Dutch metallers ROYAL HUNT have issued the following update:

"The day after the show - everybody's dead tired (you'll see why in a bit) and yet pretty much upbeat…go figure.

But let's start from the beginning: on July 14th I took a morning train to Stockholm to rehearse with the guys for a couple of days. Per picked me up at Stockholm's main station and after a quick stop on the way (in order to buy some "liquid ammunition") we arrived at the rehearsal studio (this time House of Shakira's). We didn't feel like bringing my monster keyboard rig for rehearsals (a break we had since our last show wasn't long enough for me to forget how it works) so we settled for Per's digital piano only (you should have heard my Jerry Lee Lewis version of 'Never Give Up' - a show stopper for sure… literally, as Magnus was laughing so hard that he stopped playing in the middle of it. Very unprofessional if you ask me.

Well, the band was tight and well prepared - as usual - but definitively not prepared to see Mats Levén showing up with no lyric sheets; 'not a good sign' (I thought) only to find out that the guy knew the stuff better than any of us… every word, every note! But the real fun started as he got into "Levenizing" these songs, impressing us all quite a bit. Don't get me wrong; knowing Mats for a few years I'm very well aware of his abilities and yet… a very, very pleasant surprise.

Anyway - after a few hours of running through the set (a short eight tunes version) and a bunch of drinks later we called it a day and Per dropped me off at my "new Swedish home" (another great friend of ours - Pontus Norgren - lent me the keys to his house as he - finally! – took a break from his "producer/sound engineer/guitarist in HAMMERFALL" routine and took his family on a well deserved vacation… leaving a little present for me on the table - a bottle of Jack with a note saying: "Welcome… and cheers!". Thanks mate!

Next day - same routine: getting into rehearsal room, playing the set a few times while ironing out some tiny little details here and there, having a couple of beers, chatting… while being well aware of the fact that our next day will be a long, long, long one… well, 32 hours long to be exact.

Here it goes: get up at four o'clock in the morning, grab a cab to Arlanda airport, meet the rest of the guys on the way, catch a flight to Copenhagen at 06.55, arrive at 08:15 and meet with our tour bus at 08:45, pick up rental drums at 09:15, pick up rental bass rig at 10:00, drive to my place (picking up the rest of the crew on the way) to load keyboard (here comes the monster!) and guitar rigs in, drive for almost 6 hours to Sønderborg (arriving quite a bit late - by five o'clock instead of for), so the rest is at "double speed": load the gear in, set up and soundcheck already at 05:45, rush to the catering for a quick bite and to say hello to a bunch of friends in Alice's band/crew, run backstage to change (while watching Maria constructing a belt out of gaffer tape in order to keep her in-ear system in place and Marcus warming up by imitating CHUCK BERRY and trying not to laugh too hard:-), have a shot of Jack and a cigarette and hit the stage, as announced - at exactly 20:30, play the set, bow at exactly 21:15… Phew, take a deep breath! Pack up the gear and merch, load it into the bus, find the promoter and get paid - very important! Meet the fans (sign stuff, take pictures with a few, chat for a while), do some interviews, hang out for a few songs of Alice's set, say goodbye to everyone and start driving (23:15 at the latest!). Bus drive back for another five hours or so (while listening to Peter Branders' - our sound engineer - endless rant about why these new digital mixing desks sucks, drop some people off here and there on the way, unload keyboard (bye bye monster) and guitar rigs at my place at around five o'clock, 'unload' poor Swedes as well so they could sleep for at least a couple of hours (they're suppose to take a cab at 07:00 in order to catch the flight home at 08:45), drive to the rental company and drop the drum kit off, let the rest of the crew go home, drive back home and feed very hungry and – for some reason – very unfriendly cats and – finally – go to bed at around 06:30 only to realize that your home has just been invaded by a bunch of galloping elephants (oh, it's just our lovely Swedes waking up, getting up and packing).

Alright, I wished them a safe flight (mentally, as there's no way in hell I'm getting up) - it's my turn to have a couple of hours sleep, get up at nine, drive to another rental shop and drop the bass rig off... done!

So here I am - sharing another one of our "tour moments" with you with a huge cup of coffee in front of me (on a scale from 0 to 10 it's about twelve points strong.

After a day like this you realize just how essential it is to have a great team; everybody's involved (regardless of their 'role' in the band/crew) in every aspect of the event: be it booking/buying tickets or carrying gear or arranging something else… a special thanks to Mats for not only taking over the mic for these shows (and being brilliant at it) but also for 'diving in' and picking up an equal load of 'practical stuff' just like the rest of the gang."

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