29-09 & 01-10-2023 Poisonblack

Poisonblack announced that they would return to the stage to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of their debutalbum “Escapextacy” and since Tempelores have been reporting about this band since the beginning, it made sense for us to get a team to see the show.

We ended up going to two shows, in Tampere and Helsinki. Here is how we experienced that.

Tampere

Upon arrival a handful of people were already queuing for this evening, the venue we were going to spend our evening in, Olympia Kortteli, is one that seems to be a theater rather than a concert venue. The warm and cosy atmosphere and the beautiful surroundings made up for the two hour wait we had to go through today. Maybe the venue should consider putting up a documentary or a movie for the entertainment while waiting for no supportact was with them.

But when the band enters the stage there is a varied evening ahead. Even though the band is celebrating their debut, the first part of the set consist of songs that were released at later albums, brought by the different members that have been part of Poisonblack through the years. Whether it are the energetic songs the band starts with (we try not to spoil the entire setlist for those who don’t want to know yet) or the more calm “Scars”, the audience seems to be singing along.

When the band changes over to the “Escapextacy” part of the setlist, the audience is served with the part they could anticipate the most for, the songs that got many to follow these Finns. The combination of Ville on guitars and JP on vocals is one that not many got to witness live in the past years, so certainly an unique sight. And it is done with much joy as it seems. The songs are coming alive easily and a high level of energy rages through the venue.

Almost two hours later the guys leave the stage and the magic is over. Some fans able to see another show, others leaving the venue satisfied as is.

Helsinki

After the Tampere show, the band has two shows in Helsinki on the calendar. We were able to attend the second show in On The Rocks, a venue which is always very hospitable so we were happy to visit the place for the fourth time in about a week time. If you look for a drink without a show the upstairs bar is a good recommendation as well.

The evening would be quite the same as the show in Tampere for the band was having the same set list along, but in the cosy On The Rocks it all hits a bit different. Now, we have seen a lot of people traveling from abroad already so an international audience was giving acte de presence.

In general the response the band got was perhaps wilder even than before. The band has no effort to put in for the audience to get energetic. With an equal joy as we saw before the band goes through the set list. Interesting to see that there are some other songs of the set list that received the strongest response. The temperature is rising and while the band occasionally shares some words in English with the audience the band is going through the songs fast enough. Yet, another close to two hours on the clock and when Ville and JP are both on vocals to close it off with a powerful “Rush” the highlight is reached.

A few more shows are ahead for the bands, but intimate setting as here in On The Rocks won’t be the same when brought to Tavastia. It is sold out nevertheless. A nice opportunity for people who haven’t been able to see Poisonblack before, or want to reminisce the “Escapaxtacy” days .