The Night Flight Orchestra Wrap Up A Fantastic Bloodstock 2022 // The Sophie Lancaster Stage // Sunday August 14th

I had the pleasure of interviewing Björn Strid  of The Night Flight Orchestra ahead of their Bloodstock debut, and he admitted himself to be a little surprised to be here at a festival usually aligned with a heavier audience, but that in itself is the magic of BOA, the diversity that you find from such a large and open-minded audience who ultimately just love music!

Lamb Of God’s set just ends on the Ronnie James Dio Stage and the crowd transfers from the Main Stage to the Sophie Tent to get one last hit before signing off on BOA22, quite the contrast of course from Lamb Of God but there’s a party atmosphere here on this fine Sunday evening and the NFO are here to party! The quality within the band makes for an extremely polished performance and Bjorn on vocals doing his 80s rock thing is something to behold! The vibe with the costumes adds that little;e bit of magic to proceedings and leaves everyone on a high, a great way to wrap up BOA22 and unexpected for sure but an absolute joy to watch!

This is the story of THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA
They have been drifters for a thousand years, victims of circumstance. Now, the erstwhile classic rock pariahs of the NFO have finally found a place to call home.
Björn Strid, one of the most infamous, power vocalist vocalists of the millennium, unexpectedly had been hiding a classic rock heart behind that titanium ribcage of his for quite some time. When he spent some time in 2006 with David Andersson on tour somewhere in the US, he knew he’d found a kindred spirit. It might’ve happened when the local runner drove them over the bridges of Asbury Park, NJ blasting Layla on classic rock radio, it might’ve happened when they got drunk in the morning and drove from LA to Palm Springs to do a radio interview, and ended up doing acoustic Whitesnake covers instead. Actually, no one knows what really happened. But one of those American highways, they found out that they had a mission; to start a classic rock band and play it the way it’s supposed to be played, and find that band they did.
Sharlee D’Angelo had long been a fan of Chris Glen and Dick Kemper. While playing high-profile metal shows with Arch Enemy at night, he spent the early mornings thinking about David Hungate’s note choices, sometimes with a bottle of champagne, sometimes with two bottles of champagne. When David and Björn and David offered him a third bottle of champagne in exchange for being an adventurous bass consultant and phase manipulator, he didn’t have a choice but to say yes.
Richard Larsson is a ladies’ man. He drives a Jaguar and has one brown and one green eye, and has once described himself as a semi-psychopath from the South of Sweden. Apart from those qualities, he’s also a keyboard wizard with a silver-haired chest that he’s very fond of exposing.
Jonas Källsbäck is the mad-man drummer. He’s entered drum solo competitions in Tokyo so drunk he could barely walk, but he still won. He has ruptured his spleen in Cyprus, he has experienced dirty living in Greenland, and he has played drums with the likes of Mean Streak and Jupiter Society. In short, he is one of Sweden’s secret weapons.
Sebastian Forslund is a musical prodigy that was just too good to not have in the band. He’s a proficient drummer, percussionist, guitarist, back-up vocalist and songwriter, who’s been around ever since mixing the first album. He participated in our first live show on a whim, armed with only a pair of congas and a plastic owl, and shortly after, he became a permanent member.
And in the middle of all this talent, this whirlwind of emotions, this primal purging of raw, unadulterated feeling, stand Björn Strid and David Andersson, notoriously part of the legendary Soilwork, still not quite knowing what to do with it all. Björn recently came out of Lou Gramm rehab, and David has recently undergone treatment for his Tommy Bolin psychosis. Still they show no signs of improvement.
We, the Night Flight Orchestra, will continue to push the boundaries of classic rock; we will continue with the unecessarily catchy choruses, the unecessary solos, the atmospherics that no one will understand but us, and the female voices that seem to stem from your unconscious.
Will you be there for us? We probably won’t be there for you, but since when did rock-star public availability ever become classic?
Björn Strid “As the true anglophiles we are, playing Bloodstock will be fantastic. Last summer our singer was cheating with a metal band at this fine festival and came home with a New Model Army tattoo. This time he’s decided to get a full body tweed tattoo. Expect nothing else but a shimmering classic rock hour with your favourite orchestra flying higher than ever before”
Björn Strid –Vocals
Sharlee D’ Angelo – Bass
David Andersson – Guitar
Richard Larsson – Keyboards
Jonas Källsbäck – Drums
Sebastian Forslund – Guitar
Backing Vocals by the Airline Annas – Anna Brygård and Anna-Mia Bonde