Truckfighters

Sweden may be one of the relaxed and happiest places on earth, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t rock out as hard as they can. Oskar “Ozo” Cedermalm, Niklas “Dango” Kallgren and Axel “Enzo” Larsson decided to come together to form Truckfighters and do just that.
Long hair, shirtless and ax in hand, Dango takes the stage first to melt off your face with his guitar, then yells at you to get pumped and ready. Then enters Enzo, who takes his place behind his drum set to continue the welcomed bombardment of sounds on your ears. Lastly Ozo enters with his bass and you are fully surrounded by the rock sounds of Truckfighters. It is overwhelming but awesome all at the same time. Even though Ozo is listed as a vocalist, most of their set is them rocking out on stage, letting the music completely take over instead. They get the crowd to engage, cupping their hands to their ears to encourage the cheers and noise even more. Outside of speaking to them to get their interaction, the band doesn’t speak between songs, aside from the “thank you vey much for coming, we’ve been Truckfighters” at the end of their show.

Chicago punk rock band, The Dwarves, is not a one trick pony type of band. Originally they started as a garage band under the name The Suburban Nightmare, but like any good band, they moved forward and grew into the punk rock/ hardcore punk band that they are now.

To say that watching The Dwarves live set is interesting is a bit understated. On top of their already in your face music with lyrics that have no bounds, the band members are extremely interesting themselves. Drummer, Gregory Pecker (or as he likes to be referred to as Gnarlie Watts) performs with a clown wig, and pants, while guitarist Pete Vietnamcheque, or better HeWhoCannotBeNamed, performs with a wrestling mask and nothing else (although he has been known to sport a jockstrap in place of his birthday suit). They are highly energetic and play whatever they want, which is the appeal of the band. Vocalist Julius Seizure, better known as Blag Dahlia has an in-your-face energy that only adds to the no holds lyrics that the band is known for. A true punk band that resists anything mainstream, and because of it, they are widely popular; and a seriously great band worth checking out.

I bought tickets, I went to the venue, then found out that yawning man didn’t start until 10:30 at night and went till past midnight. No where online and no where on the ticket did it say the main band would start that late. The ticket said doors open at 8, so that’s when I arrived to find out I had wasted my money, and I was devastated I couldn’t attend because I wouldn’t be able to make it home. Not happy..