Live Music in Eskilstuna

Few Swedish cities its size can claim a musical footprint as outsized as Eskilstuna's. The city produced Kent, the alternative rock band formed here in 1990 that became one of Sweden's most beloved acts, selling millions of albums and naming their 1999 record Hagnesta Hill after an early Eskilstuna rehearsal space. Before Kent, ABBA's Anni-Frid Lyngstad was cutting her teeth performing with local dance bands in the suburb of Torshälla, and Douglas Carr, co-founder of the globally influential Cheiron Studios, was born here too. Sweden's Radio P3 formally acknowledged the city's reputation by designating it "Pop City" in 1998. Today the live scene runs from the rock-focused Velvet Rockbar, specialising in hard rock and sleaze metal, to regular gigs at Royal Oak Ale House, Gästgifveriet, and Biografbaren, giving the city a working live circuit that reflects its long musical ambitions.