Nomads 20th Anniversary
The Nomads, SATOR, Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks and The Flaming Sideburns,
Kolingsborg, Stockholm
April 13, 2001
With nothing better to do over the four-day Easter break (and owing to the cheap
air ticket I got) I figured
that flying to Stockholm for the Nomads' 20th Anniverary gig would be the right
thing to do.
This show had been sold out for weeks but thanks to a friend at P3 (Swedish
National Radio) I was able to
get in.
Before the show started the Nomads had a party at the venue. I hadn't told them
I was coming so I was
looking forward to surprising them. All night I encountered looks of shock from
folks that I hadn't
seen in a while. Real fun. Anyway, on to the real reason for going. The Music.
The Nomads came out on stage first. The reason given was that they wanted to
get the playing outta the way
so they could get drunk. No surprise! They opened up with "Can't Keep a
Bad Man Down" from the new LP
"Up-tight". The place literally exploded. No time to breathe as they
went right into "16 Forever", which
should have been dedicated to Kenshi Mamoto. The twin attack of Hans Ostlund's
Gibson and Nick Vahlberg's
Coronet combined with the engine room of Bjorne Froberg and Jocke "I never
drop a stick" Ericson just
guaranteed Maximum Rocknroll. They just kept kicking the shit out of their tunes.
I seem to remember
"Crystal Ball" and "5 Years Ahead of My Time" being major
highlights.
After
about 30 minutes they brought out Ed Johnson, Tony Carlsson and Frank Minarik
(drums, bass and keyboards, respectively) from the original lineup as well as
their original back up singers, the Kissettes, and smoked the hell out of "The
Way You Touch My Hand". And if you thought NOTHING could top that they
then brought out some cats from the Swedish band Bob Hund and beat the shit
out
of "1970" for a good 10 minutes. Even had a sax player! Bob Hund's
lead singer has his "Iggy at the Cincy Music Festival" impression
down pat. Every nuance and stage move, complete with a quick walk on
the audience's hands! Brilliant.
They ended the set with Nick and Hans crossing guitars at centre stage. 20 years,
huh? They'll still be kicking out the jams in another 20 years.
SATOR were up next and this was advertised as their first show in ages. I guess
singer and guitarist, Chips Kiesbye, has been too busy producing the latest
'Copters, Nomads and Turpentines records to do much playing. Anyway, great band
with some great tunes. Even did a killer cover of the Zeros "Black and
White".
Between sets Lindsay from Scotland's "Next Big Thing" was spinning
some great tunes with some guy from the
BBC's Stockholm bureau. Kept everyone happy.
Following SATOR came Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks, a five-piece instrumental
band I had heard a lot about but hadn't heard. They opened with "Rumble"
but quickly started playing their own stuff which would not be out
of place in a spy flick or backing up Man or Astroman. Robert is an absolute
loon on stage as he tortures the
shit out of his Danelectro. He took his shirt of to reveal the initials "DIF"
on his chest. The audience went nuts. Turns out that DIF are the initials of
one of Stockholm's two hockey teams and they had won the national championship
that afternoon. Don't mess with Swedish hockey fans!
Finally, Helsinki's Flaming Sideburns took the stage. Imagine four Finnish guys
well over six-feet tall fronted
by a five-foot tall Argentine lead singer. Well, that's the Flaming Sideburns.
They absolutely ripped for 70
straight minutes. Playing tunes from their "Testify" LP as well as
some stuff from their upcoming "Hallelujah Rocknrolla" LP (due in
August on the always tasty Bad Afro label) this is one force to be reckoned
with. Eduardo "Speedy" Martinez is the reincarnation of Mick Jagger
in his heyday. Twin guitars from Jeffrey Lee Burns and Ski Williamson just about
killed me. These guys are so damn good and complement each other perfectly.
The engine room consists of The Punisher on bass and Mr. Javier Burnside on
the skins (did I mention that these guys
have a sense of humour?). The highlight of their set was when Eduardo got the
entire audience to sit on the
beer-soaked floor to sing "Happy Birthday" to the Nomads and then
sprung into "Where the Wolfbane
Blooms" which they performed note for note. Sadly, the Nomads, with the
exception of Jocke, who joined them
on stage (playing the washboard) missed this great version of their tune. Hey,
Jocke, watch it with the
washboard, mate, you dropped it and nearly decapitated Mr. Burns!
One awesome show and if you missed it, no worries. The Nomads are playing the
Hultsfred Festival in June and
they have quite a few special guests joining them. Last I heard HDM and Ross
the Boss are flying over to do "16 Forever" with them. Grab your tickets
now! Or if Sweden ain't your thing they're playing Day 2 atthe Las Vegas Shakedown.
- Dave Champion
(it
don't get no better than this)
