dredblog

If you have been living in a box, then you may not know there is a bar restaurant opened up in Gothenburg dedicated to the Canadian prog rock band Rush, called 2112. It is part owned and run by Peter Iwers and Bjorn Gelotte, two members of the Swedish melodeath band In Flames along with close friends. Last weekend was the grand opening and I was lucky enough to be there last Saturday.

I was in Gothenburg over the weekend to watch The Haunted at Brew House on the Friday, you can read about that here but on the Saturday, me and my wife had a free day to go sightseeing during which we decided to try and find 2112 to give us a rough idea how to get there from our hotel later that evening. We found it relatively easy and when we found it Peter Iwers noticed us looking in and invited us to have a quick tour round. I asked if it would be ok to come back later as it being the opening weekend, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be guests only but we were reassured there would not be a problem.

We got there around 8pm to find the place full of people enjoying the atmosphere. After buying drinks and looking for a place to sit and enjoy the night. There sat with friends and realtives was Bjorn Gelotte who waved and said hello, later coming over to make us feel very welcome.

As this bar is run by members of In Flames and is dedicated to Rush, I was surprised to find the only “rock element” were the few photos of In Flames and of Rush. The only music being played just at a nice ambient level, no loud rock blaring through huge speakers! We decided to leave around 10.30pm so as we left I approached Bjorn to thank him for such a great evening. He asked if we knew if Sonic Syndicate were playing at Sticky Fingers and did we want to go, obviously we said yes of course. He spoke to a friend who agreed to take us round. At the club, Bjorn’s friend had a word with the door man and we were allowed in. Sonic Syndicate had already started their set but we still managed to see a good 40 minutes of it. Sticky Fingers itself is one of the dream places me and my wife had always wanted to visit but to go on such a night was the icing on a perfectly baked cake!

I must point out that we were very lucky to be in Gothenburg over the weekend and the fact that being members of Jesterhead.com allowed me and my wife to get to know members of In Flames after various meet and greets arranged through the Jesterhead.