IN FLAMES Rejoined By Guitarist JESPER STRÖMBLAD At Stockholm Show
December 13, 2009Wearing a "Rehab Is For Quitters" shirt, IN FLAMES guitarist Jesper Strömblad — who checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic earlier in the year in order to receive treatment for his alcohol addiction — rejoined the band on stage Friday night (December 11) at Hovet in Stockholm, Sweden for the last two songs of the group's set, "Take This Life" and "My Sweet Shadow". The band performed the tracks as a six-piece, with Strömblad's temporary replacement, Niclas Engelin from the Swedish band ENGEL, playing alongside Jesper.
The sold-out show was attended by 8,335 people, making it IN FLAMES' biggest headlining show ever.
Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be viewed below.
Engelin had helped IN FLAMES on a couple of occasions in the past and is no stranger to the band's songs or the touring life.
The group previously said in a statement: "Jesper has struggled for some time with alcoholic abuse, and decided to sit this [tour] out in order to seek help and focus on rehabilitation and all that comes with it. We all talked about it and together with Jesper, we chose to ask our longtime friend Niclas Engelin, who helped us before, to complete the tour. We are all sad that it needed to come to this, but health comes first. This is something Jesper needed to do for himself and we wish Jesper all the best with his recovery and hope to have him back on the road with us again very, very soon!"
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