21-05-2017 The 69 Eyes

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A nice evening full of goth’n’roll was awaiting the fans of The 69 Eyes on a sunny evening in Hamburg. The Helsinki Vampires have been back for a couple of shows in Germany and it was great but also surprising to see them again. All in all, the last album Universal Monsters was released last year so I personally was not expecting the band to come back to Germany to play in clubs for one more time. However, this was the perfect chance for me since I missed them last year when they played live and surely I was expecting some surprises as well….

Due to our interview with Jyrki69, we had to skip the support act Creepshow so when we arrived to the venue, it was already packed with the fans eagerly waiting for The 69 Eyes. The crowd was mixed; some young as well as some old fans could be seen.

As soon as the band started their set, the energy and the heat rose in an instant. Having seen the band a few times, it was such a great feeling to start the night with one of my favorite songs, “Framed In Blood”… At that moment, I knew that tonight was gonna be the ‘greatest hits’ of the band…and I wasn’t wrong. Throughout the night, the band played not only the new songs from the latest album but also some classics such as “Still Waters Run Deep”, “The Chair”, “Never Say Die”. The band saved the highlights for the last as they played “Wasting The Dawn”, “Gothic Girl” and “Lost Boys” before saying goodbye. In this aspect, it was great to see them coming back again and playing their classics. I could definitely see the loyal fanbase as people could sing along and dance to the songs. Although the fans were also excited about the new songs, the classics were the highlights of the evening.

When we are talking about The 69 Eyes, we are not only talking about a band but a group of friends who have bombastic stage presence. I have seen many shows but these guys definitely know how to rock the stage without faking it. It’s not only the front man Jyrki69 who rocks with his charisma but the band as a whole definitely delivers us amazing music. As a matter of fact, I have realized that this time the band is even more mature not in the sense of ‘they have become old’ but they are definitely more experienced and they know what they are doing. Especially if you are a 69 Eyes fan like I am, it’s great to see these guys rocking it and being together after many many years. Apart from this great stage presence, one highlight was definitely seeing the interaction between the band and the audience; the band was definitely in the mood and happy as ever. Towards the end of the show, the drummer Jussi gave two roses to ‘the gothic girls’ in the front row and Jyrki made a great gesture to a fan in a wheelchair by giving her his bracelet. It was these little moments which made the night pretty colorful!

What more is there to say? Thanks to the Helsinki vampires for keeping goth’n’roll alive and I hope we get to see many more albums and many more shows!

Text: Başak Günel

Photos: Tim Wilczura for Heavy Harlequin
https://www.facebook.com/HeavyHarlequin/

Links:
The 69 Eyes Official
The 69 Eyes Facebook