Artists: Various
Venue: Plan B, Malmö, Sweden
Date: 27th-29th July 2024
'Dear Johan Nylen and Wind-Up Production, consider this event a total success, the audience who travelled a long way to get to Malmö is not disappointed...'
“Watching the very first ever live performance of a new promising AOR band (Transatlantic Radio), getting to listen to new unreleased songs from forthcoming albums by Seventh Crystal, Streetlight, Roulette and Boys From Heaven; having the chance to see rare live acts and meeting all humble artists in a warm welcoming atmosphere, are few of the reasons why Malmö Melodic is the best AOR festival I have ever attended”.
I travelled from the other side of the world to experience an event of a lifetime with a line-up that is not often offered around. Like only the Scandinavians can make it happen, it was truly AOR Heaven.
It was a three-day event that kicked off with a gathering of friends from all over the world in the heart of lovely Malmö at the Mill Hotel, an evening before the festival, with a very special acoustic set by Houston’s singer Hank Erix and former Wildness drummer Erik Modin delighting the evening with Houston, Hank Erix solo tunes and few AOR anthems. I knew right away this was going to be a memorable weekend.
Day 1.- July 27th – Malmö Melodic.
A sunny Saturday afternoon arrived, the selected venue was Plan B, a converted warehouse with a decent size stage and pit with drinks and food available at all times, a merch/meet and greets booth and a tranquil outside zone to relax in between bands, but barely had the chance to grab a zip of an iced cold beer as the show started with a fun surprise for me: Alicate, delivering a strong energetic fifty-minute set of EVH influenced guitar sounding Melodic Rock mixed with some bluesy riffs. Having five full-length albums in their pocket, the band combined some fun rocking songs and a beautiful ballad called “Butterfly”. Check them out.
Then it was time for Nubian Rose, led by the powerful voice of Sofia Lilja. The band was honestly better than I anticipated, being away from the stage for seven years, they surely warmed everyone’s voices up in the crowd with heavier tunes but were interesting to watch. Lilja played the keyboard on the ballad “How Am I”, which was one powerful performance.
The Stockholm-based band Grand came onstage at 16:20 with one of the finest live Melodic Rock shows I’ve ever witnessed, classic eighties-sounding keys, sharp guitars from former Wigelius guitarist Jakob Svensson, and amazing singing by Mattias Olofsson, it all sounded like the music was being played from an actual vinyl record, perfection from all sides. A certified highlight of the event, and it was only the beginning.
Houston was up next, and wow! Hank Erix and his pals delivered a sixty-minute AOR master class, the way it should be executed and delivered. No wonder why in 2010 their debut album was awarded as the best AOR record of the year and still sounds fresh and amazing, such a brilliant way to begin a career. They brought nothing but marvellous melodies to a vibrant crowd hungry for AOR.
The first headlining act of the evening was Romeo’s Daughter and we could not catch a break, they played hit after hit of classic British Melodic Rock, new and old tunes. Leigh Matty and her band rocked Sweden for the very first time, surprisingly, excellence at its highest level was surely delivered.
I will not try to pronounce the name of the city where the main headlining band comes from (Örnsköldsvik), but I can tell you that they tore the Plan B roof down to the floor. Perfect Plan brought a classy, exquisite and powerful set, possibly one of the most packed acts of the day, as well as the most expected show that everyone wanted to see. Kent Hilli can sing and take anyone to AOR Heaven with such a feeling and strong presence onstage, together with his boys in the band. Rolf Nordstrom’s guitar solos are made straight from his heart, right when they are needed, without the need to show off the obvious talent, he expresses and adds the perfect complement to every song. Brilliant highlight!
Day 2.- July 28th – Malmö Melodic.
It is not a common way to spend a Sunday for me, but one that will certainly live forever in my heart. A well-organized sell-out “VIP only” experience started at noon with nothing but the fantastic Seventh Crystal, who had the mission to open one of the strongest festival line-ups I have ever been to, and they did not disappoint, they even managed to perform three new songs from their upcoming album for the very first time, banger after another Kristian Fyhr and company crushed it big time with a heavier but yet melodic approach, rumbling the venue strongly. A huge highlight for me.
A band that I recently started to get into came on stage right after, the Danish Boys From Heaven, bringing a softer but classy act of AOR right to the veins, full of synths, keyboards and saxophone, contrasting with the previous act, with the impressive voice of Chris Catton They surprised many in the pit whom would not quite bet on them but ended up enjoying their performance, buying their records and merch after the show.
The third band of the day was JD Miller, they stepped in for a double set on two different days covering for the female band Emotional Fire which had to cancel at the very last minute due to illness. They brought a combination of Modern Hard Rock and Progressive melodic tunes, new to many of us, they do deserve more attention for sure. Kudos to the fact that they performed two different sets on the second and third day of the festival.
It was time for a band whom most did not know much about, only four songs were released a few months before the event, it happened to be that the day before the festival was the very first time they all met together to play in the same place. With Swedish guitarist Pelle Holmberg covering for the original member who caught Covid, bassist Victor Broden (former Mitch Malloy Band), singer and Swedish Naval officer Mathias Osback, drummer Chris Reeve (currently stadium touring around the world with Avril Lavigne) and the mind-behind it all Mr. Fred Kron, a gathering of talented musicians from the USA, Australia and Sweden, Transatlantic Radio came onstage with powerful uplifting songs. Imagine early Blue Tears meets Aldo Nova “Blood On The Bricks” era meets “Screw It!” by Danger Danger. They made the festival super special because it was their very first time performing live. They nailed it, paying tribute to AOR classics by covering songs from Starship, Signal and Stage Dolls. Stay tuned for the release of their first album, I’m sure they will give a lot to talk about soon.
A gang of five long-haired, talented young fellas got onstage to add some shredding guitars, heavier riffs, a fine David Coverdale-influenced voice and Erik Modin pounding the drums; it was the turn for Wildness. They sounded to me heavier live than on the actual studio recordings, delivering quality Melodic Rock to the crowd.
That one Swedish band we all wanted to see live got the whole party started with doses of positivity and happiness; Roulette was possibly the loudest crowd-singing band I heard on the whole event, you could tell the experience and confidence of the band from their years performing together, not only the precise executions but the camaraderie between the whole band. I highly recommend their new EP recently released: “For Now Until Today”.
The main headliner for the day was Dare, and what a way to end the second day of the festival, they played over ten songs from their latest albums, but towards the end of their set they delivered some of their classic anthems that had us all lose our voices from such much singing. A very special performance to seen by myself for the very first time, a dream came true that evening. Someone wisely said “Dare is Dare”, an fantastic class band!
Day 3.- July 29th – Malmö Melodic.
I had mixed feelings on the last day of such a wonderful convention of friends from more than twenty countries around the world, making great new friends and enjoying fine music together like old-time good friends.
Care Of Night was in charge of starting the “VIP Only” experience with more high-quality sounding Melodic Rock AOR perfectly fitted for the event. Uplifting songs that stole nothing but smiles full of hope and optimism in the crowd, creating the greatest atmosphere for what would come later.
I did not know much about the next band: Gælery, they sounded a bit different than what AOR lovers were expecting, but it was worth watching the catchy, bluesy-influenced Rock they brought. With a couple of heavier songs in the set and a surprise performance onstage with Chris Laney for one song, they got us all warmed up.
One of the main reasons for me to travel from the other side of the pond was to have the chance to see bands that are just emerging now, with very well-received albums in the past few years, fresh-sounding songs and mainly at the top of their game. That was exactly the case with Streetlight, these guys sounded just like on the record, wow! It must be the water, but Scandinavians know how to create epic, melodic AOR anthems without much effort, my total respect to them all, so I’m looking forward to their new album coming in the winter.
Talking about reasons why, when I saw the festival announcement with Remedy on it a year ago, I thought to myself that this was my time, having missed the Melodic Rock Fest Scandinavia in 2018 and the AOR Convention in 2019, the third time had to be the charm. Well, Remedy got onstage and simply blew my head away like a wild thunderstorm, the highlight of the day for me. Omnipotent presence, energetic, expressive, sharp and contagiously melodic!
The first time I saw Chez Kane live was at the Monsters of Rock Cruise and I felt like something was not quite tight within the band, this time was different though, the band delivered eighties-sounding melodies interpreted to its highest level of emotion, with talented young guitarist Harry Scott Elliott (currently with Tyketto) and James Ready whom offered a shredding show to the audience, not to mention the precise bass guitar by Lewis Watkins and the enchanting Chez herself whom sang her heart out to the crowd. Danny Rexon and bandmate Jens Anderson were in the crowd supporting.
After a brief speech by organizer Johan Nylen and pal Kieran Dargan promising a second festival edition in 2025, the festival closed with Ronnie Atkins, this was one of the two rare solo band performances, definitely an honour to be there to witness it. The band combined some Atkins’ solo and Pretty Maids tunes, therefore melodic yet heavier stuff to seal up the event with an exquisite, unique show.
Dear Johan Nylen and Wind-Up Production, consider this event a total success, the audience who travelled a long way to get to Malmö is not disappointed, all hoping that this will become a yearly tradition, you can count on us for the upcoming years.
Review and Photos: Cristian Vera.
Location:
Great review
Awesome 👏