stove that actually works and a cat to keep me company, even though he's most in the way purring around my feet and begging for a snack when I'm cooking.

But the house is getting more and more into shape. I harvested my parents curtain closet during christmas (the allowed it of course) and brought a big bag with me, however most won't fit since the windows are much bigger here than in their house but I can use some at least temporary in a few windows. I also got some new ones for Christmas present, that together with some shabby chic window lamps. So at least the livingroom starts to feel done now. Some posters for the wall of course but most other things are in place. Peter has also worked hard in the CD room to get eveyrthing in place and I mess things up with buying new stuff!!!

But it sure was a good idea to not have a TV in the living room at all. The only "sound" possible downstairs now is the stereo and the vinyl wall is located suitable and very accessable right next to it. Very convenient and I sure have been listening to a lot of records these last few months, been catching up so to say. And frankly, I don't miss the TV one bit...

I also visited my parents in Sandviken over Christmas... Ok, we had snow in Höör when I left too but it was a bit of a difference... Got to practice that show shoveling a bit, mainly taking down a lot of snow hanging over the edge of the roof. Then half of it landed inside my jacket of course...

I was going to do the blog on Album of the year but realized I needed a few live pics as well for the concerts. The list is available on Metal Kaoz already but I'll comment a bit on why the list looks as it does as well. Also, list the best few concerts. But I'm SOOO behind with all MK stuff due to the move here to Höör so I'm going to take the time now, when I'm on vacation to catch up a bit. The ironic thing is that I have 4 or 5 reports alomost done, just details missing, or pictures that needs to be edited. So that I will finish at least. Started with the Jon Oliva's Pain pics from Essen yesterday (yes, that one sure is on the list of best concerts this year) and they turned out pretty cool. I sure have a lot to choose on! Then KIT, HOA, Copenhell, Candlemass and more...

So I sure as hell keep myself busy!

Cheers

E

NP: THE RUNAWAYS - Queens Of Noise

Long Cold Winter

Apparently, the winter in Skåne has the most snow in ages and Peter sort of blamed me for moving the Northern winter with me to the south of Sweden!!! From what I've heard it is not as much snow as in Sandviken, but 20-30cm is enough I think.

The good thing with this though is that the days get a bit brighter and since the temperature has stayed just below 0 during the days it is nice to be outside, don't even mind shoveling the snow... At least not yet. Even bought a new shovel last Friday since the one that came with the house has seen its best days.

 

Despite the weather warnings this morning I took the car from Höör (didn't want to go at all) to Borås for work. News said chaos and sure, it was snowing quite heavily between Höör and Ängelholm. But I really like it when there are real winter roads, with snow. Of course, a little bit slippry but so much fun to drive and everything becomes so quiet. This morning UFO's lates "Seven Deadly" was spinning and that sure was perfect music to drive to. Really nice album actually!



 

 

So, snow outside meant days spent mainly inside, all by ourselves this time. Last weekend we had Ginevra and Filippo visiting us for some Pasta and a few beers! David also joined in later in the evening. One great evening and a very nice break from fixing and cleaning around the house. It was nice to just enjoy the place one night and not have something that I should do hang over me.

 

But things are really coming into place! I sorted out the records list this weekend. I have been neglecting that one for the last year almost, no updates at all. And it is really good to have a list to refer to if something should happen. Peter was great and sorted all CD's, put them up in the shelves so that room is almost complete now. It is so great when all stuf just put in there in boxes and bags finally come into place and the area becomes a real room! Now though it is my job to sort out the vinyl shelf. I think it is 5 or 6 "holes" in an expedit that should be sorted in with the rest... But since Peter will go to a christmas party on Friday, I'll have the house for myself (together with the cat of course) and hopefully enough time to complete the mission.

 

 

Also, the rehearseroom is ready to go. Sure, we should perhaps try to shut in a bit more of the noise but to the side with the neighbours it doesn't sound so much, out on the front there's still a lot of volume but no one will hang out outside our house and get annoyed by the music, at least I hope. And in that direction, it is at least 50 m to the next house so I don't think it should be a problem. We still need a PA though before we can rehearse fully. Peter was looking around the web and found a lot of nice stuff to complete it a bit further. But we'll see... 

 

 

 

Then I got the biggest surprise coming home last weekend. Peter was very curious and offered to go to the basement (to the Wine & Beer cellar) to get drinks. It took a little longer than normal but I didn't think much about it. Then he started bugging me that we should go and check the garage... Said and done! Opening up the door this little monster sat nicely inside! It is a very early birthday present (and partly also a christmas present) and it is made in concrete! This beauty will eat all other garden gnomes in the area!!!

 

 

Peter told me, when the artist unloaded it (it is custom made) in the garage one neighbour walked by and asked if this one should be out in the garden scaring everyone from now on. But it would be very cool to have some redish lights lighten it slightly so it can cast scary shadows and that people can see it.



 

 

But he will have to stay in the garage until spring at least. And I need to figure out where he should be too! Then of course we need to solve the issue with getting the beast out of the garage and on to the lawn. Will probably take 3 persons to carry it!!!

 

 

It looks familiar you say! It sure does... It is a replica of the gargoyle from Savatage - Dead Winter Dead. No belfry to put it on in The Void Mansion but we'll figure it out! Perhaps he can get a 110kg Anvil to guard or something. 

 

 



So it will and exciting spring and potentially some scared neigbours. Talking about that, before the snow fell I took care of the leaves on the lawn, put them in bags and went with some of it to the garbage station, a few sacks are still standing outside the garage. For each snow session there has been small, small footprints walking to and away from the sack. One snowshoveling session there were prints to the sack and a big thud, looking at the stairs above there were prints from a cat. Something became lunch there... Most likely a mouse but could be a small bird too.

 

Cheers

E

 

 

NP: UFO - Seven Deadly

The World Void Web

So, it is almost a month since the Void Moon album "On The Blackest of Nights" was released. It feels like it was ages ago we strolled along the beach in Malta but for real, it is just almost a month ago.
I guess this grey season in Sweden feels longer than it actually is.

But things are moving with the record. Cruz Del Sur announced today that the album is available on iTunes and other digital media sites. As a vinyl freak I have a bit hard to understand this, so if you agree with this, you can always buy the CD directly from us. Or, almost any bigger web-shop really! And of course, we've been getting a lot of very nice reviews. Of course, everyone can't like it but even the not so positive ones has  been fairly ok!!!

Not listened to the album yet??? If so, check out "Hammer Of Eden" opening track... (and help get us to 1000 views)



If you liked this one, there are more here;
http://www.youtube.com/user/mournblade666/videos?flow=grid&view=0

We also have T-shirts available on the website, together with the CD... Paypal payments if you want, but of course we can support bank transfer as well!

http://www.void-moon.com/

Next step will be to get some gigs!!! We are pulling a few strings and it seems promising here and there... But we'll see what happens! Would be great to be on stage again and play, was WAY too long ago now (again).

Cheers
E


NP: MOTÖRHEAD - Rock'n'Roll

The Void Mansion taking shape

Even if it still isn't back to normal fully after the stomach flue, at least it is going in the right direction. The apetite and the energy is coming bac. So this weekend I can arrange a candlelight suppoer in best Hyacint style, apart from the Royal Doulton china though... My fanciest brans reaches to Gefle China år Lasse Åberg design!!! So that will be nice. Still haven't decided what to make though.

 

But even if things happened slow, at least something happened last weekend. Salary day and all we decided to go to IKEA to do some shopping. I needed an Expedit to my office and Peter some bookshelves for his library. Also we needed some spareparts for the shelves in the CD room!!! (yes, we will have a room for CD's only)





 

I need one or two more Expedit for the office the first one filled fast and there are more things that need to be stowed away. I also need a good chair, Peter's old one can't be adjusted the way I need it to so the home work situation is just ok for now (still much much better that the old flat) I'm very satisfied with my office and now when things are coming into place one by one, I hope I can use it a bit more. 

 

 

And I never thought it would be this easy to adjust to use the kitchen for dinner and other meals. I think I used the table in Gävle twice in 12 years, the one in Borås 4 times in 2 years. Now all meals has been ejoyed at the table. At it seems like the storage space will be enough for all our gears, with some help from my wine cellar (ok, food cellar but it is mainly wine in there now). Gonna buy a glass cabinet also beacuse the Pizza plates doesn't fit anywhere.

 

 

It still is a bit empty in the living room. But I think it will be ok as soon as the curtains are up (just need to find suitable ones also) and a bigger table than the one there now. I still think it is very good it is empty now when everything is sort into place, would have been a shame if we'd filled it up right away. 

 

 

The vinyl wall got rather massive. I realized I have been buying a lot of vinyls lately. But ok, since there's been space left for vinyls but not for CD's I guess that's natural! The issue with space for CD's is solved now though! 

 

 

Peter has been working on Sound proofing the rehearseroom/studio also. There's not much needed, just some for some small basement windows and some to avoid the sound bouncing off the walls while rehearsing. And I've saved a spot for a Piano as well... The dumb thing though, checking Blocket, around Borås there's an almost unlimited selection of "come and get them" Pianos, old massive ones. The offering is not as good around Höör though. But it will come!

 

Last week I started to sort out my small shoebox of week-day flat too. It was a big improvement getting the furnitures in place. To get the armchairs from the bathroom to the livingroom was a bit of a hassle though.

 

 

The flat includes furnitures. The guy who lived here before me had his own though and had the ones belonging to the flat stored away. Trying to move the armchairs into the flat I realized the wardrobe was in the way. Trying to move that one it completely fell into pieces. Need to point that out to the landlord so I don't have to pay for it when moving out. Still, there's EXTREMELY much furnitures of 18m2 worth of flat.

 

 

And I guess it will be ok for sleeping a few nights per week. Looks like the 2 days a week in Kista will continue until the summer. And hopefully there will be a few more exiting destinations on the way too.

 

Then there's a kind of dilemma... I bought tickets for Iron Maiden in Stockholm and Malmö, of course. Then just to realize Metal Magic Festival is the same weekend as the Stockholm concert. So Malmö is on no matter what but I don't know what to do with the Stockholm show, if to go or to stay at the Metal Magic Festival.

 

 

Maiden is always Maiden and I think this tour will be very special. To start with, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was the first real concert I ever went to. Counting out Swedish Monsters of Rock at Folkparken in Hofors, Sweden the month before. Also because that same album is one of my all time favorites of Maiden!!!

 

But I get to see Maiden in Malmö... And the line up for Metal Magic is mighty fine already!!! Hobbs Angel Of Death was fantastic at Headbangers Open Air and I really want to see them again. Also The Black, great at Malta Doom Metal festival but they deserve another chance because they played rather late at Malta and I was DEAD tired. But they were still very good. And of course Martyr, always great to see, an amazing liveband! Life is hard sometimes! :O)

 

 



 

Then the mixing of Cult Of The Fox's second full length album, titled "Angelsbane" is finished. Again Studio Fredman was our choice and it turned out really good. I'm really looking forward to listen to the final product. I guess this record is more personal to me since I didn't take much part in the writing of the last one. This I've been a part of all the way through, contributed to the song writing and arrangements and played almost all guitars. Almost? Well, we invited a few guests but that will be a secret for a little while longer.

 



 

We still need to finalize the artwork and booklet layout. I have some photoediting to do but need a bit of input first to set the right mood in the pictures as well. Anna has again painted the cover and again done a fantastic work... The flyer is just a small pre-taste of what's to come! No release date set yet, Rock It Up Records wanted everything in place before planning everything but I don't think I'm completely out of place if I say it will be a spring release!!!

 

And for Void Moon... Things are moving, interviews coming in as well as reviews, mainly good ones so that feels really good!!!

 

Cheers

E

 

 

NP: SAXON - Strong Arm Of The Law

Out of the Darkness

I guess the title from the last blog (looooong ago) would have been very suitable here as well. This since, after a whole lot of crazy busy weeks I started to feel a little funky, this was last Friday and the last day of the work trip to Guildford, UK... Thought it was because of all fried food and lack of water (no, not too much beer since this was a work trip) but the nausea didn't go away, no matter how much water I drank. The weekend became a downward spiral to total misery, in the end I struggled the whole week just trying to keep the water in for 20 minutes at least. Of course Peter got a beat of the same so our first week together in the new house could have been cozier. Luckily there are more than one toilet in the house at least!!! 

 

 

 

But the house is amazing! I guess everyone feels like this when one start to feel being at home in a new house. Everything is coming into place slowly but surely. One of the first mornings the temperature sank below 0 and the garden looked amazing this frosty and chilly morning. I just hope we will manage to keep the garden this pretty next year as well. Neither Peter nor me knows ANYTHING at all about this. But the former owners wrote down some instructions for us so as long as we manage to figure out which shrub is what we will be alright!

 

 

The view from my office at dawn isn't too bad either! And the other day, since I tried to work some between the visits to the secret place the neigbour cat came home with a stodge, parked himself nicely on their terrace table and chewed on something for at least 15 minutes...

 

Höör the town itself is really pretty too! Quite small, just over 15000 people in the whole area. But everything is available very close so that should be fine. Also the structure of the town is really cute. There's a lot of old houses, no real structured mass produced residental areas. Ok, not in the towncenter at least, the further out you go, of course it's there but that's further away from town than our house.

 



 

Really, the only thing on our list from what we wanted that we didn't get with this house was direct contact with nature, like the last house on the street and just fields or forest next to us. Nature isn't far away though and comparing that criteria to the convenience we got here, with 10 min walk to the trainstation and that walk through some really cute streets. Who can complain.

 

 

Last week the cat moved home also. He was a little confused at first, especially when me or Peter came back up from the basement or if he was in the kitchen or so and someone of us walking upstairs. But now, a week later he seems to have settled and roam the house keeping track of us. He also found a spot in the window where he sleeps when I'm working. That's very nice!

And of course he has his own chair at the kitchen table also! 

 

 

But moving isn't all we have done these last few months. Of course moving was the biggest thing, frankly I almost paniced when I realized I had about 8 days of packing before the transport from Borås to Höör, this was mid September. So all days at home was working like crazy in the office, hurry home and try to squeeze as much as possible down into boxes in the evening before crashing into bed around midnight.

 

So the trips we had planned, even if they felt misplaced in the schedule were very welcome. First one was for the Dublin Doom Days to Ireland, mainly to see Argus. They kicked ass!!! Hour Of 13, Urfaust and a few more were really good as well.

 

We also managed to visit Phil Lynott's statue, the Guiness Museum and of course drink a hell lot of Guiness. Actually, we arrived Thursday evening, the day before the Festival and both me and Peter just wanted to go out for a Burger and a few pints before crashing into bed. Of to the Temple Bar area to find a pub. Yeah right, I think everyone in Dublin was out drinking this night. 

 

 

All bars were completely packed, even the streets outside the pubs. When we finally found one with some space, they didn't serve any food at all. What the hell is this we thought... After a while we started to realize these banners everywhere, Arthur's day... Is there really a saint called Arthur? And why the hell are they offering 2 for the price of 1 on pints of Guiness everywhere? This was also stated on the Arthur's Day banners...

 

Sure, Mr Guiness's first name was of course Arthur and apparently this was the Brewery's 253 birthday. Apparently the Irish people liked the 250 anniversary so much they kept the day!!! Well, anyday is a good Guiness day, isn't it?

 

 

Then the move! Everyone thought we were crazy just shoveling everything into the house and off we went to Malta. But I can tell you that was a very good plan! Aching bodies and completely burnt out of all hard weeks of work prior to the move and of course the actual move it was SO NICE to get out of the plane at Malta facing blue skies and around +25 degrees. 

 

 

I've said it before but it is worth mentioning again. Malta is a fantastic place to relax and just enjoy life. The food is cheap, the beer is good and the wine is fantastic. And of course, in November it still is warm enough to go swimming in the sea. 

It was a little too windy the first few days though to challenge the cliffs outside the hotel. Of course, I don't need waves to cut myself on them. I manage without that... I guess I'll have a memory for life from Malta on my left knee and right foot. 

 

 

But most days were spent just walking around in a slow pace sitting down here and there for some shakes, smoothies, beer, food, icecream or what ever.

 

And the Malta Doom Metal Festival of course!!! The Festival was just as nice as ever! Great bands and great people. One downside though was that Sorcerer messed up and missed their flight from Sweden. But there were other great bands to see. The Black, Hooded Priest, Forsaken, Mortalicum, Griffin Device... I actually think Griffin Device did the best gig of the whole Festival!

 



 

Perhaps most important withe whole Malta trip was the launch of the Void Moon album "On The Blackest Of Nights". Noel (thanks again man) arranged an interview in Maltese radio and a small releaseparty at V-Gen. Really cool!!!

So I guess it just is to start plan for another trip to Malta in a year!

 

Tomorrow it is time to go back to work for real! I hope I'm well enough now, sure I'm not sick anymore but not eating anything for almost a whole week takes its toll. Still can't eat in a normal way... So I guess it will be a tough week.  

 

Cheers

E

 

 



NP: WITCHCRAFT - Legend

Neverending Nightmare...

Of course it is not possible to follow all bands in the world but when one record really hit it's hard to uderstand why I didn't discover this or understand that earlier. I don't know what made me start listening to French Heavy/Power Metal band Nightmare right now since I've looked past their records for as long as I can remember... Preconceived opinion perhaps. Still I love it when this happens, I love the feeling of being completely blown away by a band like this. So during the last few weeks i haven't listened to much but Nightmare.

The dumb thing is that it all has been very available to me for the last couple of years since almost the whole discography has been in Peter's possession the whole time I've known him. The ones that are missing, "Genetic Disorder" and new one "The Burden Of God". So I can't say if Nightmare are as good as my favorite "The Dominion Gate", even if all are very good. Peter's favorite is "Silent Room".

But as mentioned, the remaining two will arrive with the next package from TPL records... Patrik has almost become a personal shopper for me when it comes to records. Very convenient but a bit expensive (as you'll see in a few days).

Still it is very nice to see that there are more to explore in the Metal scene. And Nightmare sure are a perfect fit for my taste. Heavy witha nice drive, a bit of odd arrangements, dark and gloomy but still catchy. Awesome band really.

And then, everything finally fell into place for me with Master's Hammer too... So I've been changing between Nightmare and Master's Hammer this last few weeks.

Now it is time to prepare for Candlemass!!!!



NP: Nightmare - Silent Room

VOID MOON to release “On the Blackest of Nights”

Well, no one has missed this, right?

VOID MOON to release “On the Blackest of Nights”

Yes, the recordings of "On The Blackest Of Nights" are completed and right now we are putting the final touches to the mix. It is so much fun to hear the real result of the effort put in. Strange also of course since I've gotten used to the rough mixes, demo version and so on... But it will be a very cool record, doubtless. So now it's a few months wait until it is released in November.

No rest for the wicked though, drums for the new Cult Of The Fox album has also been completed and now it is time for guitars. And since I'm the sole guitarist now it will be A LOT of work... But hopefully I'll get some cool help to complete the final touches to a few songs. The album will be titled "Angelsbane" and will be released on Rock It Up Records. Date, we'll see about. Still I'm looking forward to do this very much. Didn't get much summer vacation this year so I can take some days now to fully focus on recording, that will be nice. We'll see how excited I am about playing guitar ina few weeks though! *s*

This weekend Candlemass plays in Town, Dalsjöfors Folketspark (well, almost, just a few km's outside Borås) and I think this will be the second time I've made out on a bar since I moved here... Ok, a few (still VERY few) visits to Bishops Arms I don't count.

Cheers

E

NP: NIGHTMARE - The Dominion Gate

The Void Mansion or Fox Lair

The record shopping activities has taken a very short break for bigger business. The situation with living in Malmö and Borås at the same time has been a bit, how to say chaotic. Mainly because we've been working a lot on both Cult Of The Fox and Void Moon but also because I've been working from Stockholm several days per week for the last few months... And with no place to call home, things get a bit messy. So me and Peter decided to look for a more premanent situation and something to be home for real.

We didn't know where to start really but around Malmö was the choise and off we went. I must say I enjoyed driving up and down through Skåne checking out one off village after anoher. Some very pretty and some just very off... And the names... Hilarious, "Tittente", "Bösarp", "Trä", "Böste", "Hurva" just to mention a few.

Well, we gave up on the idea with living without any neigbours at all quite soon when we realized it was a 2-3 hour bus-ride into Malmö from some of the villages. Basement for studio/rehearseroom, possibility to commute and not too much work became the main criterias in the end. (and no pool actually). We checked a few that actually filled all criteras but for some reason it didn't feel right until we got to a yellow brick house in the town of Höör, 50km north east from Malmö.  

There were quite many others there looking at it at the same time as us. But for some reason we were the only ones who wanted to proceed. Strange I think since it is very nice house, almost nothing that really needs to be fixed. There was some really crazy wallpaper, 60's original in the guest bathroom, green with pink flowers but apart from that neither me nor Peter could see anything that had to be fixed before moving in. Even the inpsector said it was in extremely good shape for a 50 year old house. 

So in the middle of October we will get the keys for our 173+117m2, 1½ store + basement house in perfect shape and to a very good price as well. 5 Bedroom's and 2 all in all rooms, kitchen and the basement ABOVE all that! AMAZING really.

The basement will of course be a studio/rehearse room, I think the bodega is well over 30m2. If that isn't enough there's good storage space outside as well, between the laundry room and the rest of the storage space. Peter will get his own library and I'll get my office with a real workstation to edit pictures and of course be able to work from home every now and then too.

So the layout will probably be something like this;

But it sure as hell will be nice to get out of this flat! Everything is annoying now, most of the neigbours... Dancing and late night vaccuming elephants upstairs for example... But also the general shape, the stove, fridge and most of all broadband connection (and cell phone coverage). So it will be very nice to get away from all of this. I just need to find some cheap small flat here for the weeknights now... Then everything is settled! Of course, the house have to be named as well, Void Mansion or Fox Lair is rather close calls...

Oh, in the backyard, there's a flagpole also. We were thinking of raising Jolly Roger when having the move in party... I hope it won't annoy the neigbours too much just.

But first we are going to Skogsröjet and there I'll get a fat pack of records from TPL!!! Very nice... Also, it will be great to see Testament, Anvil, Alice Cooper, Bonfire, Kingdome Come, LA Guns and a few more bands.

Cheers

E



NP: Masters Hammer - Vracejte konve na místo

Record shopper anonymous #10

So... Time flies when you're having fun I suppose. Well, it has been fun weeks but also very exhausting weeks. Almost one Festival every weekend, tons and tons of work. I've been travelling forward and back between Borås, Stockholm and Malmö like crazy. Have hardly been home at all. Not until this last weekend. Cleaning up before Peter arrived I realized I had about 5 different bags packed. Ok, most of the clothes was tipped over into the biggest one though. Still the flat was a huge mess.

But it felt good to be home and have the time to clean up a  bit. It is always much nicer to be at home when it is tidy. The strange thing is, what takes the most time to sort out is all records that seem to be exactly EVERYWHERE in the flat. Putting everything away a little more organized than it was I realized it is not only the CD room that is full... There's not much space for vinyls left anymore either. And there are already two crates outside the shelf. Don't really want to end up as I had it in my old flat where I could hardly move.... But this issue will soon be solved! :O)

Anyway, I picked up another package from TPL today and I finally got the Pure Steel records, Sleepy Hollow, Halloween and New Eden... All of them very nice!!! And then a little more... I also picked up another similar sized pack at Muskelrock but they're tucked away in the shelf now.

 

Then a pack of doomier stuff. It's a bit strange with Grand Magus, this new one "The Hunt" hasn't really settled yet but it was the same with "Hammer Of The North", it took a while and all of a sudden everything just fell into place. Still waiting for that to happen with "The Hunt". Christian Mistress was great at Roadburn so that was a must have... 

Apart from shopping for records I signed up to a food site for some reason. Now during the spring they exanded and mail out tips about wine and spirits too. Mainly stuff not available off the shelves, stuff from the orderable seletion. And since I enjoy Zinfandel wines and they've been posting a lot about that it has been nice! Not very expensive bottles either. 

Then I received a mail about the Crystal Skull vodka... I don't drink vodka at all but the bottle was just too cool, designed by actor Dan Akroyd. Got the SMS and went to pick it up, asked the staff to get it for me. The desk for information is on one side of the shop, the warehouse on the other. The lady when to pick up my order and coming back out of the door to the warehouse, screaming "what a damn cool bottle"... Ok, it wasn't the busiest time but still, I gott ALL attention from everyone in there, about 25 people and all really wanted to see the bottle... It is damn cool though.

 

And it will make a nice match with the skull candle holders later on....

Then I don't know... Doesn't feel right for either Motörhead or Slayer to have their own wine brand... But it still is a bit fun I think!!! And it looks cool on display too. Kiss has their logo on most everything so this wasn't really any surprise but I think this one will win anyway. Mainly because it is a Zinfandel... Zin Fire!!!

These last two weekends has been spent doing a whole lot of band business... And seeing Jon Oliva's Pain play. Last friday I went to Essen, one show isn't just enough and I'm really glad I went. Turock was completely packed and the support given from the crowd was amazing!!! But more on that at Metal Kaoz later...

And this weekend, more band business and another JOP show. This time at Sticky Fingers in Gothenburg. Not the same support from the crowd but at least a good and positive crowd. Again JOP did a fantastic show and it feels a little bad I just planned two shows this time. Forst because both these concerts was amazing and because the set was very special. But again, more on that later.

After the show in Essen I ran into Jerry Outlaw, after talking a little big about guitars, Matt LaPorte and more he was really nice and gave me a Matt LaPorte shirt and posters from the memorial show. I really wanted to go to that one but it just didn't fit, not in time nor money. And sure, I really missed Matt now, he was such a great player. But Jerry was really impressive and filled the gap after Matt really well.

I still need to figure out the setlist from Essen, according to the list it was rather similar to the Gothenburg one... Apart from a few in the first section but that wasn't what happened during the show. Not that long into the Mountain King set Jon kicked off "Believe" and they absolutely ended with "Hall Of The Mountain King"... Also, I'm almost sure both "Legions" and "Strange Wings" were cut from the set. Were they???

Amazing concerts no matter what!!!! Can't wait until I get to see JOP play again!

Cheers

E

NP: Jon Oliva's Pain - Festival