Photo Reports

After 3 years finally Black Stone Cherry was back on German stages. They have not lost anything ever since then and are fantastic live band with an energy loaded show.  If you are in blues rock it’s a must to see these guys live whenever you can. Presenting songs from all of their albums – this time even playing ‘Hell And High Water’ from the self-named debut album – they made the crowd at the LKA go crazy. To warm up for their outstanding performance The Georgia Thunderbolts rocked the venue.

Bring Me The Horizon, a band who has been reinventing their sound and influencing numerous bands in the scene for years, brought their US tour to Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, GA on September 27, 2022. They brought along Knocked Loose, Grandson, and Siiickbrain to open up the show for them. From beginning to end, the energy was cranked all the way to 100.

Siiickbrain opened up the night with her emo/trap metal vibe. Her band had incredible energy on stage and immediately had fans engaged from the start. Her aura is infectious and she knows how to talk to fans between songs in a way that makes them feel like they are best friends with her. Her songs stuck out and felt very unique from the other bands. They carried a different vibe with them in an incredible way, and it felt as though fans really latched on to that.

Grandson was next in the lineup. He is literally insane on stage. He is so passionate for what he is singing about and it is obvious with his demeanor. He knows how to get fans riled up, and by the end of the set, anyone who wasn’t a fan of his at the beginning was obsessing over him by the end. Though his music might not be as “heavy” as the rest of the bands on the bill, his crowds energy during his set is a perfect example of why stage presence can make or break a music set. He really was the perfect act to go right before Knocked Loose and he used that placement to his advantage.

Knocked Loose was on after Grandson and right before Bring Me The Horizon. Anyone who has ever seen Knocked Loose live knows that they are almost unmatched when it comes to crowd energy. Bryan (the frontman) knows exactly what he is doing and it shows literally 30 seconds into the first song. Their set was the start of crowd surfers, people jumping on top of each other, and massive mosh pits. Fans were screaming the lyrics back to them and vibing with every single second of their set. They really were the perfect band to be placed right before the legends in Bring Me The Horizon took the stage.

Bring Me The Horizon was last in the lineup and the headliner of the entire tour. From the jump, they had an opening video telling people to open up mosh pits, start jumping on top of people, etc. This definitely was a smart move, and obviously, the crowd followed directions. They opened up their set with their song “Can You Feel My Heart” which was already a massive sensation in the metal/rock world, but recently, has also seen a resurgence through TikTok. This seemed strategic, and everyone, literally everyone, was screaming the words back to them. It was the perfect set opener song. Oli Sykes (frontman) has something about him that makes him the perfect person to command a crowd. Whatever he tells them to do, they are going to do it. It showed during multiple songs where he would open up mosh pits or walls of death in order to boost the crowd energy that was already radiating. They really are an unreal band live. There is a reason why they are considered masters of the genre and it only shows more with every live show that they play. They really ended the night on a huge high note, and let fans know that they were loved, seen, and accepted for whoever they are. It really was a perfect night.

Is Sturm und Drang back? Unfortunately no, but we still got to enjoy a little bit of them last Friday when André Linman (now One Desire) and Jeppe Welroos played a short set with guitar and keyboard at Tampereen Ylioppilasteatteri. The slightly quirky venue was a very good fit for the approximately 35 people that came to enjoy the show. And after some technical problems in the beginning it delivered a really good sound.

The setlist consisted of 14 of Sturm und Drangs best songs like ‘Molly the Murderer‘, ‘That’s the Way I Am‘ and ‘A Million Nights‘. In the end there were even some people slow dancing.

Punk rock fans all over were spoiled on a Saturday early September when the absolute legends of hardcore punk ”Charged” GBH turned On The Rocks in Helsinki into a complete chaos of old school punks and new school punks dancing and partying like there’s no tomorrow. Crowd was very split between old school punks in their 50’s and new school of punks and other weirdos whom you can find at a punk show. The house was complete packed before GBH started so it was very clear who people came to see.

Taking nothing away from the opening act of the evening Likaiset Pikkarit who gave a cheerful, glittery poprock show which people moderately enjoyed during probably their second beer.

Second last act was Broken Trend who brought their very modern metal sound to confused punks. Their live performance was great but I am questioning were they the right choice to play before hardcore punk legends.

After the openers, people started slamming in through the doors and the atmosphere started to be already very sweaty and smelly. Like a good ol’ punk show, people were drunk of their asses, and when GBH started their show, everyone collectively lost their minds. Beers were flying, people were dancing and stage diving and there was a clear danger in the air which in my mind should be at punk shows. GBH truly delivered one of the best punk shows I’ve seen in a while by playing their legendary ‘City Baby Attacked By Rats’ album in its entirety. Capping of the night GBH played a fantastic cover of Motörhead‘s ‘Bomber’ which gave a perfect end to a fun night.

Recently we were able to attend to the 10th anniversary show of the dutch symphonic death metal super band MaYaN in Effenaar Eindhoven. As it should be, a very special occasion has to be celebrated in a very special way, so they had invited no less than 5 guests! All together they played an extra long show (>2 hours!) Well worth mentioning were the interludes on acoustic instruments such as guitar, cello and the double bass.

The photo pit was a no go zone for our own safetysince there was a lot of pyro during the show. It was accessible however during the support act that was filled in by none other than the Belgian Off The Cross!

Special guests were:

• Jack Driessen: Co-founder and ex-keyboardist of MaYaN
• Rob van der Loo: ex-bass player for MaYaN (also works for Epica and Delain)
• Arjan Rijnen: guitar
• Elianne Anemaat: Cello (plays cello in Celestial Season)
• Joost van den Broek: Keyboard (Producer and sound mixer for a.o. Epica, Ayreon, Powerwolf)

Greta Van Fleet‘s ‘Dreams In Gold Tour’ made a radiant stop in Fort Wayne, Indiana at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday evening September 20th, 2022. And boy, it was a whole vibe! Adoring fans filed into the venue all decked out in beautiful outfits resembling 70’s hippy era clothing. It was really a joy to see so many smiling faces, ready to have a night of fun with their friends!

Robert Finley and his band got the party started by bringing his Louisiana bluesy soul sounds to the stage. Robert brought some amazing dance moves to the stage as well, which the crowd seemed to enjoy!

Next up was Houndmouth, hailing from right here in Indiana, with their alternative rock blues quartet. The band continued with the good vibes and was the perfect warm up for Greta Van Fleet.

Finally, it was time for Greta Van Fleet to grace the crowd with their presence, and that they did! The Michigan rock band formed in 2012 and consists of three Kiszka brothers: Josh[vocals], Jake[guitar] and Sam[bass, keyboards]; additionally with Danny Wagner [drums]. Their theme for the night was love, and they showed love for their fans throughout the show. At one point, singer Josh handed out white roses by piggy-back to adoring front row fans. Their entire set was a sight to be seen; not only super talented musicians, their beautiful outfits and amazing stage show, but the big message and take-away from the show was to really let love win. 

Sold out at one of the venues of our beloved metal club in Munich!

Opening the night and warming up the crowd well was the Finnish band Oceanhoarse, well disposed, full of energy and cohesive, they had a good reception from the Bavarian crowd that collaborated well and let us anticipate a fantastic night. The second band onstage were the French LizZard, probably the most exciting surprise of the night, leaving the crowd literally speechless with such a demonstration of power, technique and sound quality, managing to attract many new fans in Germany.

Headliners of the night, the Swedish Soen, are one of those bands that make perfect and magical music, lulling and mesmerizing the audience as if they were sailing on a calm as on a more violent sea. The first time I attended a concert of this band, 10 years ago, they were opening for a Paradise Lost tour and the talent was there, super band formed by extremely talented musicians, but today, they are the fruit of an evolution and union that reflects in their music and live shows.

Heavy metal night simply perfect:

Disneyland After Dark or better known as D-A-D presented a fantastic show in Suvilahti, Helsinki at a sold out event in front of a crowd of over 3000 people on a warm late summer evening. D-A-D delivered the old trusty gimmicks, at least for older fans of the band, with a spinning carousel on stage and various different weird looking two string basses. Newer songs and old hits, D-A-D put on a fantastic show for old school fans of the band and newer ones. They set on a good example how to put on a feel good rock ‘n’ roll show, and at least left this photographer leaving the show with a big smile on my face.

If you were any bit into stoner rock, this night at On The Rocks in Helsinki was the place to be. With the first visit ever in Finland of the popular Greek stoner rock outfit Planet of Zeus and a first visit not supporting someone else of the Norwegian stoner punks of Bokassa, this would be a night to remember. Especially knowing that the latter one was handpicked by Lars Ulrich to open for Metallica on their 2019 Europe tour, there has to be something there…

On a Sunday autumn evening in Helsinki we saw total death metal takeover of On The Rocks venue in the heart of central Helsinki. Even though it was a Sunday and many metalheads attending seemed to be pretty tired or hungover didn’t slow down the mosh pit especially after the main act Vader hit the stage.

First polish band of three Thy Diseased gave a solid death metal show with some the most amazingly mixed drums I’ve heard in a while and left the crowd clearly craving for more face melting blastbeats. Next up another polish band called Hate took the stage with their in your face blackened death metal action, reminding me personally a lot of ‘Demigod’ era of Behemoth. Personally the best live performance of the night for me. And then it was time for the main event, polish death metal warriors Vader took the stage and that’s when all hell broke loose and delivered a good Sunday workout for everyone in the moshpit. Packed house full of great bands delivering a satisfying evening of death metal. Not a better way to spend a Sunday in my mind.