Photo Reports

When one of my all-time favorite modern metal bands shows up at a venue near me, like Trivium, I simply need to be there. And them bringing along the German metalcore legends Heaven Shall Burn as co-headliners, the death metal mastodon that is Obituary and Malevolence, the UK hardcore band that has become one of my favorite recent discoveries as openers, only solidified me need to be there. At a pretty much sold out Culture House in Helsinki, we were in for a great night of metal in one of Helsinki’s nicest venues…

Once again we return to the grand concert hall that is the Zenith in Munich, with a last minute confirmation that was well worth it!
The biggest band of the night were the British Bullet For My Valentine, of which we don’t have pictures available because we weren’t allowed to. We can only say that they gave a great show with the crowd going crazy song after song. Let’s hope in a next opportunity to have the privilege to take some nice pictures of these gentlemen.

The North Americans of Atreyu were the first to enter the stage and set the crowd on fire with a strong and intense presence. For the third time, I had the opportunity to photograph the fantastic Ukrainian band Jinjer and I notice that each time they drag more and more public for their shows. Appealing to the crowd for the end of the war in the country where they come from at the beginning of the concert, the band unloaded all their rage on stage, showing why they are at the top of the extreme metal universe. Tatiana is a “monster” on stage and her new look shines through, so we managed to grab some great pictures of this beautiful lady accompanied by great quality musicians. The audience once again completely surrendered to another visit of Jinjer in Munich.

Two consecutive full house nights at the Zenith in Munich, to welcome the big party made by the North American Dropkick Murphys. The legendary veterans continue to exude an unusual energy, with vocalist Ken Casey giving himself completely to his fans, leaving the stage and coming and going over and over again to share the sweat with those who love them so closely. During the night they paraded the classics that everyone wants to sing accompanied by some nice German beers, “The Boys Are Back” , “Cadillac, Cadillac” , “Rose Tattoo” among many others that accompany the career of this band that practices a Celtic punk style.

Helping to warm up the public were the singer and songwriter Jesse Ahern, who despite being solo managed to fill the huge Zenith stage and certainly managed to conquer new fans of his work. Arriving from the other side of the world, The Rumjacks are loyal followers of the work of the main band of the night and spread energy and sympathy everywhere, being a worldwide success. Others who were present on this double date in Munich are an institution when it comes to punk rock, Pennywise need no introduction and their performances are fantastic despite all these years on the road. They sound fresh and young, full of vitality and willing to please old fans and win over new ones, some of them, probably children of parents who came to see their band for the first time. Jim Lindberg had time during the first minutes of the concert to “steal” a camera from a colleague and take a beautiful photo of the Zenith hall, completely overflowing with sweaty bodies.

A memorable night that can be repeated as soon as possible, that everyone will be there again to celebrate life!

“Is there a doctor in the room? You never want to hear that, but it’s always possible… During “Precience,” only one song before the end, a fan had a seizure and had to be picked up by ambulance.  The last song on the set list would have been “Drip,” but we didn’t get to hear that. The band decided to stop the concert. A regrettable incident during the kick-off of their European tour, but this was probably the only right decision they could make.

However, this does not take away from the fact that they played a very strong set. About half came from their latest album (2022): ‘Where Myth Becomes Memory’

Warm up acts were Holy Fawn and Heriot.

Sweat, heat and beer, that basically sums up Brymir’s show at the practically sold out Torvi in Lahti last Friday. Before the show fans also had the chance to chat a bit with the band during a little meet and greet.

While it was not the fanciest set up, the close and intimate atmosphere made for a great viewing experience.

Completely full house at the Backstage club in Munich to receive the Swedish Katatonia. The band has just released their latest album ‘Sky Void Of Stars’ and that was the motto of their visit to the Bavarian capital. The live presentation of new songs was already noticeable and the band itself admits to still being nervous when playing some of them, but everything went perfect in our humble opinion. The sound in the room was very good and allowed us to savor all the melody of this beautiful Nordic band.

Opening the hostilities were the North American SOM, who left a very good impression, presenting their songs with melodic and dragging guitar riffs in an impeccable way. Co-headlining this tour, the Icelandic Sólstafir, gave an excellent concert presented in a theatrical way by Aðalbjörn, who still had time to take a walk around the audience spreading love and positive energy in the audience.

Judging by the reaction of the public present, all bands will always be welcome here again.

The Scottish pirates of Alestorm docked their pirate ship in Torhout, Belgium. Venue De Mast was sold out to feast with them, fantasy power metallers Gloryhammer, the dwarves of Windrose and fellow pirates Rumahoy.

At the end of January Battle Beast brought the Circus back to town when they finally got around to perform two shows at Pakkahuone for their ‘The Circus is Coming to Town‘ tour after an epic show in Helsinki. They also brought along One Desire as their support act.

Unfortunately due to having two shows in one evening, the schedule was quite tight, which is why One Desire‘s show was moved to the Klubi side, which made it a bit difficult for people to see both bands. Especially as this show was just sold out, I’ve been to sold out shows at Pakkahuone several times before, but this one felt much more crowed.

But in the end it was still a nice evening and both bands delivered a great show.

With their new album ‘Sky Void Of Stars’ (read the review here) Swedish melancholic rock band Katatonia is currently touring all over Europe and UK. Along to round up the line-up of the ‘Twilight Burials’ tour, there was co-headliner Sólstafir and additional support by SOM. On 27 Jan 2023 this package entered the stage of LKA Longhorn in Stuttgart, Germany. With gloomy lights, a great sound, it was a perfect night for a big audience and all fans of the darker sounds of rock and metal.

Check out their tour schedule to see if they’ll come to your hometown or some place near since the tour has just begun, until then check out our photos to raise your anticipation:

With Battle Beast’s Helsinki Icehall show, this was the 3rd Finnish band that I got to see at that venue that was playing their biggest show yet. Every time was a celebration of what the bands were about, and I expected no less of this ‘The Circus Is Coming To Town’ stop in Helsinki. Curious for what we were about to see and experience, we set out to the hockey arena to see one of Finland’s more popular bands play an epic show with support from the special guests Ensiferum and Kiuas!