Wednesday 7 April 2010

Band of the Week - The Hellacopters

I have chosen a Swedish garage rock band that have broken up as my band of the week this week.

The Hellacopters were a band that i got into on the back of another Swedish band, Backyard Babies. It is hard to define what exactly it is about them that I like so much.

Their sound is not unique, but somehow managed to speak to me on a level I cannot explain.

The Hellacopters played one of their last ever gigs at Roskilde in 2008 (I will do a post on Roskilde separately - hopefully tomorrow if they actually do an announcement - I am still waiting in anticipation!), which was probably my highlight of the festival.

When it was announced that they would be playing, The Mentalist and I agreed that come hell or high water we would be at that gig.

They were scheduled to play on the first night, at the same time as Radiohead, which is a band I am not particularly fond of, so to me it was double win. Only the people that really liked The Hellacopters would be at that stage, and I didn't have to hear/see Radiohead!

The band were phenomenal, although it was a tad disconcerting that all their songs were in English, yet all the talking that they did between songs was in Swedish! Still, the crown were mostly Scandawegian, so could understand both aspects.

The Mentalist and I managed to nab ourselves a great spot under a tree, on the grass, so we had enough room to dance around, whilst still being able to see and hear perfectly.

The joys started off when we got chatting to an older couple. I say chatting to the couple, the man had smoked his first few drags of weed in 25 years, and had passed out! His wife was enjoying herself prodding and poking him at intermittent intervals, in between telling us all about the previous years that they had been to Roskilde.

After that the band came on, and hilarity ensued! There was a man in front of us who insisted upon playing the entire range of air instruments, even some I hadn't thought of. He then decided to pretend he was a plane, and went flying around his group of friends. Unfortunately, he went a bit wide, and managed to knock into someone he didn't know, and make him drop his drinks. The great thing about Roskilde is that no one is aggressive. In a British festival, you would expect it all to kick off into a big fight, but within minutes, the two were great friends, and all was well.

I have spoken a lot about the gig, rather than the music, and my reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, I am still upset with them for disbanding. Secondly, I really think this is a band you should listen to for yourself. Look them up on YouTube, or download them from which ever music site you get your music from, and give them a whirl. If I was to make a suggestion for one song to listen to, it would be "I'm in the band" from the Rock & Roll Is Dead album.

Happy listening!

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