 - - - - - - - - - - - - - THURSDAY, JUNE 17TH, 1999, HULTSFRED FESTIVAL, HULTSFRED, SWEDEN By me To say this show was chaotic would be an understatement... But first things first... Hole were scheduled to play after The Cardigans, with a one hour gap between the two. Me and my friends got there just about 10 minutes after The Cardigans’ show started, and we were sitting in the grass closeby, so that we would be able to walk right up to the stage when The Cardigans were finished. Now that was the joke of the day. When The Carigans finished, and the crowd spread and walked away, there were ALOT of people staying where they were. Hole fans who had been at the front during The Cardigans’ show too, just to make sure they got a good spot. So despite my efforts to get right infront of the stage, I still had three people infront of me. By then it was 1 hour and 10 minutes left to go. When it was 45 minutes left, it started getting REALLY packed, and the guards had to start giving water to the crowd, both to drink and to cool off with. During the following 40 minutes, the crowd moved a bit from side to side, but it was no major concern of anyone. Then, when it was only 5 minutes left, the stage lights went out, and pure Hell broke loose. The crowd started to move even more, and people started having trouble breathing, and some lost touch with the ground. The guards had to start pulling people over the fence, and everyone thought that this is as bad as it can get, right? Wrong. The intro to Old Age started playing, the band came on stage, and blasted into Violet, while the crowd went absolutely and totally ballistic. I won’t give a detailed description of what happened, but a part of the mid section (meaning the PEOPLE in the mid section) infront of the stage collapsed, and everyone was laying or sitting on top of eachother. I ended up being one of them, and I’m not joking or exaggerating when I’m saying I honestly thought I would die in there. I was THIS close to just give up. I was thinking to myself "I can’t do this , I might just as well give up. I don’t care anymore". But then this one guy spotted me, and I begged him to help me up, so he took my hand, and tried to get me up. I told him my feet were stuck, and he kept telling me to try to break free, still trying to get me up. Then someone behind me grabbed my elbow and thanks to this person, and to the guy that held my hand, I’m still alive. I highly doubt I would’ve survived if they hadn’t helped me. When I finally got to stand on my feet again, for the first time in about 5 or 10 minutes, I suddenly got enough space to start making my way back, out of the crowd, and after a couple of minutes, I was sitting on this wooden thing, crying hysterically. That’s in short my Hole experience. I got to see two or three glimpses or Courtney, two of Melissa, one of Eric, and none of Sam, and that’s a big disappointment, especially since I’ve been waiting to see Hole for forever, and when I finally get a chance, I get to see and sing along with half of Violet, then I’m forced to fight for my life, and spend the rest of the time either crying just outside the crowd, or crying at the sickbay. I did however, go back to see the last minutes of the show, and the whole stage was FILLED with people, and I recalled Courtney saying something like "If you want to come up on the stage, just fucking do it." I guess that might’ve saved some lives, even though some people here partly blame Courtney for what happened. Later a friend told me that Courtney had taken her top off (surprise surprise) and told every girl on the stage to either do the same, or to get the hell "off her stage". This made me lose ALOT of respect for Courtney, plus the way she seemed to TOTALLY believe in the stereotypical Swede. Also, she made some comments about Eric being Swedish, but since I was too busy, I didn’t hear it. I’d also like to take this opportunity to say that this review is in NO way written to be read with even an ITTY BITTY sense of humor, because this show claimed one person’s life, and that person happened to be a friend of mine. Vampiria - one of the sweetest people I’ve known, even though I didn’t know you for long - You’ll be missed. R.I.P. Let this review be a warning. - - - - - - - - - - - - - |