When you live in a remote country in northern Europe, gothic country bands are not exactly queuing up in front of you. Be there or be square. Federale from Portland, OR are on their first European tour including Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Italy. For some reason, countries like Belgium, Netherlands and the UK are not included. Nor did they tour in Central Europe (Poland, Czechia and Hungary). The latter countries are really into this kind of music. Federale can be labeled as "gothic western", "spagetti western", "Cinematic Western Folk Music" and last but not least "spagetti northwestern" (very witty). The setting was perfect. The derelict Meatpacking District (Slakthusområdet) in Stockholm, Sweden. The district was inaugurated in 1912. Not very long ago it was a thriving industrial area with 200 companies who employed 3 500 people. 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 venue, Hus 7, was even more perfect. An old industrial building with cold rooms and PVC curtains with place for 300 visitors. This is obviously a hipster-controlled area. I'm outside of my comfort zone and brought two friends with me. Not much happens on a Monday night in Stockholm, especially not in November. Monday is not a day for concerts. The band reflected about this themselves on their Facebook page: "Stockholm! Wow. Best Monday gig in a long time (ever?!)!! We got a lotta love for you!".   
   

Maybe 100 people have showed up, which is a pretty decent number considering the non-existing marketing activities. I look around me. I can't wrap my head around the audience. They are a mixed bunch. Maybe they are regular visitors to the venue or just music lovers. Federale takes the stage and starts off with confidence. They seem dedicated to put on a good show. The tour is called the Reverb & Seduction tour. The setlist has an emphasis on their latest album. Personally, I prefer the first two albums "La Rayar: A tale of revenge" and "Devil in a Boot" (the two most Ennio Morricone-influenced albums in their catalogue). They play only one song from these albums. On one hand, Federale are on a promotion tour for their latest album. On the other hand, they are in Europe for the first time and could show a wider palette. This night, Federale were more of a rock band with spagetti western influences, than a spagetti western band with rock influences. Luckily, on a few occasions their classic spagetti western influences shines through with guitar loops and high-pitched vocals. This is what I came for. Federale are an accomplished and compatible band with proficient musicians. All wrapped up in amply stage light and smoke machine. Seems like the band also had a good time. All in all, I have nothing to complain about. On the contrary. The $18 ticket was money well spent.

Setlist (as I perceived it)

1. Advice From A Stranger (Reverb & Seduction)

2. Aim for the Heart (No Justice)

3. Heaven Forgive Me (Reverb & Seduction)

4. No Strangers (Reverb & Seduction)

5. The Worst Thing I Ever Did Was Ever Loving You (Reverb & Seduction)

6. Sundown, Sundown (Our Side Of Their Story)

7. All the Colours of the Dark (All The Colours Of The Dark)

8. Hope Don't You Haunt Me (Reverb & Seduction)

9. Shitkicker (All The Colours Of The Dark)

10. The Fire Came Down From The Mountain (All The Colours Of The Dark)

11. Blood Moon (Blood Moon / Mona Lisa)

12. The Blood Flowed Like Wine (The Blood Flowed Like Wine)

13. Talk Is Cheap (No Justice)

14. I Let Love In (Our Side Of Their Story)

15. Almería (All The Colours Of The Dark)

16. Hero (Devil in a Boot)

Encore

17. Taxman Blues (cover)

Have you ever played the children’s game "odd one out" (identifying an object that does not match the others)? Look at the picture. Can you spot the odd one out? Ritchie Blackmore is a founding member and the former lead guitarist of Deep Purple. He created guitar riffs. The classic guitar riff on "Smoke On the Water" has inspired many beginners. In 1974 he smashed his guitar on stage before his amp exploded into flames and caught his hair on fire. Ritchie Blackmore is also known for his interest in occultism. In 1984, the British tabloid The Sun featured a two-page spread with the headline "He looks evil, even satanic." Jimmy Page was the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. He could make fantastic guitar riffs and is notable for occasionally playing his guitar with a cello bow to create a droning sound. The impressing guitar solo on "Stairway to Heaven" stands the test of time. Jimmy Page is also known for his interest in occultism. Allegedly, he has an impressing collection of occult literature. In 1973, Page purchased Boleskine House, a mansion that had once been owned by Aleister Crowley (the wickidest man in the world). Tony Iommi co-founded the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader, primary composer, and sole continuous member for over five decades. He lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers of his right hand in a work-related accident. To compensate, he used prosthetics by melting down a plastic bottle to fingertip-shaped thimbles, and then detuned the strings to make them easier to play. The rest is history. The guitar intro on "War Pigs" is groundbreaking. He is also known for his interest in occultism. The band dabbled in the occult in the early days, but it didn't take. Mick Box is the founder and lead guitarist of rock group Uriah Heep. He is a capable guitarist, but not known for any memorable guitar riffs. I don’t say this out of spite. I mistook a roadie for him in 1975, read more here (opens in a new window). And to be honest, Uriah Heep were never into heavy metal (listen to "Rock 'n' Roll Medley" from Live 1973 if you doubt me). And besides, Mick Box has no track record whatsoever when it comes to occultism. Mick Box is the odd one out.

Attention to detail is the ability to observe, analyze, and comprehend every aspect of a given task or situation. It's the dying art of being meticulous, precise, and thorough. I can be attentive. I can spend hours planning and structuring, searching for information, filtering data, fact-checking and cross-referencing, choosing and editing photos for the website. Pixel by pixel, if necessary. Paradoxically, certain things completely eludes me. I'm unable to remember or learn. It doesn't matter how many times i have performed a task. It doesn't stick. Attention to detail requires an interest. That goes for people, places, things, and even relationships. And why bother with things that you don't find interesting. And besides, the human brain cannot absore all information. It would lead to a stack overflow. It's a type of buffer overflow error that occurs when a computer program tries to use more memory space in the call stack than has been allocated to that stack. Too much focus on detail can cause problems. For you and related. Attention to detail is a good thing, taken in moderation. You need to combine attention to detail with an ability to see the big picture and make connections between the two. Where is this blog post going? The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail. There's no "work-around" or "quick-fix" when it comes to running a website. You have to put in the hours or else put it to rest. A job half done isn't done.

When I was young, I went to many concerts. Not so much anymore. After an incident (read more here, opens in a new window) I have become unsure of what I actually have seen and heard. In a few cases, I have a ticket or photos to help me remember. Maybe, I was at Konserthuset in Stockholm on October 21th 1975, or maybe I wasn't. I don't remember. Anyway, Blue Öyster Cult played there on their Secret Treaties tour. Heavy metal wasn't highly esteemed in the radical 1970s. Music journalist Mia Gerdin wrote in Dagens Nyheter "A part of the audience, which consisted mostly of young guys, identified themselves completely with the band and its aura of ice-cold strength and equally ice-cold potency. It felt terrifying because it seemed to happen so completely without reservation" (my translation). In hindsight, more of a participant observation in sociology than a review. Blue Öyster Cult's longest-lasting and the most commercially successful lineup included Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (lead guitar, vocals), Eric Bloom (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer), Allen Lanier (keyboards, rhythm guitar), Joe Bouchard (bass, vocals, keyboards), and Albert Bouchard (drums, percussion, vocals, miscellaneous instruments). Blue Öyster Cult are returning to Sweden in May 2025, 50 years after their first appearance. The band's current lineup includes Eric Bloom and Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser. I like their 1975 live album. The album cover depicts St Paul's Episcopal Chapel in South Salem, New York. The church is an example of Gothic Revival. Obviously, there is a gothic streak in my life. Blue Öyster Cult were never a band in the same division as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Nevertheless, I carved out the BÖC logo (a stylization of the astronomical symbol for the planet Saturn consisting of a hook, bars and a dot) from a piece of wood in craft lessons. It didn't bump up my grades. I got a D in crafts. Rightly so. Time to put on "Then Came the Last Days of May" and to feel unrestrained nostalgic. Time surely flies fast. 

This is the fourth of six blog posts in a series of female artists or female-fronted bands that will be published under 2024. This blog post deals with an obscure band called Ashcan Orchid. I consider myself skilled and competent when it comes to digging for information. If there is any information out there, I will find it, trust me. However, the only thing that I have found out is that Ashcan Orchid came from Portland, OR. It seems that they missed (or refrained) the second internet wave. One album can sometimes be enough for leaving a mark in music history (even more so in small subgenres that not many people know or care about). This is dark cabaret (which is a musical genre that draws on the aesthetics of burlesque, vaudeville and Weimar-era cabaret) mixed with gothic country. This should be mutually exclusive. It's dark cabaret or gothic country, not dark cabaret and gothic country. The end result could be disastrous as you probably can imagine. But this time it actually works. Their product declaration for their album caught my attention: "Cantillating scandalous hymns of carnage and lament; brutal, honest and timelessly out of time come the sordid tales of Ashcan Orchid. Their debut album "The Woods" was released in 2010. After that, they went into thin air. Let's indulge ourselves in counterfactual reasoning: what would have happened if they kept on going? We will never know and we can only speculate. I think that they would have made a bigger imprint. The best songs are "What Would My Mother Think", "Haunted", "La Bruja", "The Woods", "Stolen Ghost Waltz", and "When You're Dead". The arrangements are solid. This is so much better than all the copiers, fakers, imitators, impersonaters and imposters out there. "The Woods" isn't particularly rare. You can find an used copy here and there.