Spring Concerts Recap: Porter Robinson, Yung Lean & Lambrini Girls

It’s saturday, sun is shining, and spring has finally sprung.

I thought i would give a brief re-cap of the latest concerts and show’s I’ve attended.

Porter Robinson at Berns, Stockholm.
Porter was a big influence in my journey in electronic music. When Porter released his album Worlds in 2014 the popular electronic sound was very repetitive leading up to very heavy drops, with groups such as Swedish House Mafia being one of the biggest acts of the time. So, when i first stumbled upon Worlds by Porter Robinson, i was pleasantly surprised, as it contained softer tunes, with thoughtful lyrics that is being heavily obfuscated by the production. Since then Porter has released two more album, Nurture and SMILE!:D. This concert was part of his SMILE!:D tour, but the set was divided into three sections, one for each album. The three albums have very different vibes and differ quite a bit musically as well,

Yung Lean at Avicii Globe Arena, Stockholm.
When i first heard Ginseng Strip 2002 back in 2014 or so and thought it was terrible and i didn’t get it at all, figuring it was a song made by kids as some sort of joke. The only thing i was correct about was that the track was made by kids. Ever since then Yung Lean, Sad Boys & Drain Gang has produced so much music. Most of it absolutely beautiful, genre creating and fashion inspiring. It was beautiful to see the kids born in Stockholm fill the most iconic arena, Globel, in Stockholm. I had a hunch there would be some features, Whitearmor was said to be opening act, and i assumed Gud would be there aswell – since he has produced so much together with Yung Lean over the years. But all in all Whitearmor, Gud, Bladee, Ecco2K, Thaiboy Digital & Yung Lean performed this evening.

Lambrini Girls at Slaktkyrkan, Stockholm.
Slaktkyrkan is one of the smaller venues in Stockholm, fitted into an old industrial area, full of venues in different sizes that still has the rough industrial feel to them. This was my first time attending a show at Slaktkyrkan. Before january this year, i had never heard of Lambrini Girls – but as they released their first album Who Let The Dogs Out they started to get some traction in channels that i follow online. And after i saw them being mentioned a few times over a couple of days by content creators i respect had spoken about Lambrini Girls, i felt i needed to give it a listen. I really liked it, its raw and rough, very fun punk. I sent it as a recommendation to a friend of mine, who said that they were playing in Stockholm a few weeks later. So we got ourselves some tickets. The show was really fun, there was a lot of action, the singer constantly went out and performed in the audience, and she also climbed a pillar and stage dived. It was such a fun gig.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT

A brief recap of the latest shows.

Dear reader,

My last post was a while and regarding me attending the Death Cab for Cutie show in Stockholm, late winter. Since then i have been to a few show, not many, but a few. And unfortunatley, i do not have any new upcoming shows booked.

Back in April i saw Godspeed You! Black Emperor at Berns Salonger in Stockholm, an old venue with a lot of cultural heritage. The show took place in a beautiful ballroom that helped create a fantastic atmosphere together with the magnificent and spacious music. The warm up act was a band called MANAS, they played music in a similar genre and it felt like a very fitting warm up act. This gig was very cool, and i am very happy that i catched them when they were in Stockholm!

A few days later in April, i was able to catch Arctic Monkeys when they played in Globen, in Stockholm. I’ve been a huge Arctic Monkeys fan since i i first heard Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not back in 2006. However, i haven’t ever been able to catch them playing live. When the tickets to this gig was first announced, i lucked out and wasn’t able to get any tickets, and this bummed me out. However a few days before the gig the promoters announced that they had found a few more tickets, and i managed to snag a ticket on the floor.
This show was fantastic. Arctic Monkeys last two albums has been met with a wide variety of reactions and the feedback has been ranging from bad to excellent. I think their last two albums has been cool. I love when bands shake up what they are doing, and try to evolve as bands over time. If i don’t like their new releases, i can always fall back on their old content. For this show, the mix of new songs and, old songs was nicely weighed. I missed a few songs that i would’ve liked to hear – but, since this was a show promoting their new album, i was positively surprised of the mix of new and old.

Mid May, a friend and i, on a whim went to see BORIS and Pupil Slicer when they were playing at Debaser in Stockholm. Debaser is a good venue, they host a lot of smaller acts and the venue is located under a road, and the venue itself is a bit rough and sparesly decorated. A couple of years ago i saw the danish band Iceage play at Debaser, and i fell in love with the venue.
As for BORIS and Pupil Slicer, i had no real knowledge about them, and i had at most heard a few songs from BORIS completely randomly – Pupil Slicer on the other hand, i had never heard anything from, or about them, either. They play a very different type of shows, but some of the music have some overlapping. Pupil Slicer played a hardhitting and rough metal set, and it was great! BORIS played a very, very hard set, that was very theatrical! I did enjoy this set very much!

Early June i went to Rosendal Garden Party on Djurgården, in Stockholm. As soon as they announced that Aphex Twin would be headlining the saturday, i got myself an early bird ticket, not knowing any other act that might play. Later, closer to the event, Rosendal announced that Fever Ray would be playing aswell, on the same day as Aphex Twin – i was thrilled, let me tell you! I’ve been a long time fan of Karin Dreijer, since the The Knife days.
It was a beautiful sunny, yet cold day outside in Stockholm. Fever Ray played the slot before Aphex Twin and they put on a great show, playing a bunch of songs from their latest album.
The headliner of the night was Aphex Twin, and this was his first concert in Sweden, ever! And you noticed that it was a special thing – comparing the crowd from last years Rosendal Garden Party, the crowd was way more international this year, as well as there was a lot of swedish musicians and people in the cultural sphere.
I had no idea what to expect from Aphex Twin, and i was completely mind-blown. He played very few of his own songs, and it was mostly a HARD electronic set, with an insane light show, the craziest i have seen. There was some parts he played that sounded like Aphex Twin, but that i haven’t heard before – which leads me to believe that there are new releases coming in the near future! Since the gig he has released an EP that was really cool. Hopefully we can get a full album soon. It’s already been 9 years since SYRO was released.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT

200822 – The Hives – Live

This will be a brief review from saturday when The Hives played a live show in central Stockholm.

Last week Stockholms kulturfestival (Stockholm festival of Culture), took place over several days within the central parts of Stockholm. There were live concerts, standup comedy, food trucks, beer tents and everything imaginable that falls under the ”culture umbrella”. And the beauty of the whole festival is that it’s free of admission.

I saw The Hives at Bråvalla 2014, and i consider that the best live performance i’ve ever been to, they put on a show like no one else does. So, when i saw that The Hives would play a free show in Stockholm i convinced a couple of friends that we should attend.

The scene was put up at Gustav Adolfs torg, right next to Kungsträdgården, in front of the Opera and inbetween The royal castle and The Parliament. About as a central of a location you can have in Stockholm. The Hives is rather interesting because they’re big in Sweden, but a million times bigger abroad, than at home.

They played a very Hive-esque set, fast paced songs, with showmanship inbetween the songs, and during the songs. The whole band is very fun to watch, as it seems as they have a good time performing. And Howlin’ Pelle might just be the most charismatic front man in the music scene.

The Hives performed all their biggest hits and it was very good. They had an encore. The show featured a lot of the same things that i partook in when i saw The Hives perform in 2014, so their performance is very tight, as they’ve perfected it over several years of performing.

I recommend anyone that has the possibility to watch The Hives perform, to take the possibility as they put on a show like no one else does. It’s very fun. I have a hard time scoring this set, but i’d give it a steady 8/10.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.