A bucket list is a personal inventory of goals, dreams, and experiences you want to achieve or check off in your lifetime. The term stems from the English idiom "kick the bucket," which is a colloquial way of saying "to die". My bucket list is short. Always has been. After Wednesday evening it's even shorter. I can tick off the personal milestone of watching 16 Horsepower perform live. I didn't expect that to happen since they disbanded in 2005. I discovered the genre too late and missed the two Stockholm shows in 2002 and 2003. I got a new chance. 16 Horsepower is reunited (one-time-only) for a 2026 European tour and US festival. The tour features the original core trio of David Eugene Edwards (vocals/guitar), Jean-Yves Tola (drums), and Pascal Humbert (bass). They are joined by the guitarist from Wovenhand, Chuck French. The tour schedule is crammed. 16 Horsepower will tour in France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland from May 14 to June 7. From what I understand the shows are sold out. The venue in Stockholm was obviously chosen with great care. Fållan (The Pen) accommodates 2 400 guests and is fully fitted with high-end tech. The venue is located in an old industrial building in the derelict Meatpacking District (Slakthusområdet) in Stockholm. Nowadays, the Meatpacking District is being transformed "through sustainable urban development with a focus on food, culture and experiences". Sounds pretty awful to my ears, to be honest. Thousands of new homes and workplaces and a large range of restaurants, trade and services are going to replace the old area. The gentrifying process is expected to be completed around 2033. 
   

The key to happiness is low expectations. Reducing expectations can minimize disappointment. A reunion tour means risk, obviously. The concert was set out to start 8.00 PM. In practise, concerts aren't that punctual. 16 Horsepower knows how to build up tension. An empty stage, a smoke machine starts doing its thing, and the smoke is lit up by yellow stage light. The speakers are pumping out suspense music. One of my accompanying friends labeled it "tribal electro chanting on repeat". Very apt. Exactly 8.30 PM the band comes on stage. No smiles, no wavings or greetings of any kind. Just down to the music directly. This is what I came for. The sound quality is perfect. The stage is bathing in stage light like it was the 1970s (see the attached photos which were taken by my friends). Goths comes in many shapes and forms. Some people could be identified as OG's (original goths). They were around the first time. Other people were new to the genre or just music lovers. People were of all ages. About one third of the audience were women, which always is a positive thing. One thing is for sure. No one had stumbled in after work by mistake. 16 Horsepower quickly took a firm grip of their audience. Normally, I'm easily distracted and easily irritated. A middle-aged woman began to acting out in front of me. She started to dance with oriental hand movements like it was Woodstock 1969. You don't dance to 16 Horsepower. That's an unwritten rule. Anyway, I forgive her for expressing herself. 

The greatness of 16 Horsepower lies in their perfect balance between delicacy and roughness. They move seamlessly between these two extremes. 16 Horsepower was in really good shape, well-rehearsed and proficient. David Eugene Edwards alternates between guitar, banjo and accordion. The accordion is played in an attacking way, like in the songs "American Wheeze" and "Harm's Way". The tempo is furious with no stage banter. Their lyrics stand the test of time. The religious imagery isn't mannerism. It's the real thing. Maybe David Eugene Edwards vocal abilities isn't as good as it used to be. Time and tide wait for no man. The setlist seems to be identical on the tour. The selection of songs has an emphasis on their early albums. Two songs from the EP "16 Horsepower" and eight songs from "Sackcloth 'n' Ashes", five songs from "Low Estate", four songs from "Secret South" and two songs from "Folklore". Personally, I would have exchanged a couple of songs in favor of "Wayfaring Stranger", "Coal Black Horses" and "Sinnerman". But, this is marginal note. All in all, a great selection of songs. The highlights were "I Seen What I Saw", "Haw", "Straw Foot", "Splinters", South Pennsylvania Waltz", Black Soul Choir", "Black Bush", "Poor Mouth" and "Hutterite Mile". The very reticient David Eugene Edwards ends the concert by saying "thank you so much" in Swedish. And then it's all over. It was all I hoped it would be. I'm ready to kick the bucket.

Setlist (as I perceived it)

1. I Seen What I Saw (Sackcloth 'n' Ashes)

2. Haw (16 Horsepower)

3. Dead Run (Low Estate)

4. Brimstone Rock (Low Estate)

5. Straw Foot (Secret South)

6. Splinters (Secret South)

7. American Wheeze (Sackcloth 'n' Ashes)

8. Prison Shoe Romp (Sackcloth 'n' Ashes)

9. Heel on the Shovel (Sackcloth 'n' Ashes)

10. South Pennsylvania Waltz (16 Horsepower)

11. Sac of Religion (Low Estate)

12. Strong Man (Sackcloth 'n' Ashes)

13. Black Soul Choir (Sackcloth 'n' Ashes)

14. Black Bush (Sackcloth 'n' Ashes)

15. Phyllis Ruth (Low Estate)

16. Harm's Way (Sackcloth 'n' Ashes)

17. Clogger (Secret South)

18. Poor Mouth (Secret South)

Encore

19. Hutterite Mile (Folklore)

20. Blessed Persistence (Folklore)

21. For Heaven's Sake (Low Estate)

Let it be said. Charisma isn't about being spectacular. It's about presence. Some have natural presence, while others have to work on it. It's possible to develop, refine, elevate, and master presence. Maybe you will not be as good as the ones with a natural presence, but it will do. I have seen David Eugene Edwards (16 Horsepower, Wovenhand and solo works) once in my life. It was back in 2014 at Debaser Medis, Stockholm when Wovenhand were touring and promoting their album "Refractory Obdurate". Touring and performing can be perceived quite differently. For some artists touring and performing seems to be just another day at the office. Wovenhand delivered something out of the ordinary in 2014. David Eugene Edwards was so absorbed by the music that he seemed uncontactable. The concert left me with a deep impression of what stage presence looks like and the side effect ringing in my ears. Later this year David Eugene Edwards will be perform solo in Stockholm. It's an European tour in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The tour aims to promote his new solo album "Mercurial Silence", which is released May 22, 2026. If possible, I will attend the concert. But, first the long-awaited 16 Horsepower reunion concert on Wednesday evening. An old dream is coming true. I came too late into the world of gothic country and have tried my best to make up for lost time. My expectations are incredibly high. I will be back with a blog post.   

Some bands never let you down. In an unpredictable world we need a constant factor. Swarme of Beese makes albums with regularity. Now they have released a new album called "Orchard of Dreams". From the product description: "The band’s fourth album — eight tracks that weave together historical & contemporary themes through poetic storytelling, ethereal vocal harmonies, & atmospheric instrumental arrangements. Four songs are newly written by the group’s songwriting duo Lynne Adele & Stephen Canner, together with Ms. Adele’s bittersweet reframing of Canner’s “Distant Father” from a woman’s perspective, & three traditional ballads — the first time the trio has deviated from recording original material to explore some of their early folk influences. Highlights include the title track, a tribute to the American folk hero & visionary plantsman known as Johnny Appleseed; the cinematic “Wreck of the Elizabeth,” inspired by the tragic death of the trailblazing Transcendentalist writer Margaret Fuller; “The Shallow River,” a heartfelt anthem reflecting on the humanitarian crisis facing immigrants & asylum seekers; & an unsettling interpretation of the 19th-century American dystopian folk ballad “State of Arkansas.”

The album contains four new songs, one rearranged song and three traditional ballads. Usually, I strongly advise against making interpretations of ballads. It will end in tears. We all have strong opinions of how they should be constructed and sound like. However, the band's take on the ballads brings something new to the table. "The Cuckoo" has been covered to death. Swarme of Beese brings new life to it with interchanging female and male vocal parts. I don't think the occurence of ballads is sign of that they have run out of ideas. Their songwriting skills are intact. This is demonstrated in "Wreck of the Elizabeth", which is one of the highlights on the album. The closing song is "State of Arkansas", a traditional American folk song, detailing a traveler's miserable experiences in the state. In this ballad, Swarme of Beese abandon their sophisticated and delicate sound and mangle us for six whole minutes.    

The best songs are "Distant Father (Her Version)", "The Cuckoo", "Wreck of Elizabeth" and, last but not least, "State of Arkansas". Executive summary: another solid album from Swarme of Beese. The sound quality is clean and euphonic. You can listen to "Orchard of Dreams" and buy it in the format of your choice at Bandcamp, just click here (opens in a new window).     

Recently, I got an e-mail update from Bandcamp. "Dear folks, Sons of Perdition will be performing a bit over half an hour of songs from almost all of our albums at the Hand of Glory Folklore Festival in Whitby, England. We aren't playing anything from Gathered Blood, because it was a bit difficult to adapt to an acoustic duo, which is how we plan to perform. It's a three day festival of folkloric weirdness, but we're playing on Saturday, May 2. Hopefully we'll see some of you there. If so, please say hi because I still have no idea who listens to our miserable dreck." In an e-mail Zebulon Whatley lowers the expectations. "Hopefully not a complete failure. A series of small failures is an acceptable outcome. I haven’t played live in around a decade and we haven’t practiced much so a lot can go wrong." I think Zebulon Whatley got this. He is experienced and judicious. It's wise to keep it simple when you're performing as an acoustic duo. And, it isn't the Glastonbury festival. The "hand of glory" refers to a mummified severed human hand. It was given to Whitby Museum in 1935 and is the only alleged hand of its type known to be preserved. A "hand of glory" was supposedly the carefully prepared and pickled right hand of a felon, cut off whilst the body still hung from the gallows and used by burglars to send sleepers in a house into a coma from which they were unable to wake. A gruesome history and perfect setting for a folklore festival.

I have been to Starbucks once in my life. They lured me into it. The hype was (un)real. I thought I was in for something special and tasty. The staff wrote my name on a cup. It didn't make me feel special. It was assembly line disguised as personal service. The coffee was bland. Not tasty. Starbucks has been criticized for creating a contrived atmosphere through forced, formulaic employee interactions, scripted, overly enthusiastic conversations, and performative, marketing-driven messages. Hence the policy of hand-writing customer names on cups. The first Starbucks coffee shop in Sweden opened in 2010 at Arlanda airport (outside Stockholm). The first real coffee shop in the centre of Stockholm opened in 2014 (which was the one I visited). The Starbucks expansion plan was megalomaniac. At its peak, Starbucks had 17 coffee shops in Sweden. Today, only three remain. Why did they utterly fail in Sweden? First, Starbucks came too late into the market. Competitors like Waynes Coffee and Espresso House had already established their concept and created a loyal customer base. Second, Starbucks' coffee quality was mediocre to bad. For a coffee chain this is a major problem. Third, too much sugar in their products. The only people who go there now are tourists.