Where the Bands Are (Mando Diao, 1 June, 2018)

It’s notable from the start that the band Mando Diao have decided not to let Gothenburg’s ongoing heat wave stop them from doing a great show. It’s never easy to play on a sunlit stage in an amusement park, but the band is doing their very best to reach out to the audience and they are doing a pretty good job.

Although the crowd want to hear the old hits, the songs from their latest album blend in perfectly; Dancing all the Way To Hell, for example, is dark, dirty and magnificent.

Mama should have told you no. Papa should’ve told you sooner. You’re dancing all the way to hell

The hits are there too, of course; Gloria, How We Walk and The Band are fun and energetic. Dance with Somebody as an encore is a perfect way to end a great rock evening – a solid performance by Mando Diao in a hot and sweaty Gothenburg evening.

Mando Diao is a Swedish Rock band that was formed in 1999. Their first album, Bring ’em In, was released in 2002 and it was a success in Sweden. Their international breakthrough, however, came with their second and third albums in 2004 (Hurricane Bar) and in 2006 (Ode to Ochrasy).

Mando Diao have been touring all over the world and they have big fan bases is Germany, Japan and Sweden. Their most popular song, so far, is Dance with Somebody (2009). My favourite, however, is the Band (off of their first album).

They sing mostly in English but in 2012 they released an album in Swedish – a project where ten poems of the Swedish poet Gustaf Fröding were set to music.

List of all concerts taking place on Stora Scenen in 2018:

•10 May – Icona Pop

• 11 May – Darin

• 12 May – Det Vet Du & Joakim Lundell

• 23 May – Oskar Linnros, Lorentz, Maja Francis

• 25 May – Silvana Imam

• 30 May – Tove Lo

•1 juni – Mando Diao

• 6 June – Hollywood Vampires

• 9 June – Queens of the Stone Age

• 14 June – Molly Sandén

• 15 juni – Pussy Riot