Friday 10th June

Stryper - Sweden Stage (4/5)

Stryper was a booking that was received with mixed reactions. The bands christian image is evidently a bit too much for a lot of people to handle. It’s clear that it’s not cool enough and the band are many times being rejected by rock fans who normally would take to their melodic hard rock that sometimes lies very close to metal. A bit hypocritical because people seldom objects to satanic bands just because of their image.

To me, it’s all about religion and no matter what your beliefs are, I rate a band for their music, nothing else. The crowd that took place in front of Sweden Stage this afternoon, was not small but could have been a lot bigger, had it not been because of their religious beliefs. The band reunited in 2005 after a long break and have two great studio albums under their belt and are now touring their newly released cover CD.

As musicians, they are all impressive, lead Singer / guitarist Michael Sweet is just an astonishing singer with an unbelievable range and guitar player Oz Fox is a true guitar hero. Fox and Sweet’s twin soloing is a joy to to hear and drummer Robert Sweet is Mr Tight, playing with both groove and intensity. The whole band, including Tim Gaines on bass are such good singers, it’s ridiculous. The backing vocals are insane. No backing tracks here.

Opener, the rather cheesy ”Sing Along Song” is a wierd choice, but it works and second song up, the title track from their latest album ”Murder By Pride” is a killer live, and for us Stryper fans out there a bunch of classics were played. ”Loud And Clear”, ”The Rock That Makes Me Roll”, ”More Than A Man”, ”Surrender”, ”Free” and ”The Way” were all played, much too the audience’s joy. And no less than three covers, Ozzy Osbourne’s ”Over The Mountain”, Judas Priest’s ”Breaking The Law” and Black Sabbath’s ”Heaven And Hell”. Too many, I think, no matter if your supporting a cover Record. The band have way to many great songs and should have concentrated on those instead.

The biggest cheer was given to their poppier hit ”Calling On You” and the heavy ”To Hell With The Devil”. To hear a metal crowd at Sweden Rock chant ”To Hell With The Devil” was an experience, no doubt. They finished the gig with… Wait for it… A prayer!!! Now, is that being both true and brave or what? I say respect. A great gig by a great band that deserves a lot more recognition for their music. One of the best gigs at SRF this year. Amen.








Check them out :
http://www.stryper.com

Review : Jon Wilmenius

Photos : Tallee Savage
www.savagebeauty.se

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