Saturday 9th July

The Poodles - Monster Stage (4/5)

Yes, The Poodles is a crappy name. And yes, I am sure the name works against them. It’s too bad, because they really are a bunch of very good musicians and if you’re into 80’s melodic hard rock / AOR there is a lot to like here. The Poodles first started out as a cover band ages ago by drummer Kicken and they really didn’t have members as such. Whoever had the time and were good enough did the gig. When they got the chance to participate in the Swedish Eurovision Contest they went with the name and had a hit with ”One Night Of Passion” which sold a lot of records and the name stuck.

However, to hold their name against them is stupid, because as this gig showed, they’re an excellent live act. The boys aren’t exactly new to the game either so they really know how to work an audience. Bassplayer Pontus Egberg is a steady bassplayer and a great singer (he got to sing some lead this noon) and lays a steady beat together with Kicken and lead singer Jacob Samuel (once a drummer with Talisman) is a fabulous frontman and the voice to go with that. Most anonymous is new guitarist Henrik Bergqvist, not because of his playing, he’s a great player, but because of his past. He hasn’t been in as many bands as the rest. He replaced Pontus Norgren, also here at this festival with Hammerfall.

The guys were energetic and concentrated on the uptempo stuff, leaving the ballads at home and the crowd seemed to dig what they were seeing and hearing. So if you like your hard rock melodic and like to be entertained, then give them a break. You might be surprised. I sure was.

Check them out :
http://www.poodles.se

Review : Jon Wilmenius

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