Sonisphere report in TMK blog:
http://tonimattikarjalainen.blogspot.com/2010/08/sonisphere-finland-2010-festival-report.html
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Saturday, 10 July 2010
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/
Thursday, 24 June 2010
SAUNA OPEN AIR 2010 Festival Report
The 7th Sauna Open Air metal festival gathered this year some 23 000 metal fans to the South Park of Tampere. This time the event run from Thursday to Saturday, and BogFires was naturally present in this warm-hearted metal family meeting. While having signed KISS to headline the first night, and probably paying a considerable part of the budget for Simmons’ troops, the following two days comprised a selection of Finnish bands reinforced by some foreign middle sized names. This structure also resulted in an uneven distribution of people among the days. KISS drew some 12 000 eye pairs, whereas Friday and Saturday were both able to appeal only half that amount. This was also thanks to the volatile weather: Thursday was sunny and quite warm, but Friday and Saturday mostly rainy, windy, and very cold. Anyhow, Sauna seems to always succeed in creating a good atmosphere regardless of external factors.
The biggest disappointment, at least for me personally, was created already a couple of days before the kick-off, as the mighty RATT was forced to cancel their Sauna show due to vocalist Stephen Pearcy’s hernia surgery (Bye bye rock n’ roll glamour… ;). Well, hopefully the ratt pack will soon be back on the track, so I don’t have to wait another 26 years to see them live.
Thursday was ignited by the 69 Eyes. With quite a pale flame though, partly because most people were still queuing outside the gates and the line almost reached the Laukontori. The smaller Park Stage was opened by Insomnium that, despite a momentarily too loud bass sound that tended to carpet the guitars, offered by far the highest musical experience of the evening. Not only was the tonal rush nice, but the band is also fun to watch. Active touring and recent acknowledgements have seemingly lifted the band’s self confidence to heights. The main stage next featured Steel Panther that may be amusing to watch and listen to (although Michael Starr’s talks are really testing the limits of good taste) but cannot escape the fact of being frivolous and disposable. Norwegian Audrey Horne with their melodic and powerful setting was an unfamiliar case for me but made quite a good expression by their energetic performance. Pity that only a handful of people had found their way to the front of the stage, while most visitors seemed to focus either on maintaining their fluid balance safe and sound or awaiting the puppet masters to climb the stage. And KISS, starting some 10 minutes ahead of the schedule, was surely big and beautiful. And as unsurprising as anticipated. The show was of course highly visual with all the typical Kiss numbers and gimmicks happening on an elegant stage dominated by the giant background screen and a number of smaller ones. Of course, the light effects and fireworks did not reach their full potential in the bright Finnish night. But a good experience in overall, certainly!
The quiet Saturday afternoon included the presentations of Parasite City, Whitechapel and Anvil on the Park Stage. Of those three, Whitechapel made the biggest impact with their dark and heavy set. Anvil is… ok… but not very interesting. The British Glamour of the Kill had been moved to the Main Stage, due to RATT’s cancellation, which perhaps was a bit too big for this band. Well, nothing wrong in the gig itself, but the band was quite unknown for most of the people in the audience and their music characterized as metal for young girls by the band itself did not really cause any great emotions on the field. Death Angel, in turn, performed the tightest and heaviest set of the whole festival. Truly impressive! With a couple of new members and the charisma of Mark Osegueda, tha band seems to be in a top shape. The set list included both newer tunes and some gems from the DA early days. The day was closed by Danzig, but for me the gig was a disappointment. Glenn did not seem to be in a very good mood, and the performance appeared quite standard. Of course the day long pouring rain was also taking its toll. However, Mother surely caused the loudest crowd sing-along of the day.
Sunday was dominated by the Finnish acts, with the exception of Grave Digger and Hail!. The well-played basic hard rock of the former well deserved its place in the line-up but still remained a bit of an oddity among the Finns. Hail! in turn received a cheerful reaction as the final act on the Park Stage. No wonder: a group of talented long-term metallers playing the songs of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and rest and guest starring people like Marco Hietala and Mark Osegueda, cannot really go much wrong. Preceding them on the Park Stage, Doom Unit, Peer Günt, and Poisonblack yet entertained their fans but did not offer any great surprises. The same was the case with Stam1na, Amorphis and Sonata Arctica on the Main Stage. However, already the routine performances of these bands are always of the high standard. And yes, it was a really cold evening. The opener of the day, Sub-Urban Tribe played the first of their (only?) two festival shows of the summer and got quite the highest points of the day from me, somewhat surprisingly. Ville Tuomi and rest of the band were in a very good mood and played well a good selection of catchy songs from their catalogue. It was fun to see the band onstage after a few years pause. And the sun even appeared for a second during their set.
The three days also offered a number of after parties in various venues of Tampere. One of them was the three days NKM Metal Fest that took place in the Ylioppilastalo (Student House) featuring a good set of smaller metal bands of various styles. The event had a challenge of competing against other events, especially the official Sauna after parties at the Jack the Rooster that seemed to appeal most of the night people. Anyhow, quite a good number of people had also found their way to the NKM Metalfest, although the quite a nice venue would have had capacity to house much more. The performance of Leverage, Sotajumala, and Profane Omen, in specific, were able to arouse a very good mood on the floor, despite the inevitably lurking festival fatigue. But this is a highly recommendable event if it will be organized again in the future.
Toni-Matti Karjalainen
Links:
Sauna Open Air: http://www.sauna-open-air.fi/
Metal Shots (photo report): http://www.metalshots.com/2010/2010-06-10_SaunaOpenAir_Tampere/index.php
NKM Metal Fest: http://www.nkm.fi/
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