Arena Live In Sweden
Gothenburg Progressive Rock Festival, Vågen, Gothenburg, Sweden, 24 October 1998 

When we first heard of this years Gothenburg Progressive Rock Festival it was announced that Arena probably would come as a headliner. YES!!! Finally a chance for us to see and hear our favourite band on stage. 

We could only hope it would come true. Later it was confirmed that Arena were going to play as a part of The Visitor Tour. Great! To tell you the truth, this has been one of the longest waits ever!

No less than eight bands played on the festival. The other bands were totally new to us, but they did a great job warming up the audience for Arena. Only a seconds into A Crack in the Ice it became clear - Arena literally owned the place! They played the entire Visitor set adding small gaps between the songs. This was decided earlier before the show and worked perfectly indeed! Paul's performance on stage was intense and powerful, playing the characters of The Visitor. Not to forget the voice! He really is a great singer. Further down the set list were The Healer, Jericho and Medusa. Powerful, catchy tracks that really got us in the audience going!

The boys in the band really enjoyed the gig. John grinned at us and jumped like Angus Young (of AC/DC!) together with the other John across the stage. Clive, as always in his black cloak, showed us what a keyboard wizard he is! Jumping up and down during the rockier parts he seemed to enjoy himself immensely. Mick also seemed to have a great time but for obvious reasons he can't run about the stage like the others... Mick's drumming worked like glue between the other instruments giving the band a wonderfully tight sound on stage.

Towards the end of the show, during the encores, they played Crying for Help IV and an utterly brilliant version of The Cry. Sadly enough all good things must come to an end and Arena left the stage with a promise to be back in Sweden soon. They're more than welcome - I can assure you!

After the gig we shook hands and thanked everybody for a truly amazing evening. Tired we stumbled into the night... Huge thanks to Mick, Clive, John, John and Paul for taking the time to see us before the show and for a gig we'll never forget!

By: Gunnar Hoffsten and Tony Gunnarsson