Upon our arrival it was noticeable how few people there were. We got in close to the stage where only a handful others were by that time. And the majority of those who were already present were just securing their front row spots for Amorphis from the looks of things.
Blackstar Halo started pretty much right on time with one of my favorite tracks Alice in Wonderland. The singer Ville Hovi looked to be in a happy mood and was constantly reminding the audience to smile a little. After Alice, the band played two or three completely new songs from their upcoming album which should be coming out in 2013. The third track I'm not sure of as it was just described as "Rammstein" but there was a certain familiarity to it so I'll have to wonder if it was something from the existing releases. Be what it may, the new songs sounded good, especially a track titled Wolf the Mender. To complete the unfortunately short set of only 6 songs, In Flames and Illuminated were then played. I had hoped for Dark Parade and End of the Story but perhaps another time then!
The sounds were (surprisingly) crisp and clear throughout the entire show and the rest of the band seemed to have a good time too, not just the singer. Alongside him, the guitarist Timo Eskelinen had a happy grin on his face for most of the show. Blackstar Halo left the few of us in the audience largely happy I would wager and looking forward to the next performer, Brigadnij Podrjad.
At 20:45 it was time for the mysterious, unknown to most people I imagine, Brigadnij Podrjad. My eyes first caught the British flag painted guitar on the guitarist (on left in the picture below) and then the bassist (on the right) who was dressed in a very hipster kind of way. After the music began, Anarchy in the UK vibes coursed through my veins: this is as punk as things can get! The show consisted of a lot of short tracks, as is customary for punk I believe, with some speaks between the songs that mainly prepared the audience for the chorus that was coming up in the next song so we could sing along. And it worked, at least for me.
This punk band from St. Petersburg apparently (and already active in the 80's!) did an extremely entertaining show for most parts, but it was perhaps a bit too long as some repetition reared its ugly head towards the end. Sounds were again very good but there were very audible backing tracks on some guitar parts at least. Nevertheless, when the quintet left the stage I was smiling; they came to do what a warm-up band should do.
By this time more crowd had gathered up but the murky Pakkahuone was still far from being crowded. Even the beer queues were short, which is always a good thing though! Around 21:50 the lights went out and it was time for Amorphis. I've seen Amorphis so many times that I knew they would do a solid show like always, especially since Tomi Joutsen's entry to the band. The full set list of the show is readable on setlist.fm and I won't repeat it here. Suffice it to say there were no big surprises but it's always nice when they shuffle things a bit and include lesser-played songs like Better Unborn or Sign From the North Side. The new track Mehtä sounded very heavy (think Majestic Beast) but melodic, something you would expect from Amorphis in all honesty.
Before the encore, a record label representative came out to announce Amorphis had scored gold on their latest album The Beginning of Times and was met with applauds and cheers. Personally the album is a hit and miss for me, but that's for another discussion or review. Still, it's not easy for a metal band to get recognized like that and Amorphis with their 20-year-long+ career surely deserves it.
Unlike in case of warm up bands, the Amorphis sounds were a bit dusty and "packed up", and just not as clear as with prior performers. When the gig ended to Black Winter Day it was time to roll out to a black winter night mostly pleased with the evening. Blackstar Halo were definitely good as were Brigadnij Podrjad. Amorphis tours so much in Finland it's easy to get an overdose on them, and this perhaps felt a bit like that.
