Announced by The Foreign Resort as "a Danish-Italian meetup in the Swedish capital", we find ourselves at "Patricia" in snowy Stockholm tonight to see both The Foreign Resort and This Eternal Decay live. The soundtrack before, between and after the gigs is provided by DJ Schneidler (Martin Halldin).
The evening looks very promising, even though it starts with a hiccup. Charging a mandatory cloakroom fee is one thing, but at this point asking 50 SEK (~ 4.73 €) just to hang a jacket on a hanger is another. It feels disproportionate and may be one of the factors deterring some people from going out (more often). After all, these little additional fees add up, and we are living in difficult times.
Hailing from Italy's capital Rome, This Eternal Decay kick off their set with little fanfare and "That Night". A bold approach given its heavy-hearted mood. Yet when frontman Riccardo Sabetti greets the audience with "Good evening!" straight after the final note of "That Night", he is met with cheers and applause, and the tempo lifts with the far more energetic "Future Anthem". One thing that is noticeable from the beginning of the set: Riccardo Sabetti occasionally reads the lyrics he is singing from a book on stage.
After "Everything" and the current single "U-Bahn", the set becomes more dancey with "Monochrome". At first, it seems as though Riccardo Sabetti's microphone is failing, with his opening lines being inaudible. Moments later, though, it becomes clear that this is intentional, as the vocals align perfectly with the studio version; nothing is missing. While a few attendees in the audience start dancing, Alessio Schiavi does the same, hunched over his low-hanging guitar, oozing a certain kind of cool. Unusual for drummers, Andrea Freda is also clearly visible behind the kit, bearing a strong resemblance to Hollywood star Keanu Reeves. And, yes, the former quartet has become a trio again after This Eternal Decay announced in early June 2025 that they had amicably parted ways with bassist and founding member Pasquale Vico, "due to differing visions regarding the present and future of the band". Seeing This Eternal Decay, who describe their sound as "a melt of Industrial, Dark Wave and Synth Pop", live for the first time tonight, it's hard to say if anything is missing; aside from the obvious absence of a live bassist, they come across as a well-oiled machine.
A look at the setlist reveals that it's anything but set in stone. After "Love+Curse", the outstanding "The Drowning" comes next, followed by "Eigengrau", with "Cold Fear" being added spontaneously. This spontaneity might also explain the songbook on stage. The last three tracks are all taken from the band's current fifth studio album "Spettro" which was released a year ago, in January 2025. Nevertheless, the setlist is dominated by songs from their fourth studio album "ABSØLUTIØN" which, according to This Eternal Decay, is "without doubt our best-selling and most reissued record". Since tonight's show marks the band's first performance in Sweden, it makes sense that they wouldn't want to withhold their most popular material from the Swedish audience. And there's another thing that makes tonight special: The date itself. As the band shared on social media yesterday, "January 24 can only be a special date for us. Eight years ago, the band's very first live show, the beginning of everything." All of this practically begs for a live performance of "Silence", the title track of their second studio album featuring Then Comes Silence frontman Alex Svenson, since he, along with Then Comes Silence drummer Jonas Fransson, is spotted in the audience. Though tonight, it isn't meant to be.
Following "No Apologies", laughter ripples through the crowd when Riccardo Sabetti introduces the single "Kiss Me I'm Dying": "Ok, next one is the single we released on Halloween night. Maybe you know this, maybe not, and it's the right time to... know this song." The audience is now fully in dance mode and stays that way throughout the concluding tracks "Perfection" and "I Am Nothing" before the band takes its bow to their reinterpretation of Angelo Badalamenti's "Twin Peaks Theme". But this is not the last we'll see of them tonight...
Before The Foreign Resort start their set with "Resound", their name is taped to the drums. You've got to love the pragmatic approach of such bands that are determined to spend as much time on the road as possible. And touring is what the trio from Denmark's capital Copenhagen does extensively. Introducing "Southern Skies", frontman Mikkel Borbjerg Jakobsen promises that he will try to speak his "best Swedish". Ahead of "Endurance", he sets his bass aside and reveals that it's the title track of their upcoming third studio album, which will be released in spring 2026 via Artoffact Records. On Facebook, Mikkel Borbjerg Jakobsen, Steffan Petersen (guitar) and Alioscha Serge Brito-Egana (drums) recently shared that their new album is "pretty dark - but we hope our music will offer some consolation and a feeling of being together in these very dark times".
Although this is just the second time that we see The Foreign Resort perform live on stage (the first time also being in Stockholm, in March 2019), it's obvious that "She Is Lost", their most-streamed song on Spotify and a fan favourite, has to be in the set. Accordingly, Mikkel Borbjerg Jakobsen introduces the track with the words: "Here is the love song of tonight. Well, there is a couple... Are you crying, Alioscha?"
For "Overturn", Mikkel Borbjerg Jakobsen grabs the guitar while Steffan Petersen switches to bass. After "Flushed" and "Skyline/Decay", Mikkel Borbjerg Jakobsen explains that the following "Outnumbered" is one of their political songs, and then switches to English, "just to be sure": "This is not a racist song. [...] We played in Seattle and some guys was like, 'Wait, man, are you afraid of immigrants?', and we're like, 'Fuck, man, that's the opposite.'" Encouraged by the crowd, he then confirms with a smile on his face, "We're left-wings!" - which is neither surprising nor new. For one, there is his T-shirt, showing two flying bats dropping a swastika into a trash can, and for another, The Foreign Resort are known for taking direct action, even when it's inconvenient. That means no longer playing in the US while Donald Trump is still in power, even though they otherwise tour "relentlessly, addicted to the allure of America's lost highways", boycotting products from the US, leaving X entirely for the "ad-free and Elon-free" competitor Bluesky and making sure that their website is "now hosted on the free continent of Europe".
Between "Landslide" and "Obsessing", Mikkel Borbjerg Jakobsen thanks "Klubb DÖD" for inviting the band to Stockholm, saying that it is "not easy for a Danish band to come to Sweden". Indeed, since their formation in 2009, The Foreign Resort have rarely played in their neighbouring country, and even their previously mentioned Stockholm show in 2019 was presented by "Klubb DÖD". It remains something of a mystery why that is because their "mix of dark new-wave & explosive post-punk" has - thanks to Mikkel Borbjerg Jakobsen's voice - a distinctly The Cure-tinged sound and should therefore appeal to anyone who loves the voice of Robert Smith.
As "Dead End Roads" begins, the frontman calls out "Let's dance!" - not that the audience needs any encouragement, having been dancing since the very start of the set. For the final two songs, the very dark "New Frontiers" and an especially hypnotic live rendition of "Dark White", Mikkel Borbjerg Jakobsen and Steffan Petersen switch instruments once again. Having thanked the crowd for the evening, ready to leave the stage, the band is stopped by immediate calls for an encore. The trio reaches for their instruments again, quietly discussing, when a sound technician interrupts them, causing Mikkel Borbjerg Jakobsen to exclaim: "Oh shit! Curfew! We got killed! Sorry!" Unfortunate, indeed, this sudden ending. According to the setlist, The Foreign Resort's mash-up cover "Send Me An Angel / Sunglasses At Night" was meant to be played as an encore, but, apparently, there was a curfew until 11 PM.
Given that the moored ship "Patricia" is one of the few venues in Stockholm allowed to stay open until 5 AM, one can't help but wonder why The Foreign Resort weren't granted to play that one encore, especially as rushed shows and shortened setlists seem to become a dubious standard in the Swedish capital. On the bright side, "Patricia" doesn't kick anyone out at the end of the event. On the contrary: There is quite a buzz at the merchandise booth, with both This Eternal Decay and The Foreign Resort present to sign autographs and pose for pictures. This Eternal Decay are particularly popular. After all, this is the first opportunity for fans in Sweden to chat with them. Later, the band will say that the days in Scandinavia were "unbelievably cold for us Italians, but an incredible warmth coming from the audience". Judging by the crowd's enthusiasm, they will need to get used to the Scandinavian climate. And also the Danes should definitely be invited back to Sweden more often. As The Foreign Resort themselves put it: "You'll know us better once you've seen us live in concert."
Author: Stefanie Nysand
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