– Inspector Frost - the man with the sharp pen.

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22/10 2004 - Klubben, Fryshuset, Stockholm. Kl.19:30.

TOY DOLLS (ENG)
TROUBLEMAKERS (SWE)

"That's more like it!" was the thought that crossed my mind when I ventured into the venue to see Troublemakers and Toy Dolls. For the first time Kjell pulled a sizeable crowd to one of his concerts. The audience was a healthy mix of Punx, Skins, ex-punks, ex-skins and quite a few of the category Average Joe's.

Troublemakers started of the proceedings with their raw punk rock. Blomman is a great scene personality constantly talking with the audience. Mind you, more often than not it's more of a monologue rather than a dialogue between the songs, but he is a real funny character. With the (fairly) new line up they are now faster and harder than ever.

Older songs such as Lilla blå and Hjältarna skålar i blod fitted perfectly with newer gems such as Jävla idiot and Knäckebröd from their forthcoming single. Quite predictable they ended the proceedings with their trademark track Staden Göteborg leaving us gasping for air and beer.

By now the place was jam packed and the crowd was oozing with anticipation and sure enough did Olga and the boys delivered the goods. They started with The Final Countdown intro and leapt straight into She goes to Finos. By then Olga had the whole crowd in his hand. I mean he even had them cheering his rather dire guitar solo exhibition bits midway through the set.

Anyway, it was as hot as a finish sauna and they just kept on playing and playing. The audience were lapping up every bit of it and singing along all the way through the set, which consisted mostly of old favourites from the first five (proper) albums. They even managed to squeeze in a few surprises song wise too, and I have to confess that your humble old Inspector was well pleased and singing along with the rest of the punters to classics such as My Girlfriends Dad's a Vicar, Lambrusco Kid (one of Kjells personal favourite tracks) and Fisticuffs in Frederick Street, to name but a few.

All in all a real great gig! So when I spoke to Kjell I was a bit surprised when he said that it wasn't sold out. The venue had a capacity which allowed them to let in about 150 more into the already crammed place. Tell you what: I'm glad that they weren't there as there would have been literally no oxygen left in there then. However, in a perfect world there should have paid but not shown up! Still it was really really good. Both music wise, and the fact that Kjell for once managed to make end meets which he deserved so much.

/Inspector Frost

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