So to start off- who are Blowsight?
Blowsight are a 4-piece band from Stockholm, Sweden, consisting of Nick Red (vocals, guitar), Seb (guitar), Mao (bass) & Fabz (drums). They describe their music as 'PopMetalPunk'- if I recall correctly from an interview I read once, it's because it has "the catchiness of pop, the harshness of metal & the raw sound of punk", a combination that works splendidly in creating some truly amazing songs! I'd say they're a versatile band as well- some songs have a more rock sound, some are slower, plus they sound great acoustic as well!
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| The band, from L-R- Fabz, Nick, Seb & Mao (Image is not mine, I take no credit) |
And how did I get into them?
For this little section let's take a step back in time to March 2010 (this I know thanks to Facebook timeline- I posted a status on the day I discovered them & decided to look it up). A 15 year-old me is sat in her room & has just opened Spotify to see that what looks to be a metal cover of 'Pokerface' on her recommendations list. I guess it's metal because the image alongside it is a skull, who I later learned is Skully- Blowsight's logo. Wanting to hear a good rock/metal cover of said song, I gave it a listen & it was one of the greatest things I'd ever heard- better than Gaga herself if I may say! It was that brilliant that I gave it a listen a second time before checking out what other music Blowsight had done. At the time, they only had the one album released, 'Destination Terrorville', which I listened to & thoroughly enjoyed- I remember having their song 'Thought of Bride' in my head for a few days after! A month or so later I purchased the album & that's where it all began. From there came the release of single 'Bandit For Life' (which is where the fans got their name the 'Bandits' from- it's also where the first part of the title from this blog is from), their second album 'Dystopia Lane', the 'Shed Evil EP', their third album 'Life & Death' & their latest single, 'Winter Show Mercy (Thank You)', which was released to raise money for homeless charities. I remember fondly awaiting & then listening to each new album/track & immediately loving it- from the stories told within the songs to the lyrics I found myself relating to & the fantastic sound of the music!
Now you know the back story, let's continue with the story of how I got to see them live:
Again, we go back to 2010, where the band played in the UK in a city not far from where I live. As you can imagine, I was thrilled, however, I was in a play at the time & the date of the concert clashed with the final rehearsal, meaning that I, unfortunately, missed them. From that day, I promised myself that if they were to play in my country again, I would be there, even if it meant travelling a bit, I'd go. In fact, as I saw where their various live shows were over the years, I decided that I'd be more than happy to travel over to the continent to see them. I did consider going to Germany to see them last year with my Mum, but instead my whole family took a holiday.
Which brings us to the present & the tale of this weekend's adventure. It began a couple of weeks before the concert, where I saw on Facebook that the band were playing live in Stockholm, with the date conveniently being on the Friday before I weekend I had booked off of work. Seeing this made me feel excited, as I wanted to visit Sweden anyway as well, so why not go over there & see Blowsight? At first, it was just a wild thought in my mind as I didn't really have the money, but thankfully I got my halls of residence contract cancelled so I had some extra money in my bank account, and what a better way to spend it than on going to see my favourite band play live? :D
To begin, I had to get tickets. I'd seen the cost & worked out in English money that they were pretty cheap, so I asked on the event page where I could buy the tickets from. I was told by the event's organiser, a very nice man who I later met named Joakim, that they were available on the door of the event. As I was travelling from England, I asked if I could reserve tickets. I then received a message from him saying that if I was travelling all that way to see the band, I could go on the VIP list & not have to pay, which was amazing news! I would have been more than happy to have paid, but seeing as I now had tickets reserved in this way- the trip was a must! I booked flights & found a hotel near the concert venue & job done!
Now let's skip forward to Friday & the concert itself. Blowsight were, & are, amazing live & the show itself was fantastic! The venue, Enarena Globen, was small-ish & allowed for quite an intimate show, which was nice as it allowed me to stand right near the front. Blowsight were one of the headline acts for the night & played third after Suffix & Overworld (the other headline act).
Blowsight's set was brilliant, beginning with 'This Pain' & followed by 'It's Me You're Looking For'. From the minute they walked on stage they had great energy & presence which radiated into the audience, keeping them hooked. They performed each song excellently & really engaged with the audience- it was great to be a part of it & to sing along surrounded by fellow fans. There was a brief line-up change for the song 'How I Get What I Deserve', where Mao's place was taken by Miche, the bassist of a band called Degraded & a guitarist from another band (whose name I cannot remember) joined too. Another element I really enjoyed about the live show was the added mini-soundtracks before certain songs, such as 'SheDevil' & 'I Wish You 666'- these gave a great atmosphere to the songs & really added something to the live experience. Towards the end of the show they played their Pokerface cover, which was brilliant to hear as it's the song that introduced me to the band, along with 'Bandit For Life' & 'The Simple Art (Of Making You Mine)' as the finishing track, which left the audience on a high & chanting for more. Overall- absolutely fantastic- would definitely go & see them play again! (My promise in England still stands- they come here, I'll be there!)
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| Some of the shots I got of them. :) |
Another amazing thing about the night was that I got to meet the band as well! I spoke to them both before & after the show; Nick recognised me whilst I was sat down prior to their performance & came over, we greeted each other with a hug & he spoke to me & my companion (who, as much as I'd love to, I can't name for various reasons) for a good few minutes before heading off. Joakim had also arranged for me to go upstairs to where they were before their performance, where I properly met Fabz, Mao & Seb as well & we sat talking to them for a bit about various things, such as the Swedish language & how beautiful the weather was in Stockholm. It was brilliant meeting them, they're such lovely people & it was a pleasure being in their company! We took photos & hugged, I also got a signed Skully sticker & one of Fabz's drumsticks as well as buying myself 3 more of their t-shirts. To add to this, during the set, Nick changed language to English (he was speaking Swedish in the breaks in between songs) to thank myself & my companion for travelling all that way to see them, then said the next song, 'Standby Button', was for us. It was a pleasure- I have loved the band & wanted to see them live for the past 4 years, so the opportunity to do so was incredible & I was happy to have travelled all that way.
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| Me & Blowsight. :D |
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| Signed Skully. :) |
I'm really thankful for this opportunity. Thankful to Joakim for organising the event & for adding me to the VIP list & to Nick, Fabz, Seb & Mao for the concert & the awesome music- & to all of them for being really lovely people that I'm so glad to have met! :D
And that concludes the story of how I finally saw Blowsight live & met them, but my story with the band doesn't end there. As their song goes, "I'm a Bandit for life!", that I shall be & am proud to be & shall continue to enjoy their music!
As well as enjoying their music myself, I recommend them to all- which includes you my good readers! Click on some of the links above, go on Spotify (or YouTube if you don't have a Spotify), & discover the awesomeness which is Blowsight! You won't regret it! :D
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