Dalarna is the region in Sweden where the wilderness begins. You can enter huge dark forests and can get lost for hours or even days. You find a huge lake here, lake Siljan, having been created by a meteorite impact 377 million years ago. Crazy to think about it. A few miles away from the next bigger town, you find an old limestone quarry, basically a 60 m deep hole in the ground, at its deepest point there is a small pond, in the middle of it you find a huge stage, in front it around 4.000 seats (Per claims they hold 6.000 seats and he is the boss) like in an old Roman amphitheatre. During the summer time, a lot of concerts take place here, bands come and go, this week, they will perform here Mamma Mia, the ABBA musical.

Gyllene Tider performed here twice this summer, and personally, I have for years been very keen on going to this venue. It’s said to have a special atmosphere, a special acoustic. Concerts here are different from a Swedish folkets park or a stadium. You are surrounded by high walls of rocks, these rocks reflect the sound in a way you rarely find somewhere else. So once the show starts, you become a part of the scenery. 

Also, this would be my first concert after a two week break from the tour. What is different now? Let’s see.

First of all, the show has stayed the same basically but there had been some changes. The setlist differed a bit from the shows before. Billy is on vacation but Chrissie came to pay us a visit. Vill ha ett svar made its debut and people loved it. The band, this being the third show in a row, has found their routine. Whatever happens on stage now looks very much like second nature. Thanks to the fact that Dalhalla is, to a great extent at least, a seated venue the people in the audience have a great view on the stage, so the interaction with the band is more crucial. As always, Gyllene Tider’s performance always gains this little extra bit when the audience goes wild and despite the audience this evening being a bit more on the older side, did not disappoint. People clapped and stomped, in the end they even stood up. And as a foreigner in Sweden, there is one thing in a Gyllene Tider concert that you must see once in your lifetime. This is Sommartider being performed in a special venue like Dalhalla or Ullevi. This kind of power you only find here. To prove the point, you find a video of it here under the article, and underneath there will be almost 50 photos. 

Next stop will be Karlstad on Wednesday. There are now just a few shows left. If you ask me if you should still go and buy a ticket, then yes, by all means do it. Satisfaction is guaranteed!

Pics by Kai. 

[Show slideshow]