Graveyard
Friday, May 9, 2014
Atlanta, GA
Shaky Knees Music Festival
When I learned that Graveyard would be part of Atlanta’s Shaky Knees festival, I scratched my head as I saw them joining a lineup that featured such crappy hipster bands as The National, Man Man, and Cage the Elephant. I know right? What the fuck indeed. Graveyard is a band that I’m sure is totally used to playing festivals with strange lineups. This didn’t seem to faze the band one bit as they took the stage to a mix of diehard Graveyard fans and some new, curious faces who were sure to find themselves bowing down before the gods of Swedish hard rock.
The sky was black and rain fell from the sky making it look and feel more like Gothenburg than Atlanta. This must have made Graveyard feel slightly at home as they took the stage to a roar from the crowd. As the guitars started to buzz and lightly feedback from the PA the band eased slowly but surely into “Blue Soul” was such a suiting opening number. As the rain intensified, the band did as well building and building as the crowd raged them on. Following “Blue Soul” the band kicked right into “Seven Seven” and at this point the band was connected, focused, and completely channeling each other with a telepathic like communication. “Hisingen Blues” came out of nowhere and as I looked around I could see faces with mouths hanging open in a state of disbelief. I even overheard one kid tell his friend, “So THIS is how you play a guitar. Holy fuck!” Connection made.
Graveyard’s setlist was a fine mix of songs pulling more heavily from the last two releases Lights Out and Hisingen Blues. The dynamics of the set was like a bipolar mood swing as they would bring things down with a song like “Slow Motion Countdown” and then BAM; here comes “Goliath” to just pound everyone upside the dome. They’d bring it back down with “Uncomfortably Numb” and then once again had everyone reaching for drip pans to catch their melting faces with “Ain’t Fit to Live Here.” “Endless Night” (which has quickly become one of my all time favorite Graveyard songs) really shined through and stood strong as what I would now consider a pinnacle of their live show. The rain finally let up just in time for the band to slide right into the long time fan favorite “The Siren.” Lead singer/guitarist Joakim Nilsson really shined on this song with vocals so powerful it sounded as if the demons from within were being exorcised and then throw back to the crowd. I could feel the hairs on my arm standing at full attention and a chill up my spine with every gut wrenching time he sang, “Tonight a demon came into my head…” Truly powerful.
Listening to Graveyard is a truly remarkable experience but seeing them perform live is a whole other story. Even in the absence of long time bassist Rikard Edlund, Graveyard (along with fill in bassist Johan Grettve) seem to completely leave their bodies and create this kind of surreal, magical, and totally mystical performance. The passion, the emotion, and the energy that they put into their performance is extremely moving and just watching them at work inspires, excites, and moves me unlike any other band I have ever seen. It’s almost as if the minute Graveyard starts playing their bodies are taken over by the music and the songs and become mere vessels to project the songs to the people. There is no pretentiousness, no over thinking, and no showboating. It is live in the truest sense of the word and Graveyard does it better than anybody. If you aren’t captivated and moved while watching a Graveyard show then there is no help for you at all.
Following the show, I found myself at the merch booth and this kid came up to me and said, “Man, that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen guitars played like that I know now that I’ve been listening to all the wrong music. What else is out there like Graveyard that you could recommend to me?” This, as you could imagine, brought a huge smile to my face. I told the kid to check out bands like Blues Pills, Kadavar, and Witchcraft but I also reminded him, “These are great bands in their own but just remember, many can come close but nobody will ever touch what you just saw up on that stage except for Graveyard themselves.” Graveyard continues to amaze me with the quality of their recordings, their songwriting, and their live performances. Each time I see them is that much better than the last and this last performance just served as a reminder as to why I love this band as much as I do.
Graveyard Setlist:
Blue Soul
Seven Seven
Hisingen Blues
Slow Motion Countdown
Goliath
Uncomfortably Numb
Ain’t Fit to Live Here
Buying Truth (Tack & Förlåt)
Endless Night
The Siren
Hard Times Lovin’
As the Years Pass by, the Hours Bend
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