Music, Law and Business Conference updates

BogFires participates in the arrangements of the MUSIC, LAW AND BUSINESS, the IASPM-Norden 2010 Conference, organised this week in Helsinki.

For more information, please see:
http://iaspmnorden.wordpress.com/mlb/

The conference book of abstract can be downloaded here:
http://iaspmnorden.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/mlb-book-of-abstracts.pdf

Musiikki & Media, Tampere 21.–24.10.2010

BogFires took part in Musiikki & Media, the annual Finnish music industry bash in Tampere 21.-24.10.2010. The event gathered around 700 music and media professionals from Finland and abroad to meet and discuss current issues in the field of music and media. Panels and keynotes were organized in Hotelli Ilves during daytime and the guests were pampered with 86 showcase artists' and bands' gigs around Tampere city center. The complete list of the showcase artists can be viewed here:
http://www.lostinmusic.fi/lostinmusic/eng/artists.php

The grande finale of the event was the sold out Industry Awards gala in Tamperetalo, on Saturday evening. Some of Bogfires friends were presented awards for their accomplishments in the field, e.g. Ewo Pohjola (vuoden manageri- manager of the year), Timo Isoaho (vuoden kirjoittava journalisti- journalist of the year), Taija Holm, ProPromotion Oy (vuoden tiedottaja/markkinointipäällikkö - PR company of the year) and Sakara records (vuoden indielevy-yhtiö - the indie label of the year). The complete list of winners can be viewed here:
http://www.musiikkimedia.fi/sitenews/view/-/nid/33/ngid/1

Panel discussions focused on the current issues and changes in the industry such as artists' and managers' roles, digital environment, challenges in music distribution, Nordic collaboration, brands and artists' collaboration and so forth. One of the most memorable keynotes was of course Jonathan from Spotify, who shed light the future plans and visions of Spotify.
Videos from some of the panels and keynotes can be viewed here:
http://www.vimeo.com/musex

BogFires would like to thank all the organizers for a job well done.

Loud Park 10 @ Tokyo, Oct 16-17: Festival report

Loud Park, “the heaviest metal festival in Japan” and most certainly the biggest one with some 10.000 daily visitors, returned back to its “home” at the Saitama Super Arena from 2009 exile at the Makuhari Messe. The BogFires delegate was of course present in Tokyo on both days and jumped onto the Keihin-Tohoku and Shõnan-Shinjuku line trains from our base camp in Shinjuku.

By visiting this in-house festival for the fourth year in row, precise Japanese customs and hospitality during this well-organised event are already taken as given. And no disappointment was experienced this time either. Some improvements would possibly be needed to the insufficient ventilation of the Arena, resulting to sweaty condition particularly at the front sections of the stages. Moreover, altering sound quality of the performances was notable.

DAY 1

Photo report at: http://www.loudpark.com/10/gallery/index.html

Saturday was kicked-off by the Americans Holy Grail and Engel from Sweden. Despite the early start at eleven, the Arena was already quite full and the atmosphere easily lifted to a proper heavy metal level by these two energetic gigs. A good thing about Saitama is that the venue doesn’t allow a single beam of sunlight to enter the hall, which makes even the morning and day slots feel like if it was evening. Moreover, it is easy to get around to spot bands from different angles. Or, alternatively, to follow them all from the same spot with only 5-10 minutes waiting times between the sets, as the two stages are placed side by side.

The Big Rock Stage was next invaded by Chthonic. This fast and furious Taiwanese group has created an interesting concept fusing black and death metal twists, and orchestral elements, with the flair of their local tone and heritage. A nice set indeed. And extra points for the impressive make-up of the singer.

Next the left stage was invaded by some Swedish vikings in the form of Amon Amarth. The band is seemingly enjoying wide popularity in Japan, and the audience was easily captured into the stodgy but joyous thumping of these Scandinavian mythologists.

A man has to eat to stay fit, and due to the poor availability of meatless options inside the venue, the sets of Edguy and Dir En Grey had to be sacrificed for some Starbucking and chatting time. Then back to the hall to see a good bit of Hellyeah and the latter part of their grooving set, before Ratt rolled onto the stage to realize my anticipated personal highlight of the two days.

It’s almost 25 years since the big impression that Invasion of Privacy and other early Ratt albums made for that small boy, and now I finally got a chance to witness this L.A. group live. Objectively looking, the band was certainly not in a top form, but of course it was pretty emotional to hear the three original members with two later Ratt packers playing a number of classic tunes. In fact, surprisingly many songs were played from the debut album in addition to the self-obvious “Round n’ Round”, not however forgetting the later anthems “You’re in Love”, “Lay It Down”, and “Way Cool Junior”. “Best of Me” and “Eat Me Up Alive” were heard from the recent “Infestation” album.

Ratt was followed by their German coevals Accept. Even though the band is naturally not the same without Udo, their new singer Mark Tornillo is doing his part as a vocalist and front man really well. The new songs are pretty rocky and the old ones also manage to engender some reminiscences from the days back.

As Stone Sour next populated the stage, they were welcomed by increased clamor by the audience. Corey Taylor has obviously been able to channel much attention also to his second band thanks to the high popularity of Slipknot in Japan. The gig itself seemed quite standard, and the emotional bursts of Corey were perhaps a bit overscale. But of course very legitimate at the same time, given the hard period he has recently been forced to go through, resulting from the demise of SK band mate Paul Gray.

The Metal God Rob Halford was in a good shape, musically and visually, with his solo band. Perhaps an illusion of different context, but Rob’s presence seemed somehow more jovial than usually with the Priest, and the band rocked hard. However, the Halford songs are mostly unfamiliar to the undersigned, which made the experience a bit bland.

Finally, the closing slot was devoted to the pulsating and furious set of Korn. Clearer highlights or changes in dynamics could have made the set even more entertaining, but the overall performance quality of this Californian quartet was highly respectable. And for the first time during the long day, the sounds were as good as they should be; powerful and discernible at the same time.

DAY 2

Photo report at: http://www.loudpark.com/10/gallery/1017.html

On Sunday, the openers 3 Inches of Blood and Trash Talk were unfortunately not seen by this delegation. But we were right at the spot when Reckless Love kicked off their first ever Asian gig. The young Finnish band performed the songs from their debut album with such a professional workmanship and cheerfulness - the latter being a natural ingredient of the classic 80’s hair metal setting - that it is very easy to foresee that the band will be a regular visitor to the Japanese ground in the future. As heard from the guys later that day, the excitement before the set was palpable: even though RL has recently played a number of sold out shows in mid-size venues for instance in the UK, the audience of few thousands eye pairs was a new experience for them. From the spectator perspective too, the set felt quite different from my previous RL experience in June when they for a handful of tired visitors in a small Finnish festival. But the intensity and attitude was the same, as this band takes the entertainment very seriously.

To follow the good start, the warmed-up audience faced another newcomer to the Japanese ground, Halestorm from Pennsylvania, US. This vibrant band was the biggest positive surprise and experience of the festival for me. Lzzy Hale, the female-front figure of the band appeared highly charismatic onstage, and what a powerful and beautiful voice she has. The set highlight was delivered by the power ballad “Familiar Taste of Poison” that caused notable shivering in one’s spine. There was nothing wrong with the rest of the band either, as it played in a tight and amusing manner with good sounds. In fact, the band was much more interesting in a live setting, sounding rougher and more dynamic, than on its self-titled 2009 which suffers from somewhat overproduced and flat profile. The album is not yet available in Japan, but Halestorm also received very good response from the polite Japanese crowd.

Turisas, the Finnish folk metalers with black and red painted faces, in turn, visited Tokyo for the second time during this year. Their appearance on the Finland Fest in May had probably provided the band with an extra boost in popularity, and the number of Turisas T-shirts and even full costumes on the hall floor was notable. However, their unique style dressing- and music-wise did not convince the BogFires team this time either, so after a couple of songs it was time to test the promising pasta place outside the Arena.

Alexisonfire had to be sacrificed for this successful excursion too, but we were back in the darkness to get most of the Kuni set. The songs or performance of this Japanese heavy metal veteran perhaps were not of the most interesting kind, but his band was surely worth checking. The stage was manned by the whole bunch of long-term heavy metal workmen in the form of Mark Slaughter, Frankie Banali, and Chuck Wright. And in fact, it was somehow refreshing to enjoy some old-school jamming among a number of more modern offerings.

Spiritual Beggars continued on the more traditional style current but was a slight disappointment, perhaps due to my rather high expectations ignited by their moody “Return to Zero” album from this autumn. There was nothing wrong in the presence of Amott, Wiberg and the rest, as such, but the somewhat messy sounds and perhaps even too loud volume in general, and particularly the dominating bass sound covering guitars made the experience more unpleasant than it could have been. And as anticipated by numerous SB interviews in recent magazines, the new vocalist Apollo Papathanasio was indeed quite talented.

Angra was skipped for some talking in the guest bar, but Motörhead was of course a must-see. Well, at least the beginning of the set. I have to admit that this was my first Lemmy experience, but did of course offer no grand surprises or emotions. After a couple of songs the set is more or less seen. To keep up the Motörhead image as a loud band alive, Lemmy insisted the sound guys to get the volume up, from the already loud standard Loud Park level. I guess they didn’t fulfill his wish.

Avenged Sevenfold, closing the Ultimate Stage, was of specific personal interest. The gig was good and emotional. The latter quality was increased by the tragic decease of the band’s drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan at the end of the previous year. The drum virtuoso Mike Portnoy, who just had shocked the world order of progressive metal community by his resignation from Dream Theater, had joined A7X not only to fulfill the drum tracks on the latest “Nightmare” album but also to handle the cans on the subsequent World Tour. During their set, much focus was also paid on Mr. Portnoy by his band mates as well as the camera men. Speaking of which, it is a pleasure, as always in Loud Park, to follow the big video screen between the stages, as the work of camera men and the director are of highest quality. And as a nice gift for the bands, we heard that they are handed a CD of their set immediately after they have climbed off the stage. Good Japanese service indeed!

The familiar soccer yelling echoed from the back of the stage a few minutes Ozzy Osbourne stormed on the stage and caused the whole Arena cheering for his grandpaish and joyful appearance. In terms of his singing, well, Ozzy was Ozzy, in fact dealing the show quite well regarding. The set consisted of a number of classic Ozzy and Sabbath tracks, as well as the familiar amusements of the Prince of Darkness such as the constant shout requests for the audience and the custom water bucket show. The current OO band is in an extremely tight shape, and the integration of Gus G as the newest link in the history of Ozzy’s talented guitarists has seemingly functioned well.

We want to express our warmest thanks to Onta-san and Creativeman for their hospitality! And thanks go also to the staff of the guest bar and Current Rock Inn as well as to the bands and people we had the pleasure to meet in Tokyo.

TMK

To see the official photos, check the live report at www.loudpark.com

BogFires conference papers

Laaksonen, Laura; Ainamo, Antti & Karjalainen, Toni-Matti (2010). “Dark Passion Play”: Exploring Entrepreneurial Passion in Creative Industries. EURAM 2010. May 19-22, 2010. Rome, Italy.

Laaksonen, Laura; Ainamo, Antti & Karjalainen, Toni-Matti (2010). Cycles in causation and effectuation: A case study of four metal-music ventures. HTSF Conference. May 27 & 28, 2010. Enschede, the Netherlands. (Best Ph.D. paper award)

Laaksonen, Laura; Ainamo, Antti & Karjalainen, Toni-Matti (2010). Entrepreneurial Passion – a case study of metal music ventures. 2010 Research Symposium on Marketing and Entrepreneurship. August 12-13. Boston, MA.

Lutakko Liekeissä 2010: festival report

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Lutakko rock club, a concert venue in the city of Jyväskylä, the Lutakko Liekeissä (“Lutakko on fire”) festival was organized on Saturday 28^th of August 2010. The special year has also made this the annual metal/punk/alternative festival somewhat bigger than before. The festival area with two open-air stages and the Lutakko club was like a miniature version of a “real” festival venue, providing the crowd of approximately 2000 heads with an intimate experience. The weather didn’t quite embrace the visitors or bands, as temperature stayed under 10 degrees and drizzle disturbed the first couple of performances outside.

The LL line-up had quite a heavy emphasis, accompanied with some mellower sets, though. In addition to the Finnish acts, including a strong local representation of Jyväskylä bands and artists, the fest had added some foreign small and middle-size names on the bill. The Haunted was kind of a headliner of the day, although not playing last, and succeeded to convince the shivering crowd with a powerful set. Strike Anywhere, the American melodic hardcore punk group was also appreciated by the fans in the audience.

From the performances that I witnessed, Before the Dawn generated the strongest impression. The band that also visited the latest Finland Fest in Tokyo is in top shape right now, particularly live. The gig was such a pleasure to watch and listen, as the sounds were assertive and clear at the same time. The performance of these talented musicians was also flawless. Tuomas Saukkonen as the mastermind of the band is always a convincing figure. The more serious yet, in some funny way, ataractic appearance of Saukkonen is interestingly accompanied by the relaxed manifestation of singer and bass player Lars Eikind who also takes care of the speaking parts of their shows. Juho Räihä in the second guitar supplements the front row which is brilliantly backed up by drummer Atte Palokangas. He merrily keeps up his own precise, powerful and amusing show behind his pot kit.

The BtD set also highlighted the fact that the club stage inside functioned in general much better for these smaller bands than the two cold stages outside. From the other BogFires bands of interest, Ghost Brigade and Swallow the Sun slightly suffered from the chilly weather and open-air conditions that are not ideal for their moody metal. Mokoma closed the main stage with their trademark combination of energy and precise thrashing. The guys commented afterwards that they experienced some difficulties with the chilly conditions, but such details were not really visible to the audience.

To conclude, LL, if continued, is an intimate and well-organised event, a distinctive closure to the long and otherwise warm festival summer.

TMK

http://www.jelmufestival.net/

Sonisphere Finland 2010: Festival report

Sonisphere report in TMK blog:
http://tonimattikarjalainen.blogspot.com/2010/08/sonisphere-finland-2010-festival-report.html

TUSKA OPEN AIR 2010 Photo Report

Tuska photo report here:
http://tonimattikarjalainen.blogspot.com/2010/07/tuska-open-air-2010-photo-report.html

MYÖTÄTUULIROCK 2010 Festival report

Myötätuulirock (MTR) was first organized in 1997 as a small local event. To date, it has grown to a considerable summer event in the Finnish festival calendar. This year MTR was organized in the Hakunila sports park in the city of Vantaa as a three days event for the first time. And it had a strongest metal emphasis ever with a bill including a long list of domestic bands plus two Swedish one, and the U.S. thrash legends Exodus as the dressing on the cake. Nevertheless, and despite the relatively easy and fast access to Helsinki, this semi-urban festival has maintained its small and intimate atmosphere. The one and only stage, quite a large one in fact, means that every band has the chance of getting the attention of the whole public, but also results in somewhat too long waiting times over the gear changes and consequently in quite long days given the still rather small amount of performers. Anyhow, the small and compact “stadium” works as a nice venue in which food and merchandise booths, toilets and other services work nicely. But why were there no festival T-shirts available?

On Friday, Doom Unit had the honor of opening the fest, unfortunately playing their basic and slightly colorless set at the front of a still very small audience. The crowd did not become very big in the evening either, perhaps a couple of thousand people populated the field. Weather was not necessarily bad, in Finnish standard, but quite cool, and Exodus was not popular enough to appeal bigger masses. In fact, the peak in the number of visitors was probably reached during the Tarot gig. Blake was second on the row, not offering any considerable impact either. During Viikate, who followed, the crowd already started to show some signs of life, partly because of the heightening alcohol levels, but also due to the quite well-humored and relaxed performance of this public favorite. The song material, however, fails to keep up the intensity, and the powerless singing of Kaarle does not help either. The Kuopio troopers Tarot, in turn, was familiarly assertive. The bass sound of Marco Hietala was really heavy, particularly if felt close to the subwoofers. If only the band would include some songs from their early catalogue instead of a number of duller pieces from the recent Gravity of Light album. Well, the Punishment was a positive surprise. Ensiferum seemed to have perhaps the most visible fan representation in Hakunila, but did not create any effect in this head. Exodus, in turn, made a big impact. I have to shamelessly admit that I have never really listened to these old school thrashers, but after this gig I have to check their discography more closely. The band was tight and convincing – quite a paradigmatic showcase of orthodox Bay Area thrash on one hand, but functioning and compelling on the other. The impact was strengthened by the effective lights use in the already darkened summer evening.

Considering the long day ahead, I decided to skip The Milestones and Los Bastardos Finlandeses who opened the second day. But Kiuas was a band to check, definitely. At this time, already a considerably bigger amount of people than on Friday afternoon had appeared on the grass. In overall, Saturday probably doubled the visitor number of Friday. Perhaps even more metal fans would have travelled to Vantaa if the weather was not so horrible. The pouring rain that started at the start of Mokoma’s set, supported by gusty wind, really changed the conditions uncomfortable as the day proceeded. Kiuas and Diablo were lucky to play for the still dry audience, and good gigs did they perform too. Kiuas is a talented group. In specific, it is nice to follow the action of Mikko Salovaara (guitar) and Ilja Jalkanen (vocals). Diablo only performs two gigs in the summer while preparing their following album. Despite the long break, the band mastered the old songs in a routine way. But, as quite often in the Diablo case, the sounds were somewhat scruffy in overall and it is difficult to hear Rainer’s voice. It’s a pity that the nice moments of many songs do not properly materialize in a live setting. Mokoma, who set the sky in the rein mode, was very good. Certainly the best hour of the day, in addition to their Sakara comrades Stam1na later in the evening. The energetic and robust set included songs from a number of their albums. “Marras” naturally caused the most active movements in the audience. And the hand swinging of recently video-taped “Hei Hei Heinäkuu” also seem to work pretty well already in the early summer. And nice were the sounds as well. Korpiklaani was very visual, the hardening rain even served their show setting well. Nonetheless, despite their sheer expertise brought along by active touring, I don’t personally get the big idea behind their drinking songs. The happy mood was next reverted into anxiety by Swallow the Sun, one of the top metal bands from this country. However, the dark and moody music of STS does not really work in such a large festival setting in light conditions, despite the rain that may be a good visual supplement for them. The show appeared a bit lame in-between the cheering gangs of Korpiklaani and Stam1na who really got the crowd in motion. The lingering songs probably did not bring new fans for the band, while it was difficult to hear their nuances live due to very thin guitar sounds and practically unheard vocals. I saw the band perform in a Tuska festival two weeks later, in a small and dark tent with nice sounds and effective lights, and the experience was totally the opposite.

Stam1na, as already said, represented the top of the day. The Lemi troops were, I think, tighter and more intensive than in Sauna a week ago. It’s just fun to follow their set. The surprising cover version of “Puita Kaminaan” song showed a new interesting side of Hyrde’s singing abilities. A good extra treat! Then it was time to see what did the empty slot in the bill, supposed to be filled by mystical surprise act, actually mean. Well, it was Hevisaurus, a cute band in lizard costumes playing heavy metal for young children. Not my cup of tea exactly, but the creature gang had pyros and played really tight, certainly with a louder volume than in their “normal” gigs. And there was quite a large mosh pit circling the field, which was funny. Anyhow, a couple of songs was enough, and it was time to head home to dry and warm. I had to quit Turisas.

Sunday was the day of sunshine, finally, but also the quietest day in the venue. Reckless Love opened the day with a cheerful and quite amusing set of 80’s-inspired hair metal. No wonder the band has caused some buzz recently – the Kuopio group is rather charismatic on stage. Raaka-aine and Peer Günt followed with quite neutral performances. The first Swedish quests of the afternoon, Royal Republic, managed to get some movement in the crowd with their freshly rocking songs and energetic stage working. Suburban Tribe, in turn, was perhaps somewhat tamer than week ago in Tampere. Well, vocalist Ville Tuomi seemed to have lots of extra energy, seemingly after a few cups of fresh lemonade. The gig was also disturbed – or even colored, as so often happens – with some technical problems in both Janne’s bass and Euge’s guitar gears. In the already chilling evening, another bunch of Swedes offered some heating for the Hakunila people. Mustasch, with their usual intensity and dedication, put forth a very nicely rocking set. Ralf Gyllenhammar is a true entertainer who takes a notice of his audience and knows his rock poses and jargon. A kinker that came down to the front row after the gig to share sups from his whiskey bottle with the audience. And then finally, Amorphis sealed the Myötätuulirock 2010 with a great set. The band was seemingly the highlight of the day for the crowd as well. From the many Amo shows that I have recently witnessed, this one made one of the biggest impacts. One obvious reason was the great sounds: Now the guitars, Tomi’s voice and everything were well in balance, crisp and powerful. And as a unique curiosity, the setting sun momentarily created some nice visual effect s on the stage. A nice ending for the three days.

TMK

Myötätuulirock site: http://www.mtr.fi/

Metal Shots photos: http://www.metalshots.com/2010/2010-06-18_Myotatuulirock_Vantaa/index.php