I went to the Tuska Festival in Helsinki, Finland last weekend. I'm starting to really get old - a three-day festival really takes its toll physically. Fortunately I have one week of summer vacation left so I can recover before returning to work...
Anyway, I saw some really great gigs there. The top bands from each day:
Day 1:Gojira was the main performer for the first day, and rightfully so. God-fucking-damn they are fantastic. They played basically all the songs I wanted to hear - Flying Whales, Backbone, The Art of Dying, L'enfant sauvage, Oroborus... They are really a main event level band nowadays. Sounded awesome, looked awesome, all-around awesome. And I even got into the mosh pit!
Glenn Hughes was a pleasant surprise. He played a set of Deep Purple songs, and I'll be damned! The old geezer still has it. Glenn's voice was absolutely perfect, he reached even the highest of highs immaculately. Mistreated, Burn, Highway Star, what's not to like!
Jinjer was also great. This was my first time seeing them live, and Tatiana is such a talented performer. They played really well. They didn't play Pisces though, which was sad.
Arch Enemy was fine. I'm not digging them as much nowadays with Alissa, I much preferred Angela as the singer. But it was cool hearing My Apocalypse and Nemesis live. The crowd was really into them.
Day 2:I skipped a lot of the bands on the second day, but there were some highlights.
Clutch was a nice change of pace. I wasn't really watching them but they were playing in the background when I was drinking with my buddies, and from what I heard, they sounded really tight and fun. Electric Worry is such a good song.
Finntroll was mighty fun, as they always are. One of my favorite bands to see live. You can't get much better than cheerfully trollish death metal!
In Flames was the last band of the day for me, and they were absolutely killing it. I'm not a huge fan of them, and I rarely listen to their albums, but whenever I see them live, I love them. I loved that they played Only for the Weak, which is one of my favorites from them.
Oh, I also caught some of Butcher Babies. What a shitty, pointless excuse for a band. :D
Day 3:Lorna Shore opened the final day. GodDAMN that Will Ramos guy has some pipes! And godDAMN their sound is immense live! Absolutely amazing gig, and the crowd was really into them. I got chills listening to Into the Hellfire. One of the high points of the festival for me.
I caught about half of Electric Callboy. I don't know if y'all are familiar with them - they're a German disco-EDM-metalcore outfit with a comedic twist. I'm sure in a different mindset and at a jam-packed club I would've been more into them, but now I didn't really feel them. They got one of the biggest crowds of the festival though, and when they played a cover of
Cascada's Everytime We Touch, the whole place went batshit crazy.
The Hu was fantastic. They're an 8-piece from Mongolia, and their music combines Mongolian folk music with hard rock/metal. They seemed to really enjoy playing, and it was infectious. The band is so talented and have great, catchy songs. Of course, I have no idea what they were singing, because the lyrics are in Mongolian, but that doesn't really matter. They played their Mongolian-language cover of Through the Never, which was fucking awesome.
The final band of the festival was Ghost, and holy shit they are awesome. I saw them opening for Metallica back in 2012, and I was immediately hooked. This was the fifth time seeing them live, and they've felt bigger and bigger every time. Now they are truly in the main act tier. Papa Emeritus is such a natural performer with a great, effortless connection with the crowd. The band is playing better than ever. Their songs are so goddamn catchy. Their stage looks fantastic, with huge stained-glass windows in the back and cool gothic-style structures all around. Their pyros are fucking LOUD. Just a great, great show. One of my favorite bands at the moment, both live and on records.
