Bullet was out on their Full Pull headlining tour, in support of the album of the same name, and as one of their stops was in Malmö, we simply couldn’t resist going.

With them on the tour were Screamer from Sweden and ’77 from Spain, both of which had done an effort to impress the crowd, but there was no doubt who people had come for.
As time drew near, an acoustic guitar intro could be heard over the speakers, one that moved over into the sound of a thunderstorm. This was where the band entered and stood with their backs against the audience – when the storm had reached a zenith, the quickly turned round however, and threw themselves into the first song of the night, the opener of the latest album, Midnight Oil.
The title makes me think of the old Australian band, but the song itself is far from any such comparison, and it made for a good opener of the night festivities.
Following this was a set made into three parts, with breaks and new intro’s in between. The first part was mostly made up of new songs, whereas part two and three (the encore) contained several hits from the past, making this an excellent touring setlist.

“I know you understand about tractor pulling, ‘cause that’s what you do here in Scania!”
- Dag ‘Hell’ Hofer (vocals)

What was more excellent than the setlist was the band itself however.
Especially Hampus Klang (guitars) and Adam Hector (bass) had really brought their a-game to Malmö, and the others weren’t far behind. Erik Almström (guitars) looked a bit stiff in the beginning, mostly just standing in place with his long hair covering his face, but he fell nicely into character during the show, and many times took the centre of the small catwalk (if you can call it that) for his solo’s, and also sometimes sharing it with Klang in blistering guitar duels.
Papa Hell’s vocals were eminent as always, but sadly the positioning of the speakers at the venue prevented us from hearing them clearly when standing in the front-line, where the music from the monitors drowned out mostly everything else. His intense presence didn’t lack anything though, and when he donned his mantle for the execution of Roadking, it was all hails to the king baby!
Hector also had his usual job of introducing the band, done in an extended jam during Back On The Road, but this took a little longer than usual as drummer Gustav Hjortsjö was in a teasing mood this evening, and after having been introduced as the first one, he then kept on interrupting Hector with little drum-rolls and breaks every time he tried to introduce anyone else in the band.

So the band was having fun, but what about the fans?
Well, to start off I would like to say that it was a sorry attendance to say the least at Kulturbolaget this Thursday evening, even though it felt a bit more crowded now than it had done during the support. Personally, I would say it was the high ticket price which kept more people from coming, but that’s just my guess, use it for what you will.
Those who were there seemed to have fun though, although I will admit to not taking my eyes of the stage very often. There was a bit of dancing though, and a lot of swinging hair in the front as well as some nice sing/shout along sessions, especially during classics like Turn It Up Loud and Pay The Price, not to mention the ending Bite The Bullet. I could go on, but I’ll post the full setlist further down, and you can take it from there...

Now, even though it all sounds rosy, and I definitely had a great time with an ensuing sore throat and neck (not to mention forehead, which I managed to smash full speed into a monitor during the first five seconds of the show...), this wasn’t the best Bullet concert I’ve ever seen. Sure, it was great and all things were in order, but to be honest I have come to expect just a wee bit more energy from this band. Not that it was lacking tonight, but I simply think the band has put some unreasonably high expectations for themselves due to past triumphs.
Still, Bullet goes highly recommended to anyone who just wants to have a good time with some classic rock ‘n’ roll, and as photographer Lunah Lauridsen says; “Everyone should see Bullet live, once a week!”

Setlist:

Midnight Oil
Rush Hour
Full Pull
Turn It Up Loud
Pay The Price
Roadking
One Deal With The Devil
Instrumental
Stay Wild
Rolling Home
Highway Pirates
Back On The Road
Bite The Bullet