Working and hanging out at festivals, v2008!

way out west this festival will take place august 7-9.
bands playing 8th and 9th, clubs open all three days.
i personally think it will be great. partly because i will be working before and after the festival so the days when the bands play i get to just hang out. :D and two of my favourite friends are working there too!

bands i'm planning to see:
- broder daniel (s): their last gig ever.
- caesars (s): love.
- christian kjellvander (s): country-esque music, with a voice you'll adore almost instantly. and i don't even listen to country!
- kenge kenge (ke): a band from kenya? must see!
- kleerup (s) !club: mus see. listen to their song with titiyo!
- louis xiv (us) !club: glamrocky, punky, lovely.
- lykke li (s): you need to have heard about this girl. her music should be quite interesting live, we'll see if it travels well haha.
- mando d (s): think oasis. think the beatles. now you're on the right track.
- neil young (can): um hello? who would miss a chance to see him live?
- pacific! (s) !club: you'll feel happy listening to this cutieband :D
- sahara hotnights (s): this is a must. great band.
- sigur rós (is): you've been living under a rock if you've missed these guys.
- silverbullit (s): their only gig this summer. do not miss.
- yeasayer (us): magical.

west coast riot & metaltown

two absolutely amazing festivals. the weekend started with west coast riot, a skate-punk type of festival. one day filled with lots of good music. the audience was pretty young, not many people over 25.

highlights?
- millencolin (s): are you a man or a mouse? ;)
- flogging molly (us): i have yet to see anyone else manage to mix punk with irish folk music this well. their music just makes you want to jump around :D
- the used (us) ♥: one of my favourite bands even before i saw them. first gig in sweden, ever! :) best part of the show? the singer seeing someone wave a plushie monkey, and then saying "hello mr. monkeyman! everybody say hello to mr. monkeyman now!" haha. actually no i'd say the best part, but that's not for neo!

only downside was the little kids who don't know how to behave at gigs, and run around / stand in the front getting pressed up against the wall until they faint. one small advice: if you can't breathe - leave. if you can't do that, wave until security comes. don't stay there until you faint, because that does not make it easy for anyone. especially not people like me who work at these events.
i had to help a girl who was having cramps all through her body. thankfully she managed to get to the end of the audience, or people would've completely trampled her. she was a cutie though ♥

so after west coast riot, we had metaltown. of course there were bands playing metal music there. one of my favourites :D i honestly think everyone should like at least one metal song, haha.

two days filled with amazing music, and quite a few bands i hadn't heard before that i completely fell in love with! sweden is the place to be when it comes to metal.

highlights from the first day?
- sonic syndicate (s): one of my new loves! they opened the festival, and what a fantastic opening act! lovelovelove ♥
- hardcore superstar (s): dreamin' in a casket, anyone? these guys are always awesome.
- bullet for my valentine (uk): suffocating under words of sorrow was the best, of course. awesome :D didn't see them up close, but you could still see a pretty good show from a way away. i was handing out programs at the time. best job at a festival, haha.

others you might have been interested in seeing? die mannequin (can), killswitch engage (us), danko jones (can), nifelheim (s), monster magnet (us) and cavalera conspiracy (us).

second day, woooow. highlights?
- soilwork (s): fantastic.
- amon amarth (s): i was working at the restaurant when they were playing, good music to walk around to :D
- in flames (s) ♥♥♥: LOVE. best gig i have ever seen. ever. amazing pyro. the entire pier that the festival was on went up and down, haha. and it takes a lot of people jumping up and down to move it ;)

nightwish was a huge disappointment that day. anette can not sing live. she killed their old songs, sadly. :P

others you might have been interested in seeing? lillasyster (s), dark tranquillity (s), dimmu borgir (n), converge (us).

i personally would've seen lillasyster if my train hadn't been so delayed. saw converge, but they didn't really stick out.

overall, a really fantastic weekend working. :D my feet died, but that's not too bad anyway. what can you expect when you walk around for 12+ hours three days in a row? ;)

- BY FAKETHEWAY DESIGNS -