Photo Reports
Tuhdimmat Tahdit decided to really switch things up this year. With the most obvious change being the entirely Finnish line up this year, which I must say was missing a little bit of something extra in my opinion.
The other big change this year was the switch from two stages to one. After having numerous troubles on the smaller stage last year, I think it made a lot of sense to just focus on one stage this time around. I also found the festival day to be much more relaxed this way. Because of the half an hour breaks, there was enough time to just hang out and chill with friends between bands, which in my opinion is just as important part of festivals then watching the bands. I did hear some other people complain about his thought, so I guess this depends on personal preferences.
Lastly to still have enough time to fit a reasonable amount of bands the starting time of the festival had to be pushed forward to 13 o’clock, which could have been a problem, but I guess due to the new date in July enough people were on their holiday, and therefore it didn’t seem to affect the huge crowed that was lining up in front of the gets to get in right when the doors open.
Kotiteollisuus started the day under the cover of the dark clouds hovering oppressively over the festival grounds. But while the weather looks like a storm is brewing, they still managed to bring some sunshine to my mind. Somehow their easy going and seemingly not too serious performance turned out to be a great way to start the day.
Just before Marko Hietala and his band enter the stage, the clouds open their gates as well, but luckily, as it turns out, they don’t hold up to their appearance at all. After just a few songs the rain is over and while the clouds keep retuning we get to enjoy the rest of the festival with dry feet. Other than the clouds, Marko and his band can absolutely hold up to their image. They even blessed us by playing some relatively new music in the form of ‘Left on Mars‘ which had been released in spring of this year. At the end of the set, Marko Hietala just says “Well, see you tomorrow” with a pleasant little smile on his face.
Next up is Lost Society, who bring a whole different of level of energy to the festival. Samy Elbanna never fails to get the crowd fired up, and so not too surprisingly some pits start forming in front of the stage. I’m getting too old for that much action, and so I use the chance to check out the new festival layout and all that it has to offer. One of the new things is a cocktail bar with some comfy looking beach chairs, and I can’t resist trying some Piña Colada Spritz.
Before long, it’s already time for one of Finland’s legendary bands: Stratovarius. Who played a good mix between their most famous hits and more recent material.
Afterwards it’s time to go back to Finnish with some good old thrash metal from Mokoma and later Stam1na. Both of these offered a good chance to release some more energy, as they make sitting still nearly impossible.
The day is starting to feel long, but there’s no rest for the wicked and as soon as Amorphis started playing all tiredness is blown away. There’s no big surprises in the setlist, but that isn’t necessary at all anyways. They end day 1 more than properly, with one hit after another. When ‘The Bee’ can be heard, I know it’s time to go home and rest up for the second day of Finnish festival madness.
For more than 40 years, AGNOSTIC FRONT brings finest New York Hardcore to the concert hall stages and festivals around the globe. Europe and its loyal NY HC fan base is a reason to tour annually. This summer, the five piece Roger Miret (vocals), Vinnie Stigma (lead guitar and original founding member), Craig Silverman (guitar), Mike Gallo (Bass) and Danny Lamanga (drums) hit European venues on their ‘Urban Decay Tour 2024’. Opening date was a totally sold-out gig at Café Central in Weinheim, DE.
Before the NYC veterans take the stage, one of Germany’s hardcore veteran bands enters the stage to open the night: 47 Million Dollars. Bringing awesome hardcore music with German lyrics for already 25 years. The venue got hot and the few doors and windows were opened after their appearance to cool down the atmosphere a little.
There is not much to say about the following: you get what you expect. Finest hardcore music, circle pit from the first tune of the opening song ‘The Eliminator’, stage diving, crowd-surfing and sweat, sweat, sweat. These guys know how to rock a venue down to the bare foundations. The audience got in the mood immediately, turning the hall into a sauna with incredible humidity. But you will see no holding back until the last tune of their more than 20 songs set-list including hits like ‘Gotta go’, ‘Old New York’ or ‘Victim in Pain’ is out of the PA.
They will keep on touring until early July, it’s recommended to go and see them if you can!
It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the first day on the Radio City (tent) Stage Finnish black metal supergroup I Am The Night, Moldavian modern metal superstars Infected Rain, local cult heroes Suburban Tribe and experimental black metal project Zeal & Ardor, while on the OPEN AIR II stage we caught an exciting show from GHØSTKID!
It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the first day on the Karhu Main Stage bands like Lord of the Lost as festival openers, Alestorm bringing the pirate metal party, legendary guitarist Kerry King with his solo work, Norwegian symphonic black metal institution Dimmu Borgir and headliners drum ‘n’ bass rockers Pendulum!
A sold out On The Rocks truly got warmed up for the upcoming Tuska Festival when the legendary Suburban Tribe played their first show in over 13 years! Preparing for the summer festivals, Suburban Tribe is in top-notch condition and for sure a must-see during any summer festival you might be attending. The set consisted of all the classic songs you’d wanna hear and even an appearance by the original vocalist, mr. Tuska himself Jouni Markkanen busting out some old Suburban Tribe tunes for the old school audience.
In the beginning of June, the madness and circus that is Metallica touring the world with their “M72 Tour” took over Helsinki for the weekend with the usual 2 shows they’ve been playing in every city they’ve landed. Perfect timing for Apocalyptica who had just released their “Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Vol. 2” album, the follow-up to their legendary debut album that got them to where they are right now. And kudos to their management and marketing team, because organizing and booking a show where the iconic Finnish band plays their new album with Metallica covers in the middle of the Metallica weekend in Helsinki is simply genius. The show was everything we’ve come to expect from Apocalyptica, and the Metallica songs played by 3 cellos really strike that youth nostalgia chord within me. Of course, it would have been great to see the Metallica dudes pop by for a little guest appearance, and I bet that a lot of people there were kind of hoping that, but these musical wonders don’t really need such gimmicks to deliver a wonderfully captivating show. Absolutely amazing!
Ever since they exploded on the scene in the early 2000s with their monster hit ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’, I’ve been a huge fan of The Darkness, and they’ve been delivering sold rock ‘n’ roll year after year. Sadly, I never had the pleasure of seeing these guys in action live. So when it was announced that they were dropping by in my neighborhood in Finland, I knew I had to be there for a night of good rock ‘n’ roll! The culture house in Helsinki pulsated of the old school rock ‘n’ roll show The Darkness brought and with local rock heroes Shiraz Lane opening up the night, it was a night to remember!
We’re always up for a good black metal gig, and when we saw that the popular Danish project Afsky was going to set foot on Finnish shores to do a small co-headline tour with the just as popular locals Havukruunu, we just knew we had to be there. And while we were of course expecting a class act, we were really surprised by how the night went like and how the atmosphere felt. With all 3 bands, Afsky & Havukruunu with openers Qwälen, came some really intense and relentless shows as you’d expect from a black metal gig, but at the same time, I don’t think we’ve ever attended a black metal show where everyone felt as welcome as here. The bands are not afraid to express their dislike towards a certain faction on the far-right and speak up about certain social issues, causing the crowd to exist of not just your standard black metal fans, but people of many walks of life. We saw for instance a whole bunch of people who portrayed their affiliation to LGBTQ+ quite openly and proud, and we can only praise bands that actually make those people feel comfortable enough to be out and in the open!
Music has the power to unite people of all ages, Steve ‘n’ Seagulls demonstrated that very clearly during their gig at G Livelab in Tampere. The youngest fan in the crowd hasn’t even started school yet, while the oldest arrived at the gig on his mobility scooter. Yet we all got along well and the only thing running hot was the temperature, that almost turned the venue into a big sauna.
I highly recommend catching Steve ‘n’ Seagulls during their ‘More then a Tour’ tour for an evening of light-hearted fun.
Recently, As The Sun Falls has been coming on our radar with them releasing new singles from their upcoming new album, and we liked what we heard! The melancholic sounding melodeath somewhat reminded us of Finnish melodeath greats Insomnium, and we’re all there for it. And since we were going to get a visit of these Finnish lads at our venue Asgaard back in Belgium, we thought it to be a good plan to send out one of our people in Finland to go and scope out what’s up with this band. Additional to that, the Finnish Blackment and Czech Innersphere showed up as support for the night, and what a night for good metal music it was!
