Photo Reports
Last Thursday I seemed to have wandered into the metal equivalent of Kamping Kitsch. A parade of ’80s track suits and cliché pimp costumes went all the way from the Noordersingel into Trix, Antwerp. And no fucks were given because we had one hell of a metal party. Starting off with One Morning Left. A metalcore band from Finland rocking synths and T-shirts with unicorns and rainbows. With titles like Sinners are Winners, !liaF cipE (Epic Fail!) and You’re Dead, Let’s Disco, they had me at hello. Next up were Blind Channel. Some may know these guys from representing Finland in the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. Others will know them as a emo/post-hardcore band with catchy songs. Either way, they’re a live band that sure knew how to warm up a crowd and a great fit in this line up. And then the moment we had all been waiting for. Electric Callboy (previously Eskimo Callboy) live on stage in Antwerp. Opening wearing their outfits from the Hypa Hypa video and firing confetti cannons into the crowd immediately set the mood for the rest of the evening.
Dagoba and Infected Rain are touring together as co-headliners on the “ECDYSIS BY NIGHT TOUR 2022”. We went out to have a look for you at the MEZZ in Breda (NL). A rather small venue (capacity 100 persons). The concert was not completely sold out (but still: almost) allowing us to still be able to move a little bit.
First up was Dagoba. Almost non stop headbanging, Shawter and his band sure know how to wake everybody up. When they followed up, Lena from Infected Rain drew special attention to the guy in the wheelchair in the front row who had been actively participating all night. A broken drum stick wasn’t thrown in the crowd, but was personally handed over to this guy instead. They also made some jokes about the size of the venue, such as asking if everyone was OK all the way in the back (which was no more than a couple of meters from the stage). At the end of the show they also said they had come to the point where they should go off stage and we should shout “we want more”, so they could come back up for the encores, only, since there was no place to hide for them, they just asked if we’d like some more and continued with it right away.
It was a very pleasant night out with two bands that are very entertaining and who are fun to check out live every single time!
After an impressive first day, we’re back for a second serving of prog brilliancy. Today 10 bands play, from 2 in the afternoon all the way until midnight. 10 bands, bringing the best of their beautiful repertoires. It was a pity we missed out on one of the bands though: Ross Jennings, who opened the festival, played in the small hall and that was full right from the start! There was simply no getting through… good to see that people are actually showing up for the opening’s acts as well! Headliner for today: Leprous! Like Katatonia yesterday, Leprous played a set of songs by request, and their setlist can be found here.
The King of Clubs once again did not disappoint. With the warmth of the spring day still lingering at show time, it was a beautiful night to head out and catch some live music! The lineup for the evening was headlined by the amazing Tantric and supported by the one and only KrashKarma. Additional support was provided by 2 Ohio bands, This Day Forever and Twenty-Second Dimension.
When I discovered Author & Punisher back in 2018 at Blowup festival in Helsinki, I was blown away with the uniqueness and creativeness of the project. The industrial doom that Tristan Shone literally bangs out with his machinery is damn-right impressive, captivating and one of a kind. So whenever A & P is in the neighborhood, you can count on me being there if it’s any bit possible. Looking at the usual industrial fare that Elektrik Products usually brings to Finland, I was kind of surprised to see this act being booked by them but hey, I’m not complaining. They fleshed out the line-up of the night with their friends of Eggvn and Pedigree, turning it into a promising night of harsh beats and heavy music.
After 2 cancelled editions (thanks to the pandemic), Prognosis festival finally took place in Effenaar in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Not every band that was originally planned could make it anymore, but at least the organization managed to replace every cancellation with a worthy replacement. Some had to cancel, others insisted on being there even if they couldn’t be there with the complete band. The Ocean for example: their vocalist recently had an accident, leaving him in a wheelchair for 2 months with 8 fractures. Still they were there, playing an instrumental set without him. How’s that for dedication?
This was only the second edition of the festival and they already had visitors from 45 countries! Not too surprising with an amazing line-up like this! Prog may be a genre that is sometimes a little harder to digest for many, but it can also count on a large group of real dedicated fans. Less common instruments can also be found here. Next to a flute and a hurdy-gurdy, the first band (Argus) opened with a theremin! If you don’t know what that is, you should check out the pictures below.
Due to the overlapping time schedules and the different sizes of both venues, it was sometimes very hard to get in (the small venue). Therefore we regret not getting the chance to take pictures of Novena, as the place was full, there was no getting through. But good on them for getting a full house showing up for their show!
Headliner for day one: Katatonia! The set list was ‘by request’ and can be found here.
I haven’t been at a concert this big in years, just too bad the crowd seemed to have forgotten how to concert. Even though there were over 11.000 thousand people there was seemingly almost nothing to indicate they were there. I even took my ear plugs out a few times to check if I could hear someone sing along or just scream for the band. In the front there were at least some excited fans but when I went to the back, the only thing I could hear from the fans was some talking and clapping between songs. Which seemed like a pity to me as the band themselves seemed so excited to be back on stage. At least towards the end of the show the fans woke up a little.
For me this was my first time of seeing Nightwish. The mixture between super emotional songs like ‘How’s the Heart’ and those songs packed with so much power that you feel like you’re part of the song is even more amazing live. Despite Floor having the flu, she was still pretty impressive, motoring through the show like nothing was going on. Very sympathetic was also that they congratulated their long-time sound technician for his 60th birthday with a song he ‘certainly’ never heard before, ‘Nemo’. Happy birthday from us as well.
If you have a chance to see them live yourself, I would definitely recommend to do so. The magic of today’s show lasted almost two full hours.
As support there was Lähiöbotox. Which was less enchanting, but at least brimming with of energy.
After postponing for two years The Picturebooks finally came to Stuttgart and delivered a fantastic gig. In the tradition of White Stripes or Blood Red Shoes the two guys from Gütersloh, Germany set the stage on fire only with guitar and drums. And an extremely remarkable way of playing the drums – what a power, force and pressure. The audience was in their garage rock style music with a lot of blues elements from the first song. Ending their show with ‘No Fucks Given’ and they sure did not!
The Picturebooks were supported by Black Mirrors – Belgium (Brussels) based garage rock and blues band which was a perfect fit. They heated up the venue and delivered a great show – above all singer Marcella Di Troia.
Insomnium, forerunners of the Finnish melodeath scene hasn’t been very lucky the past couple of years, having to cancel and postpone tour after tour, including the Finnish tour they had planned with very special guests Finntroll a while back already. Now finally we’re here and the show is happening! Kulttuuritalo was the place to be, for us the first time to catch a show like this at the Helsinki Culture House!
Finally she’s back! Almost 5 years ago I had the pleasure to see Eivør Pálsdóttir for the first time live since discovering her with the enchanting ‘Trøllabundin’ track. Now the lovely Eivør is back to play at exactly the same venue I saw her last: legendary Helsinki rock club Tavastia. With in the mean time yet another album under her belt with 2020’s ‘Segl’, it’s a show I’ve been looking forward to for a long time now. With her she brought the Danish funky alt-pop artist Lucky Lo to warm us up for her sweet and mesmerizing music and storytelling.
