I’m at a new arena in northern Sweden together with three thousand Swedes. All more than ready to witness and hear the last concert by hardcore legends Refused. That’s right. The LAST concert. From the very beginning people are lifting their phones in the air to document the last piece of Refused‘s career, and the last gig of their six month reunion tour. All ending in Umeå, where it started. “Just because we can”, as they put it themselves.
We can actually thank the festival Coachella, at least in part, for us being here. The idea of a reunion tour came to life after Coachella got in touch with Refused which lead to a band meeting at a local café. Three of the ex-band members had also started playing together in another band at this point. ‘This is ridiculous’, one of them said, ‘There are friends of ours who would murder close relatives to go see bands there. Let’s just do it, one last time’. So, they were once again a band and made some decisions: They wanted to make sure as many people as possible would get to see them. They had to do a surprise popup concert at the live scene Scharinska in Umeå, 14 years after calling it a day. And they had to end the reunion tour in Umeå as well, with all the profit from the show going to a local non-profit organisation supporting assaulted women.
So, here we are; at the new Exel arena, receiving an early Christmas present. The present is a goodbye party celebrated together with friends of Refused. Before showing up at the stage they’ve invited three warmup acts to keep us entertained, like a one-day mini festival. What surprises me about these bands is the variety. First, there’s the dream pop duo Two White Horses singing naïvistic, gentle songs. Continuing with my highlight among these three; the anonymous Råd Kjetil Senza Testa appearing silhouetted behind a big screen where an experimental film is accompanying their haunting dark ambient. Punkers Randy The Band is closest to Refused, both music wise and time wise this evening. But next up is the band we’re here for.
There is one thing above all things which strikes me about these musicians: The fierce and progressive energy infusing them and their music when they get together. Furious guitars and chaotic drums often sounding like they’re battling with each other, at the same time as they’re fully synched. The bleak coloured lighting is dramatic and yet minimalistic. And then there’s Dennis Lyxzén’s intense voice of anger, often screaming his fury about capitalism, “I got a bone to pick with capitalism and a few to break / Grab us by the throat and shake the life away / Human life is not commodity, figures, statistics or make believe”.
It appears relevant even several years after their epic release; the classic ‘The Shape of Punk to Come’ (1998), which fills most of the setlist. And this makes even more sense after having read through some thoughts shared on Refused‘s own website earlier this year. I find it hard to believe, but people didn’t like ‘The Shape of Punk to Come’ when it first came out resulting in less people coming to their gigs. The band saw it as a failure when realising they couldn’t promote their new album the way it should’ve been. Later on, however, the record had unexpectedly been discovered by an audience far away from Sweden. (Yes, you guess it; USA.) So, they wanted to do this tour for the people who had kept their music alive.
We’re on our way out. Just by looking at people after the show it’s perfectly obvious what kind of band Refused is; sweat is dripping from most faces and bottles of water are kindly being passed around as we wait to get out. The energy has passed on from those passionate musicians to us. Something strikes me as we’re waiting: We’re probably not 100% aware of what just happened here. A feeling of having witnessed an historical event.
They have proved why they deserve the legend status in the hardcore movement. But still, there’s one question circulating in my head: When they’re still so fierce, so relevant with their political messages and so passionate about their music; why don’t they simply continue?
Well. I probably just explained why they can’t continue. Maybe the fact they are so passionate adds to all the tremendous effort they will put into it, and equally how worn out they and their families risk becoming. And then there’s the physical aspect of hardcore shows. Maybe there’s a quite logical reason why most, say, singer-songwriters can sit on stages until they’re old, while most, say, hardcore bands can’t?
One thing sticks on my mind. A monologue inbetween songs by Dennis Lyxzén: Flashback from the old days when most people in his home town kept telling him and his friends they wouldn’t achieve anything. You won’t make it, they said, go study and go find a ‘real’ job. His conclusion after a six month world tour: They were so wrong. Refused made it.
Setlist
1. The Shape of Punk to Come
2. The Refused Party Program
3. Liberation Frequency
4. Rather Be Dead
5. Coup d’état
6. Summerholidays vs. Punkroutine
7. The Deadly Rhythm
8. Hook, Line and Sinker
9. Everlasting
10. Pump the Brakes
11. Refused Are Fucking Dead
12. Life Support Addiction
13. Worms of the Senses / Faculties of the Skull
Encore:
14. New Noise
15. Tannhäuser / Derivè
Posted by Bjarte Edvardsen.
