Inger-Marie Opperud
First of all, it must be said that Sunday afternoon’s pop-gala at Johanneshov’s Isstadion turned out to be an incredibly boring show. And drawn out as well. But the arrager’s shouldn’t take any blame for that. Rather, it was the English guests, the band The Who, that managed to get on the wrong plane in London, and, as a result, was severely delayed in arriving at Arlanda.
The audience was large as usual – about 5 000 people. No riots. Not even an inkling of trouble.
The only thing the police had to worry about was the volume, which was perfect, loud and therefore adapted to teenage music. What about the gala, then? The Swedish bands with Mascot’s at the fore had to pull the greatest load which meant playing double as many songs as intended, which was due to the lateness in arriving of The Who. If anybody missed Tage’s, their non-appearance was due to them playing at Nalen the same afternoon.
This gig had been booked many months before. So, the absence of Tage’s had nothing to do with any waning popularity. Funny Plommon Apart from Mascot’s, we listened to Yardley’s from Hässelby. “Under the Boardwalk”, you know. The all-girl quartet Plommon’s were really funny in their chequered trousers and red vests. Occasionally, they sounded good as well.
Bitte is the name of a young girl that this spring won the Nalen song contest. Backed by Wizard’s from Narvik, she sang two tunes, and quite well at that. That girl had both the feeling and voice for pop. Moonjack’s can be ranked among the best of Swedish pop bands. The band is in tune, and has a fine singer in Claes Wang. After much to and fro, the first English guests arrived on stage – The Overlander’s from London. They call themselves entertainers and specialists on folkbeat. And, sure, Overlanders plays good enough. But their act grew monotonous and one grew anxious for originality. Perhaps the nuances were lost in the enormous Johanneshov.
But what about Who? No sensation
According to information provided beforehand, we were about to experience pop art in the shape of smashed guitars, among other things. But Who’s set remained as calm and tidy as the rest of the pop-gala. Perhaps this had something to do that Pete Townshend, who usually is in charge of the destruction of instruments, was playing on a borrowed guitar. Who states that their style of playing is unique. We don’t think that. It sounded rather old and usual, if solid and knowledgeable. The boys from London wasn’t much of a surprise. It may be best to inform that Who, apart from Pete Townshend, also consists of Roger Daltrey, vocals, John Entwhistle, bass guitar, and Keith Moon, drums.
Note
<p>Translation by Jan Forsgren.</p>
