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Opening act: The Black Angels
Concert Start: 22.15 Encore: 23.45 End: 23.55

When Wolfmother takes the stage at Berns in Stockholm, it is the beginning of a tumultuous couple of hours. As the band launches in to Dimension, I immediately realize that due to the very low stage, and the fact that everyone in the audience but me is 10 feet tall, I won’t be able to see a thing. So the first four or five songs are ruined while the missus and I search for a spot where we can actually see the band. Finally we end up next to the bar where you can stand on the little foot rest that runs alongside the counter.

When Ian Peres fires up the organ intro to White Unicorn, I can finally get in to the show. Speaking of Mr. Peres, he’s sporting an afro much like singer and band leader Andrew Stockdale, and is playing the organ and bass like mad, especially during show highlight Colossal, and closing number Joker and the Thief, where Peres is actually standing ON the organ while playing.

The band sound great, and I must say I really like this new incarnation of Wolfmother. The addition of a rhythm guitar really fills out the sound. Aidan Nemeth plays a Les Paul Gold Top with P90’s most of the show – nice choice!

Apple Tree was one of my favorite songs from the show. The intensity was great, with Stockdale wailing away Jack White style. I also really enjoyed Back Round, especially the break where Stockdale sing “The tickets sold and the man got rich with a seven year itch…”. Towards the end of the concert my right arm was getting so tired, since I had to use it to hold on to the bar while balancing on the foot rest in order to see good. I would hoist myself up during the songs, and then rest during the fairly long breaks between songs.

Andrew Stockdale is an amazing front man. His singing is great, and his guitar playing is out of this world. It wasn’t until I saw Wolfmother live that I realized that Andrew use a Whammy pedal for many of his guitar solos. I find it funny how I am somehow drawn to practitioners of this fine guitar effect like Jack White and The Edge. Stockdale is feeding off the audience’s energy and plays most solos at the edge of the stage, and takes every chance he gets to make the audience wave their hands in the air and clap along.

For the last song of the encore, Joker and the Thief, Stockdale, as well as Peres goes mad, playing his guitar above his head and making the guitar spin around his torso on the guitar strap. He doesn’t seem to want to leave the stage and stays on to play a melody on the organ after the other members have left. Unfortunately I can’t remember what song it was that he played. I tried to tape the show on my iPhone in order to get the setlist, but it shut off without me noticing, so I don’t have the full setlist, but it seemed quite similar to the sets they’ve been playing during the fall of last year, and previously on this European tour. The most notable difference was that they didn’t play Far Away, which I thought was always in their set.

Pictures (Click on an image to enlarge it)

Videos:

Jump to: Setlist (w/ videos) Pictures Videos

Note: Click on the links in the setlist to see videos of almost all songs from the concert!

It’s hard to believe how many good concerts there’s been this year, and The Dead Weather was yet another one. It was originally scheduled to take place at Cirkus at midnight, but was moved to Kägelbanan, due to a “scheduling conflict”. I’d say due to lack of ticket sales. But that was all fine with me, because Kägelbanan is a really intimate venue that takes no more than 500 guests.

I stood in the second row, on Jack Lawrence’s side, and had a great view of the stage. The band took the stage to Sure ‘Nuff ‘N Yes, I Do by Captain Beefheart. First song was Horehound opening track 60 Feet Tall. Nice touch to open with a slow blues that gradually builds to a frenzy. This was followed by Hang You From The Heavens, and now the crowd went nuts! From this moment on I was crushed against the people in the front row for the rest of the concert. But I didn’t care, it was just so great to see this band live for the first time, and particularly to see one of my absolute favorite musicians, Jack White. Speaking of Mr. White, for the third song, it was time for Jack to take center stage. Backed by a drum machine they did You Just Can’t Win, a b-side from the Treat Me Like Your Mother single. The drum machine was used a lot when it was time for Jack to sing, and I thought it was a really great solution. Judging from the sound it must have been a vintage type of drum machine, fitting for Jack’s appreciation of old style recording methods and vintage instruments. Every time they were going to use it Jack would turn away from the drums and fiddle with the drum machine for a while before it would start up! Much credit to The Dead Weather for not using any pre-recorded tracks which could have easily been done instead.

Alison Mosshart, rail-thin and wailing away, was a great lead singer. She was very intense, and you could tell that she got completely lost in the music. For the fourth song, which was the Mosshart penned So Far From Your Weapon, she donned her square white Gretsch guitar. …Weapon, which is one of my favorite songs off of Horehound sounded great in the slowed down version that they do live.

For A Child of a Few Hours Is Burning To Death one of the band’s roadies took over the skins for a while as Jack joined Alison on vocals. When done singing, Jack went back to the drums and continued the song. It is worth mentioning that just as when Jack White plays with The White Stripes, the roadies all wear suits and hats!

For main set closer, Will There Be Enough Water?, Jack White took center stage once again and shared lead vocals with Alison. Jack Lawrence took over the skins, and Dean Fertita played a mellow Fender Rhodes-esque piano. White did a great guitar solo and got so into it that he knocked over one of Dean’s guitars! The stage hands rushed out quickly to pick it up. Towards the end of the song, Jack and Alison kept singing “Just because you caught me, does that make it a sin?” far away from the microphone, their powerful voices carrying over the venue without amplification, at least for us in the front. It was a magical moment! Dean kept rocking the keyboard stand back and forth in beat with the music.

The encore featured what may have been the coolest guitar solo I’ve ever heard live. Accompanied by the drum machine once again, they played the new song I Can’t Hear You with Jack on guitar. The solo was just amazing. Jack was using his Whammy pedal to alternately raise and lower the pitch of the notes during the solo. He is truly the master and inventor of this technique, but I’ve never heard him go back and forth in pitch so much before. With The White Stripes he usually just raises the pitch an octave and leaves it there, but this was something completely different.

The last song of the night was Treat Me Like Your Mother, and the entire audience was jumping up and down. It was just so much fun, and I couldn’t stop smiling. As the band was thanking the audience I locked eyes with Jack and gave him a thumbs up. After the concert I had to go buy a Dead Weather shirt, mainly to have something to change in to, since my t-shirt got completely soaked during the concert!

We hung out in the bar having some beers after the show, and then we actually went outside and met the band as they were leaving. Jack and Alison both signed CD covers that I had brought, and they were both very nice. Jack said “I see we have a lot of Americans here”, commenting on the fact that three out of the six fans there were from the States. I told Alison that I really enjoyed the show and she said thank you and seemed genuinely happy to hear it. The only bummer was that neither one wanted to pose for a quick picture. But that’s alright, it was still one of the best concerts of the year, and I finally got to meet Jack White, briefly.

Setlist: (I’m not sure about the songs in parenthesis)

Start: 20:35

01. 60 Feet Tall
02. Hang You From The Heavens
03. You Just Can’t Win
04. So Far From Your Weapon
05. Bone House
06. (No Horse)
07. A Child of a Few Hours Is Burning To Death
08. Rocking Horse
09. No Hassle Night / I Just Want To Make Love To You – Snippet (Muddy Waters cover)
10. Jawbreaker
11. New Pony
12. Will There Be Enough Water?

Encore:
13. I Cut Like a Buffalo
14. I Can’t Hear You
15. Treat Me Like Your Mother

End: 21:55

Pictures (Click on an image to enlarge it)

The following pictures were taken by majstoffe. Check out his great videos on YouTube!

Swedish newspaper reviews:
SvD | DN | Aftonbladet

Jump to: Setlist (w/ videos) Pictures Videos

Note: If you want to see videos of almost all songs from the concert, click on the links in the setlist!

Last night I saw Muse for the first time, and it was all that I had hoped for! The concert started with Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1, from new album, The Resistance. Guitarist/vocalist Matthew Bellamy, drummer Dominic Howard, and bassist Christopher Wolstenholme, each stood on platforms that rose out of the stage floor, and proceeded to play the first three songs 30 feet above the audience. The sides of the platforms were covered in video screens, which displayed images of the band interspersed with various animations. The second song, Uprising sounded great in a live setting. Whenever I go see a band, their latest album ALWAYS becomes much better after hearing it live, and the same thing happened last night. Even the Timbaland flavored Undisclosed Desires, with Matt on keytar, was fun to hear live.

I kept hoping they would use lasers in their show, just like on the last tour, and I was certainly not disappointed. During New Born, green lasers were projecting all over the arena – very cool! Matt even had a laser on top of his platform for the first song, that he could control the direction of himself.

Map of the Problematique was one of the highlights for me, and I really liked the little Who Knows Who/Heartbreaker jam at the end. Supermassive Black Hole and Starlight were also really great – Black Holes and Revelations is probably my second favorite Muse album, after Origin of Symmetry. Speaking of the latter, I was so happy when they played Plug In Baby!!! Man, that song is fantastic, and Matt’s siren-like guitar intro is so cool! He is a true musical genious. They definitely could have done a few more songs from Origin of Symmetry. Before Hysteria Matt got a short break while Chris and Dominic played a really cool interlude up on Dominic’s platform, while the entire drumkit rotated.

I really enjoyed that they played two songs from their first album, Showbiz: Cave and Unintended. For Cave, Matt played a grand piano that had lights in the open lid, that responded to his playing. Before they started Cave, Matt did mention that they played their first show in Sweden in the city of Malmö when they were touring with Showbiz. They did have some issues at the start of Cave, supposedly with Chris’ bass. But besides that the entire concert was flawless, which is amazing considering it was only the second show of the tour.

What makes this concert one of the best shows of the year for me is that I got to hear every song I wanted to hear. When it was time for the encore, I kept hoping that they would do Stockholm Syndrome and Knights of Cydonia – and they did! It couldn’t have been more perfect. During Stockholm Syndrome their crew threw out these huge balloons filled with confetti. It was fun to watch them bounce around and burst over the crowd. Knights of Cydonia started with an awesome harmonica intro by Chris, and everyone sang along to the guitar intro, just like on the HAARP live album – classic!

Although we had seats we stood for the entire show, as did most people around us. By the end of the show my voice was almost gone from singing along to every song! As Muse left the stage, Dominic said “We’ll see you soon”. Let’s hope they keep that promise.

Setlist:

Start: 20:40

01. Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 1: Overture
02. Uprising
03. Resistance
04. New Born
05. Map of the Problematique (w/ Who Knows Who/Heartbreaker Riff)
06. Supermassive Black Hole
07. Guiding Light
08. Interlude
09. Hysteria
10. United States Of Eurasia
11. Cave
12. Unintended
13. Undisclosed Desires
14. Starlight
15. Plug In Baby
16. Time Is Running Out
17. Unnatural Selection

Encore: 22:10
18. Stockholm Syndrome
19. Knights of Cydonia

End: 22:30

Pictures (Click on an image to enlarge it)

Swedish newspaper reviews:
Expressen | SvD | DN | Aftonbladet

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Going to concerts on a whim seems to be my new thing. I bought tickets to see Mr. Big the night before the show, because my wife and her friend were going. I have actually seen Mr. Big one time before on December 3rd, 1993, when they were the opening act for Aerosmith, and I remember them being really good.

Berns, the place where the concert was held, is really small, maybe with a capacity of 1000 people. It’s an old concert hall that is very beautiful and with great acoustics, and the stage has a domed ceiling. We got there about an hour before the doors opened, and ended up in the second row.

At 21.30 Mr. Big took the stage, starting out with Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy, complete with the drill solo! I loved it, this was the song I wanted to hear the most, and it was great as an opener. The first half of the concert was the best in my opinion, since this was when they played alot of songs from Lean Into It. Alive and Kickin’, Green-Tinted Sixties Mind, and Just Take My Heart were great. Pure nostalgia! For Just Take My Heart they had four mirrorballs projecting beams of light across the stage.

Temperamental sounded great. I really liked the part when Eric stood behind Billy playing the bass, while Billy played the harmonica. I actually remember them doing this back in 1993 as well! We had downloaded Zippo lighter apps to our iPhones, and during Wild World we were waving them in the air in place of real lighters, it was pretty funny! Eric Martin was really lively, running around on the stage a lot. His Swedish was limited to a “Tusen Tack” (Thanks a lot), but it’s always nice when bands make the effort to say something in the language of the country they’re in. It did look like all of they guys were having a great time, there were smiles all around.

Both Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert are virtuosos on their respective instruments, so of course the concert included numerous bass and guitar solos. While I really appreciate their talent and find it fascinating seeing Paul’s hands flying across the fret board, I would prefer it if they played more songs instead. For example, I would love to hear CDFF – Lucky This Time and A Little Too Loose. But one thing that was really cool was when Billy and Paul were playing double necked guitars, and Eric and Pat Torpey came out and acted as “human capos”!

One of the highlights of the concert was Addicted To That Rush. This is a great song in itself, but it was made even better by the Eric Clapton medley that was included. First Paul launched the band in to Sunshine of Your Love, followed by what I think was Crossroads (I’m probably wrong about that one, please correct me if you know what song it was). I really love blues rock, and I was struck by how perfect Eric’s voice is for this type of music. That’s one reason why it would have been so great to hear A Little Too Loose.

First song of the encore was To Be With You – great singalong, followed by the frantic Colorado Bulldog. That one had been stuck in my head all day so it was nice to finally hear it live. Then the guys left the stage, and I thought it was over, but they came back again and played Shy Boy! Eric said the song was Billy’s request. After they were done Paul threw out some guitar picks, and I dove for one on the floor, but I didn’t get it though. However, my friend Erika got one! It says Mr. Big on one side, and has Paul Gilbert’s signature on the other side. I did however touch Eric’s arm during the show, so I got my brush with fame! Thanks for a great show Mr. Big, and please visit Sweden again real soon!

Setlist: (From Random Chatter Music)

Start: 21:30

01 Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy (The Electric Drill Song)
02 Take Cover
03 Green-Tinted Sixties Mind
04 Alive And Kickin’
05 Next Time Around
06 Hold Your Head Up
07 Just Take My Heart
08 Temperamental
09 It’s For You
Pat’s Drum Solo
10 Price You Gotta Pay
11 Wild World
12 Take A Walk
Guitar / Bass Duet (”full band human capo” thing)
13 The Whole World’s Gonna Know
14 Rock And Roll Over
Billy’s Bass Solo
15 Addicted To That Rush

Encore:
16 To Be With You
17 Colorado Bulldog
——
18 Shy Boy

End: 23:30

Pictures (Click on an image to enlarge it)

Here are a bunch more pictures that we took with our iPhones. My thanks to Irma and Erika!
More Mr. Big Pictures

Swedish newspaper reviews:
DN | SvD