1st off, hi to everyone I met and saw. Great chatting with everybody.
Got there about 7:15, waited outside, chatted with a couple I'd never met before. The woman just said "High On Fire shirt!" and off we went. Ha.
They let us in early, and quite frighteningly, didn't check anything. They just asked if we were drinking and put a wristband on those of us that said yes, no ID check, no nothing. I could have had a bong in my bag, they didn't care. Weird, frightening, weird.
Found where the merch was, and when she put out Hisingen Blues I grabbed my copy, having never before heard a note of Graveyard. The album just made too many best of '11 lists not to own. All three Radio Moscow discs were for sale, but I didn't bring enough cash for any of that, unfortunately.
Daniel Davies Band went on around 9:15. I found out that he's the son of Dave davies of the Kinks, which is awesome. Apparently he's in Year Long Disaster, who I've never gotten around around to hearing, and also has done some guitar/vocal work for Karma to Burn, who I love. So I didn't know what to expect from his set, having never heard his solo work before. He played stoner-lite mixed with pop and alternative, is the best way I can describe it. It was...interesting. Not heavy though.
Grabbed a smoke, came back up to see Radio Moscow setting up. I've never heard them before either, and I was quite happy with their set. I'd say they sound like a mixture of Cream's instrumental blues with Mountain's riffs and a peppering of Skynyrd's slide guitar playing. Will definitly look for their albums online, if not at another gig. Not doom heavy, but heavy like 1971. I'm just discovering/getting into this "retro rock" thing, and this was a fine introduction in a live setting.
One more smoke, and came back up to see a packed floor and balcony waiting for Graveyard. They apparently have quite the following. Made my way to stage right, about 20 feet back. Looking at the CD I picked up, they were described on the sticker as Sabbath meets Zeppelin, so I was really looking forward to hearing that. I mean, that's what Soundgarden basically were, but these were 4 swedes in a retro stoner band. They went on around about 11 pm, and the crowd was noisy for them, singing along, shouting "louder!" and "Graveyard!" among other things. The smell of sweet green smoke was in the air, and cups of beer were in everyone's hands, which was rough for me because I promised my cousin I'd do the sober thing with her until March, having started in the new year. Hadn't been tempted until last night, but I kept my promise. Anyway, Graveyard killed, but unlike that sticker on the album, I found them to be more a mixture of Blue Cheer-MC5-Deep Purple-Jimi Hendrix-with Bill Ward on drums. I dug the set, and am glad I picked up the album. Actually going to listen to it now.
Over and out.
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