Freak Kitchen and Guitar ‘Spaceman’ Mattias IA Eklundh Fire Salvos of Laughter at Revolver Club (2019)
Location: San Dona Di Piave (Treviso) / Revolver / Italy
Date: Saturday, 16.11.2019
The Swedish experimental rock trio led by guitar ‘freak’ Mattias ‘IA’ Eklundh — one of the most remarkable and unpredictable guitar virtuosos of our time — rolled into the small Italian town of San Dona di Piave, near Treviso, on Saturday, November 16th. The local club Revolver promised a top-tier treat for all prog-rock gourmets, and there was no shortage of guitar ‘doctors’ either: ‘Freak Guitar’ Eklundh has been a genuine magnet for fans of the (usually) six-string instrument ever since Freak Kitchen first appeared in 1992, and through countless collaborations with various bands and projects, thanks to his utterly unique playing technique.
The late start was down to the weak local opener Ragin’ Madness, who stretched their dull set well beyond their allotted time. A band that had no business opening for Freak Kitchen, they played a pretty stale brand of showy heavy rock that their shrill female vocalist did absolutely no favours. Most members looked bored stiff — particularly drummer Francesco Forin, who very nearly dozed off behind the kit thanks to his inactivity and the mind-numbing rhythmic repetition — the exceptions being the gutsy vocalist Giulia Rubino and the hulking bassist Alex Mante, who pulled a Manowar move mid-song and hoisted a nearby plastic ‘Thor’s hammer’ one-handed, apparently to prove the old saying ‘heart of a hero, head of an idiot.’ Ragin’ Madness, who have self-released one album to date, did at least manage to round up enough family members and friends in front of the stage to shift a few T-shirts and signed records after the show.
Worth the wait, we said to ourselves, as the stage filled with the familiar, always-witty bearded and long-haired figure with the wide face, guitar in hand — joined on bass by crash-helmet-clad Christer Örtefors and the lanky drum-tamer Björn Fryklund. Eklundh, the experimental perfectionist who has been playing an eight-string model since 2015, had actually come out to check his rig before the show, just to make sure nothing would go sideways mid-set. Shortly after, the stage projection lit up with a snail carrying a shell made from a human skull — the brilliant cover of Freak Kitchen’s current album »Confusion to the Enemy«, released in 2018.
Freak Kitchen’s music draws from a heady mix of genres spanning traditional heavy metal, prog metal, jazz, avant-garde, and pop, with Mattias dropping guitar improvisations in his own distinctive style whenever the mood strikes. The lyrics are frequently laced with biting humour and sharp critiques of capitalist society, and Mattias has never hidden the fact that the unforgettable Frank Zappa was one of his biggest influences. Freak Kitchen opened with »Morons«, the first track from the current album — which is a touch more pop-rock-leaning than most of their previous work — then reminded us they can still hit hard with a full-on metal delivery when they tore into »Professional Help«, a fan favourite from »Cooking With Pagans« (2014).
Among the old favourites, the always-entertaining »Speak When Spoken To« from »Organic« (2005) stood out in particular. From the current album we also got »Troll«, which, as Mattias explained, was inspired by the grotesque creatures of Scandinavian mythology — though we’d been pretty convinced up to that point that it was about modern internet trolls. Mattias was in typically outstanding guitar form throughout, but also proved his worth as a vocalist, with bassist Örtefors pitching in occasionally and even stepping into the lead vocal role a few times. Eklundh’s extraordinary guitar mastery tends to be the main draw at Freak Kitchen shows, and it can be easy to overlook Örtefors’ bass-line craftwork and Fryklund’s eclectic drumming — yet both are world-class musicians who’ve been by Mattias’s side in the band for nineteen years.
Mattias — who dropped spontaneous guitar improvisations into the set whenever the urge took him — isn’t just one of the sharpest and most unique guitar virtuosos alive today; he’s also a master of deadpan ribbing. That evening he took a few well-aimed digs at our western neighbours, who didn’t even realise they were being wound up in the most charming way possible. Before launching into »Så Kan Det Gå När Inte Haspen Är På« — a song with a Swedish title and Swedish lyrics — he zeroed in on the sorest spot in the Italian soul: the near-universal inability to handle foreign languages. Following Mattias’s precise instructions, the audience had to recite the full song title word by word, which was genuinely no small feat for the locals.
On another occasion, Mattias invited the locals to help him sing the verses of »Freak of the Week«. He suggested they make it easier on themselves and replace the tricky English words in the chorus with the names of some Italian pizzas. Just as well they didn’t play »Mussolini Mind« from »Organic« in front of a mostly Italian crowd that evening.
The handful of slightly over-eager Brazilian and Japanese fans in the front row also got their fair share of carrot-and-stick treatment. The gallows humour never let up, and Mattias poked fun at himself just as readily — mocking (his words) ‘his own stupid, wide Swedish face,’ which he then illustrated with a grotesque grimace, grabbing both cheeks with his hands and shaking them like a hamster frantically emptying overstuffed pouches.
The Swedish trio of out-of-this-world instrumental ‘freaks,’ who were in high spirits throughout, closed the show with »Propaganda Pie« from »Move« (2002) — which, given the length of the set and the band’s near-instant return to the stage for it, could hardly be called an encore.
Freak Kitchen delivered at the expected, highly professional level, with Eklundh’s trademark guitar wizardry front and centre, seasoned during the breaks with offbeat humour to the point that we genuinely couldn’t remember the last time we’d laughed this hard at a gig. Every fan of guitar virtuosos ‘from another galaxy’ got exactly what they came for, while the sound for a club of this size was solid.
The only gripe about Freak Kitchen’s show at Revolver — setting aside the dreadful support act that hoovered up everyone’s precious time — is that it was over too soon: done and dusted in just over an hour and ten minutes, even accounting for the fact that the clock had already passed midnight by the end. Some of us also missed one of Mattias’s extravagant solo spots involving unconventional objects to pluck the guitar strings, the kind you can catch on certain live video recordings — though he likely saved those for his guitar clinic.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
photos: Primož Novak & Peter Podbrežnik
Setlist:
1. Morons
2. Professional Help
3. Porno Daddy
4. Speak When Spoken To
5. Freak of the Week
6. Troll
7. Så Kan Det Gå När Inte Haspen Är På
8. Razor Flowers
9. Propaganda Pie
