Jump to: Setlist Pictures Videos

I saw ZZ Top for the first time this past Sunday, and I just keep asking myself: Why haven’t I gone to see them before??? In short, they were awesome!

The venue is standing room only, but since it appeared to be a sold out show, they had opened up the balcony, so we secured a great spot up there. Now, I knew exactly what to expect song-wise, cause it appears that ZZ Top has been playing the EXACT same set every night for the past year or so. Really too bad for fans that want to follow the band for a few shows in hopes of catching some rarities, but for someone like me who hasn’t seen them before it didn’t matter one bit.

The Texans started out with Got Me Under Pressure, followed by the fantastic combo Waitin’ for the Bus and Jesus Just Left Chicago. The latter one is my favorite ZZ Top song, and it sounded great. I was struck by how tight they sounded, but I guess that’s what happens after playing with the same guys for 40 years. Unfortunately, bassist Dusty Hill was having problems with his monitors during the first couple of songs, so he would constantly go to the side of the stage to get them fixed, and wasn’t totally focused.

Before the blues covers in the set, Billy had a Swedish woman come up on stage and do a little predetermined banter with him, to which Billy would answer with some Swedish phrases. He also had the word öl, meaning beer in Swedish, written on the back of his Gretsch Billy-Bo guitar. He ended this little bit by saying that in order for him to play the blues, he needed his blues hat, upon which two lightly-dressed girls entered the stage to deliver his hat. Billy kissed them both on the cheek before launching in to Future Blues.

I really like My Head’s in Mississippi and it was a shame that we only got one verse of it before they segued in to I Need You Tonight. As those of you who play guitar know, Billy Gibbons uses a lot of pinched harmonics in his playing, something that can be quite difficult to achieve unless you set the gain really high on your amp. Well, in I Need You Tonight it became quite apparent just how much gain Mr. Gibbons use, when he gave away his guitar pick to a guy in the audience and continued playing the entire outro using only his left hand – no strumming at all!

After this Billy said “Where’s my friend?”, and a picture of Jimi Hendrix appeared on the screen. They then proceeded to play an awesome version of Hey Joe, which Billy ended by playing various Hendrix riffs!

One of the absolute highlights was Brown Sugar from their (not-so) cleverly titled debut album ZZ Top’s First Album. During the mellow first half of the song, it was just Billy Gibbons and his guitar lit by strings of light bulbs above the stage. This was a very nice effect and it made me wish I could see ZZ Top in a small bar – what an experience that must be!

I found it very interesting that both Dusty Hill and Billy used the same instruments for almost the entire concert. Billy didn’t change guitars until Just Got Paid, when he had his guitar tech bring him his Gibson Goldtop. The guitar nerd in me assumes that the only reason he changed guitar at all was because he played the song in an open tuning, which suits the slide playing much better. By the way, Just Got Paid sounded awesome! And to think I only became aware of that song earlier this year when Joe Bonamassa played it as his set closer!

Then it was time for the crowd pleasing main set closers of Gimme All Your Lovin’, Sharp Dressed Man, and Legs. I must say that I’m not the biggest fan of ZZ Top’s 80’s catalogue, however, these songs are fun when enjoyed in a live setting. And you just have to love Dusty’s and Billy’s synchronized moves in Legs, not to mention the fuzzy guitar and bass, just like in the video.

The encore started with La Grange, the ultimate ZZ Top song. It seems like they’ve been trying to write La Grange II ever since they recorded it in 1973. Anyway, the song sounded great, just as expected, and Billy and Dusty had changed in to red sparkly jackets for the encore. The concert ended with Tush, and Dusty on vocals. Billy immediately went for a cigarette that his guitar tech had to light for him. The concert was just a little over an hour and a half, and I could easily see them doing a full two hour set. Why not end the show with playing Tres Hombres back to back? But the show was great, and I would recommend anyone to go see ZZ Top. Hopefully they’ll come around again soon, I’ve heard there’s a new album in the works for 2011…

Thanks to my wife Irma for the awesome videos and pictures!

Setlist:

Start: 20.00

01. Got Me Under Pressure
02. Waitin’ for the Bus
03. Jesus Just Left Chicago
04. Pincushion
05. I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide
06. Future Blues (Willie Brown cover)
07. Rock Me Baby (B.B. King cover)
08. Cheap Sunglasses
09. My Head’s in Mississippi / I Need You Tonight
10. Hey Joe (Billy Roberts cover)
11. Brown Sugar
12. Party On The Patio
13. Just Got Paid
14. Gimme All Your Lovin’
15. Sharp Dressed Man
16. Legs

Encore:
17. La Grange / Sloppy Drunk / Bar-B-Q
18. Tush

End: 21.36

Jump to: Setlist Pictures Videos

So, this past Tuesday me and the missus went to see Ed Kowalczyk from Live at Klubben in Stockholm. And not only did we get to enjoy the show from the front row, we also got to meet him!

We got to the venue about 20 minutes before the doors opened, only to discover that there were just like five people waiting outside. I couldn’t believe it, since last time Live played in Stockholm the line went around the entire building. So, as I said we got front row, which was a really good thing, cause the stage was very low, and we probably wouldn’t have seen a thing otherwise. But now we got a great view!

The concert started with Just In Time. I purposely avoided to look at the setlist before the show, even though it was right in front of me. It’s much more fun to be surprised. Next up was The Great Beyond. I really like Ed’s solo album Alive, so it was great that he played so many of the new songs. After that he did The Distance, All Over You, and Selling the Drama back to back, which was just fantastic. The Distance sounded really organic and scaled back – very nice.

Zion is one of my absolute favorite tracks from Alive, and Ed made everyone hum along to the melody in the beginning. The missus was real happy when he played her favorite song The Dolphin’s Cry, which always sounds fantastic. It was so good that we were in the front row cause it gave me an opportunity to watch guitarist James Gabbie during the song. Being a recreational guitar player myself, I enjoy watching what effect pedals other guitar players use. It was interesting to see how he controlled the feedback going in to the chorus of the song with a foot pedal.

Ed didn’t really talk much between songs except to say thanks. However he did at one point say “Everyone know I write about beaches”, upon which he started laughing saying he didn’t quite know where that came from and that now it’s going to end up as an Ed quote on YouTube. I’d say everyone knows he writes about water, so he wasn’t too far off.

The best song of the night for me was Heaven it really gave me goose bumps when the entire audience were singing along. The main set ended with a great version of I Alone, which ended up having a very long intro, since Adam Kowalczyk’s amp stopped working for a while. The back bone of Ed’s new band is drummer Ramy Antoun. He is a very accomplished drummer and probably the most charismatic band member. It’s a real joy to watch him play.

After a short break, the band came back and played Fire on the Mountain, followed by The Beauty of Gray. It was great to hear this song live finally. The only Mental Jewlery song I’ve heard Ed (Live) play before is Mirror Song, which I’ve heard twice. Grace was awesome, I love that song. But you could tell that Ed was not totally focused, and actually seemed a bit annoyed for some reason. Right after Grace, he said something to Adam, and you could tell they were skipping a song. So after Lightning Crashes the band took a bow and left the stage, and the show was over! They only played for an hour and twenty minutes, and later when I looked at the setlist I saw that they had skipped four songs: Overcome, Rome, They Stood up for Love, and Dance with You. I really wished they would have played They Stood up for Love at least, it’s such a good song.

So, it was quite a surprise to see the set cut short. But after the concert it was time for the meet and greet that I had signed up for through eddieklive.com. We got to wait by the side of the stage for maybe 15 minutes before Ed’s tour manager Seth came and got us. He commented on the short set, mentioning how it’s hard to do a two hour set when you’re not feeling good. Even though we were the only ones who had booked a meet and greet, they allowed three other people to come along as well, which I think was great, and it shows what a nice guy Ed really is.

When we got backstage we ran in to Ramy, and I got to shake his hand and tell him how much I enjoyed his drumming. Then Seth opened a door that had a sign that said Ed Kowalczyk on it, and there he was! Ed shook hands with all of us, and proceeded to sign stuff. I had him sign quite a few things, including the CD booklet from The Distance to Here, which I’m going to frame. We all took pictures with Ed, and I actually had to retake mine because I came out all weird. Ed was amused and commented on how that happens sometimes.

Ed was very interested to know how the sound was. I told him how we stood in the front, and he commented on that we probably heard the monitors a lot (which is true – front row isn’t sonically the best seat in the house). I said that it’s nice to be in the front row every once in a while and Ed agreed, saying it’s cool to get that up-front experience. I also told him about that we saw Live at the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey three years ago, and he said he likes the venue and that he played there a couple of months ago. Then he proceeded to tell me that he’s playing the Bowery Ballroom in a couple of months. He seemed really excited about it, saying he’d never played there before.

Ed was very interested to hear that the missus was from New Jersey, and was asking what town she’s from, saying he’s pretty familiar with the area, especially Newark Airport (who hasn’t traveled through Newark?). Then Ed said he had to leave, and he almost forgot his bag! I asked if they were going to St. Petersburg next (don’t know where I got that from, maybe the last Live tour), but he said it was Oslo tomorrow night, then Copenhagen the next, and then home. He was smiling when he said it and you could tell he really couldn’t wait to go home. Ed told us to help ourselves to some beers from the fridge in the dressing room before he left, and of course we all got something to drink. We also got one of Ramy’s drumsticks that he left behind!

When we left the dressing room I spoke to guitarist James Gabbie for a little while. I told him I really liked his playing and that I play a bit in my spare time. I had noticed that he had a violin bow on his mike stand and asked him what song he uses it on. He said it’s for Lightning Crashes, but that his strings are so old, that there’s too much friction. He only uses it when the strings are new and have more resistance.

When we left, Seth the tour manager apologized for the meet and greet being so rushed. But it didn’t matter, it was still great to meet Ed, and really awesome that he took the time even though he wasn’t feeling well.

As a final note I have to mention that a guy asked Ed if he would ever reunite with Live, upon which Ed replied with a very determined “No”. Guess it settles that question.

Setlist:

Setlist:

Start: 20.40

01. Just in Time
02. The Great Beyond
03. The Distance
04. All Over You
05. Selling the Drama
06. Zion
07. Drive
08. The Dolphin’s Cry
09. Soul Whispers
10. Everlasting Love
11. Stand
12. Heaven
13. I Alone
Overcome

Encore (21.40):
14. Fire on the Mountain
15. Beauty of Grey
16. Grace
Rome
They Stood up for love
17. Lightning Crashes
Dance with you

End: 22.00

Jump to: Setlist Pictures

This was my third time seeing U2, all on the 360 tour. I saw them in Gothenburg twice last year, and was actually not so impressed. Mainly because the claw stage makes it hard to get a good up-close and personal view of the band. So for this concert the wife and I bought Red Zone tickets. When we got to the stadium U2 was doing their soundcheck. We got to hear what turned out to be the new song Glastonbury, Miss Sarajevo, and City of Blinding Lights.

We waited in line with the other Red Zone people for maybe an hour before the gates opened, and then it was a mad dash in to the stadium. Luckily we got great spots right up against the catwalk on Adam’s side. This was perfect since we stood on The Edge’s side for both shows last year.

The concert was delayed for about 30 minutes due to problems with the screen (which I guess eventually couldn’t be fixed, since it didn’t extend during City of Blinding Lights). But that didn’t matter one bit, it just gave everyone more time to get excited. U2 took the stage at 21.20 to the tune of Space Oddity, as is customary on the 360 tour.

After playing the new, and very cool, Return Of The Stingray Guitar, the band launched in to Beautiful Day! This was such a great high energy way of starting the show! Bono was making his way around the catwalk and actually stopped right in front of us for the first chorus! This was probably one of my all-time concert highlights ever! It was amazing to just be a few feet away from Bono while he was performing. The missus took some great pictures, as you’ll see below this review.

New Year’s Day was next, keeping the energy going. Bono introduced the band, and after he introduced Larry he led the audience in the double-time clapping that I enjoy so much. This was followed by Get on Your Boots, and Magnificent – in my opinion the only songs I care to hear from No Line on The Horizon.

The highlight of the show for the both of us was when they played Elevation. We’ve wanted to hear that one live so bad, ever since we got the Boston Live DVD back in 2001. It was so much fun to sing along to the chorus while jumping up and down! Even The Edge was jumping like a mad man for the last chorus!

I was very happy to hear Until the End of the World, which is one of my all time favorite U2 songs. Bono was playing the devil/Judas on one of the bridges above the crowd, while the saintly Mr The Edge worked his heavenly guitar magic from the other bridge. The song ended with the two “deities” attempting to touch fingers across the bridges, evoking Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam. Oh, and the song sounded awesome too!

After the always wonderful I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For U2 played the new song North Star. The whole song was basically just Bono and The Edge, with that classic U2 guitar sound from the previous song. Next up was Glastonbury, which the band wrote for their subsequently cancelled Glastonbury gig 2010. A very good up-tempo rocker, with a great riff and an awesome solo from The Edge. It sort of felt like he was channeling Hendrix for a while. Personally, I think the new songs are miles ahead of their latest release, No Line on The Horizon, with the exception of Magnificent. Let’s hope that when the new songs are released they will stay in this raw form (lock up Eno and Lanois, and let Steve Lillywhite take full control for a change).

I really enjoy that they keep playing In A Little While. It’s such a great song, and it’s nice to hear one of the less famous songs from All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Miss Sarajevo was just fantastic – I got goose bumps when Bono sang the opera part! Vertigo was great as always. To me it was a treat to get both Elevation and Vertigo in one show.

It was fun to see that they kept the remix version of I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight in the set. This was also the song when we got to see all band members up close. Adam, The Edge and Larry all came by right in front of us! Bono ended the song by singing a verse of Discothèque over the beat – very nice indeed, and perhaps an indicator that the song will join the set in the near future.

The encore was pretty much identical to the Gothenburg shows. It was funny to hear Bono struggle with the feedback of his Gretsch Irish Falcon during his beautiful version of Amazing Grace. One gave me chills as always – that’s one powerful song! Ultra Violet (Light My Way), with Bono in his laser jacket and steering wheel microphone, is just fantastic. For Moment of Surrender Bono asked everyone to turn on their cellphone lights, which made for a beautiful backdrop to the stage, making it look as if the band was surrounded by the milky way. Bono ended the song with a rather confused singalong that no one understood, which he proceeded to laugh off!

The band seemed very pleased with the show and back slaps were exchanged. Both Adam and The Edge came up to the mike to say thanks. And to the tune of Rocket Man the band left the stage, and the best U2 concert that I have seen so far was over. I thought that Bono’s voice was fantastic – he sang much better than last year, and he also seemed to be much more in to the show, as did the rest of the band. Thank you U2!

Setlist: (from u2gigs.com)

Start: 21.20

01. Return Of The Stingray Guitar
02. Beautiful Day
03. New Year’s Day
04. Get On Your Boots
05. Magnificent
06. Mysterious Ways
07. Elevation
08. Until The End Of The World
09. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
10. North Star
11. Glastonbury
12. In A Little While
13. Miss Sarajevo
14. City Of Blinding Lights
15. Vertigo / Teenage Kicks (snippet)
16. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight / Discothèque (snippet)
17. Sunday Bloody Sunday
18. MLK
19. Walk On / You’ll Never Walk Alone (snippet)

Encore:
20. One
21. Amazing Grace (snippet) / Where The Streets Have No Name
22. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
23. With Or Without You
24. Moment of Surrender

End: 23.25

Jump to: Setlist Pictures Videos

With Kiss, you know what you’ll get – and that’s both good and bad. Since the first time I saw them in 1996 up until now, I think they’ve used the same stage for their outdoor shows. The setlist changes somewhat with each tour, but all the gimmicks are the same – Paul flies out in the audience on a zip wire, Gene flies up in the rafters, and Tommy shoots fireworks from his guitar. Oh, and Eric’s drumkit raises off the stage floor like a spaceship! And every time Kiss plays in Sweden, Paul uses the phrase “Jag gillar din rumpa” (”I like your ass”). Wonder if he has a notebook with phrases for each country they go to that he memorizes before the show?

When we got to the stadium the space closest to the stage was already full, but after some finessing we secured great spots right up against the fence outside the inner circle on the right hand side of the stage. We only had a couple of really short girls in front of us, so the view was great.

This time around Kiss tours with a new album, Sonic Boom. The concert started with the opening track of that album Modern Day Delilah. It was a great opener, and I really like Sonic Boom, cause it sounds like classic Kiss. Gene, Paul, and Tommy appeared on this platform that rose from behind the drum riser, and traveled over it before touching down on the stage floor in front of it.

For the second song Paul announced that they were going back to the beginning, before launching in to Cold Gin. The song sounded great, as always. In fact, Kiss always sound great, probably because they don’t really take any chances with setlist variations etc. I’m not going to write about every song, just the ones that stood out to me. If you’re interested in what they played, just check out the setlist below ths review.

Say Yeah from the new album was real fun I thought. Everyone in the audience around where we stood were really in to the new songs as well. This song works great live since it has such a singalong-friendly chorus.

The first surprise of the night for me was when they brought out Crazy Crazy Nights! I love Kiss’ post-makeup phase and was really pleased to hear this song, a first time for me. And you could tell that the rest of the audience loved it too, cause the place went nuts! The only thing that surprises me though, is that Kiss doesn’t play Heaven’s on Fire – that song was huge in Sweden.

The only odd song choice of the night was I’m an Animal from Sonic Boom. This post-grunge rocker clashes heavily with the classic Kiss sound. Why not play Russian Roulette or All For the Glory instead?

Love Gun is a favorite of mine, and Paul had the audience singing the first verse acapella before starting the song. But the highlight of the show for me, as always, is Black Diamond. The giant mirror ball in the ceiling of the stage starts spinning while the spotlights cast a purple light on Paul and his guitar as he starts playing the familiar haunting intro. After a while it turns in to the Led Zeppelin classic Whole Lotta Love, and Paul sings the first verse and chorus with no other backup than his guitar. This was just fantastic! Then he makes the audience sing the first verse, just like on Love Gun, before the rest of the band joins him and they launch into the song for real. Eric Singer does a great job on the vocal duties, just as he does on the first encore of the night, a surprise appearance of Beth, with the entire band at the front of the stage and Paul and Tommy playing acoustic guitars.

Lick it Up is the second encore, and man this is good! I really didn’t think we’d get to hear this since they did Crazy Crazy Nights, but I was sure happy to be proven wrong!

For I Was Made For Lovin’ You, Paul Stanley flies out in the audience on a zip wire system, and performs the song on a platform out by the mixing desk facing the stage. I remember when he did this at Stadion back in 1997 and the zip wire was a much more simple construction, causing Paul to dip very close to the audience and people actually grabbing hold of his platform shoes.

Now it was time for the biggest surprise of the night: God Gave Rock and Roll to You II. Last tour Kiss played this song over the PA after they left the stage, and I remember the missus and me saying how great it would be if they actually played it, and now they did! I really like this last vestige of Kiss’ post-makeup reign, and it’s such a crowd pleaser with a great chorus for everyone to sing along to.

After the final song Rock and Roll All Nite, the night came to a close with an amazing fireworks display, easily rivaling any fourth of July fireworks I’ve seen. I don’t remember the fireworks being this long on the last tour. It was probably about five minutes long.

The concert lasted about 2 hours and 10 minutes, and I was happy to see that instead of bumping some of the classics for new Sonic Boom songs, the set was simply longer. Very nice indeed. The only odd thing was that they didn’t play Strutter and God of Thunder. If only they’d switched I’m an Animal for Strutter, and the night would have been perfect. But I’m not complaining – I wanted the best, and I totally got what I came for!

By the way, I should also mention that Sweden’s biggest rock band, eighties rockers Europe, opened the show. They played the following set: 1. Last Look at Eden 2. Love is Not the Enemy 3. Superstitious 4. Scream of Anger 5. Let the Good Times Rock 6. New Love in Town 7. Rock the Night (w/ snippets of Another One Bites the Dust and Heaven and Hell) 8. The Final Countdown

Setlist:

Start: 21.15

01. Modern Day Delilah
02. Cold Gin
03. Let Me Go, Rock ‘N Roll
04. Firehouse
05. Say Yeah
06. Deuce
07. Crazy Crazy Nights
08. Calling Dr. Love
09. Shock Me
10. I’m an Animal
11. 100,000 Years
12. I Love it Loud
13. Love Gun
14. Black Diamond
15. Detroit Rock City

Encore:
16. Beth
17. Lick it Up
18. Shout it Out Loud
19. I Was Made for Lovin’ You
20. God Gave Rock N’ Roll to You II
21. Rock and Roll All Nite

End: 23.27

Kiss Pictures (Click on an image to enlarge it)

Europe Pictures (Click on an image to enlarge it)

Swedish newspaper reviews:
Expressen | SvD | DN | Aftonbladet