Seriously, would one show on the farewell-tour of one of your teenage idols be enough for you? No?
Well, how about two then? Still not quite, right? Still, this was what had to satisfy this reporter, somewhere you have to draw the line of what is physically possible and all that. Sadly.

Anyway, after having been part of one of the best Dia Psalma shows I have ever seen the day before in Helsingborg, I was of course curious (and really hoping) to see how they would fare in Malmö, no more than a stone’s throw or more from the previous venue. Would they rise to the occasion and outdo themselves, or would the show fall flat in comparison?

The hall had already become good and warm after the concerts of the two support bands, Trash Amigos and Snakestorm, both of which sported Dia Psalma members in their ranks, but there could be no doubt which band was the real reason as to people showing up tonight. And any fear that the geographical closeness of the two shows would have an impact on the attendance was quickly laid to rest – if KB was not sold out tonight, I can’t imagine where the last people would fit in! The concert hall was just that full!
And for good reason, Dia Psalma is a band which has touched the hearts of more Swedes than anyone can imagine; not counting the international appeal of which I’m afraid Dia Psalma has never had, I would equal their popularity to such bands as Roxette and maybe even ABBA on their native market. Ok, maybe not quite that high, but you get the idea...

Now, I know it isn’t always fair to compare one show to another in this way, but I reckon it justified in this instance as the band itself was doing the same thing; quite often throughout the show we could hear Fredrik ’Ztikkan’ Blomberg, who was once again in charge of most of the communication with the audience, call out to us that we needed put an extra pair of balls in our shouting in order to outdo the audience of Helsingborg. Having also taken part in that show, I knew how hard a task this was, but I must say that Malmö rose to the occasion. Whether or not they actually outdid Helsingborg in the end is hard to say, but they certainly put up one heck of a fight!
The shouts and response was different though; where the Helsingborg crowd had almost exclusively called out for Balladen Om Lilla Elsa, I don’t believe I heard this title mentioned even once in Malmö. Instead, the air was filled with general appreciative shouts for the band and its members, sing-along for the songs and the like. This night saw audience interaction of another kind though; stage-diving. At one point, during Den Som Spar... this activity actually almost put a serious dent in the show as the guy who crawled up on the stage managed to disrupt the monitors and knock over Mikael ’Ulke’ Johansson’s microphone stand; luckily Pontus Andersson was close by and helped put things in back in order.

But this was mostly about the (phenomenal) crowd, how about the band, how did they fair?
Dia Psalma faired very well indeed! Due to the sound setup I am sure, it was easier to hear and follow what was being said this night, which led me to hear that, quite surprisingly, the song Kalla Sinnen was not at all about the hardships of war and the hope for better things as the lyrics had led me to believe, but was actually about being in dire need of taking a shit. Or not. Ztikkan couldn’t quite make his mind up about this one...
The performance in itself was very much the same, this is after all the same band, and the members have their own personal way to behave on stage. I was quite impressed though that they had in no way lost any of the energy and the intensity from the other night, if anything I could feel them even better here at KB!
A few differences were seen and heard though; for one thing the setlist had changed. Sure, the first part which contained the debut album Gryningstid wasn’t tampered with, but the first encore which contained various songs from the rest of the career had been tampered with, which was certainly positive for all those who attended both shows, as this meant more songs for us in total. Dia Psalma had been a bit ambitious in putting the setlist together though, and there were a couple of songs on the paper which weren’t actually played (Hundra Kilo Kärlek and Vad Har Du Kvar), but the addition of Ack Högaste Himmel was a welcome one for me, although I would personally have loved to hear Atomvinternatt or I Evighet. Maybe next time.
Speaking of the encore, there was a bit of chaos in getting that started which I feel should be addressed; Öga För Öga was once more played solely by Ulke, but when the time came for Vi Svartnar and the entrance of the rest of the band, something was missing... Or should I say someone? Andersson was apparently done with whatever it was he was doing backstage, and most of the song was actually played without the second guitarist who, even to the surprise of his band-mates, didn’t show up until far into the song.
When he finally did tough, it was apparent (ok, so it had been all night actually) that the sound issue with his gear which had bothered me quite a bit in Helsingborg was, if not completely gone, then at least looked at and not as apparent. Thank god for that.

Even though Elsa hadn’t really been asked for here, she still made an out of setlist appearance at the second encore, confirming my belief that this was as permanent a piece of the set as Gryningstid was, even though the band didn’t bother with writing here up on the paper. Both of Dia Psalma’s latest efforts were still shining with their complete absence though, still with no apparent explanation...

So, when all is accounted for, how did Dia Psalma do in comparison to themselves?
Extremely well I must say. I will not bother to try and judge which show of the two which was the better, but will be satisfied by saying that they were both amazing, both with their apparent similarities, but certainly also with the little differences that showed that this is a very vital act which does not just run well-known tracks, but are able to acclimate to different situations.
It is, as I wrote in the Helsingborg review, sad to see a band quit while they are so very much alive on stage...

Setlist:

Requiem
Alla Älskar Dig
Mamma
Hon Får...
Tro Rätt, Tro Fel
Den Som Spar...
Emelie
Kalla Sinnen
Grytfot
Gryningsvisa I D-Moll
Sol Över Oss
Öga För Öga
Vi Svartnar
Ack Högaste Himmel
Illusioner
Det Döende Barnet
Luft
Balladen Om Lilla Elsa