Graveyard and Blues Pills

We were in the 17th row next to the soundboard when Graveyard kicked things off. Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, where heavy metal still sings the blues, they were the only band on the bill that I had not seen before. Joakim Nilsson took the stage at 7:00pm to warm things up with a solo performance before his band joined him for “The Siren” from 2011’s excellent Hisingen Blues. Obviously Graveyard flew here from Sweden, but they might as well have come on a time machine from the 70’s. Every member of the band sports a mustache and straight hair that rides well past the shoulder line. They are heavy as hell, but they don’t shy away from the ballads that are truly more blues than they are metal. Rockers like “Ain’t Fit to Live Here” and “Endless Night” were always followed by slow smokers like “Hard Times Lovin’” and “Slow Motion Countdown”. I’m not sure the early evening crowd really picked up on what they were throwing down, but for my money they were worth the price of admission alone. I was really looking forward to seeing this band and they blew away my expectations. Their shout-out to the locals in Speedwolf just made me like them even more. The set was a stripped down, no-frills, down-and-dirty rock show that had an emotional weight that only the deaf could deny. I’m anxiously waiting for them to come back to Colorado to headline a smaller venue. Maybe their smoke machine will do more damage t -

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Blues Pills have all the x-factors that can possible be crammed together in four piece. An extremely talented singer, an extraordinary good guitarist, a bass player that would make Geezer Butler proud and a drummer that hit the cans like Ginger Baker and John Bonham.

If you are in for a nostalgia trip, but still need some fresh and youthful tunes and energy this is the band for you. The songs are well thought through and contain all the dynamic elements that are usually forgotten by other retro oriented bands. There are chilling breaks, quiet intros, progressions, wonderful vocal and guitar solos in almost every song.

The show in Oslo was an absolute success. The support bands were OK, but yes, they lacks the sort of vision and dynamic elements found in Blues Pills arsenal. Next time: Bring some of your Swedish peers. The main band delivered a hell of a concert, despite that there is not more than one LP in circulation. The audience seem to respond well and as usual (I have been told) parts of the male audience were screaming their eagerness to marry the beautiful Swedish vocalist.

As a surprise Blues Pills threw in a Tony Joe White cover towards the end of the set. That was the second Tony Joe White tune this evening. Polk Salad Annie was covered by one of the support bands earlier in the evening. What a day for Tony.