Rock n' Roll Paradise

Slipknot and Korn headline alongside Scorpions and Sabaton. Once again, there are plenty of experiences among the 90+ bands that take to the stages around the festival area. Swedish Korslagda Kukar opens the festival on the Blåkläder Stage and it can only be counted as a success!

"Slipknot is a whirlwind of madness and anger. It's insanely beautiful," Aftonbladet rock writer Sofia Bergström begins her article.

During the festival days, first-class hard rock is delivered by The Warning, Turbonegro, D-A-D, Royal Republic, Crucified Barbara and many more. Sabaton closes the festival on Saturday night with a pyro show the audience will never forget.

"Sweden Rock 2025 was characterized by both strong live acts and varying weather, with a line-up that mixed veterans and new stars. The festival offered a wide range of genres within hard rock and the audience, as always, showed a strong presence regardless of stage or time of day and where Sabaton literally put an end to everything with an explosion of light, fire and metal," writes Rocknytt's Emil Flyghed.

The 2024 festival was the year when generations came together in an electric mix of nostalgia and optimism. From the moment the lineup was released, it was clear - something big was coming. Headliners like Judas Priest, Journey, Five Finger Death Punch and Alice Cooper set the tone. But it wasn't just the big names that stole the show. Slaughter to Prevail, Parkway Drive, Electric Callboy, Evanescence and more drew massive crowds, not just to the Festival Stage but to every corner of the area. It was clear: hard rock is alive - and evolving.

The biggest story of the year was the secret gig on the wrestling stage in the Pistonhead tent. When D-A-D stepped on stage in front of an unsuspecting audience, the tent exploded. It quickly filled up, and the gig was described as one of the most memorable of the festival. "More of that!" was the response from thousands of satisfied fans.

Sweden Rock is celebrating its 30th festival and the anniversary is a fact. The festival is topped by icons and giants such as Iron Maiden, Ghost, Deep Purple and Mötley Crue.

Norje showed itself from its sunniest side and this year's festival edition was a powerful one. Among the crowd favorites were bands like Europe, Airbourne, Wolfmother, Jinjer, Lita Ford and many more. Over 90 bands took to Sweden Rock Festival's five stages and the audience cheered.

One of the most surprising elements is Christone "Kingfish" Ingram. The 24-year-old blues prodigy who has been compared to both Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King. Christone "Kingfish" Ingram completely knocked out the audience with his incomparable guitar playing.

As Sweden Rock returns after a two-year break due to the pandemic, the joy and relief of being able to gather once again is palpable, among visitors, festival workers and artists alike.

Since Guns N' Roses were at the festival in 2010, the band has been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and original members Slash and Duff McKagan have returned to the line-up. The band is once again trusted to top the Sweden Rock program.

"The return of Sweden's most popular festival, which this year is bigger than ever, feels a little unreal," writes Aftonbladet's rock writer Sofia Bergström, who, however, thinks that returning bands such as Saxon, Accept and D-A-D might as well "set up permanent camp in the area" and instead suggests three bands not to be missed: Mercyful Fate, Wormwood and The Halo Effect.

In other words, it's business as usual at Sweden's most unusual festival. Everyone has their own opinions. And everyone wants to go again

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

Covid-19 still has the world in its grip and the coming period is characterized by uncertainty. Despite this, the festival management continues to work towards the 2021 festival. On 30 March 2021, it is announced that this year's festival will also be cancelled - the restrictions on social events make it impossible to take place.

Despite the setbacks and a shaky world, new ideas are born from the passion to gather around the music. Sweden Rock TV is launched and becomes a festival in a small package that is broadcast live digitally. A new way to meet the audience and keep the festival spirit alive. The longing for the festival is strong and the hope burns to be able to make a really powerful comeback in 2022.

Covid 19 and the pandemic have the world in their grip, including the music industry. There is an uncertainty over the world - which has lost its rhythm. Sweden Rock's festival management is working feverishly to find a solution to be able to carry out the festival. On April 21, 2020, there is no other way, the festival must be canceled.

With Kiss, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Def Leppard, ZZ Top and Slayer at the top of the bill, the stage is set for a classic hard rock party in Norje.

"There will never be another Kiss, there will never be a band that has that impact on generation after generation. If this was the last gig in Sweden for the band, it was a worthy ending", writes a lyrical Calle Englund in Rocknytt.

Slayer are on their farewell tour and the show at Sweden Rock will be their last in Sweden. But perhaps the festival's biggest surprise can be found a little further down in the program. Myrath from Tunisia is such a success that they have to fill in as a replacement when Behemoth is forced to cancel their gig.

And Covid 19? Well, some might have guessed it was a new metal band no one had heard of. But for the next two summers, silence descends on the grounds of Norje.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

At the top of the Sweden Rock wish list of many hard rockers, bands like AC/DC, Metallica and Iron Maiden have been around for years. And in 2018, at least Iron Maiden can be checked off that list.

The band comes to Sweden Rock on their worldwide 'Legacy of The Beast' tour, which takes its name from their mobile game and sums up their career with 2,000 concerts to date. They open with 'Aces High', with a Spitfire plane hovering over them on stage.

"How anyone will manage to top this in the two days that remain, I find it difficult to see. In terms of audience, Iron Maiden will be the winner of the festival," says Mattias Högström in Rocknytt.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

First Live Nation-owned festival tops off with Aerosmith playing their only Swedish show during the farewell tour
"Aero-Vederci Baby!".

Scorpions and In Flames are the other two top acts. Since their debut in 1994, the Swedes have built up an increasingly strong position on the international metal scene and will close the 2017 festival on Saturday night.

"The atmosphere in the audience could hardly be better, and the performances of "Only For the Weak", "Cloud Connected" and the closing "Take This Life" are in master class level. // I have a hard time imagining a better ending to the best festival of the year", writes Niklas Webjörn in Rocknytt.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

After Freddie Mercury's death in 1991, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor had kept one of rock's most iconic bands sporadically active. With Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers at the microphone, Queen embarked on a more organized comeback in 2004, which was given a further boost when Adam Lambert took over as lead singer five years later.

Queen come to Sweden Rock as part of their summer tour of Europe and Asia, opening heavily with "One Vision" and "Hammer To Fall" and then going on to rack up a hard-to-beat string of hits until the end when tens of thousands of happy festival-goers sing/roar/shout along to "We Are The Champions".

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

Sweden Rock breaks the 90-band barrier and sells out for the first time with Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest, Slash and Toto as the heaviest foreign names. But the blue and yellow metal wave has climbed ever higher as a poster name and newer Swedish bands such as Ghost, Opeth, Meshuggah and Hammerfall are also big crowd-pullers and style-makers.

Torsson is possibly the band that stands out the most with songs like "Lingonplockning", "Blodomloppet" and "En tung missbrukare", but there is no doubt that the Scanian cult band has the audience with them when they start the favorite "Det spelades bättre boll" on the Rockklassikerscenen.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

A reunited Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler returns to Sweden Rock as part of its year-long world tour "The Reunion Tour".

In this lineup, Black Sabbath released their latest album "13" the year before and expectations for the doom metal pioneers' concert are at their peak when the band comes out on stage and opens with "War Pigs".

The band also plays the classic "Black Sabbath" from their debut album. "Iommi plays the three most important notes of hard rock while half a moon bursts through the clouds in Blekinge. It's the biggest thing I've ever seen at Sweden Rock," writes Expressen's Anders Dahlbom.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

Kiss celebrates its 40th anniversary by playing at Sweden Rock for the first time as the biggest poster band. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons remain from the original lineup and the band's latest album "Monster" has arrived six months earlier.

As expected, they go on stage for the introduction: "You wanted the best and you got the best, the hottest band in the world - Kiss!".

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

"More than 80 bands" says the 2012 festival poster. Mötley Crüe have released their ninth and final studio album "Saints Of Los Angeles" since their last visit to Sweden Rock and will close the festival on Saturday night.

The reunited grunge kings of the 90s, Soundgarden, are somewhat unexpectedly the second name, surrounded by more classic hard rock names such as Twisted Sister, Motörhead and Blue Öyster Cult. This is the band's first gig in Sweden since 1996.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

The twentieth edition of Sweden Rock celebrates with the debut of Ozzy Osbourne at the festival - and he has also been given the honorary place as the closing act on Saturday night.

Otherwise, the program is characterized by familiar Sweden Rock names such as Whitesnake, Judas Priest, Accept, Styx and Saxon, while The Cult and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts are first-time bookings. The festival attracts the same number of visitors as last year, but turnover increases and profits reach a record SEK 25 million.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

One of the more anticipated bookings at Sweden Rock is Guns N' Roses, who will make their debut appearance by closing the festival on Saturday evening, June 12.

The band had released "Chinese Democracy" two years earlier, the album Axl Rose had been tinkering with for 13 years, but the gig at Sweden Rock was an anti-climax as they kept fans waiting in the rain and wind for almost 50 minutes before coming on stage just before midnight.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

"That little ol' band from Texas" - ZZ Top - is coming to Norje for the first time. The band hasn't released a new album since "Mescalero" six years earlier, but is a heavy poster name alongside Heaven & Hell, In Flames and Twisted Sister.

With 78 bands and artists performing over the four days of the festival, another record is achieved - plus the audience record is broken once again with 35,200 visitors. Tracenine from Canada breaks another record - during their set they cause the sound meter to reach 115.8 decibels, resulting in a fine for the festival.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

Sweden Rock continues to attract more and more visitors and in 2008 the festival reached a new record with 33,200 visitors.

Among the headliners, Poison and recently reunited Triumph are first-time bookings, while Judas Priest, Def Leppard and Whitesnake have played Sweden Rock before.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

Aerosmith is coming to Sweden for the first time since 1994 and with Boston's pride and joy as the main attraction, Sweden Rock 2007 attracts 29,000 visitors, making it the biggest festival in Sweden - and for the third year in a row, all tickets are sold out in advance.

The Black Sabbath line-up of Ronnie James Dio on vocals plus Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice was active in the early 80s and early 90s and has now been resurrected again - this time in the form of Heaven & Hell. The result is an unexpected decibel showdown that will make Sweden Rock rewrite the rulebook.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

Deep Purple, W.A.S.P., Whitesnake, Alice Cooper and Ted Nugent are heavyweights who have all played the festival in previous years - Deep Purple not surprisingly leads the league in returning to Sweden Rock for the fifth time.

Other headliners include Def Leppard, Journey and Venom at Sweden Rock for the first time, while George Thorogood and the Jeff Healey Band lighten the metal-heavy program with some American blues rock.

But Aftonbladet's rock writer Joacim Persson believes that the most interesting names are, as usual, on the smaller stages and suggests five acts that should not be missed: Venom, Dragonforce, Celtic Frost, Queensryche and Porcupine Tree.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

For the second year in a row, Sweden Rock is sold out months in advance. Accept, Sammy Hagar and the Wabos and Mötley Crüe are the top names for the three days. All are playing the festival for the first time, as are Dutch band Within Temptation and American FM band's 70s kings Styx and Kansas.

At Thursday's press conference, Lemmy is asked how loud Motörhead will play. "Enough...so you'll end up in hospital". Sammy Hagar alternates songs from his solo career, Montrose and Van Halen. And on Saturday, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Vince Neil and Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe arrive in style, each in a limousine.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

The success of 2003 means that the festival management once again dares to go for a three-day festival, but this time from Thursday to Saturday. The lineup is heavy with Scorpions, Judas Priest and Europe as top names, the latter two of which have just reunited and are now playing at Sweden Rock for the first time.

Among the 60 bands (a new record), 70s classics like Montrose, UFO, Hawkwind, Slade, Foghat and Heart are interspersed with Nordic 80s and 90s bands like In Flames, Opeth, TNT, Children Of Bodom and Entombed - and for the first time, Sweden Rock tickets are sold out well in advance.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

With headliners Whitesnake, Twisted Sister, Queensryche, Krokus, Y&T and Blind Guardian premiering, Sweden Rock is once again testing the waters for a three-day festival from Friday, June 6 to Sunday, June 8 - and being rewarded with another crowd-pleasing success.

With 54 bands, Sweden Rock 2003 offers the biggest line-up yet. Demon tops the Friday program, classic British 60's and 70's favorites Jethro Tull with Ian Anderson in the lead make their first and only appearance at the festival, while Budgie, Wishbone Ash and Uriah Heep return to Norje.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

On paper - read the festival poster - it may be hard to understand why Sweden Rock 2002 marks a crucial turning point in the festival's history. Friday's headliner Status Quo is playing there for the third time and other top bands like Motörhead, Saxon and Gamma Ray are also returning names.

However, many artists are coming to the festival for the first time. Wildman Ted Nugent tops the Saturday program, 60s and 70s legends John Kay & Steppenwolf both play on Friday, and singers Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson have both taken a break from their respective bands Judas Priest and Iron Maiden to perform as solo artists. Bruce celebrates by performing Tom Jones' pop song 'Delilah' as an encore.

Under the surface, there has also been a major restructuring effort to make the festival profitable. And with 11,000 visitors, Sweden Rock 2002 attracted almost 4,000 more visitors than the year before. The trend has been reversed and a long line of unbroken attendance records awaits.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

The first Sweden Rock Festival under the ownership of Michael Ivarsson has been trimmed back to two days and the poster features for the first time partners such as radio station Rockklassiker, Spendrups, MNW and Washburn - plus Ivarsson's own record label Record Heaven.

Gary Moore, W.A.S.P., Glenn Hughes, Helloween, Dokken and Rose Tattoo are some of the biggest names making their debut at Sweden Rock 2001. But a month before the festival is due to begin, Aftonbladet paints a dark picture in an article entitled "Storstjärnorna säger nej till Sweden Rock".

"Due to the financial crisis, there will be no top name at the Sweden Rock Festival this year. And the second biggest bands have said no", the newspaper writes. But brighter times are ahead.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

Sweden Rock Festival celebrates the new millennium with a three-day festival for the first time. Big-name acts Alice Cooper, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Saxon, Molly Hatchet and Dio have all played the festival before, while Kings X and Yngwie Malmsteen are making their debut.

But it doesn't help. The audience is not showing up, the economy is crashing and the festival is facing its biggest challenge yet. Win or lose?

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

Sweden Rock Festival is now on the poster for what had started seven years earlier as the Summer Festival in Holje Park. And the old promise of a "happening with rock, blues and folk music" is now definitely history: "Fill your head with rock" is what applies in Norje during the last summer of the 90s.

Among the heavyweights, Scorpions, David Lee Roth, Manowar, Dio, MSG and U.D.O. are premiering, while long-time favorites Deep Purple are making their third appearance in Blekinge. The festival has grown with a larger public area and an additional stage.

- David Lee Roth and Manowar drew a big crowd and put the festival even more on the map. The heavy metal audience opened their eyes to us. The best marketing is to get the people on site, who can then spread the word further, comments Ingolf Persson in Barometern.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

The first festival in Norje starts with a massive disappointment: Van Halen has released their new album "Van Halen III" with Gary Cherone from Extreme on vocals in the spring of 1998 and will now play their only Swedish show at Karlshamn Rock Festival - but cancel the gig the same day.

Friday's second poster name Simple Minds stands out among all the classic hard rockers, but together with horror master Alice Cooper, Status Quo, Blue Öyster Cult, Mountain, Motörhead, Hammerfall and Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider, they manage to keep the mood up.

For Motörhead, this is the first of eight shows at the festival, but soon Lemmy & Co will be the house band at Sweden Rock.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

When Karlshamn Rock Festival for the fifth and last year is organized in Bellevueparken in Karlshamn, two of the main attractions - Jerry Lee Lewis and Mountain - cancel their performances and bands like Nazareth, Ten Years After, Saxon and Molly Hatchet do not manage to compensate for the loss of audience.

Ten Years After make their first appearance at the festival, coming to Bellevueparken with the original line-up that had made the band great in the late 60s and early 70s: singer and guitarist Alvin Lee, Chick Churchill on keyboards, bassist Leo Lyons and drummer Ric Lee. Future Sweden Rock favorites Saxon also made their debut in 1997 - they would return nine more times and become the band that played the most times during the first 30 festivals.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

Deep Purple headline the festival for the second time in two years on Friday, returning to Karlshamn with Steve Morse as their new guitarist after Joe Satriani left the band to pursue his solo career. The indefatigable Status Quo released their 22nd studio album - aptly named "Don't Stop" - at the beginning of the year and are now making their first appearance at the festival with guitarists Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt as the remaining original members.

Lynyrd Skynyrd comes to Karlshamn with three of the original members still in the band - guitarist Gary Rossington, bassist Leon Wilkerson and Billy Powell on keyboards. They are complemented by singer Johnny Van Zant and guitarists Hughie Thomasson and Ricky Medlocke, who with backgrounds in bands like 38 Special, Outlaws and Blackfoot represent some of the heaviest names in southern rock. The band opens with the traditional "Workin' For MCA" and closes with the equally classic trio "Call Me The Breeze", "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird".

However, there was some noise in the media when it became clear that Creedence Clearwater Revisited, i.e. a Creedence edition consisting of bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford, had been booked for the festival. Under the headline "The big rock scam", Arbetet questions the morality of booking a Creedence band without John Fogerty, but the Revisited version will prove to be more long-lived than the original group and will return to the Karlshamn Rock Festival just two years later.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

After three years as the "Summer Festival", the name has now been changed to "Karlshamn Rock Festival" and with Black Sabbath as the main attraction on Friday, Ingolf Persson has managed to attract one of the biggest names in early hard rock.

Of the original Sabbath line-up from the early golden years, only guitarist Tony Iommi remains, who with singer Tony Martin, keyboardist Geoff Nichols, bassist Neil Murray and Cozy Powell on drums has just released the band's eighteenth album, on which fans are in for a big surprise when rapper Ice-T guest stars on the opening track "The Illusion Of Power".

Saturday's main attraction Fleetwood Mac has also undergone many radical member changes over the years, and only the rhythm section, consisting of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, supplemented by Bekka Bramlett, Billy Burnette and Dave Mason, remains from the successful 70s edition.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

Although two of the heavyweights - David Lee Roth and Bad Company - canceled their shows at short notice, the 1994 festival was another success.

A 25th anniversary Deep Purple had re-formed in its classic "Mark II" line-up of Ian Gillan, Richie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Roger Glover and Ian Paice. However, six months before the festival, Blackmore has left the band again and been replaced by Joe Satriani.

They open with "Highway Star", playing classics like "Child in Time", "Lazy" and "Black Night" before closing with "Smoke On The Water", where Leslie West from Mountain came up and guest performed.

Otherwise, the festival offers a selection for almost all tastes: from Blackfoot's southern rock to The Sweets' bubblegum pop - with Andy Scott and Mick Tucker left over from the original lineup - and a battery of Swedish artists, where Lisa Ekdahl is perhaps the one who is musically furthest from the maxed-out Marshall stacks.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

After the success in Olofström the year before, the Summer Festival is expanded to a two-day festival and moved to Bellevueparken in Karlshamn. 20 bands with 60s and 70s heroes such as Bachman Turner Overdrive, Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers as international headliners.

Frank Marino hasn't been to Sweden for eight years and not only attracts fans traveling all the way from Kiruna - they also get Swedish rockers Electric Boys to cancel a concert to come to Karlshamn and check out the gig.

Among the newer bands are The Hooters, Clawfinger, Stars On Mars and The Doctors. The G-word also appears frequently this time. "The old man can still play John Mayall" writes Blekinge Läns Tidning, which also believes that Bachman Turner "has lost his exaggeration", even though the "old men" impressed by keeping "a roaring tempo".

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023. 

The summer festival in Holje Park in Olofström promises "a happening of rock - blues - folk music". Nazareth and Wishbone Ash are the international stars of the event - two British bands that were formed in the late 60s and experienced their greatest success in the first half of the 70s.

Since no touring rock stars have reached their 80s by this time, the unspoken "best before" date often falls around the age of 35. The local newspaper Sydöstran already sets a tone in the introduction to its festival coverage that will characterize the media coverage of the future Sweden Rock: both main attractions are called "old rock heroes" who line up "old classics" in a way that made it "bursting with 70s nostalgia".

The biggest Swedish attractions are more current: Stonecake had their breakthrough single 'Tuesday Afternoon' the year before, while The Sinners are on their third album 'Turn It Up'. Also on the comedy bill are Steve & The Lloyds, fronted by comedians Sven "Steve" Melander and Åke "Presley" Cato.

No one knew it then, but the Sweden Rock Festival had arrived.

The text is taken from the anniversary book Sweden Rock Festival - Constantly counted out, yet immortal.
Written by Sven Lindström & Anders Roos. The book was released for the 30th festival, 2023.