R.I.P. The Hellacopters: The Last Weekend

The Night before the Fall

Friday night and the faithful gathered at Debaser medis in the Medborgarplatsen area of Stockholm for a night before the fall weekend. There was trivia, hanging out, and a band the Crypt kicker 5 (http://www.myspace.com/cryptkicker5) were present to officiate the start of the end… which was kinda strange considering The Hellacopters are a Hi Energy Garage Punk band, and the 5…. Well they play that swampy bluegrass southern style stuff… but once they got going, they were swinging… and when you consider that the band is made up of members of other bands, many of which are groups whom The Hellacopters covered tunes by, or have made note of as influences it was clear that they were the band to play that funeral for the 'copter. The highlight of that show was a slow and swampy cover of gotta to get some action (Now!) by The Hellacopters, and the preamble to that tune was singer Odd Alghren noting that we were all gathered to celebrate something awful, the death of our friends and comrades, The Hellacopters…

At this point let me pause to say a few words about The Hellacopters… started in 1994 as a group by Nicke Anderson (who had been the drummer in Entombed), The Hellacopters were a raw and noisy punk unit, influenced by the greats of hardcore punk, and by 70's hard rock groups like AC/DC and Kiss. They evolved over the years and at various points sounded more arena rock, more soulful, more punk, and more straight up Rock and Roll. They are truly one of those bands where people either like the early punk stuff, or they like the later more produced stuff. More than their sound they were and are important because of their having carried the flag for the Hi Energy Rock Scene for the last decade and a half, traveling the western world, playing with all kinds of bands, everyone from Kiss and the Rolling Stones (both of whom they opened for) to Adam West and Zen Gorilla (smaller bands that they played with), playing scattered clubs and huge outdoor festivals. They were also an amazingly inclusive band willing to carry the flag of new and forgotten acts who they cared about or who had inspired them.

Saturday rolled around at it was time for the first of their four final shows. I made it to the first shows of each day, but that first one on Saturday was special in that it was for friends and family and a few others who managed to score tickets. It was a great way for the band to let those close to them feel the love and let the band have the chance to warm up for the weekend. They played songs from all of their eras, covering not only the newer tunes from recent albums, covers from their last album Head Off (which was all covers) and some oldies that they hadn't played in a long time. I was glad to hear favorites like: Toy's and Flavors, Soulseller, Gotta Get some Action! (Now), along with a couple of their hits: By the Grace of God, Hopeless Case of a Kid in Denial…. And more than a few of the covers from the last album… with as I noted in my last mog post, In the Sign of the Octopus being the one that stayed with me through out the weekend.

That first evening was spent at Debaser Slussen, a smaller club, where several of the bands covered on the Head Off album took the stage and each played at least the song that the Hellacopters had covered by them, along with their covers of Hellacopters tunes. There was also the Saturday night show streamed like on Myspace, this was the show that ended when the bass amp shorted out and Nike received a minor shock from the short.

The next day it was back to Medis for the early show, where the guys seemed to have recovered from the night before, and were ready to rock once again. The show was much like the previous ones, I am sure that they played a couple of songs that they hadn't the day before, but I was so wrapped up in the show that I don't recall.. I do recall that I was standing with Maryann, who lives with Nike, and I have met a couple of times in the past. She used to be in a band from Norway called Mensen, and is a classy person all around. It was great to see her and talk to her.

After the afternoon show there was some bumming around, some food eaten, and a nap, before heading back to Medis for the big after show, where all the people who had been at the friends and family show were invited to hang out, drink and just kick around… the Hellacopters guys did join us and I was able to talk with Kenny the bass play and Robert the drummer who have been friends to me and my brother for the last several years. It was also great to see friends, acquaintances and generally be part of the family, and that's what was really special about The Hellacopters, was that they built a great extended family; they have been generous with their time, and to their fans. Having four shows at a large club size venue, allowing photos to be taken by fans, and just being there for the people who had supported them over the years was amazing to see. It was amazing to be part of that, and it's something that I will never forget…

The Hellacopters are Dead… Long Live the Hellacopters…

Post script: one of the notable absences from the weekend was Jake Starr and his band mates in Adam West. It was Jake that had been my entry into the Hellacopters family and who had long been one of their state side supporters and friends. Adam West was on their final European tour during the last shows, and despite trying to get on the bill or even to Sweden for the last weekend, they were unable to. There was plenty of talk about Jake and the boys during and around those last shows, and a lot of people wished he could have been there…. So I am in line to go through immigration in Amsterdam on the way back with my brother and we look over and who is standing two lines over… that's right Jake and the band. I started to laugh and laugh, and Jake looks over and spots up…'you idiots' he called out. Once we had all cleared immigration we had a few minutes to catch up and chat, before we were all on our way to our respective planes..