Arvika festival goes floodland

It’s been a couple of years since last time, but it felt good to be back in the forest at Arvikafestivalen. The first days were scorchingly hot but the last one surprised us all with a lightning storm that came from nowhere and almost swept the festival away. Incredible amounts of water started to pour down on us.

I was fortunately under a roof listening to a band when it started, but I found a video of the mayhem that ensued at the camping area:

Don’t miss the demonic laughter at 2:20 with people running and screaming. It’s almost better than Cloverfield! Some claim that the rain even rivaled the downpour of biblical proportions that occurred during the Sisters of Mercy concert at Arvikafestivalen 1998.

After an hour of intense rainfall the stages were drenched and the crew were frantically digging ditches to lead the water away. Soon there were puddles and mud instead of a lake, which was a great improvement. Luckily most of us got solid boots and the mud provided a better setting for Combichrist, perhaps the best gig during the festival.

The skies stayed dark and we were all “waiting for the lightning man to strike”, as Douglas McCarthy phrased it in the Nitzer Ebb song Lightning Man. But fortunately the thunder mostly stayed away and we didn’t get a chance to see whether the festival crew had cared about lightning rods for the big stages.

Spock did their 9th gig at Arvika, which also coincided with their 20 year anniversary as a group and were rejoined by old member Eddie Bengtsson on stage.

I also enjoyed Suicide Commando, And One (but I missed Panzermensch), In Strict Confidence, Rotersand, Crüxshadows, Lola Angst, Alice in Videoland, Deathstars, Behemoth and more.

The glorious camping site. An empire of dirt.

The camping was nice as well when the sun was out. Patrik was impersonating a zombie cone-head and the mysterious pig kept snatching my brew away. One of the neighbors at the camp happened to be Mattias from The April Tears, an old favorite band of mine.

See you all next year at Camp Glenn!