Skitarg w/ support – Gothenburg, Sweden
BatAAr, The End Of Grace, Skitarg
Sticky Fingers, Gothenburg (SE)
10th April 2015
Promoted by NEMIS GBG
Clown metal is a big thing in Sweden, at least when it comes down to Skitarg. But support acts BatAAr and The End Of Grace caused quite a fuss as well that night.
Despite my often trips to Sweden and the crash-course I’ve taken last year on its native language, I’m still not able to maintain a conversation in Swedish (reading is okay, talking not so much). This means I can’t tell you what BatAAr-Seb said to the screaming crowd that welcomed the band. But then again, it’s the music that counts, right? They themselves must think the same, as their borderline visual kei image is toned down once they’re on stage, in comparison to what you see in their videos and promo photos.
Between the exquisite prog of “Riskbreaker”, the spirited melodies of “The Distance” and “Owls And Snakes”, or the extremeness of “Refrain From Your Porcelain”, BatAAr’s sound may be hard to label in matters of genre, but pretty easy to do so in terms of quality: DAMN GOOD! Adding that to how comfortable they are on stage and how they give themselves to what they’re playing, it all can only result in a show worth attending to. (5/5)
https://www.facebook.com/BatAAr
Just like BatAAr, The End Of Grace also come from Gothenburg, but since Kriss is British and addressed the audience in English, I can be a bit more thorough regarding the singer’s speech. For instance, I can tell you about the at least half a dozen times he said “oh my God you’re fucking crazy” and “we love you all”. If you’ve been following our posts on these guys, you know I’ve been to quite a few TEoG shows, so trust me when I say that Kriss wasn’t kissing ass – this crowd was the most vibrant I’ve ever seen on a TEoG show. There was even a wall of death at the beginning of “Beneath The Waves”, right after a cool, melodic new intro – guess they got inspired by Frodd‘s remix of it for the B-side of their latest single “Final Burden”.
They’ve been hard-working on their upcoming debut album and less than a month since the release of the aforementioned “Final Burden”, they were ready to introduce another new song – a song about being in a band, how that means “brotherhood”, and so it’s only natural that it was named after the band itself. The response to “The End Of Grace”, the song, was as massive as to the rest of the gig, which makes me believe the album will get a killer feedback once it’s finally out.
And because of that brotherhood, this being drummer Thomas last show felt like “losing an arm”. He got quite an ovation from the crowd and then BatAAr-Seb got on stage to help Kriss sing the last song “Fist Face Bleed”. Thomas couldn’t have asked for a better farewell show. (5/5)
https://www.facebook.com/TheEndOfGrace
The house had been crowded for both supporting acts, but for Skitarg it was fully packed, leaving no doubt that they lived up to their headlining status.
Sure, their creepy-clown makeup and flashy outfits cause an impressive visual impact, but if we strip those away, we’re still left with a very active and powerful performance. So if you’re thinking that Skitarg’s popularity is only due to their looks, think again. And songs such as “Jag Bryter Nacken Av Din Häst”, “Du Har Keps Och Knarkar” or “Utvecklingsstörd” made the crowd go wild in mosh circles and loud sing-alongs, proving my point.
At some point, close to the end, TEoG-Kriss joined on stage, not to sing but just to fool around with Barnet. Sadly I had already put away the camera, as the aforementioned mosh was too vicious for my bones’ sake and I had retreated to a safe point at the back. Yeah, it was that kind of show, that kind of party. (5/5)
https://www.facebook.com/skitarg
A big thanks to Martin Efternamn for the help with the Skitarg song-titles.
Text & photos by Renata “Pieni” Lino.
Valkyrian Music 
Leave a Reply