Dansk version

The guy at my side looked genuinely puzzled as Danish rockers Pretty Maids opened Sweden Rock Festival's biggest stage early Thursday afternoon.

"Why don't the guys never get cheesy – after all they do play that old school melodic metal thing," he inquired.

"There are a thousand young Swedish and German bands out there trying to do the same but they're all fucking ridiculous!"

Okay, why don't Pretty Maids sound "cheesy", as the fellow put it so poetically? Well, it's a question of experience, it's a question of conviction and lastly it's primarily a question of affection and dedication to their craft. Oh yeah and by the way: It might just also have something to do with the fact that Maids write good – as in really good – songs when it grabs them.

Enough with the analysis now. Maids hit the stage in front of a capacity audience and did in Sweden what they do so brilliantly everywhere: Got the party started.

Restrictions
Those ridiculous restrictions on volume you experience at Sweden Rock may have made it difficult for a band whose latest album is entitled "Louder Than Ever", but it really did not matter that much.

When you have a no nonsense frontman like Ronnie Atkins flanked by the whirlwind of showmanship that is bassist René Shades you simply don't take no for an answer.You overcome!

Ten minutes into the show, at the start of "My Soul To Take" most people in the audience were applying for a spot in the palm of Atkins' hand, and that's the way it continued.

Through "Red, Hot And Heavy", "I See Ghosts" and the clever pairing of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall" and one of the finest Maids creations in recent times "INVU".

Lovely! Even our friend from before looked well pleased. He's the kind of guy who usually happily complains about concerts where – as he puts it – "Satan is absent".

Well, truckloads of other bands drag the Horned One along to Sweden Rock Festival. Pretty Maids on their part "merely" brought their love of the real deal and as usual delivered same very convincingly.

Like the man wrote: Lovely!