31-12-2009/01-01-2010 Season of Sounds

Venue: Gloria, Helsinki (Finland)
By: Nina Mende

Day 1:
While all tourists seemed to be celebrating their New Years Eve at Helldone, locals and insiders had their own festival at Gloria for New Years Eve and the day after. Two days full of great bands, a DJ, fashion shows and even pole dancers on New Year’s Day: Season Of Sounds.
It was the first of a series of festivals yet to come throughout the seasons. The festival began at 8:30 pm each day and lasted till about 2 in the morning. Most people came later throughout the evening and were not there right from the beginning, which was a pity but sort of normal. This festival was a K-18 show, which means you had to be 18 or older to get in.

The first band opening the festival was V For Violence. The guys from Helsinki did a good job in opening and rocked Gloria even though it was still quite empty. V For Violence played many songs of their just recently released album. There were many fans in the front rows singing and dancing along to the music, cheering out loud after each song. The band seemed very happy on stage and shared their positive vibes with everybody at Gloria. V For Violence rocked the stage in the dark light for about 40 minutes before the next band was on stage to rock away the last few remaining hours of 2009.

The next band was United Underworld. UNITED UNDERWORLD is a band that has been making a name for themselves in the Finnish rock scene since the turn of the millennium when they started winning over audiences playing at rock clubs large and small around Helsinki. Many know the band because of the reputation of frontman VILLE TUOMI, the man with a distinctive voice unmatched and a performer with charisma unsurpassed by his peers, also known as the vocalist of the late great Kyyria and Suburban Tribe. With a lot of fog and very little light the stage was almost invisible so you could concentrate more on the music. The rock tunes lead by an energetic vocalist definitely got everybody rocking along. The band played a lot with the audience and got them hyped up. For about 40 minutes you could watch United Underworld rock the Gloria stage.

Now it was time for T.A.P. to entertain the crowd which had grown quite a lot by now. T.A.P. (Tales About People) music style settles in rock with huge sounds and great melodies with now English lyrics. Their single ”Careless” was released in January and includes two songs (Careless and Mirror). Lately T.A.P has been touring a lot for example in Germany, Czech Republic and France. Now all the teenage girls were pushing to the front row. The handsome boys performed very passionate and emotional. The songs were touchy. Somehow T.A.P reminded me of Uniklubi. Tonight they sang all songs in Finish. Many of the girls were singing along. The singer used the catwalk for his performance as well and walked it up and down while singing. T.A.P. put up a very nice show. Too bad it couldn’t last longer.

Up next was Suicide Love Boat from Tampere. “One cruise. A horrible accident. 5 survivors. Ten years on a remote island. Now they have returned from the land far away to bring you hell and destruction. Come and join the cruise on the SUICIDE LOVE BOAT.” That’s what they say about themselves at least. With face paint and a lot of energy they rocked out big time to their songs. A little creepy their music seemed but it was also fun to watch they guys. You could tell they really enjoyed performing. Gloria was quite crowded by now. In the middle of their performance they called for Misty Fingers to count down the very last seconds before the New Year would begin. To not stand there “all alone” they go up almost everybody of the audience and celebrated the New Year together before Suicide Love Boat continued with their show. Somehow many people left after their show.

The last band of the evening was Hybrid Children. The band has been main force in the Finnish punk scene since 1991. After numerous adventures and mishaps the band has found the best line-up ever and their 7th full length album FIGHT AS ONE was unleashed in Finland in January 14th 2009 with Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands & Luxembourg following in March 20th. The critics have already praised the new album as a “best of their career” and the band is ready to introduce their Social Distortion -influenced punk-metal-rock to new and wider audiences. With a stand-in guitar player, Ilari from Private Line, Hybrid Children rocked the New Year. Jasse, the singer talked quite a bit with the audience. The fans cheered, sang along and danced. Hybrid Children kicked the last assed before this wonderful first day of Season Of Sounds was over.

Day 2:

Second band today was The Jade. Band signed a record deal in 2008. Noteworthy German tours followed in April and October, the latter included a show in Switzerland also. Also two previous singles from Seconds Away From Salvation album already made their way to the official TOP 10 Charts. With a lot of power the band began their performance. All songs are known to people who followed the band for a few years already. So many people were singing along, some where even dancing. Everybody had a good time and enjoyed the catchy songs of The Jade.

Now Matthau Mikojan entered the stage. Matthau Mikojan is a talented songwriter and he has a burning heart of a real rock star. Matthau Mikojan is also an explosive band of three young rock musicians: Matthau Mikojan, Teemu Broman and Simo Stenman. Gloria was full by now. Many fans were gathering in the front rows, singing along, dancing along, cheering out loud and adoring their favorite band. Passionate and emotional the trio performed their songs. Matthau Mikojan and band played old and new songs, you could tell they all enjoyed it.

After Matthau Mikojan it was time for another fashion show. The same people and clothes as on the day before were presented.

Now Damian Cullen began their show. From the gutters of London comes singer/songwriter Damian Cullen. This new Finnish based band stinks of angst & attitude & contains more glamour than any top shelf dirty magazine & armed with what can only be described as classic rock anthems that bite deep into the bone. Damian Cullen is a Jim Morrison, Johnny Rotten & Glen Danzig in a melting pot. Reminding of 80s rock music wise and the singer even look wise the band rocked Gloria. Accompanied by two pole dancers for a few songs. A nice band with an interesting singer.

Getting closer to the end Day Eleven now hit the stage, a rock band from Tampere. Compared to the day before there were still many people at Gloria, there to see Day Eleven. Their rock music is quite hard yet melodic and touchy. Self secure and passionate the young rockers performed. Day Eleven played mostly new songs. A catchy performance that definitely got your soul. For the last song Simo from Matthau Mikojan joined the drummer.

Links:
Season of Sounds Website
V for Violence MySpace
United Underworld MySpace
T.A.P MySpace
Suicide Love Boat MySpace
So Called Plan MySpace
Hybrid Children MySpace
God Given Ass MySpace
The Jade MySpace
Matthau Mikojan MySpace
Damian Cullen MySpace
Day Eleven MySpace
Iconcrash MySpace