sauna open air
05 - 07 June 2009
Tampere, Finland
background
Based in Tampere, Finland, Sauna Open Air was launched in 2004. In these few short years the festival has become on of the largest music festivals dedicated to metal and the likes in the Nordic countries.
In 2006 over 20 000 people attended the festival, held in Ratinanniemi Park, Tampere, to watch bands like Cradle of Filth, Finntroll, Lordi, Twisted Sister and W.A.S.P.
Keep checking the official site for more information.
line up
Friday 05 June
Deuteronomium
Amorphis
45 Degree Woman
Duff McKagan's Loaded
Medeia
Soilwork
Viikate
Apocalyptica
Saturday 06 June
Profane Omen
Sparzanza
Sturm Und Drang
Poisonblack
Prestige
Hammerfall
Finntroll
Mötley Crüe
Sunday 07 June
Kotiteollisuus
Omnium Gatherum
Kamelot
Bullet
Stratovarius
Thor
Nightwish
Previous bands by year:
2008
Airbourne, Amorphis, Children of Bodom, Diablo, Eläkeläiset, Iiwanajulma, Joe Lynn Turner & Graham Bonnett, Kius, Kypck, Masterstroke, Mokoma, MoonMadness, Rytmihäiriö, Scorpions, Sebastian Bach. Sonata Arctica, Stam1na, Stone, Testament, Tracedawn, When the Empire Falls, Whitesnake, Widescreen Mode,
2007
Ari Koivunen, Dark Tranquility, Dimmu Borgir, Entwine, Heaven & Hell, Korpiklaani, Kotipelto, Kotiteollisuus, Leverage, Los Bastardos Finlandeses, Megadeth, Pain Confessor, Poisonblack, Sabaton, Sonata Arctica, Swallow the Sun, Stam1na, Thunderstone, Timo Rautiainen, Type O Negative
2006
April, The Black League, Blake, Charon, Cradle of Filth, Diablo, Ensiferum, Finntroll, The Flaming Sideburns, Iggy & The Stooges, Kiuas, Lordi, Stam1na, Turmion Kätilöt, Twisted Sister, Verjnuarmu, W.A.S.P.
2005
Amoral, Deathchain, Dio, Dreamtale, Kiuas, Kotipelto, Machine Men, Megadeth, Mokoma, Moonsorrow, Norther, Pain, Roctum, Sentenced, Slayer, Sonata Arctica, Teräsbetoni
2004
Children of Bodom, Diablo, Dreamtale, Finntroll, Helloween, Lordi, My Fate, Nightwish, Swallow the Sun, Tarot, Thunderstone, Twilightning, Underwear
information
tickets
Buy tickets!
accommodation
Information about Tampere - including accommodation information
The festival does not have a camping area so finding alternative accommodation will be necessary
flights
Flights to Tampere:
Ryanair
Flights to Helsinki:
British Airways
Finnair
SAS
age limit
Sauna Open Air Metal festival has no age limit.
Children under seven years are free of charge when attending the festival with their parents. Age limit to bar areas is eighteen. Age limit to after parties will be confirmed later.
cameras
Video and professional cameras and recorders are not allowed.
more information
For more information regarding travel / festival etc please visit the information link on Sauna's site. (Scroll down for English version)
links
Official Sauna Open Air site
photos
Click on a photo to see the full set
2009
Sunday 07 June
Saturday 06 June
Friday 05 June
2007
Saturday 09 June
Friday 08 June
Thursday 07 June
reviews
05 - 07 June 2009
Friday
And so kicks off another festival season and three months of partying in Finland as Sauna Open Air opens its gates. Unfortunately the weather is not at its best for a change and the rain ponchos make an appearance throughout the day. As usual they don’t open early enough and poor first band on, Deuteronomium, literally have forty five people watching them on Stage 2 when we manage to push in the queue to get to them by the third song. This doesn’t seem to faze singer Miika Partala at all though and he looks happy enough just to be there at all. Not dissimilar to Children of Bodom, whirling long blonde hair when not singing, with growly vocals and a lot of shredding. A pleasant but thoroughly metal start to the day. Dodgy name though; try saying that a few times when you’re drunk.
The switch between the two stages begins and we troop off to the main stage for Amorphis. Their current album went straight in at Number 1 on the Finnish album charts that week which was great news and well deserved. Singer Tomi Joutsen immediately makes an impression with his outrageously long dreadlocks (some now down to his knees) and bizarre 50s style microphone. Amorphis are poets but also great musicians and have style and class that makes them stand out in their native country to other bands doing similar work. The guitars reminded me of UK Goff band Fields of the Nephilim in places, very melodic. Unfortunately an hour later it had started to sound a bit samey, and I would have preferred a shorter set to kick off the day and leave me wanting more to be honest.
45 Degree Woman were up next on Stage 2. Tight, but alas, rather unmemorable. The only notable comment really being that the drummer looked like the singer of Amorphis.
First “big” international name of the day saw Duff McKagan’s Loaded take to the stage. Dressed in black beanie and shades and polo neck, Duff was looking very bug like and not particularly attractive. Very drawn like a junkie is not an attractive look. They had been in Finland four days so the suomi-boozing may have been taking its toll. Heavy guitars opened with Sick. There were great backing vocals from the bass player who had the girls slightly swooning. There were some funky 70s grooves in places and a cover of Iggy Pop’s I Wanna Be Your Dog. Things livened up when Hanoi Rocks’ vocalist Michael Monroe joined them on stage for It's So Easy (G’n'R), Attitude (Misfits) and New Rose (The Damned). Monroe was well on form in leather flares, PVC jacket and gold shoes, his trademark climbing of the stage rigging and then doing the splits. Very entertaining and worked brilliantly. Good call.
Back on Stage 2 Medeia had stepped into the breach at the last minute as Meshuggah were forced to cancel (surprise). Powerful guitars and thrash vocals to hurt your ears.
Swedes Soilwork hit the main stage with deep growls from big bald and tattooed front man Bjorn "Speed" Strid. Soilwork play at 100 mph but there’s great tunes from the lead guitar and more tuneful vocals from Strid in places too, making it totally listenable whilst keeping its aggression. Sauna was only one of two festivals they were playing this year, one in Finland and one in Sweden and Strid wanted to see action yelling: “Prove yourselves, you guys ready to destroy this f***ing place? Lets see what you’ve got, I wanna see a huge f***ing circle pit let’s do it Sauna Open Air!”. And he actually got a pit… in Finland! No mean feat. Great performance.
Viikate had the tricky job of filling in on Stage 2 whilst everyone got ready for the headlining act, but pulled a huge crowd and went down well with the Finns who like their slightly folky rock about long cold winters, death, and hunger from this well-known band. Singer Kaarle Viikate with his huge sideburns was instantly recognisable. Too safe and not metal enough for me for Sauna, but tightly delivered and went down well with the home crowd.
APOCALYPTICA were the eagerly awaited headliners on the main stage to top off Friday night’s entertainment, and didn’t disappoint. They never do. The huge skull-shaped thrones and lit up transparent drum kit set the scene for another electrifying performance from the cellists who just never seem to do a less than brilliant show. All the classics made the set list, old and new, Grace, Betrayal, Bittersweet, Metallica covers… with the band looking like they were having a blast throughout. The crowd were given a special treat when Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica joined them on stage to sing I’m Not Jesus and Life Burns (and as one of our press colleagues commented, for once not looking like he got dressed in the dark!). Perttu Kivilaakso and Eicca Toppinen took it in turns to take the mic between songs to chat to the crowd and introduce songs, and Paavo Lötjönen jumped about in his white shoes urging the crowd on and had play fights with Toppinen. The Kakko returned to perform I Don’t Care in the encore. You could not have asked for a better performance. They gave it all they had, longhair whirling, cellos held above their heads in triumph, and as always were just simply breathtaking.
Apocalyptica setlist:
Wherever I May Roam
Refuse / ResisN
Grace
Fight Fire with Fire
One
I’m not Jesus (w/ Tony Kakko)
Life Burns (w/ Tony Kakko)
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Betrayal
Bittersweet
Last Hope
Seek and Destroy
Inquisition Symphony
******
I Don’t Care
Enter Sandman
Peikko
Saturday
A slightly better day weather wise sees Profane Omen open up on Stage 2 on the Saturday afternoon. You know how sometimes you focus on something and then can’t get away from it? Their bass player had different colour hair to his beard… that really distracted me. Meanwhile the singer, Jules Näveri got the day off to a great start with massively strong vocals to support the aggressive metalcore sound and heavy guitars.
Openers on the main stage were Sparzanza from Sweden. Bass player Johan Carlsson had his horns up from the start and they immediately blasted us with catchy as hell, powerful melodic and heavy rock. Bald singer Fredrik Weilby looked incredibly smart in his shirt and tie, and left us all wide-eyed and open-mouthed when we heard his amazing strong and powerful voice belting out tracks from their latest album In Voodoo Veritas. They also have an awesomely cool voodoo pin doll logo that got them extra brownie points. Sparzazna were a fantastic discovery and I’ll be definitely checking these guys out again in future.
Finnish teenagers Sturm Und Drang were next up on the second stage. These guys were doing metal covers when they were 13 but their debut album of self-written catchy rock saw them signed to HIM’s label and out on tour round Europe with Apocalyptica by the time they were 15 & 16. Don’t let their age fool you… these kids can play like demons. Guitarist Alex Ivars is the coolest rock star in Finland with newly bleached hair, along with embroidered PVC jacket, and shades and oozes style. Singer André Linman, complete with Alexi Laiho guitar made rather strange use of his vocals constantly turning away from the mic today which I found rather annoying. Tiny Jeppe Welroos peered over his keyboards and drummer Calle Fahllund is one of the most energetic drummers around, loving what he does. They ran though lots of tracks from the latest album Rock ‘n Roll Children and threw in classic Iron Maiden cover Fear of the Dark and massive hit single Rising Son from the debut Learning to Rock for good measure. Linman can shred with the best of them and the whole package is a tight professional melodic rock band with memorable hooks and great musicianship, well advanced for their tender years. Screaming teenies and metal heads alike loved it despite it not being one of their best performances.
More Finnish rock gods on the other stage next as Ville Laihiala‘s Poisonblack take to the stage. Still never quite managing to shake the Sentenced tag, Laihiala is thankfully on form today, slightly more than normal. He has raspy vocals in places, and along with PB’s heavy riffs it sounds good this live and this loud. Laihiala pounds his shiny flying V as they perform tracks from the album Dead Heavy Day as long-haired Marco Sneck punishes his forward bending keyboards. It’s on performances like this, and with classic songs from their debut album like Rush that it doesn’t matter Sentenced came to an end, because when Poisonblack are good, they’re REALLY good. Today was one of those performances.
Prestige are next on Stage 2 and may have had a few beers before they went on! With bottle of Jäger in hand, these old timers have been together for over 20 years now and are back after a decade break. Singer / bassist Aku Kytölä has the dopiest of grins, a random turquoise bass and then, just when you expected some sort of drunken humppa music they started to play and it was really heavy and thrashy and one hell of a surprise! Fun and entertaining and can still give the youngsters a run for their money!
Things were hotting up on the main stage as we headed towards the highlight of the weekend, and to warm us up nicely were Swedish power metallers, Hammerfall. There were powergrabs galore. Red leather pants. Power ballads with cheesy lyrics. All the best ingredients of hair metal backed up by great musicians and a brilliant front man and top vocalist in Joacim Cans. Classic Rock is alive and well and living in Gothenburg. Yes, it may have been slightly clichéd and predictable, but Hammerfall are an utterly brilliant festival band, and both the crowd and I loved it. The Hammer fell, and it was the perfect warm up to the Crüe.
As everyone and their dog got ready and a spot for the headliners, over on the second stage Finntroll’s singer Vreth had a tree growing out of his hand. Black metal goes green. I’m not quite sure what more to say really.
Finally it was time for MÖTLEY CRÜE. Nikki Sixx had been wandering around the press area earlier and collected a copy of The Heroin Diaries in Finnish from someone until his bouncers bundled him away, and the excitement was building. The press were absolutely banned from taking photos from anywhere other than right back on the mixing death, and only if you’d signed your life away in some agreement. It was carnage down the front, completely packed, and as the big black curtain dropped and the band went straight into the manic Kickstart My Heart’the whole audience went ballistic. Some people had waited all their life to be this close to the Crüe and everyone was having a blast and soaking up the fact that they were actually here. After a song we retired to the safety of the bank to watch the whole thing with the rest of the press and guests and bands, but not before a mind numbingly tedious and totally unnecessary endless guitar solo from Mick Mars during which we had time to go to the toilet and the backstage Jäger bar, get our hair done, take the dog to the vet, put the garbage out and decorate three bedrooms. There’s just no need for that in a short festival set. They blasted through hit after hit and a few from the latest album, and then it was time for Tommy Lee to come and have a chat. ADH personified, Tommy sat on the front of the stage getting the crowd to pass the Jäger back, asking traditionally to see some titties and wishing he could give everyone a group hug. Vince with his acoustic guitar saw masses of huge white balloons with Crüe printed on them launched into the crowd. The biggest scream of the day was when Nikki Sixx took the mic after taking photographs to ask if they could come back next year. A nice moment saw Vince getting the whole crowd to put a fist in the air… then revving it like a motorbike as the intro to the classic Girls Girls Girls. Tommy had to have the last word yelling “I say Motley you say…?” ‘Crüe!!’ yelled the crowd. “I say Nikki, you say…?” ‘Sixx!!’ we all screamed. Through the band’s names he went, putting huge grins on everyone’s faces finishing with a belly flop onto the grand piano, beer flying everywhere. Expectations were high… and tonight Crüe didn’t disappoint.
Crüe Setlist:
Kickstart My Heart
Wildside
Shout at the devil
Saints of Los Angeles
Mick Mars guitar solo
Livewire
Too fast for love / On with the show
Motherfucker of the year
White Trash Circus
Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
S.O.S
Primal Scream
Looks That Kill
Girls, Girls, Girls
Dr. Feelgood
***********
Home Sweet Home
Sunday
Sunday was sunnier but there were a few hangovers around after the shenanigans of the night before. Despite Crüe shooting off to Helsinki after the show on Friday, the rest of Tampere partied like it was 1986 on The Strip and there were some delicate bodies around when Kotiteollisuus took to the main stage to rudely wake us all up. These hairy rockers give ZZ Top a run for their money, with singer Jouni Hynynen having a beard practically down to his waist. The first song was a little pretty dirgeworthy, but the second a little livelier. They do claim that their music is furious heavy metal with Finnish sullenness. Unfortunately a little too sullen for me and it was a set that was too long and similar. They did liven it up a little with some male snogging and mooning at which point I ran away.
Openers for Stage 2 on Sunday were Omnium Gatherum, singer Jukka Pelkonen happily playing to the cameras before launching into thrash deep growl vocals. There was plenty of movement and shapes on stage, and guitarist Markus Vanhala wanted to be Alexi Laiho and was making a pretty good attempt. The track No Breaking Point was when I realised I actually had previously had no idea what language Pelkonen was “singing” in and it maybe was English, which was a bit of a surprise. It could have been Swahili. The music is actually fantastic but the vocals ruin it for me.
Pyros in the first song immediately raised the stakes as Kamelot took to the main stage; here was a bigger band that was ready to put on a show. We got a nice hello to the press as we entered the pit after the pyros from vocalist Roy Khan who hails from Norway despite the rest of the band coming from Tampa Florida. Bedecked in long classy coat and regaling us with a most awesome strong voice, Khan just possessed a confidence and charm associated with only the best front men in the business. Ten years and eight albums have resulted in a shit hot rock band verging on power metal but with style and a modern twist that makes it stand out from the rest. Classy.
Yet more Swedes over on Stage 2 in the guise of Bullet. These guys were obviously here to have a lot of fun whilst playing some good old-fashioned cheesy classic rock with slightly AC/DC style vocals. Each one of them had a different word on the back of their guitars, spelling out Bite The Bullet. Very entertaining and fun and catchy. Put them on the list to go see again.
Introduced by the lovely little kid Rony Österlund, famous in Finland for hanging out with all the rockers, Stratovarius’ Timo Kotipelto had recovered from his illness that had troubled him at the start of the UK tour a couple of weeks previously and was back on top form. He exhibited much more energy and stage presence, and a big stage works well for him. He was all over stage and with plenty of powergrabs and arms held wide. Opener Hunting High & Low was a total crowd pleaser from the off. Keyboard solos, power ballads and a power metal fest ensued, and the crowd were more than satisfied with this performance.
What can we say about the next band, Thor? Led on stage by scantily clad cavewomen waving hammers the mighty Thor from Canada descended on the unsuspecting Finns. Jon Mikl Thor was resplendent in an ever-changing array of masks and costumes. In fact there were more costume changes in the first song than Mike Monroe manages in a whole set. Famous for breathing into hot water bottles until they burst, breaking bricks over his head and bending microphone stands the novelty actually quickly wore off and the rather second rate and dated Motorhead sounding music didn’t hold our attention long. Funny for five minutes.
NIGHTWISH had the honour of headlining the final night and were introduced by 5-year-old Rony after compere Nico Hartonen had successfully proposed to his girlfriend on one knee. As a band they are massive in their native country and you would expect them to rise to the occasion and enjoy it. It started promisingly enough with great pyros, Tuomas Holopainen was rocking out on his keyboards with his little Jack Sparrow attached to them, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen zipping about the stage as always and a guest appearance from the incredible Troy Donockley on the Uilleann Pipes for songs such as The Islander and Last of the Wilds was a nice surprise. Certain members of the band may have had a couple of quick shandies before going on though… The lovely and talented bassist / vocalist Marco Hietala managed to forget the lyrics to the song The Islander and was forced to start the track all over again, with the rest of the group accompanying him and singer Anette Olzon coming to the rescue. There were a lot of grins, and the crowd seemed to love it though. But let’s face it, most of them had had a fair few beers by then and were way more wasted than Hietala. Olzon was looking rather Bet Lynch-like in a leopard print top and bleached hair, and had got into the summer festival season by wearing shorts. Personally I didn’t find the set list particularly exciting and metal enough for this festival, but this was the band letting their hair down back in Finland and having some fun, putting on a huge show and the massive home crowd loved it.
Nightwish Setlist:
Finlandia (Intro)
7 Days To The Wolves
Dead To The World
The Siren
Amaranth
Romanticide
The Poet And The Pendulum
Nemo
Sahara
The Islander
Last Of The Wilds
Dark Chest Of Wonders
Wish I Had An Angel
(No encore)
Review by Lynn Muollo
06 - 08 June 2008
Friday
Ahhhh, the Finnish summer. It's amusing to me, as a regular Nordic visitor, that people back in gloomy Britain expect Finland and its surrounding countries to be just as cold and bitter in the summer months as they are in the winter. What they don't realise is that, with the long hot days and almost constant sunshine, the climate is much better suited to a rock festival than, say, the likes of Reading or Download. And often with better line-ups. At cheaper prices. With better beer.
Perhaps I'm a little biased, but I just love Finnish festivals. Especially Sauna Open Air which is the first of the season and in the precious city of Tampere – fast becoming as important to the music scene in Finland as Helsinki is. The beer is flowing, the sun is shining and the Finns are already getting quite drunk – which always makes for enticing entertainment offstage considering this nation are certainly the most animated I've ever witnessed. I'm also quite happily sitting with a pint of siideri, awaiting the carnage to begin.
An interesting choice for an opener, then, is Widescreen Mode – typically Finnish in their doom and gloom method of keyboard-driven goth-rock – but certainly not a band you would expect to see command the stage in broad daylight. Everybody is still quite subdued – the majority of fans are situated in the bar successfully getting drunker and believe me, it's even hot in the shade and there's hardly any of that – but the fans that join Widescreen front and center enjoy the short set of gothic tranquility despite the weather. With great melodic tracks like I Won't Believe You and Dead Again, they ease us into the festival season slowly, lazily and leisurely which seems to suit everybody just fine.
Not for long, however, because Australian rock'n'rollers Airbourne are by no means as courteous and don't give the crowd a second to relax with their full-frontal 80's style. They're so Aussie that I have to get a translator, and my first language is English, so it beats me if any of the Finns could understand their drawl, but it's apparent that nobody cares just what they say but rather what their music is about. Which is, of course, hard and heavy, action-packed, energetic power metal. Reminiscent of AC/DC and Iron Maiden – from the hair to the riffs to the roar of front man Joel O'Keeffe - if you closed your eyes you could probably jet back to 1984. Ending their set with a spectacular guitar solo on the scaffolding of the main stage Airbourne set the pace for what remains to be an eventful weekend of rock.
Back to the Finns with Rythmäiriö, a hardcore metal band with a passionate following but who sadly I just don't get, and compared to the energy of Airbourne seem quite monotonous to me. The bass is too loud, the vocals are too angry, and he's drinking jaloviinia on stage – easily this could be renamed the alcohol of the devil. I truly believe that if there is nothing positive to say about a band, then say nothing at all, so I'll leave their review at that.
So, jaded by the previous set, I am not looking forward to another Finnish-speaking band directly after. Eläkeläiset are unknown to me, however I am soon made aware of just how popular their work is in Scandinavia. When they approach the stage carrying accordions and dressed like old, balding safari workers I cannot help but smile, and neither can the crowd. Tongue-in-cheek doesn't even cover it – their array of popular covers re-worked into Finnish folk tunes are beyond hilarious and the crowd are so vibrant and positive than it's difficult not to sing along myself. From Nightwish to Bodom, Neil Young to Sting, these Finns are passionate to some, bizarre to all, and very very entertaining. A must for children's parties, church fêtes, and – f*** it - rock festivals. This novelty would work just about anywhere so long as you have a sense of humour.
Continuing the homegrown bands are Helsinki-natives Kiuas – a band I have loved for a long time now but have never been able to see live. Thanks to Spinefarm UK backing their sound, and a support slot with Children of Bodom in London earlier this year, Kiuas are fast becoming a household name for lovers of metal and hopefully will follow in their predecessors footsteps for fame and glory. Aggressive, fierce, and only slightly insane, with the intensity of front man Ilja Jalkonen's vocals, crunchy riffs and ferocious double pedals their talent is obvious; and, with the wave of Nordic metal taking Europe by storm right now, this is definitely a band to watch. Catch Kiuas on tour with Firewind this September in the UK.
Taking a break, I opted out of catching Testament, since what I heard was quite predictable and old hat – not the type of music you want to hear after witnessing such an engaging band. The same could be said for Finnish Diablo – a band that are often featured on the Finnish festival circuit with a multitude of die-hard fans that love their dark sound, but for me, they sound like everything else that came out of the Finniish metal scene about ten years too late. The same, however, cannot be said for Friday night headliners Children of Bodom.
What can I say about Bodom that has not been said a thousand times before? Energetic, untamed, insane – yes, it's fair to say that this band are pretty damn nuts. The ratio of drunken Finns to fantastic atmosphere seems finally in proportion as the arena fills up with assertive rock fans who have travelled from all over the continent to see these Espoo-born metallers show everyone else just what rock'n'roll is really all about. And they are in for a treat – incredible shredding as ever from front man Alexi Laiho who is easily one of the most talented musicians to ever come out of Finland, with en pointe vocals and a clean yet cutthroat set of epic, powerful hits. From title track of their new album Blooddrunk to fan favourites Hate Me! and Needled 24/7, old and new alike are enjoyed by all and Laiho needn't sing for the crowd want to do that for him. Infact, I would go as far to say the fans are most animated than usual which says a lot. Add in a dash of pyro, some stadium rock-esque chanting and, of course, beers-beers-more-beers – this is a wonderful end to a wonderful day. Yet, of course, we still have two to go and Friday night in Tampere is far from over.
Saturday
Saturday starts slowly for many – myself included – as the hangovers begin to kick in, and the early afternoon line-up not being as particularly enticing as later in the day. The sun is still shining brightly with temperatures up to at least 31 degrees now and, considering today's lineup is definitely the most old school, 80s-style rock'n'roll shades are obligatory. It's rather bemusing to see PVC-clad goths fanning themselves in the corner, glaring from the shade at the group of hair metal fans forming to catch today's highlights but they really should go to the likes of M'era Luna or Tuska if they want to pout and prance about looking miserable.
This is not what Sauna Open Air is about. It's about fun and frolicking and having a good time. Sonata Arctica, a firm favourite of mine for festivals, begin my day and snap me eloquently out of my beer-induced slump. There is nothing quite like Tony Kakko and his band of merry – and very, very odd – men taking to the stage whilst nursing a drink tentatively and singing along wholeheartedly. Their pyro, fireworks and excessive stage get-up are truly missed when in a small venue – this is such a happy and inviting sound that you just must hear it on a huge stage with an array of drunken strangers to appreciate how incredible their stage presence is. With huge power ballad Tallulah leaving not a dry eye in the house, and favourites like Full Moon and Paid in Full being sang along by all, this is the way every Sonata Arctica gig should be.
Next up are female-fronted MoonMadness. I can't say much about them, because despite their potential to be a decent enough rock band with clear vocals and melodic intervals, their lack of presence makes the set distinctly average. And there is nothing worse than average.
Average is a word that could never be used for what came next – almost the highlight of the weekend. Certainly more deserving of the headlining spot than The Scorpions, Sebastian Bach commanded an enormous array of fans who, like me, love this man despite his ridiculous ego and aging antics. And the reason for this is quite simple – it does not matter how obnoxious he is, or how wrong, or how crazy – his voice is one of the best ever in rock. Even to this day, almost twenty years since Skid Row were at their height of fame, his voice is intense and powerful and dramatic; the high notes are brutal, the low notes seductive, everything in-between just as luscious as before. The new tracks show this well: there is an edgier, more mature feel to some of them, and his band are incredibly talented. But of course most people are here to witness the beloved 18 and Life (wonderful), I Remember You (mesmerizing) and Youth Gone Wild – a song I've heard so many times performed by so many people but never with that same gusto as the man does himself. He still has the same swagger, still has that same pizzazz and he still has the ability to make my knees weak... what can I say, I'm a sucker for a blonde in leather.
The only downside to all this is that, after his mic gave out in Youth and he had trouble hearing himself, instead of leaving the stage on a high he decided to play the title track to his new album Angel Down and though with any other band, this could be acceptable, it isn't when you're Sebastian Bach. Sometimes the ego needs to take a backseat to what the fans are screaming for. And that will always be Skid Row.
Mokoma bored the life out of me after such an exciting set – their growling dirge very stylized yet lifeless. I awaited The Scorpions to revive me with that buzz Bach had but that never came either, and it only cemented the notion that Bach should have headlined the Saturday. They didn't even play Wind of Change! Deeply disappointed with their vocals, their allure, everything just seemed that little bit underwhelming and nothing at all like I had expected from such a famed name. Let's hope that Sunday is better…
Sunday
Things began to catch up with me on Sunday, and unfortunately I missed Stam1na but check back shortly for their review from Myötätuulirock. Luckily I was able to catch Amorphis, though – like Sonata Arctica they are essential to the festival season and Tomi Joutsen's belting vocals and great stage persona makes for some great Sunday afternoon watching by the lake. His gaze is magnetic, almost threatening but very intense and that is exactly what a front man should possess. They played all the popular tracks, ending in House of Sleep which until now has always reminded me of siideri in the sunshine, but a freak ten-minute thunderstorm caused some turmoil for the avid fans who weren't all that bothered about getting wet. An extremely atmospheric ending to a charismatic performance.
Masterstroke were able to bring the sunshine back, to my delight. Metalhead Finns playing dirty, gritty riffs that the Nordics are famous for – I had never heard of them before but have since bought some of their recorded work which is equally impressive. Check them out if you can.
The real highlight for the show – for once, the programmers got it right – was the closing act for the festival. The mighty Whitesnake; hailing from London, England, with a successful career spanning over three decades, these guys show you what hard rock is all about. There are few bands that have lived through the eras – from punk to grunge to hardcore – whilst still maintaining that same magnetism and charm. Vocalist David Coverdale is just as rocking now as he was when he began all those years ago, and the songs are, if anything, louder, faster, harder than ever before.
Everyone was enjoying it and everything sounded fantastic. A close-knit, hard-working group of musicians who know how to party and especially how to perform. Their set is simple, but it doesn't need to be over the top and complex because their music speaks for itself. Tracks as heroic and well-known as Here I Go Again need no introduction and neither does a band with a back catalogue as expressive and impressive as Whitesnake's. With new material for the first time in several years, it looks like these Brits still have some juice left in the motor.
And thank god for that. I couldn't imagine rock'n'roll without them. Or without good beer, good weather and most of all – really good bands at a really great festival like Sauna Open Air.
Review by Kate Stulberg
|
|
|
