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OTHER MUSIC
BANDS OF FESTIVALS
GODS OF METAL: APOCALYPTICA
It's 4 pm and one of the most extravagant bands ever is going up on the stage of Gods of Metal 2008, one of the most waited stages of the whole Summer festival scenario.
The Finnish Apocalyptica founded a new musical genre at the beginning of 90': they play metal with cellos.
You can love or hate a band like this, in fact many people didn't agree with their appearance in a metal festival.. but, after the exhibition, some of them have changed their own opinion.
The scenography shows the cover of their last album "Worlds Collide", it's grey instead of purple. Finally they get on stage and in 45 minutes they offer us a miscellaneous setlist, with their own songs and some cover. (The ones that first amused the audience at the beginning of their career)
The show starts with "Refuse/Resist" of Sepultura and the audience is already excited under the burning sun. They go on with the strong and refined "Grace", composed by them. It's time of a couple of covers: “Fight Fire With Fire” of Four Horsemen and “Heroes” of David Bowie.
Now we can listen to the melodies of “Nothing Else Matters” (maybe the best cover for their style) and "Seek and Destroy" by Metallica.. I notice that the crowd is exalted like never before.
One of the heaviest song of the exhibition is "Hall Of The Mountain King” of course, thanks to the drums' support.
On these melodies the audience is really unleashed but it's stopped by the people who wanted to enjoy the show in absolute tranquillity and be drown in the charming music of Apocalyptica.
The answer of the audience it’s been more than satisfying from the audience and from the stage too where the musicians were energetic more than ever; for example in some song such as Life burns or the most famous covers as Nothing else matters, in the absence of their singer we sang loudly all the songs and not only the people in front of them, but also who has decided to stay away from the stage to eat something or to have some relax under the sun.
Another thing to talk about is the energy of these four Finnish guys, if you think they sit on their stools you are wrong... They behave like true metal musicians during the show!
In the end I would like to add: if you listen to Apocalyptica cds and you're worried about the live versions of the songs (like often happens with metal bands), I can ensure you that in an Apocalyptica show there's not limit to their suggestion and you won't be disappointed.
XAerith ( translated by My Selene)
THE CARBON SILICON AT THE GURTEN FESTIVAL
Should I stay or should I go?
I don’t even remember at what time they came on stage, but I surely remember that one was the question wandering into my mind while I was sitting on the desert front row of the Gurten festival in Bern waiting for HIM to play.
Too many hours behind us…too many hours to wait still, and I absolutely didn’t know any of the bands who would play on that stage before the ones I was waiting for.
And the sun was burning me alive.
Then I’ve heard that voice, and everything came back into my mind; that question was the right one but at that moment I knew the right answer.
I couldn’t go, because in front of me, I suddenly woke up when I’ve heard his voice, there was one of the idols of my young days, the lead singer of the band The Clash…”Should I stay or should I go” was one of their most beloved success when I was not a kid anymore but still not a woman, and I’ve always loved that kind of music.
Staying in front of such a rock monster, such a celebrity, made my hands shake a bit, just the time to realize I’ve never seen and heard someone playing guitar in such a natural way, looked like he was drinking a cup of tea or something like that.
This is my review about the Carbon Silicon concert I had the honour to see, waiting for HIM to play after hours and hours of waiting.
Carbon Silicon is a band which has seen the light thanks to Mick Jones (the lead singer of the band Clash ) and Tony James (Generation X , Sigue Sigue Sputnik) in the late 2002; with different luck they started to believe they would have made the right mix to put on a band and have a discrete success continuing to make the music they love, and that really happened, even if now they just are the opening act in the middle of a summer afternoon in a festival.
But they have been great , in their ways, in their times, that have been mine too.
I’ve been a great fan of the Clash and of course as a young woman I’ve been attracted by the cyber punk of Sigue Sigue Sputnik in the late 80’s, and couldn’t resist on clapping my hands when I’ve seen who I was in front of nearly a month ago.
The whole band is completed by Leo “Eezykill” Williams on bass and Dominic Greensmith on drums; a mix of soft rock atmospheres, leaded by the two guitars in front of the stage, two beautiful voices, really particular the first one of Mick Jones and a little rough the second one of Tony James.
Used to play in small English clubs, it must have been a bit difficult for Mick Jones to play in front of an annoyed by sun small crowd in Switzerland, above all with his dark violet suit, not really comfortable with that hot; but anyway a good fresh beer helped, and the front row clapping hands too.
It seems they have just started their career; instead they already have 8 coming out ep’s and sort of samples downloadable from the Internet with many different songs.
Just in the late 2007 anyway “The last post” is released, and this is the first official hard copy cd, mixed by Bill Price in London at Metropolis studios.
The concert is pleasant, good songs in the old school English soft rock, good guitar riffs played with a natural style, good lyrics, sometimes a bit rough towards the British crown family, as usual we’d say. An hour of good music I have to admit; unfortunately I don’t remember the setlist, but I believe the most affected ones would remember it, I’ve seen several parents with kids dancing at the sound of the guitar, with their eyes staring at these sacred monsters of the early 80’s british rock.
Yes, we were there for HIM, but this has been the most wonderful surprise in the whole story; for a moment I felt I was a teenager again, watching Videomusic (MTV was not born yet) and singing along “Should I stay or should I go” and “21st century boy” while I was making my homeworks.
They didn’t play any of these songs, of course they are different songs and not Carbon Silicon ones, but the echoes of the past were on stage together with this new band which is not new, because it is formed by something I’ve been fond of for many years, and I’ll be of course for the rest of my life, refreshed by this unexpected appointment we had waiting for my new idols to come out onstage and make me happy.
When they came onstage I was already smiling, because I was 15 again, and I knew I definately had to stay.
Nailedtoacross-Monica
ANKKAROCK
AMORPHIS
Saturday August 2nd, first day of Ankkarock Festival.
I've been anxious for one month or more waiting for this day to come because I've already knew it would have been full of emotions.
In fact I can attend the concerts of two bands I adore in only one day: HIM and Amorphis, and the last ones I'm going to talk about.
I saw them one year ago for the last time, and now Tale, Monnii, Lalla and I are placed not too far from the stage. The wait is pleasant with Tracedawn, a Finnish band formed by young talented guys, and the greatest W.A.S.P.
It's half past 3 p.m., the preparation of Amorphis' stage starts and in the meantime I start going crazy, because I don't know how I could react seeing them again.
Finally at 4 o' clock we can hear the first melodies of I Of Crimson Blood, have no idea of my facial expression... I only know that my hands start to shake as never before.
They are in good shape and mood and kind with the audience, it's wonderful to see them live because, in my own opinion, they're such good musicians that it seems to be at home with the stereo turned on.
As always they play songs from Silent Waters, Eclipse, adding some old songs from Tales From The Thousand Lakes... I do not notice that the time is passing so fast and I'm lost in Tomi's voice, he's so shy out of the stage but becomes an animal when he has a microphone in his hands.
I love the riffs of Esa and Jan at the drums make me going crazy!
What else to say... it has been absolutely fantastic, lots of emotions... I would get back there even now to live that day again.
Sweet Pandemonium ( translated by My Selene)
SONATA ARTICA
There's not a second time without the third one, so... here I am.
It's the second day of Ankkarock and I stand in the first row with Lory, waiting for Sonata Arctica, one of my favourite band.
I saw them only twice before, the first time in Milan and then in Helsinki, but the wish to see them again is growing minute by minute. During the afternoon we attend the Poets of The Fall's performance, once again we can listen to some good music from Finland.
At 4 p.m., unfortunately it starts raining and now the stage is ready... the audience is waiting for them till this morning.
I try to see something through the hood of my waterproof coat , but then I decide to remove it, it doesn't matter if at the end of the gig I'll be wet like a chick!
Like I've already noticed last year in Helsinki, they perform more songs from the last album UNIA in their Finnish shows... anyway the setlist was a bit short (but that's what we expect for a festival appearance), with their greatest successes: Paid In Full, Kingdom For A Heart, Fullmoon, Replica, Don't Say A Word, The Cage, and the unfailing Vodka Song at the end of the show.
A look at my watch, everything is coming to an end and this short, miserable hour is spent too quickly. Beautiful smiling as always, they greet the audience who sang with them for all the time, they launch plectrums and towels... one last bow before they leave the stage and I'm already counting the hours for when they'll back in Italy this November.
My Selene
W.A.S.P.
The husky voice of Blackie Lawless reaches my ears again.
But I’m not listening to a cd, or my i-pod, it is a live gig, I am in Finland and I’m attending to the Ankkarock festival in Korso, the airport town near Helsinki with my friends, the usual ones which come with me in Finland for holidays and concerts.
It’s the third stage of the festival, I frankly can’t understand why such a band like W.A.S.P. are playing on the stage that usually hosts the newcoming bands…they are monsters of rock and metal, I mean, they ARE metal music, they helped to create it with other names like Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper and so on, just to name the most famous and not to be unfair with the many other ones which now I don’t remember but still are great.
L.O.V.E machine starts it all, and takes me back when I was a little girl and my mother was shocked because my schoolmates were used to listen to the cartoons’ soundtracks and I already was into rock music; it is not my fault, music runs into my veins, but I have to chose it, and the soundtrack of my life is made by drums and metal guitars, by deep voices and riffs…I can’t really see myself listening to something quiet even if sometimes I try, it helps me to become sad, and this life is worth living, I don’t want to waste it being sad.
And in that particular moment I am not happy, but super happy, because it is a dream coming true; I came in Finland with friends to see HIM as always, but this time I have the occasion to attend to some more gigs and finally see onstage some of my favourite bands, W.A.S.P. on top of them.
So when I see them coming onstage and starting the gig with one of my favourite songs I can’t be just happy.
It seems all so fast, and it’s always the same story, when you are enjoying you time it passes faster, the songs roll out from the drums and the guitars one after the other and you wouldn’t want to let them go even if it’s already more than an hour they play and you are so happy end excited that you can’t even remember the setlist.
Some new songs follow the old ones, taken from the last album Dominator that has nothing to envy to the previous ones; Blackie’s voice is still so rough but powerful, I’d never have said it because time goes by and years go by with it and everything together…but they are still so energetic onstage, they run and dance with their instruments, shivers down the spine with “I wanna be somebody” just as with “Heaven’s hung in black” ; almost 25 years in between the two songs, and it doesn’t seem a single second is gone, maybe they are a little more slow than the first years, but the quality of the songs is not changed, there is power, there is melody, their voices together in the choruses , the wonderful guitar solos and just their presence on stage.
Blackie seems to take half of it, he talks to the crowd, runs during the guitar solos and enjoy their performance as it would be the first one and not just one of the many and many they already had and they will surely have in the future.
The sun is coming and going, it is not a nice day in Korso, but it’s okay because I could say I was waiting this moment for 20 years; it is extremely lovely to see adults with kids at the concert and the kids singing along with them to the oldest songs, they haven’t been yet born when these songs were playing in their parent’s stereos, but that’s a good thing, this means that good music is not dead yet and there still is a culture of the past, because without the past there couldn’t be a good future, and W.A.S.P. is one of the best past you can take your kids to, to let them learn how to build a better musical future, the best one ever.
Nailedtoacross-Monica
HANOI ROCKS
The sky is grey in this finnish August: every now and then the people of the barrier raises his head to watch those leaden clouds that promise rain. Around 3 and 30 p.m. the crowd throngs increasingly near the first stage: between half an hour Hanoi Rocks will play their gig , they are legends of glam rock, one of the first finnish band internationally known.
And, as a miracle, when at 4 p.m. the multi coloured and eccentric Michael Monroe makes his appearance on stage with his band, a slice of blue sky opens and the sun finally appears. Time doesn’t seem to be passed for Monore and McCoy, two old lions always present despite of the many changes occurred in the line-up of the band.
Dressed of gaudy red , with glitters and paillettes,, the microphone decorated by a boa made of pink feathers, Monroe enriches his performance with bodily performances worthy of a circus acrobat: he climbs up one of the support sides of the stage , then stealthily jumps into the crowd . The audience remains galvanized by the energy and music then, caught by the show, begins to become electrified. And from that moment onwards it’s all a challenge to take the gadgets who are launched from the stage, to take part into the acrobatic performances, to McCoy’s changes of guitar : everything is a show with this band.
Certainly a great show but also music, thanks to Monroe’s sax , to Andy McCoy and Connie Bloom’s guitars, to Christell ‘s bass and Lacu’s drums; music that talks us about a rock maybe a bit retro , but performed with mastery , something that the people show to enjoy and that allows us to spend nicely the waiting for our beloved HIM to come.
Mrs. Lindstrom
Planned and developed by Mrs Lindstrom with the help of Nailedtoacross, Legolas di Mirkwood,
Shikaia590 and Maia.Editor in chief: Mrs Lindstrom, Graphic Project: Dan[616]
