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2008
..
Nightwish @ Jäähalli (Helsinki) ..
01-01-2008
If the last night of
2007 had already been good, with
Finntroll and Turisas in Nosturi, the
first night of 2008 wouldn't stay behind.
Nightwish played the last gig of their
successful European Tour in Helsinki (which
will still be continued during this year,
with more concerts in Europe, America,
and even countries such as Japan, China
and Australia).
The expectation created by the
announcement of the new singer has
certainly been big, and there have been
all sort of opinions about it. Thus, this
was possibly an appropriate chance to
experience how the choice of Anette Olzon
in replacement of Tarja Turunen has
affected the band. The venue was
completely sold out already weeks before,
and the new album "Dark Passion Play"
has already sold over 100,000 copies in
Finland.
.. 
The intro consisted
of almost ethereal feminine voices, which
were soon silenced by the roaring of the
public when the band came on stage and
the first notes of "Bye Bye
Beautiful" and "Cadence of Her
Last Breath" could be heard. One of
the most awaited moments of the evening
came when Anette sang the first couple of
"old songs" of the night,
"Dark Chest of Wonders" and
"Ever Dream". It's possibly not
easy having to "fit into the shoes",
so to say, of a classically trained opera
singer as Tarja, but Anette decided to
adapts the songs to her voice in such a
way that they sound fresh and new.
Obviously some people might be missing
the opera-like element, but trying to
create a copy would possibly have been a
complete mistake.
The gig went on with some more songs from
the new album, such as "Amaranth",
"The Islander" (which started
with dim lights and torches, as Marco and
Emppu sat on a couple of high chairs) and
"The Poet and the Pendulum".
Another clear difference between Tarja
and Anette could be appreciated in the
outfit, while Tarja used to wear no less
than 3 or 4 different ones every night
Anette decided not to change at all.
Maybe another way to try to make a
difference? She did add a tiara to her
hair during "The Islander"
though, but it also disappeared soon
enough after the song was finished. After
the next older song of the night "The
Sacrament of Wilderness", Anette
took the microphone to entertain us a bit
with some Finnish lessons. Some sentences
seemed to be more cliché-like ("Minä
rakastan teitä kaikkia" or "Anteeksi,
että olen ruotsalainen"), but she
certainly made the whole stadium laugh
with "kiva, kivempi, kives",
which would be translated as "nice,
nicer, testical". Actually, she was
really fun to listen to during the whole
show, and her performance on stage could
possibly be pointed out as one of her
strong points, letting aside the fact
that, even though she is not an opera
singer she does have a great voice.
.. 
The gig went on with
"Sahara" and a couple of older
songs more, "Higher Than Hope"
and "Nemo". Anette had the
chance to joke a little bit about the
"this is the last song"
sentence (which Marco had used to
introduce "Nemo"), and let us
know that whatever happens in the
backstage is not so mysterious anyways
and the band always comes back in the end.
When the song was finished she exclaimed
"now we can go to the toilet!"
before leaving herself, which was once
more welcomed with laughs among the
audience.
As promised, the band came back after the
break, and played "Seven Days to the
Wolves", "Wishmaster" and
"Wish I Had and Angel" before
leaving for good. The last song was used
by Marco to let us know that (with a
Finlandia bottle on his hand, totta kai),
even though it was the first gig of the
year, it would also be the last one for
Tero Kinnunen, who has been part of their
crew for several years, and Anette
thanked everybody for coming on such a
"krapula day", which proves
that she is really learning all the basic
words a person should know in the Finnish
language.
Overall a great gig, with lots of
fireworks and good vibrations, and
proving that even though the singer has
changed, the music still keeps the main
elements that define Nightwish and make
any of their songs suitable for the
soundtrack of an epic movie.
The rest of the
pictures can be accessed by clicking
below:
Nightwish
Ane
Orue-Etxebarria

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2007
..
Turisas + Finntroll @ Nosturi (Helsinki)
..
31-12-2007
The Christmas period
in Finland is full of concerts covering
all sorts of music, and basically anybody
can find gigs and events to fit their
taste. The offer is wide and varied even
among a "not so mainstream"
genera as metal, also including the
annual Helldone Festival, organized by
HIM, and the Raskas Joulu tour, which
features some of the best voices of the
Finnish metal scene covering classic
Christmas carols. The choice tends to get
even tougher in New Year's Eve, with gigs
in basically every single venue, pub or
bar, but this year we considered Nosturi's
offer to be the most appealing for us,
with the gig of Turisas and Finntroll.
.. 
The place was
already swarming with people quite long
before the first band (Finntroll) was
supposed to hit the stage, and face paint
seemed to be one of the most popular
complements among the younger attendants.
When the lights dimmed and the first
notes of the intro started to be heard,
the crowd welcomed the band (with 7 band-members
on stage, as Henri Sorvali joined Aleksi
Virta on the keyboards) with a deafening
roar. The gig's beginning followed the
first three songs of the last album
"Ur Jordens Djup", "Gryning",
"Sång",
and "Korpens Saga". The public
also enjoyed with old classics such as
"Jaktens Tid", "Nattfödd",
"Det Iskalla Trollblodet",
"Aldhissla" and of course, some
more songs from the newest album, such as
"Ormhäxan" (which Hennu seemed
to be enjoying quite a lot himself),
"Nedgång"
and "En Mäktig Här" (which
was introduced as "seuraavana
karibialaista rokkimusiikkia" or
something similar, it was difficult to
understand on top of all the noise).
The gig got to its higher point with the
long awaited "Trollhammaren"
though, possibly the public's very
favorite, and the whole Nosturi seemed to
reassemble the party at the cave that can
be seen in this song's video. This was
especially true for the non-drinking area,
that had completely turned into a huge
moshpit. It was pretty clear that the
band itself enjoyed the gig as much as
the public, and it was possibly one of
the best performances Finntroll has
lately had.
.. 
At midnight, the
other band of the night, Turisas, hit the
stage with "To Holmgard and Beyond",
the first song of their successful new
album "The Varangian Way". The
Finnish band is enjoying a particularly
sweet moment lately, with only two full-length
albums out they already have a completely
sold out headlining tour ahead in the UK,
a headlining European tour, and even a
North American tour in spring, together
with Ensiferum, Tyr and Eluveitie.
Certainly impressive achievement, but
their great performance on stage makes it
easier to understand how and why they
have managed to get to such a point.
After a couple of songs, the singer
Mathias Nygård
raised a beer and introduced the song
"One More" to celebrate the new
year. The atmosphere was indeed a huge
party, and people seemed to enjoy every
single song that was played that night. I
specially liked the comment of one of my
friends in the beginning of "In the
Court of Jarisleif", when she
exclaimed "venäläinen meininki!!"
and was joined by some other friends in
some sort of kalinka-like dance, which
possibly represents quite well how the
night could be described in short: pagan,
carefree, and most of all FUN!!
The rest of the
pictures can be accessed by clicking
below:
Finntroll
Turisas
Ane
Orue-Etxebarria

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..
Amorphis + Swallow the Sun + Insomnium @
Nosturi (Helsinki) ..
01-12-2007
Nosturi hosted the
last concert of the successful European
Silent Waters Tour featuring Insomnium,
Swallow the Sun and Amorphis, three
Finnish bands that gather many of the
qualities that have made Finnish bands so
popular lately: good quality music with a
twist, not just following the trends of
the style their music is supposed to
belong to, but adding little elements
here and there, which makes it more
complex and interesting, certainly
deserving a second listening (and many
more).
.. 
Thus, it's obviously
not surprising that the tickets for this
event sold out already a long time before
the day itself, and the environment
inside the venue had turned really warm,
sweaty and crowded already by the time
the first band of the night hit the stage
(which is not so common, at least in
Finland). Insomnium barely had the time
to play some of their most famous songs,
which included "The Killjoy",
"The Elder", "Bereavement",
"The Gale", "Mortal Share"
and "Drawn to Black". The crowd
received a little surprise gift though,
when Mikko Kotamäki from Swallow the
Sun hit the stage and joined Insomnium to
perform a cover of the song "Blinded
by Fear" of the Swedish death metal
band "At the Gates", which was
welcomed with cheers and raised arms.
Insomnium finally left the stage with
"The Void of Caring", and the
band will now take a break (except for a
last show in their hometown Joensuu, in
January 2008) to enter the studio and
begin the recording of the new album.
.. 
Next came the turn
of Swallow the Sun. Strangely enough,
instead of the classic intro from "Twin
Peaks", they were welcomed on stage
by a rather happy-humppa song, as the
band members looked at each other quite
amused. Later on we got to find out that
they had themselves tried to convince the
sound technician of Insomnium to play
that song as an intro for Insomnium, but
while they didn't manage convince the
technician, they got it themselves in
return. Swallow the Sun filled the place
with the deep and dramatic melodies of
their music, with songs such as "Hope",
"The Morning Never Came",
"These Hours of Despair",
"Descending Winters", "Don't
Fall Asleep", "The Morning
Never Came" and "Swallow",
making it clear that the great moment the
band has lately been enjoying (the
performed in Wacken 2007, had a tour in
the USA and another one in Europe, and
have already been confirmed for some
important summer festivals in 2008) is
not only due to the quality of their
music, but also to their great live
performance.
.. 
And last but not
least, Amorphis came on stage in their
hometown to provide the last act of the
tour in which they have been presenting
their successful new album "Silent
Waters" throughout Europe. At this
point, the lack of space in the
surroundings of the stage was such, that
the attempts to change one's position in
the venue might at least have been
considered foolish (my thanks go to
whomever invented the fences for the
photopit!), but the show proved to be way
worth the money and troubles suffered.
Tomi Joutsen proved once again what a
great singer and performer he is,
mastering not only the newest but also
the older songs, and showing how good
growling and clean vocals can be
successfully combined by the same person.
The band entertained the audience with
songs from basically all albums, from the
newest to some old rarities, including
most of the "hits": "I of
Crimson Blood", "Leaves' Scar",
"Servant", "Alone",
"Against Widows", "Drowned
Maid", "Her Alone", "Silent
Waters", "On Rich and Poor",
"Sign from the North Side",
"The Smoke", "My Kantele",
"Perkele", "The Castaway",
"Towards and Against", "House
of Sleep" and "Black Winter Day".
About one hour and a half of great music,
which also included a little "surprise
celebration" of their own, when
Aleksi Munter And Mikko Kotamäki from
Swallow the Sun joined the band during
"Drowned Maid", while their
band-mates Matti Honkonen and Markus
Jämsen jumped around the stage
spreading balloons and ribbons all around.
Undoubtedly one of
the best concerts we have been able to
witness in Finland during this year, some
pictures of the event are available in
our gallery:
Insomnium
Swallow
the Sun
Amorphis
Ane
Orue-Etxebarria

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Pain @ Tavastia (Helsinki) ..
14-11-2007
A few months after
their successful performance in two of
the biggest Finnish summer festivals (Tuska
Open Air and Ruisrock), the Swedish band
Pain returned to Finland in order to
continue the promotion of their latest
album Psalms of Extinction,
and played a couple of shows in Tavastia
(Helsinki) and Lutakko (Jyväskylä).
LoudArts had the chance to enjoy the show
in Helsinki, and take a few pictures of
it.
Wednesday in
Tavastia, the average rate of attendance
on such days is usually not too high.
Nevertheless, and as the time for Pain to
go on stage was getting closer, the venue
started to look rather packed, and
its easy to believe it was
completely sold out in the end. No wonder,
as the show Peter Tärtgrens
band offered was worth the money spent,
and the hours of sleep lost.
.. 
The band offered a
compilation of new and old songs, heavy
sounding music led by a powerful beat and
almost ethereal electronic melodies, that
are basically almost a trademark. The
public jumped, waved arms and sang along
songs such as Same Old Song,
Shut Your Mouth, Zombie
Slam, Bye/Die,
End of the Line, On and
On and Nailed to the
Ground, or just enjoyed a couple of
slower but touching pieces, such as
Just Hate Me. And, of course,
the band didnt forget to play their
very special cover of The Beatles
song Eleanor Rigby, which the
public welcomed with cheers and raised
arms. That was almost the reaction to
every single song they played though, and
the satisfaction and surprise on the band
members faces was clearly visible
when they went back to the backstage for
the first time.
.. 
They came back not
long after though, to play some three
songs more, including their hit
Bitch, especially dedicated
to all the ladies present in Tavastia at
that moment. The public still hadnt
had enough though, and the continuous
roaring and clapping managed to bring the
band on stage yet once more, to play a
very special song (and certainly a rarity
on stage) from the so-called first
album, a song from the very
beginning of the band, with more punkish
influences as Peter himself explained.
Unexpected but really welcome surprise
for the end of a great concert, now we
can only wait for the summer festivals
and hope they will visit us again soon!
Despite the lack of
a security fence in front of the stage,
we managed to take some pictures. Click
the link below to go to the gallery:
Pain
Ane
Orue-Etxebarria

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..
Apocalyptica + Stam1na @ Linnahalli (Tallinn)
..
10-10-2007
Apocalyptica have just
started their European tour with the
recently released album "Words
Collide", and the Baltic countries
have been chosen for the first dates:
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
LoudArts had the opportunity to
attend the show in Tallinn (Estonia) last
Wednesday, which counted with a big plus:
the Finnish band from Lemi, Stam1na,
opening up for them. Stam1na has
supported Apocalyptica during all three
dates in the Baltic countries, and will
also be the support in Germany.
Unfortunately the Finnish fans will have
to wait until Spring 2008 to see this
energetic band live in their own country,
as they are currently in the process of
recording the new album.
Linnahalli was certainly
a bit controversial choice to hold such a
concert. The fact that the gig was almost
sold out explains why such a big place
was certainly needed, but watching Stam1na
and Apocalyptica from an armchair is
possibly a concept difficult to
understand, especially for a Finnish
headbanger. Either way, Linnahalli proved
to have a well-planned organization, the
gates were opened exactly at the
scheduled time (something not so common
in the metal scene) and a wide variety of
facilities could be found in the venue.
Stam1na could play not more than half an
hour. Quite a shame, but support bands do
not usually have the chance to play much
longer, and time was well spent anyways.
Six songs altogether, two from the first
album ("Paha Arkkitehti" and
"Kadonneet Kolme Sanaa"), three
from the second ("Merestä
Maalle", "Yksi Reittiä,
Kaksi Suunta" and "Viisi
Laukasta Päähän") and
a song from their upcoming album. Fast
and energetic show, with some talking in
Finnish (the Estonian language is close
enough, so most Estonian people can
understand it well enough), and the
cheers of some Finnish fans, who had
traveled all the way from Finland to see
Stam1na live for the last time this year.
.. 
After a break, the lights
dimmed again and the few light points
remaining let the tall silhouettes of the
four chairs be seen as the first notes of
the cellos started to flow around the
theatre. Magical environment, which
managed to bound all the audience under
the charm and spell of the music, and was
not broken even after the two hours and a
half show. The first half of the concert
consisted mostly of a mixture of songs
from the new album and some few older
ones, certainly presenting their new
album in which they have counted with the
collaboration of musicians such as Corey
Taylor from "Slipknot",
Cristina Scabbia from "Lacuna Coil",
Adam Gontier from "Three Days Grace",
Dave Lombardo from "Slayer" and
the Japanese guitar player and composer
Hotei. The new album is certainly pure
Apocalyptica, covering the whole range of
melodies and sounds that make their music
so unique, from beautiful and touching
balads such as "SOS" (no
Cristina Scabbia in Tallinn, but the
cellos' sound made up for her absence) to
fast and franctic songs such as "Last
Hope", which was described by Perttu
as "a drummer's worst nightmare, or
maybe wet dream". It would be
interesting to know Mikko's opinion on
this matter, but the fact is that his
drumming skills improve in a notorious
way in each album, and his performance in
this song made clear that he's as awesome
a drummer as his band-mates are playing
cello.
.. 
In the second half of the
concert older songs were played mostly,
and the public went crazy with "old
classics" such as "Seek and
Destroy" and "Enter Sandman",
or slightly newer pieces such as "Faraway"
and "Fatal Error". Paavo, who
had been sitting down in his chair as
stuck during all this time (a rather
unusual view it must be said), finally
got up to play the "pizzicato"
in "Hall of the Mountain King",
a part he certainly always seems to enjoy.
When the band got back on stage after
their first break, and the first notes of
"Nothing Else Matters" could be
heard, the few people who had managed to
still remain sitting down on their chairs
raised and started to wave their arms
along with the music. This song is the
perfect example to prove that covers
arent always worse than the
originals, and can sometimes even compete
with them. If this weren't enough for an
encore, they also played "Life Burns"
and "Inquisition Symphony"
before going backstage again.
The amazing reaction of
the public got them yet once more on
stage though, with the cellos in their
hands and smiles in their tired faces. As
a final goodbye and present for such a
cheerful audience they played a true
rarity (at least on stage), "Seemann"
by Rammstein. Sublime end for an amazing
concert.
Let also be said that even Antero got up
in the end, and changed his cello for one
with a flaming image of a skull and some
sort of smoke-creating device it! New
album and new times for the band it seems,
in all levels.
More pictures of the gig
can be found in our gallery:
Stam1na
Apocalyptica
Ane Orue-Etxebarria

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Kuopio Rockcock 2007 ..
Certainly
not as well known as other Finnish metal
festivals such as Tuska, Sauna or
Ankkarock, Kuopiorock has though the
potential to become one of them. Nice
bands and friendly cozy environment, even
though the organization was quite messed
up regarding some aspects such as the
accreditation, and chaos ruled the place
in some moments...
Friday
27th
July
The
beginning of Friday was for sure one of
the most chaotic moments. The tent from
which accreditations could be collected
opened at the same time the gates were
opened, so journalists had to queu first
to get the accreditation, and then to get
into the area, as there was no specific
entrance for media. All this caused that
many of them werent able to make it
into the area until some bands had
already finished playing. In addition to
this, accreditations hadnt been
printed beforehand, so names had to be
hand-written (which also slowed down the
accreditation-collecting process), and
some people even ended up with
accreditations that instead of their name
had things such as CHUBBY
GUY written on them. I guess I
can consider myself lucky on this matter,
as even though the girl in the tent
didnt feel like writing my surname
(I guess she considered it too long and
complicated) she still wrote my name
right, so I ended up with an
accreditation with a big ANE
written on it. Thats me, the one
and only!
Despite
the little mess in the entrance, the
great bands playing on Friday were more
than worth the effort:
I
was lucky enough to be on time for the
first bands on Friday, which allowed me
to enjoy Swallow the Suns live
performance once more. Great show,
listening to their music, full of
delicate melodies, desperate growling and
deep emotions, is always a pure delight.
Next stop was Turmion Kätilöt,
possibly one of the most controversial
bands that Finland has given birth to
lately. Considered by some people as
the Finnish Rammstein, they
have a unique sound though, and I would
consider their performance even more
shocking and transgressive than
Rammsteins. As an example,
lets just say that Spellgoth (one
of the singers) spent the whole gig in
Kuopio piercing himself on stage, by
changing some surgical needles from a
place to another of his body.
After
Turmion Kätilöt I made my first
visit to the backstage area, just to
realize that the only drinks available
there were beer and cider! After such a
disappointment about not having found any
lonkero backstage, I went to check the
Estonian band Metsatöll. The public
reacted with enthusism at both their
music (epic metal, with some elements
from the Estonian folklore, and the
presence of some unusual
instruments such as the bagpipe) and
their efforts to communicate with the
public in Finnish. The following band of
the day, Entwine, gathered a relatively
big amount of people around the Irc-Galleria
stage, and they provided a nice and
correct show.
The
last band of the day though, completely
filled the Teltta stage, and the air
inside the tent started to alarmingly
reassemble that of a sauna. Stam1na came
on stage and were welcomed by a deafening
roar from the public. No wonder, as this
band certainly honoured their name and
rewarded the public with an hour of
frantically energetic music, headbanging
and jumping around. Awesome end for the
first day of the festival, including an
spontaneous Finn jumping on stage naked
for the last song, thats the spirit!
But
the day was not finished yet! Rumours had
been spreading during the whole evening,
that Sepultura would be playing in
Henrys Pub at midnight, which
turned out to be true! The Brazilians
decided to cover up some songs in
exchange for free beer for their crew,
and the place ended up completely crowded!
An event that possibly will live forever
in the memory of the people who managed
to witness such an occasion.
Saturday
28th
July
Saturday
started grey and rainy, and the bad
weather stayed until the very end of the
day. The cold and especially the heavy
rain threatened to ruin the day, but
despite all there were a few moments of
sun and people managed to enjoy most of
the great bands playing this day:
The
festival had a strong and harsh beginning,
with Pain Confessor, Deathchain and
Rytmihäiriö, as if trying to
prepare everybody for the main act of the
day: Sepultura. They certainly did their
job, as the public got more and more
excited with each of them, so that by the
time Rytmihäiriö came on stage
the moshpit took almost a whole third of
the total area inside the tent stage.
After
Rytmihäiriö, the weather
finally decided to give us a rest, but
just barely enough to enjoy Amorphis.
Quite lucky happening though, as the
stage in which Amorphis played had no
cover for the public, and it was in my
opionion the other main act of the day!
Absolutely amazing show, covering songs
from their oldest albums to Eclipse,
and also the single of their upcoming
album Silent Waters,
and driving everybody in the audience mad.
Now we can only wait to have it released
in the end of august, and listen to the
rest of the songs... With the last notes
of House of Sleep, the
rain started to pour down heavily again,
and didnt finally calm down until
almost the end, when Kotiteollisuus came
on stage. The Finnish band, known for
their furious heavy metal and
outspokenness during interviews and live
shows gave way to the eagerly awaited
Sepultura. The Brazilians managed to
gather a huge crowd around them with
their powerfull thrash metal mixed with
some elements reassembling Brazilian
music, and showed how they can still kick
some serious ass even without the
Calavera brothers. Powerful ending for
one of the most chaotic festivals
Ive ever been to.
Ane Orue-Etxebarria

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..
Ilosaarirock 2007 ..
My
arrival in Joensuu after 5 hours of train
was a mixture of different kinds of
emotions. Happiness (and weariness) about
having reached my destination, and
curiosity towards a festival to which I
had never been before but about which I
had heard a lot of comments. First of all,
it should be said that Ilosaarirock (meaning
happy island, or "Rokki",
as it's often called) is not a "metal"
music festival, but a festival which
embraces music styles as varied and
distant as reggae, rock, pop, hip-hop and
metal itself. What does it make it so
especial then? Possibly the mixture
itself, which attracts a public as varied
as its musical offer, open-minded and
friendly people who soon enough show to
be the very core of the festival.
The
festival was divided into 5 stages, and
besides the festival "itself"
several "club-events" (klubit)
were organized. Despite its size and the
complexity of coordinating such an amount
of stages, it all went really smoothly,
which proves how well organized this
festival is. As an example, we can
mention the free booze-narikka, a system
by which people could have their alcohol
and drinks stored in the areas nearby the
festival entrance and access them free of
charge during the whole day. My first
stop was Sulo-klubi on Friday, which was
organized the day before the actual
festival was supposed to begin. Unluckily
enough, it started to rain already before
the first band hit the stage but the
public didn't seem to care too much and
Sulo gathered a great lot of people. Line-up:
*
Lapko
* The Ruby Foos
* Stella
* Tohtori Orff & Herra Dalcroze
* Ismo Alanko Teholla
* Jarkko Martikainen
* CMX
* Damn Seagulls
* Apulanta
Saturday
14th
July
Despite
the rain had been going on during the
whole night, the weather finally seemed
to support everybody's wishes, and the
sun shone during the whole day. Saturday's
schedule looked as follows:
|
|
| Rentolava *
Puppa J & Tasottavat
* Vavamuffin
* Suhinators
* Kemmuru
* Anthony B
|
Rekkalava *
Valse Triste
* Klaus Thunder &
Ukkosmaine
* Kakka-hätä 77
* Rubik
* Karjalaisen
bändikisan voittaja
* Abduktio
|
|
I
had been looking forward to seeing Sara
on stage again since I found out the
would take part in Rokki, and they
certainly fulfilled my expectations. This
Finnish band, with lyrics sang completely
in Finnish and music difficult to
describe or categorize won't let you
indifferent. The powerful live act, full
of energy and delicate melodies creates
an atmosphere that catches your attention
and keeps you interested until the end.
Next came Maj Karma. This Finnish band,
with several years behind and mixing rock
music with some punk elements, also
gathered a great amount of people around
the main stage, and entertained the
public with a fun and lively show . The
first foreigner band of the day, the
Norse Stonegard, hit the kolmos stage and
proved Norway has more to offer than just
black metal. Thrashy heavy metal, without
too many complications but enjoyable
nevertheless.
After
a little break, back to the main stage to
check Sonata Arctica. The band had
basically the same setlist they have had
for the rest of the Finnish festivals,
with classics such as Victorias
Secret, FullMoon and Tallulah,
and closed their show with The Cage.
Lots of fireworks and a good performance
of the new guitar player of the band,
Elias Viljanen, who started replacing
Jani during his military service but has
finally been officially incorporated to
the line-up. After Sonata Arctica, I went
straight to the kolmos stage, in which
Insomnium was about to begin, and are
probably one of the best finnish melodic
death metal bands nowadays. Their live
act is something worth checking out, and
Aleksi Munster from Swallow the Sun
joined the band in some songs on the
keyboards. The eagerly awaited Porcupine
Tree didnt let the public down
either, and they unleashed their mixture
of rock, metal and psychodelia among the
numerous public that had gather under the
tent of the Ylex stage. The final act for
this day was given by HIM, undoubtedly
one of the most famous Finnish bands ever
and it was made clear by the amount of
people gathered around the main stage and
its surroundings. Correct performance,
including old classics such as Join Me
in Death among some newer ones like Wings
of a Butterfly.
Thus
the first day of the festival was
finished. But the gigs were far from
being over yet, so I decided to check
Metelli in Jäähalli, with
Decended, Impaled Nazarene, Amorphis and
Finntroll, which provided a perfect
closure.
Sunday15th
July
Sunday
morning woke up grey and rainy, and so
the weather stayed until the end of the
festival even though the sun tried to
come back now and then. Luckily enough
most of the stages were in tents, which
allowed people to watch and enjoy the
bands as comfortably as possible, but the
heavy rain managed to make the floor
muddy even in some areas inside the tents.
Line-up for this day:
| Päälava *
Lännen-Jukka
* Viikate
* Disco Ensemble
* Opeth
* TikTak
|
Ylex-lava *
Emma Salokoski Ensemble
* Soilwork
* Sick Of It All
* RJD2
* The Cinematic Orchestra
|
Kolmoslava *
Nieminen & Litmanen
* Dalindèo
* Magenta Skycode
* The Business
* Risto
|
|
| Rentolava *
Journeymen
* Aiyekooto and His
Afrobeat International
* Fat Beat Sound System
* Maria Gasolina
* The Slackers
|
Rekkalava *
The Odorants
* Tundramatiks
* Scorngrain
* Vihreä Maa
|
|
The
first band I saw on Sunday was Soilwork,
and their energetic and powerful live act
and music made us forget, at least for a
while, the weather. The public certainly
enjoyed the show, as could easily be
proved by the frantic headbanging and
moshing. Soon after that, the weather
turned so bad and it started to rain so
heavily, that I couldnt find the
energy to leave the covered area in the
backstage until Opeth was about to begin
and the rain stopped for a longer while.
Also eagerly awaited, the Sweds presented
their new guitar player in their only
festival show this summer, but promised
to be back in Finland when the new album
is released. The last band of the day,
TikTak, had to play with a male in their
strictly female-consisting line-up due to
the injury of their drummer. And so Rokki
finished, with a rather surprising choice
for the last band of the festival but
lots of good vibes and fun despite of the
weather.
Ane Orue-Etxebarria

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