Gig Reports
30.8.2024 was like an unholy pilgrim for any and all metalheads around Finland. In 2023 one of the most revered black metal bands of all time shockingly announced they will play one live show for the first time since 1992. But it didn’t stop there, in 2024 Beherit played their first shows outside of Finland in Japan and finally, in August, they played their first show ever in Helsinki. The atmosphere and anticipation even arriving to the venue was palpable seeing hundreds upon hundreds of metalheads gathered around the venue to drink and reminisce from all ages seeing the band for the first time and older metalheads whom have seen the band before many of the other attendees have been even born. This was a generational experience, and you just had to be there to actually experience it.
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After 20 years, Raskasta Joulua has long become an integral part of the pre-Christmas season in Finland. Each year they go on a big, elaborate tour all around the country, filling some of the biggest venues Finland has to offer. Of course, they will do these shows this year again as well, but for their anniversary tour they also went with some very different shows.
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Apulanta teamed up with Lahtis Sinfonia Orchestra for a couple of very special shows. And we got to enjoy the first of the two shows at Tampere’s Nokia Arena. But let’s start at the beginning.
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Both Smash into Pieces and Cyan Kicks have recently tried their luck in getting to the ESC and while so far they’ve been unsuccessful they still seem to have grown from the experience and also grew their following. Both of these bands are charged up and ready to shine their light on the world. If not from the big stage of the Eurovision Song Contest, then they are just gonna do it one gig at a time.
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How good is it when something unexpected turns into something great that you are so glad you experienced? So, Thursday night, I have been in Glasgow for 2 days just doing touristy things. I ended up in a pub on the Great Western Road, having a pint, watching the football on the television.
Some people at the next table were talking about a band they were going to see, my ears pricked up when they mentioned hardcore. Now I’m not the greatest hardcore punk fan but have learned to appreciate it more as I get older.
I googled the band they were talking about and saw that the venue they were playing in was a few hundred yards down the road, what the hell, I got nothing better to do, I decided to go along, a very wise decision as it turned out!
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Have you ever experienced seeing a band multiple times before things click, and you suddenly start liking them? I’ve had this with Turmion Kätilöt. Needless to say, I was excited to finally see them with different eyes. On this part of the Finnish tour of their album ‘Omen X’, released on January 13th last year, they are supported by Sigh from Japan and Marianas Rest from Finland. A very diverse choice, it promises to become an interesting evening.
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Two mastodons of the metal scene joining forces to take over venues all over Europe is something we usually don’t let pass us by. So when modern metal giants Amaranthe and power metal titans Dragonforce announced their massive co-headline tour, we knew we had to experience what was sure to be quite the spectacle. So off we went on a Saturday night to Helsinki’s Black Box in the Ice Hall venue…
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Cradle Of Filth being on a massive European tour is bringing a lot of people out of their houses and into venues, including myself. But what got me even more excited about this tour, is that the special guest was no other than Wednesday 13 playing only Murderdolls era music! And as support the Italian aliens of Sick N’ Beautiful and US industrial band Drift, it was quite the package! Sadly, due to another wintry assault in Finland, public transport experienced quite some delays, and by the time we managed to get our passes and into the venue, we were able to just catch the last few notes of the first band.
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A progressive giant like UK’s Tesseract dropping by in your neighborhood while they’re on a massive tour to celebrate their latest album ‘War of Being’, should be reason enough for you to get outside. Add to that the German Unprocessed and the US mathcore misfits of The Callous Daoboys and you know you can’t sit this one out! And we clearly were not alone in that sentiment, because Helsinki’s legendary rock club Tavastia was absolutely packed!
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“Come On Come On
Come On Come On
Come On Come On
Antifa hooligans”
The chant was echoing round the room at the end of the gig, a day and a half later it’s still embedded in my head and I can’t stop singing it! I imagine it is pretty much the same for everyone else who was there.
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