01-09-2007 Radio 957 Event

Location: Särkänniemi, Tampere (Finland)
By: Sabine van Gameren

This small festival took place in Särkänniemi, which is a small amusement park in the city Tampere, Finland. It is organized by radio 957 and in between the performances we were pleased with the music they usually play on their radio.

When I entered the amusement park, I had absolutely no idea where to find the stage. Brilliant idea came up when I saw the 164 meters high observation tower. From there on, I would find the stage easily! And so I did. When arriving at the stage, there were already some fans gathering for their heroes. As I saw the merch and the things they wrote on the balloons they got with them, mostly Negative fans. My information tells me that Negative have to play last today.

Next to play is the heavy metal band Leverage. This works out way better! Back to the 80’s! Leadsinger Pekko Heino (also singer from Brother Firetribe) reminds me to Sebastian Bach (Skid row) Musically, I would not really compare them that way, but just the impression. It is clear that Leverage knows how to give a show, but the younger people at the front row are not all amused by Leverage. Luckily for the band, there are still enough people who appreciate it, since they really did a good job.

The Giant Leap. Maybe it was because it started raining, but it seems to be that not that much people are interested in The Giant Leap. Actually, it is not really something new. Just another pop/rock band. The only thing what got my attention was the white acoustic guitar the singer used during some songs. Not really much going on. Just standing there playing. Maybe they would like to see chairs onstage? Some people show their backs to the stage and then it is done for The Giant Leap. Too bad.

In total contrast with The Giant Leap, Kilpi plays next. Musically way more interesting. These guys have the skills. Instrumental a pleasure to hear! This band also makes some heavy metal, but on a different way then Leverage did. This is more harder and completely in Finnish. It does not matter, if you don’t understand the lyrics because the stage performance and the music it selves   pleases you more then enough anyway! A pleasant surprise! There is definitely an audience for them and they have a perfect interaction with them. Yes, Kilpi really did the trick.

When I said Kilpi brought some certain audience, then I should tell you about the audience Peer Günt brings. Picture this: Amusement park for the younger ones of us, colorful balloons everywhere, front row filled wit 13/14 year olds waiting for Negative and then suddenly… A group of older rockers wearing Motörhead merchandise, which clearly already enjoyed quite some beers during the day. Strange thought, isn’t it? But well… this is Finland and so it doesn’t matter. During the performance there is a man holding a huge cuddly toy fish on his head. He probably just won it at one of the stands in the park. It is amusing to see. Peer Günt was not really that pleasant for me to hear though. In the start, they seem to have lost their rhythms and I saw people looking at each other with question marks in their thought. What
was going on? What where they doing? Maybe they already had too much beers today.
Later on it became better, but still… I wonder what was going on. The audience who specially came to see these guys enjoyed the gig, but besides them there were not that much people who seem to appreciate it.

Then Poets of the Fall. Recently we had an interview with them and to quote some sentence from singer Marko: “I think we have a energetic live show. We have a strong contact with the audience. I think that would make us pretty   unique. We have a lot of good bands in the world who have this strong charisma as well but this one of our things… the interaction with the audience on a live show”. Today, this is definitely shown! Poets of the Fall kept their word and gave us an amazing live show. The pop/rock music from this band just   works out perfectly. They are ready to conquer the world! But today they got the audience in Särkänniemi. And it was huge. I don’t know where all the people came from, but it was like twice or maybe even 3 times as much as the audience during Peer Günt. During the show they threw some Winnie the Pooh bears in the audience which immediately returned in the hearts of the audience in their hands. As I said before, Poets of the Fall kept their word. They now how to give a live show. For me, definitely the best show of the day.

Probably not everyone agrees with that, since Negative still had to play. For me, there was no change I could get out of this audience since there are so many enthusiastic fans. So I had to see them building the stage and doing the   sound check. So many stuff was placed on the stage. It looks like a circus! Maybe a little too much show? Well, when Negative started it came clear. They even started of with typical circus music and on the stage hangs a huge picture of a clown which cries blood (albumcover). Yes, the amusement park is one of the best places for a Negative gig I realize. When they entered the stage I got quite shocked. Was this a younger version of Aerosmith?? With all the elements on the stage, the way of dressing and even the way they perform I just can’t deny that this looks so much like them. Musically, it is not like Aerosmith. No, they really have an own style in music. But when I look to the guitarist which is called Larry Love I feel like I am looking to Joe Perry. And then when I see Jonne Aaron (singer) walking on the stage playing around with the attributes  onstage and the audience, I feel like I am watching a young version of Steven Tyler. Clearly to see who their heroes are. I saw aerosmith twice this summer and have seen them quite some years ago as well, so I immediately recognized   this typicalway of performing. This all makes it interesting to see a show, although I did not feel very comfortable between the Negative fans. I can stand a moshpit, but from here I don’t know what to expect. It turned out to be ok. Just some screaming and pushing around. So enough time to see how they are musically. Well… Most songs seem to be pretty emotional. Voice of Jonne  Aaron is pretty nice. Guitarists do a great job. Bassist seems to be a little shy in music. All together the band is definitely worth to see live once. It is an interesting experience.

By: sabinevangameren.com