There’s no denying it, summer is here. Despite the temperatures associated with summer still lacking.

Kraftwerk, Gesaffelstein & Róisín Murphy at Rosendal Garden Party, Stockholm.
Rosendal Garden Party is a three day festival. It has been running in Stockholm since 2022. The event is held at the Rosendals Trädgård, on Djurgården in Stockholm. The three days usually cater to very different audiences due to the variety in lineups. I’ve attended all but one year and it’s such a beautiful time and venue. Djurgården is a very central part of Stockholm, but its so close to nature that being in Rosendals Trädgård you almost forget that you’re just a 15 minute walk away from the subway. This year i went on the friday where i wanted to see Gesaffelstein and the legends, Kraftwerk. We arrived just before Róisín Murphy started to play, and we listened to a few of her songs – what a voice and such a groovy set. When Rosendal announced the lineups for the different days i was fully convinced that i had never heard of her before, but then i checked Spotify and it turns out that she sings on The Truth by Handsome Boy Modeling School – one of my favourite songs ever.

The slot after Róisín Murphy it was time for Gesaffelstein, who’s gotten a lot of recognition in later years after doing collaborations with The Weeknd. I was first introduced to Gesaffelstein back in 2015 or so. The sound mesmerized me as it was so different compared to the other electronic music being released at the same time. The set itself was very cool, as he played mostly his own songs and none of the collaborative songs, despite one instrumental of a The Weeknd song. The headliner of the evening was the legendary godfathers of electronic music – Kraftwerk.

Kraftwerk had a classic setup with their four standing desks with a massive screen behind them, showing animations aligned with the song presently playing. The set itself was nice, they played all of their classic songs, and i’m pretty sure they were actually singing live – kudos!
However, the set itself became a bit slow after a few songs, but it was in no way bad. I imagine it must’ve been way cooler seeing them in their prime. But, it was very exciting to have seen them live.

Rise Against, Annexet, Stockholm.
The Chicago born punk rock band Rise Against played in Stockholm, and i had to go see them. I first stumbeled upon Rise Against in 2004, and they we’re without a doubt the band i listened to most in high school. They also functioned as a massive stepping stone in the music exploration for me, as well as venturing into politics.They have always been very vocal about animal welfare and veganism. This was a great start for a 13 year old me getting exposed to different kinds of politics than what i was facing on day to day in the national media.

I’ve seen Rise Against once before, at the Bråvalla Festival, back in 2015. So, 10 years later it was long overdue to see them perform again. Happy to say that they still put on an amazing and very energetic performance, giving it all during their set. This time they played at Annexet, one of the medium sized venues in Stockholm, with a capacity of a couple of thousand attendees – this suited their performance perfectly. I was lucky to attend the concert with my brother, whom has also loved Rise Against since we were kids, as i played them so much, that he wasn’t able to escape them when growing up. Rise Against has a new album coming out at the end of the summer, and they played a few new songs during their performance. It sounds really good, and i’m excited for the future of the band that i fell in love with so many years ago.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.