24-01-2008 Emergenza Göteborg

Date: 24-01-2008, venue: Musikenshus, Göteborg (Sweden)
By: Sabine van Gameren

  This one of the first reviews of the international band contest Emergenza. This
  year we will review many evenings of Emergenza in different cities and different
  countries. For this review I traveled to Göteborg, Sweden. In Musikenshus
  are the first rounds and I will write about two nights full of Swedish local
  bands. Each night of the first round you can vote by crossing names on a voting
  form. This night, the four bands with the most votes go on to the semifinals.

The night starts off with the band Mr. Artist. Although they were the first band playing, it was clear that they brought quite some audience. The band plays pop rock. They were doing quite ok, the songs were catchy and easy to pick up, but for some reason the songs did not really move me. The audience was watching it like they were statues as well, so it is not just me. This probably had mostly to do with the vocals which were not that various. I missed the thrill of this band.

 
 

Second band was Perfector. With their death metal, they scared some of the audience of the band before away, but a few fans were still there. The band is quite active on stage. Head banging and moving around. I would say it was quite a good show. The band put more aggression in their performance after a few songs. I liked this show, so I crossed their name at my voting form. Only remark I have to make: The band took quite some time in between the songs. Probably   to catch up some air, but I would like to see them going on, instead of stopping after each song.

 
 

Next is The Oswald Great Story. A hard rock band. I disliked the vocals from their guitarist and actually their whole sound was not really interesting me, but the band compensates that with their show. This band easily gets the attention of their audience and entertains them well. It is interesting enough to stay and watch the gig from the front row.

 
 

Well, about the fourth band I can say I was seriously surprised. The band with two female vocalists starts off with music like Sonata Arctica make. But in their set they also have songs which could be compared better with the nowadays successful metal band All Ends, which is also from Sweden. Later on we got some more power a la Sonata Arctica again. The surprising element in this band are not specifically the vocals, but the guitarists. They have the speed, they have skills and they make the sound! Not that the vocals doesn’t matter, the girls do quite well, one sticks out a little more than the other, but in total I would say it was quite ok. I crossed Lucretias Fate on my voting form.

 
    The fifth band of the evening seems to be in a further stadium than the bands
  I have seen before. You could hear from the first minute on that they are having
  quite some experience. Classical metal is what they do, but they are mostly
  standing out with their stage act. They brought a lot of people and they work
  the audience easily. It is not my type of music, but I can not do anything else
  than giving them my vote. The band was definitely the best of the evening and
  deserves to go on to the semifinals.
 
 

Garm is up next. They make a mix of folk and death metal. Their music seems to be too extreme for the audience, since after a few songs a lot of people left them behind to get some drinks. Actually, I quite liked them. Their music  is well played and with interesting guitar riffs they definitely entertained me.� I know that voting for them seems a little hopeless, but I crossed their name at my voting form. Unfortunately, they ended up last as turned out later this evening.

 
 

Anders Bodin Band makes typical classic rock like you would hear it in the 80’s. It is quite calm rock, not too much show. I could hear it perfectly as a background music on the radio, but I miss something here. It is not special.� There is nothing about this band that makes them unique and that is a pity, because musically they play quite well. It is good that I have seen this band live, but I do not necessarily need to see them again though.

 
 

Closing the evening is Grand Selmer. This is a band which makes quite basic radio rock. But not music that sticks in mind. Not that catchy and I miss some variation in the music as well. Now it sounds a little like all songs are the same. They do make an ok performance, but I feel busted when I realize that I am just sitting down and waiting till they are finished. I do think this band,  will do better in the future. The band seems to have creative ideas but just don’t know exactly how to implement them in their music yet. Who knows how they will do in the future, maybe I’ll see them again and I like it more.

 
  The results:
  1.Shades of Sanity
  2.The Oswald Great Story
  3.Mr. Artist
  4.Lucretias Fate
  5.Anders Bodin Band
  6.Perfektor
  7.Grand Selmer
  8.GarmFor more pictures: Sabinevangameren.com

Links:
  Mr. Artist Myspace
  Perfektor Myspace
  The Oswald Great Story Myspace
  Lucretias Fate Official
  Shades of Sanity Myspace
  Garm Myspace
  Anders Bodin Band Myspace
  Grand Selmer Myspace