A night of punk'n'roll, street punk and skatepunk from 3 explosive Swedish bands!
There hasn’t been much action from The Bones recently regarding recorded material – their last album ‘Flash the Leather’ was released in 2015. Neither have they played many live gigs, but the band has slowly started to build momentum for a busy 2026, with several upcoming prestigious festival appearances, such as Hellfest in France, and sharing the bill with the Sex Pistols at Save The Core in Nürnberg Germany. Last Saturday night in Malmö, Sweden was The Bones’ first outing this year.
First up tonight are Skatecore youngsters S.L.U.G, featuring two of The Bones frontman Jonte ‘Beef Bonanza’ Andersén’s teenage sons Vilhelm(age 16) on lead vocals & guitar and Arvid (age 13) on drums. Together with bass player Aron(age 16), they run through an energetic, tight set of original songs, which show both maturity and inventiveness in songwriting. ‘Skate Sesh’, ‘ACAB’ and ‘Corrupted’ from last year’s debut EP ‘ABUSE‘ go down a storm with the crowd.
After a short break and refill of beer it’s time for Blisterhead to take to the stage. Armed with an impressive catalogue of sing-along street punk anthems from their 20+ year career, they kick off with ‘The Wild One’ from their amazing latest album, ‘Where we Belong’. Lead vocal duties are shared equally by the two guitar slingers Erik Törnqvist and Kim Nilsson, which gives nuance and variation to the songs as well as leaving room for each other to pose & run amok all over the stage, together with Andreas Emanuelsson and his low-slung bass. New songs like ‘Wake Up’ and ‘Holy Moly’ fit smoothly with older favorites ‘Border Control’ and ‘Tumbling Down’.
Their way-too-short set is played at breakneck speed, and by the time Johan Carlsson taps his final beats upon the snare in the closing number ‘Sound of Unity’, from the band’s 2003 debut album ‘Punk Royale’, he’s completely soaked in sweat. A stellar performance from a band who, in my humble opinion, are up there with Booze & Glory, Lions Law and other giants of the genre. If you ever wondered what would happen if you mixed Swedish precision with pure unadulterated punk chaos, Blisterhead is the loud, fast and remarkably melodic answer!
With more than 30 years under their musical belts, tonight’s headliners The Bones confidently enter the stage and launched into ‘Chrome, Smoke & Thunderroads’ from their 2002 album ‘Bigger than Jesus’. Playing with relentless energy whilst the crowd erupt into a frenzy, this sets the tone for what proves to be a great night. Just as with Blisterhead, lead singer duties are shared between both axemen, Boner and Beef Bonanza. For anyone not yet familiar with The Bones I’d describe their sound as blend of extremely catchy punk with a pinch of rockabilly and garage rock thrown in.
Crowd pleasers ‘Wendy’, ‘Flatline Fever’ and ‘Mighty Touchdown’ keep the crowd on their toes throughout the evening! There is even a burst of crowd surfing from the younger members of the audience. The rhythm section of Spooky Fred (drums) and Andi Nero (bass) relentlessly pump out a steady beat, which urges both the band and the punters on throughout ‘Hate’ and ‘Chevy Devils’. As expected, they deliver a totally electrifying performance that leaves the audience buzzing with energy.
I’d like to finish off with a quote about the band from a 10 year-old interview, which is as valid today as it was then – “20 years of rock’n’roll – no posing, no gimmicks, taking no crap and giving no fucks!”
Main Photo Credit / All Photos & Videos: PER-ÅKE WÄRN
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