My First Way Out West

In 2006 I photographed Where The Action Is at Skansen in Stockholm, a Luger festival, with acts including The Hellacopters and The Hives, I even caught both bands in a single frame that day.

The Hellahives, Skansen 2006

Between sets I got talking with Patrick Fredriksson, one of the founders at Luger. He told me they had something new in the works down in Gothenburg: a different kind of festival, city-based, no tents, no camping, you'd stay comfortably in town and walk to the site. He asked if I wanted to come and shoot it. Of course I did.

I still remember that first year. The trip down to Gothenburg, finding my way into Slottsskogen where it all took place. God, it was good. I was hooked on the spot, and I've found it hard to stay away ever since. The festival was Way Out West, and I've photographed nearly every edition since that first one in 2007. I've missed only two: one year I was ill, one year I was travelling.

My first concert photo ever at Way Out West. Salem Al Fakir.

That first edition felt special precisely because everything about it was new, the concept, and a run of great bands like Primal Scream, Regina Spektor and The Ark. Salem Al Fakir opened the festival, just as he was breaking through. A little later came Laleh, still early in her rise.

Laleh, WOW 2007

On the second day Erykah Badu played. A set that's stayed with me ever since, largely because of one frame I still consider one of my best concert shots: a portrait of her on stage, pausing to pose just a little extra for me.

Erykah Badu, Way Out West 2007

Almost twenty years on, I'm still going back.

/Micke