Most people don’t necessarily think “Chicago” as soon as you mention “Gothenburg, Sweden.” Alexi Front does, though. Gothenburg and Chicago, he explains, are both second cities. “They’re both cities that were built on the transport industry,” he says. “They’re both historically beer-drinking cities. And the people who are from second cities have a special mentality.” As Front sees it, that mentality involves (among other things) metal music.
Front started out scheduling the fest for between Christmas and New Year’s, when nothing much was happening in Gothenburg. “It was a great time for people to come out and see music if they were sick of their family,” he says. As Scorched Tundra expanded, he began to get more ambitious, bringing over Chicago bands such as Bongripper, who’d never been to Scandinavia, and Pelican, who hadn’t travelled there in more than a decade.
Northern Aggression by Fistula Front worked for years as brand ambassador for Chicago beer bar and contract brewer Local Option, which has collaborated with the festival on a couple Scorched Tundra beers. Now that he’s no longer with the Option, he’s teamed up with Pipeworks Brewing to create the 2017 beer—a dry-hopped India pale ale that uses American and Australian hop varieties. It’s available around Chicago on draft and in bottles, and of course it’ll be pouring at the festival—and at a Scorched Tundra party at Delilah’s the night of Thursday, August 24, which also features ticket giveaways, rarities from Pipeworks and Three Floyds, and DJ sets from Front and Gregg Elzinga of Metal Vinyl Weekend.
