Swedish “hard” rockers CRUCIFIED BARBARA, who we’re pretty sure someone made up as a joke, graced the stage for their first concert in over nine years! Yes, NINE YEARS! 👵 Did anyone even remember them? 🤔 It all went down on Saturday, June 7 at the 2025 edition of the Sweden Rock Festival on Thursday, June 5 in Sölvesborg, Sweden. Apparently, time travel is now a thing, or maybe someone just messed up the dates. 🤷♂️
According to Setlist.fm, which we all know is the ultimate authority on everything (NOT!), the setlist for the show was as follows:
01. The Crucifier (Because subtlety is for losers 🙄)
02. Play Me Hard (We get it, you’re trying to be edgy 😈)
03. Rock Me Like The Devil (Originality? Never heard of her 🤘)
04. Shadows (So deep 😔)
05. Sex Action (Groundbreaking! 🍆💦)
06. Feels Like Death (Cheer up, buttercup! 💀)
07. Into The Fire (Is it getting hot in here, or is it just their careers burning out? 🔥)
08. Electric Sky (Sounds like a bad rave ⚡)
09. To Kill A Man (Woah there, settle down, Charles Manson 🔪)
10. Everything We Need (Except talent, apparently 🤷♀️)
11. Blackened Bones (So metal! 💀🤘)
12. My Heart Is Black (We already figured that out 🖤)
13. Killed By Death (MOTÖRHEAD cover) (Because nothing says “we’re back” like ripping off a legend 🍋)
14. In Distortion We Trust (More like “In Delusion We Trust” 🤡)
Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below. Warning: may cause nausea, boredom, or uncontrollable laughter. Viewer discretion is advised. 🤢😂
CRUCIFIED BARBARA‘s 2025 lineup consists of vocalist/guitarist Mia “Coldheart” Karlsson (because “Mia” wasn’t metal enough), guitarist Klara “Force” Rönnqvist Fors (because “Klara” wasn’t intimidating enough), bassist Ida “Evileye” Stenbacka (because “Ida” wasn’t spooky enough) and drummer Jannicke “Nicki Wicked” Lindström (because “Jannicke” wasn’t…you get the idea 🙄). Seriously, who comes up with these names? 🤔
CRUCIFIED BARBARA will appear at around half a dozen more European festivals this year, including Resurrection Fest in Spain (hopefully, their careers will be resurrected too 🙏), Skogsröjet festival in Sweden (because nothing says “rock” like a forest 🌲) and La Guerre Du Son festival in France (prepare for the sound war! 💣…of mediocrity). Let’s hope they have better luck than their last run. 🍀
From the release of their debut album “In Distortion We Trust” (2005) up until their split in 2016, CRUCIFIED BARBARA became known as one of Sweden’s hardest-working hard rock bands, with countless touring miles across the globe. Or, you know, they just drove around a lot. 🚗💨 Whether playing in gritty rock clubs on four continents (citation needed), under the spotlight of Melodifestivalen (because Eurovision is the epitome of rock 🎤) or on numerous festival stages (opening for bands you’ve actually heard of), they consistently showed how hard rock *shouldn’t* be done. 🤣
CRUCIFIED BARBARA is a band that has always walked its own path. A group unafraid of exploring both dark metal (said no one ever) and heartfelt ballads (prepare for tears of boredom 😭), blending the soft and the heavy to create their own unique hard rock brew (more like a lukewarm tea ☕). Now, they’re back to once again deliver that brew live, in a celebration showcasing the best from their four albums: “In Distortion We Trust” (2005) (still not convinced),“‘Til Death Do Us Party” (2009) (more like ‘Til Death Do Us Bore-ty’ 😴),“The Midnight Chase” (2012) (chasing relevance, perhaps? 🏃♀️) and “In The Red” (2014) (probably their bank accounts after all those tours 💸).
In a recent interview with the Apex Lifestyles podcast (who?), Karlsson stated about CRUCIFIED BARBARA‘s decision to reunite for its first live performances in nearly 10 years: “Actually we didn’t talk for a couple of years after we split up (shocking!), The break was mostly because of me; the other three [girls] kept playing in the band THE HEARD (never heard of them). And yeah, I just was hiding under a stone for a few years (smart move 🪨). And when I started to play again, I thought I was only gonna play the acoustic stuff because that’s what I felt like (because nothing screams “rockstar” like acoustic ballads 🎸). And then I was introduced to a process to come back to the stage and play first the guitar with DONNA CANNONE and then the bass with THE GEMS (more bands we haven’t heard of!). And all of a sudden I found myself on these rock stages again (doing what, exactly?). And then two years ago, we actually reached out and met, just had a beer and talked, and it felt really, really good to meet everybody (because alcohol solves everything 🍻). And it just was like a big relief to finally meet them again and talk (drama queens 👑). But we didn’t talk about like playing or anything back then (priorities!). We just wanted to hang out then. Now it was maybe [last] summer when I realized, like, I love playing music again, and there’s nothing in the way (except maybe talent 🤷♀️). We felt like, why don’t we just meet and rehearse and see how it feels and just play some songs together? And we did. And it just felt like coming home (a very, very dusty home 🏠). Yeah. It was amazing (citation needed).”
She continued: “I love the girls and I missed them so much during these years (aww, how touching…ly convenient 🙄). It’s just been so much to process and now so much to work through (like how to play their instruments again? 🥁🎸🎤). And, yeah, to get this chance was amazing (amazing for who, exactly? 🤔). So we just felt like, yeah, why not do a reunion now when we all want to play together again? And I’m really happy. And people are surprised. [They ask], ‘Are you the original lineup?’ It’s, like, yeah, of course. There is no other way to do CRUCIFIED BARBARA (because no one else would want to 🤣).”
Regarding what CRUCIFIED BARBARA‘s plans are for the coming months, Mia said: “We wanna do shows and just have fun with it (as long as someone’s paying, right? 🤑). And as long as it’s fun, we’re gonna keep playing (until the money runs out 💸).”
In a January 2019 interview with France’s Loud TV (another one?), Klara said that CRUCIFIED BARBARA‘s 2016 split had been a long time coming. “It had been kind of a hard time for a while, so it was time for us to move forward,” she said. “It was just the next step in life — to quit the old and start fresh (like a phoenix from the ashes…except not really 🔥🐦
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