Mer information
Royal Republic
Stockholm
Kägelbanan Södra Teaternlördag, 2 december 2023 kl:20:00
Royal Republic are many things. Sweden’s foremost masters of addictive rock’n’roll. Trained musicians with a killer instinct for a great hook. Voracious music nerds with appetites that span pop, garage rock, heavy metal, americana, hip-hop and just about everything in between. Cheerful hedonists who’ll drink you under the table after shows and nail perfect four-part vocal harmonies on stage every night.
The world’s most eclectic rock band? Quite possibly. Since meeting at the Malmö Academy Of Music in 2007 – before making their first global waves with hit singles Tommy Gun and Full Steam Spacemachine – Royal Republic have cultivated an ‘anything goes’ spirit that flies in the face of genre labels. No boundaries, no limitations. They’ll give you sugared up disco one minute, and tear your face off with a bludgeoning thrash assault the next.
Backstage their collective DJ sets mix the Beatles, Cannibal Corpse, Steely Dan and the Backstreet Boys without batting an eyelid. If guitarist Hannes Irengård is in charge you’ll get Bob Dylan and Eminem. If bassist Jonas Almén is on the decks you’ll get Motörhead. That’s just the kind of band Royal Republic are.
“That was always the motto in a way,” singer/guitarist Adam Grahn explains. “But also we change our motto with every album. It’s always changing. I think that might be the core.”
Having swapped their prospective music teacher, session guy and (in drummer Per Andreasson’s case) symphony orchestra livelihoods for rock’n’roll, Royal Republic cut their teeth hurtling up and down Sweden in an old van, playing everywhere from ski cabins and empty youth clubs to awards shows alongside the likes of Biffy Clyro. All of which culminated with 2010 debut We Are The Royal, and the favourable attention of MTV and the charts.
From the beginning they’ve fired from all cylinders. As anyone who’s seen them live knows, there are no bookends in Royal Republic. Grahn might be the all-singing, moustache-twirling frontman, but charisma and king-sized chops are par for the course with all four of them. “The band was never about being virtuosic,” he reasons. “It’s more like being part of a machine. The sum is greater than its parts.”
2012’s Save The Nation was a comparatively moody, grungy change of pace and another chart hitter. It was also the unlikely birthplace of longtime acoustic favourite Addictive; immortalised on their Royal Republic & The Nosebreakers record (essentially a countrified tribute to themselves), in an immaculately operatic, harmonised manner of which the Four Tenors and Monty Python would be proud.
“I hated doing acoustic performances in the way I see a lot of rock bands do them,” Adam explains, “it’s like ‘ok, you peel away the guitars, cymbals and kick-ass settings and you’re left with this slow, soulless fucking strumming, and it just bothered the hell out of me.” The new, acoustic Addictive struck a chord with audiences and they’ve been playing it ever since. “But that’s fine!” Grahn beams. “I love making people happy. It’s the best thing I know. That’s why [2010 hit] Underwear is still in the setlist as well. I fucking hate Underwear…”
If there’s one thing Royal Republic’s shows don’t lack, it’s confidence. And even in their glitziest and shiniest moments, that raw, fearsome energy still comes out in all they do. It’s this combination of balls-to-the-wall rock, precision-honed technique and tearaway fun that makes them one of rock’n’roll’s most watchable acts.
Whoever you are, whatever your taste, Royal Republic welcome you with open arms. And whatever they do next, you can bet it’ll be a hell of a ride...
The world’s most eclectic rock band? Quite possibly. Since meeting at the Malmö Academy Of Music in 2007 – before making their first global waves with hit singles Tommy Gun and Full Steam Spacemachine – Royal Republic have cultivated an ‘anything goes’ spirit that flies in the face of genre labels. No boundaries, no limitations. They’ll give you sugared up disco one minute, and tear your face off with a bludgeoning thrash assault the next.
Backstage their collective DJ sets mix the Beatles, Cannibal Corpse, Steely Dan and the Backstreet Boys without batting an eyelid. If guitarist Hannes Irengård is in charge you’ll get Bob Dylan and Eminem. If bassist Jonas Almén is on the decks you’ll get Motörhead. That’s just the kind of band Royal Republic are.
“That was always the motto in a way,” singer/guitarist Adam Grahn explains. “But also we change our motto with every album. It’s always changing. I think that might be the core.”
Having swapped their prospective music teacher, session guy and (in drummer Per Andreasson’s case) symphony orchestra livelihoods for rock’n’roll, Royal Republic cut their teeth hurtling up and down Sweden in an old van, playing everywhere from ski cabins and empty youth clubs to awards shows alongside the likes of Biffy Clyro. All of which culminated with 2010 debut We Are The Royal, and the favourable attention of MTV and the charts.
From the beginning they’ve fired from all cylinders. As anyone who’s seen them live knows, there are no bookends in Royal Republic. Grahn might be the all-singing, moustache-twirling frontman, but charisma and king-sized chops are par for the course with all four of them. “The band was never about being virtuosic,” he reasons. “It’s more like being part of a machine. The sum is greater than its parts.”
2012’s Save The Nation was a comparatively moody, grungy change of pace and another chart hitter. It was also the unlikely birthplace of longtime acoustic favourite Addictive; immortalised on their Royal Republic & The Nosebreakers record (essentially a countrified tribute to themselves), in an immaculately operatic, harmonised manner of which the Four Tenors and Monty Python would be proud.
“I hated doing acoustic performances in the way I see a lot of rock bands do them,” Adam explains, “it’s like ‘ok, you peel away the guitars, cymbals and kick-ass settings and you’re left with this slow, soulless fucking strumming, and it just bothered the hell out of me.” The new, acoustic Addictive struck a chord with audiences and they’ve been playing it ever since. “But that’s fine!” Grahn beams. “I love making people happy. It’s the best thing I know. That’s why [2010 hit] Underwear is still in the setlist as well. I fucking hate Underwear…”
If there’s one thing Royal Republic’s shows don’t lack, it’s confidence. And even in their glitziest and shiniest moments, that raw, fearsome energy still comes out in all they do. It’s this combination of balls-to-the-wall rock, precision-honed technique and tearaway fun that makes them one of rock’n’roll’s most watchable acts.
Whoever you are, whatever your taste, Royal Republic welcome you with open arms. And whatever they do next, you can bet it’ll be a hell of a ride...
Datum / Tid
lördag, 2 december 2023 kl: 20:00Plats
Stockholm, Kägelbanan Södra TeaternKarta (Google)
Typ
ÖvrigtKostnad
350
