Live Review : Time To Rock Festival on July 4th and 5th 2025

Have you ever looked at something, a gig, a festival, and thought “that looks good, but maybe it’s a bit out of reach?” Time To Rock Festival was formed by a couple of the ex-directors of Sweden Rock some 19 years ago. They felt, even back then, that Sweden Rock was just too damn big so they formed their own, smaller, more intimate affair. Known as Helge A Festival for 15 years (named for the river that runs along the boundary of the site) they became Time To Rock in 2022 and set about bringing some pretty decent names in music to this small corner of southern Sweden. They bill themselves as “Sweden’s cosiest festival” and having been there now I understand why. The bill is big but the festival itself is relatively small, capped at around 7500 people, and although they hope to continue to attract artists from all over the world they also want to maintain that intimate, friendly feel. You may not know the festival organisers and staff by name when you arrive but you probably will by the time you leave! 

Despite its intimate size there is plenty to do here in Folkets Park. Camping is organised by the local sports club and has access to showers, decent toilets and a proper cooked breakfast if you need it. For those less inclined to the outdoor life there are hotel options in the nearby towns of Kristianstad and Hasselholm, with regular bus services and also plenty of taxis for a reasonable price. Once inside, there are 3 stages, and numerous traders and food stalls to discover. The bars are well-stocked and well-staffed so there were rarely massive queues although the vagaries of Sweden’s licencing laws meant that choice of beverage was somewhat limited unless you had access to a VIP pass. In the VIP area there was a much better selection of drinks, but no view of any of the stages so you had to drink up between bands as you couldn’t take your drink back out to the arena. Weird for those of us who are used to much more relaxed licensing, but the Swedes seemed fine with it so we just went with the flow.  

When first entering the arena you come to the Falcon Rock stage (sponsored by the local brew) and then at the back of that area you go up a slight slope (past more proper toilets that were kept pristine for the whole weekend) to the Rock Kommander stage (sponsored by a local radio station) and then tucked away right at the back past the Guinness bar is the smaller Pirate Rock stage. Each arena part has a big covered area with benches where you can sit and eat, or just rest your aching feet. Although camping chairs are allowed they didn’t really proliferate, but this may have been to do with the changeable weather. 

So that’s the festival area, and this year ROCKFLESH is honoured to be asked to pop over several seas and countries to let you know what to expect music-wise! 

Friday 4th July – The Pre-party 

Friday starts with Andy and The Rockets, a Swedish band who combine elements of 50’s rock n roll with a more modern rock sound. Apparently they have recently been working with Eric from Eclipse and the songs showcased were upbeat, melodic and strong. There was no standout but they certainly got the party started in an acceptable fashion.  

They were followed by The John Lindberg Trio who were proper old-school rock and roll with a double bass and an Elvis attitude. The crowd jitterbugged a bit and the mood was definitely cheerful. 

Next came a name we know well here in the UK; Heavy Pettin are the stalwart Scots that are still doing the biz all over the world. They are stuck in a 1980s NWOBHM groove, with pretty much the whole setlist culled from their first 3 albums, but this is a good thing. While never reaching the giddy heights that some thought they were capable of, and despite tanking their career with a crack at Eurovision in 1987, the set presented here in Sweden is solid and for a band with three out of the five original members still present the hour-long set flew by in no time at all. Some familiar numbers were aired, ‘Love Times Love’ was described by singer Hamie as their first and most successful release but to be honest I remember the penultimate song ‘In And Out Of Love’ better for the simple reason that it shared a song title with a Bon Jovi track released around the same time and to these ears the Heavy Pettin song was very much the superior one! The set was a proper nostalgia fest, which became something of a theme throughout the weekend to be honest.  

 Keeping with the nostalgia theme the next act is Creedence Tribute, who do exactly what it says on the tin. They play a set chock-full of all those songs that you forgot were done originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the crowd duly bops along merrily whilst singing at the top of their collective voices.  

 Another change of pace follows as The Bourbon Boys are essentially Swedish cowboys. They play country and western music, they wear 10 gallon hats and plaid shirts, they sport ZZ Top beards and there's a fair bit of line dancing. It’s not rock, but it’s lightweight and fun and at least the dancing kept us warm! 

The night finishes with Bullet, the Swedish good-time metal band who also boast 3 of their 5 original members (although their formation was some 20 years later than Heavy Pettin’s!) The music is fairly generic twin guitar metal, so they throw in some flashpots and flames to enhance a performance that is driven, fierce and full of energy. The song titles speak for themselves, there’s ‘Turn It Up Loud’ and ‘Storm of Blades’ – you kind of know what you’re getting but that’s OK. They perform well, and the sound has pinches of AC/DC and Accept. They are not breaking down any barriers, but you could perhaps say that they are crowdsurfing up to a few. The crowd play along, shaking heads and shredding with air guitars, raising fists for the choruses and generally having a damn good time. So that’s how the night finishes, with a rousing party atmos from the local lads that carries back from the arena to the campsite and apparently continues on the infamous “BulletBus” for the rest of the weekend! 

Saturday 5th July – Day 1 of the festival proper…. 

 …and the weather is decidedly iffy. The tone is set for the rest of the weekend, with bursts of heavy showers followed by blisteringly warm sunny intervals. A bit like the acts chosen to play for us, it flipflops from one place to another, never quite settling and occasionally surprising us with something truly beautiful or startlingly odd. 

Musically we start with Sweden’s own Bonafide and they are their usual bouncy selves playing  AC/DC-inspired rock. Their song ‘Time To Rock’ was written about this very festival, and draws an appreciative surge from the crowd when it pops up in the set. They continue to delight and entertain, and by the time they perform their final anthem ‘Fill Your Head With Rock’ the crowd is surprisingly large for such an early performance, but unsurprisingly enthusiastic.   

The next band on the Rock Kommander stage are billed as Riot V but actually, much to the joy of my inner teenager, it’s the current incarnation of classic 80’s metal band Riot. Although no original members remain there are a couple (Don Van Stavern on bass and Mike Flyntz on guitar) who have been in the band since the 80’s and it’s a delight to hear some of the very old songs (‘Fire Down Under’, ‘Road Racer’, ‘Swords and Tequila’) from those very early years. They have found an absolute treasure in singer Todd Michael Hall, even if he does forget the occasional lyric, and the whole thing was a masterclass in old-school metal with a little twist of modern power metal.  

Over on Pirate Rock, Ambush too are proper metal. They have the look - matching leather waistcoats with tassels, studded belts and flying Vs. They have the sound as they are very much channel Judas Priest with big riffs, screaming solos and some nice screamy warbling. There’s lots of pyro and heat, and I can’t help thinking they could easily have played on one of the bigger stages as they draw a decent crowd that ends up spilling out of the slightly confined space in front of this one. They are younger guys with a classic vibe and were great to watch.  

YouTuber Laura Cox dazzles with her brand of blues-rock on the Falcon stage, but I forgo the bulk of her set to head back for one of my festival highlights, Eclipse. This bunch of Swedish melodic hard rockers have recently recruited ex Hardcore Superstar drummer Adde Moon to their ranks and he proves to be very popular with the crowd, getting a huge roar of approval when introduced towards the end of the set. Their style is anthemic, every song has a huge hook and a hummable chorus. Being more or less on home turf the band feed off the energy of the crowd and the songs become epic. The choruses are catchier, the verses are bouncier, the guitar work is faster, the drums are louder, the bass pounds harder. Every note is caught and savoured by the eager crowd, every chorus and whoa-oh amplified until the very skies are ringing enough to stop the rain at the start of the set and return us to sunshine. Every song is a crowd favourite (although the acoustic version of ‘Battlegrounds’ still reduces your correspondent to tears with sheer emotion) and from start to finish they just keep getting better. From the metal edge of ‘Black Rain’ to the pop sensibilities of ‘Runaways’ they don’t falter. This is a band at the top of their game right now, and it was an absolute pleasure to see them perform to this level. 

Manchester’s own Wytch Hazel are up next, and their bombastic god-bothering 80’s-inspired metal draws a decent crowd. The Swedes are no strangers to a band in lycra, knee-high boots and capes (ABBA pretty much cornered the market in this look in the 70’s and 80’s) but the altar cloths on the amps seem to leave the crowd a little non-plussed. Nevertheless they get a warm welcome and plenty of enthusiasm.  

Finns Korpiklaani take us in a totally different direction. They play rock inspired by Finnish folk music, and add in a funky violin and a piano accordion to the standard guitars, drums, bass rock combo. The songs are sung in Finnish, and the vocals are harsh, guttural and indecipherable which means you can’t really sing along to the choruses here! There’s a lot of capering happening on the stage, and the crowd seems very split over them. Half of them (who all seem to be wearing paisley or flowers) are loving them and capering nearly as hard as the band. The other half are standing, arms folded, in studied indifference. There is a time and a place to enjoy Korpiklaani, and I suspect that teatime at a rock festival probably isn’t either but nonetheless they put in a good performance and by the end of the set some of the grim expressions have softened into smiles and it looks like they have won over a few hearts. 

Y&T are also an odd choice for a teatime band, but in their case the space in front of Rock Kommander is heaving. Everybody is thrilled to see them still here, still playing the same songs and still making these 40-year-old anthems sound fresh and new. Meniketti is a true legend –he’s survived numerous health scares yet still somehow always manages to bounce back with the same cheerful grin and timeless power chords. Unfortunately today’s setback for them is the weather, a veritable deluge comes down partway through their show and although some brave souls just don their plastic ponchos and tough it out most draw back a little to seek shelter. The band plough on though, throwing out their classics like ‘Black Tiger’, ‘Summertime Girls’, ‘Forever’ and seminal signature song ‘Rescue Me’ to those that have withstood the precipitation, and those of us who have sought shelter under the trees also get to stomp along and punch the air. There are a few bands around who truly deserve the moniker of classic rock, but Y&T definitely qualify as one of them. 

Stray describe themselves as an original NWOBHM band, and I do recollect the name from back then, but they turn out to be more of a 70’s-style pub rock band. Hailing from London the sound has a strong Hammond organ sound and overlaid on that is 12 bar boogie. It was good, and their crowd was small but enthusiastic. However, I only caught a bit of the set as unfortunately they clashed with Firewind. 

Just the name Firewind and the faerie-inspired backdrop conjured up visions of AOR, but happily this wasn’t the case. They are actually really good power metal with some virtuoso guitar parts. Hailing from Greece the band is the brainchild and showcase of whizzkid guitarist Gus G who is probably best known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne. Firewind was formed in the early 2000s as a project to get him noticed in the industry and secure a deal, and although he has worked with many other outfits over the years it seems close to his heart as despite an ever-changing roster of band members there have been some 10 albums over the band’s 23-year career. Even with all of this back catalogue to draw on though they still managed to throw in a stonking cover of Michael Sembello’s ‘Maniac’, which seems to have become something of a standard for metal bands to cover over the last couple of years!  

If you were disappointed with Firewind because you wanted a bit of Swedish AOR, you can’t really do better than Nestor. They have all the pomp and harmonies that constitute a grand lightweight rock band. They are really good at what they do, and the show is embellished with a couple of backing singers and dancers. The rain is back with the vengeance but unlike for Y&T the Rock Kommander stage area remains rammed – it seems that this is the band that many of today’s day-ticket holders are here to see and they are not about to let a bit of water dampen their enthusiasm. Soundwise they are similar to Asia, but in terms of showmanship they pull out all the stops. They all wear the same uniform, complete with shoulder cords, and the lights and stage set are spot-on. They only have 2 albums to their name so the 12-song set covers most of their recorded output to date. It’s nice, it’s pleasant but it’s just a little rock-by-numbers. It’s a little rehearsed, a little too polished, maybe even a little bit bland. Don’t get me wrong, it’s entertaining and engaging but at the same time the songs may be fraught with emotion but the performance is somewhat lacking in soul. The lasers are good though. 

It's always good to go to a festival and find a new-to-you band that blows you away, and this time the honour goes to Velveteen Queen. They are fresh, bright and sleazy, and their sound owes a lot to Guns N’ Roses when they were still dangerous. Despite their youth (they are all 20-24 years old) they deliver an exciting set of stompy, sleazy singalongs all wrapped up in a neat little velvet-jacketed package. The cover they choose is Aerosmith’s “Toys In The Attic” and they do it with sneering, posing style. There’s some electric piano during the inevitable power ballad and the whole show is a perfect balance of attitude and fun. Loved them, definitely one to watch.  

Closing off tonight we have Dirkschneider, featuring the one and only Udo Dirkschneider on vocals.  There’s always that question in your mind when someone (usually a singer or guitarist) splits from the band that made them famous and you end up with two bands playing essentially the same music. The question is of course who does it better? In this case it’s even more relevant as despite leaving Accept in 1987 tonight’s set is a complete run-through of Accept’s 1983 seminal classic album “Balls To The Wall”. It’s classic German metal, in fact, many consider that Udo and Accept were vital in shaping the course of German metal which is now some of the best in the world. Udo, despite being 73, looks pretty much the same as he did when I first saw him back in the heady days of the early 80s. Vertically challenged and rotund, he still owns the stage with the sheer force of his personality and of course the power of his voice. The band are tight and together, and having Udo’s son Sven on drums is a nice touch. Contrary to stereotyping Udo displays a wry sense of humour in his between-song banter but the main focus of tonight’s show is the songs. It’s another blast-from-the-past set, another chance to sing along to the songs that have become embodied in the history of German metal, and the crowd respond with gusto. So who does it better then, Accept or Udo? For my money it’s a pretty even match. Let’s call it a draw, as that way we can draw a line under the first half of the festival.