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Tammerfest Festival - Tampere, Finland - July 14th, 15th, 16th & 17th 2010
Continuing our story about Tammerfest, we are presenting you five Finnish rock bands that impressed our ears and eyes the most and had a general favourable impact on other sensors. They are Negative, Leningrad Cowboys, Michael Monroe, Rain Diary and Stam1na. The bands play so to say ‘mature,’ ‘time-served’ rock music and are popular both in Finland and abroad. Their music is ‘time-served’ as each of them has 10 years and more experience in the music industry that helped shape their own styles and attitudes, gave them confidence, knowledge, mastership and strengthened passion for music turning it into their life religion.
Curiously they seem to have divided the festival audience fair and square: Stam1na was smashing the desperate hard core lovers with a destructive death metal sound while Michael Monroe and Negative were making glam rockers sweat happily in their leather and deerskin trousers. Leningrad Cowboys were recalling Soviet times, foot tapping international hits and where they were, sitting on the tractors or jumping on the stage in the hyperbolized ‘doubled Elvis’ outfits. Rain Diary went even further… to be exact - to an island called Viikinsari (30 min boat trip away from Tampere) melting into the nature and drowning dark ‘semi-goths’ in the real heavy rain that started unexpectedly and suspiciously the very minute the band stepped onto the island.
Negative are potentially one of the next Finnish export bands that will conquer the hearts and wallets of non-Finns and capture close attention of majors. They were already awarded with the best Finnish Act in 2007 by MTV. Believe me that pretty soon you will put their CDs next to HIM, Nightwish and the Rasmus or maybe Hanoi Rocks and will say their names by heart. These Negative glam rockers are lovely and slightly old-fashioned. You’ll find yourself watching live on stage the spirit itself of young Guns N’Roses, the Doors, Aerosmith and Michael Monroe.
To be frank, their music has changed a lot since the debut album, War of Love. It is still very emotional and personal but it sounds so much more mature and integral, it combines beautiful ballads and modernized energetic classic rock tunes and arrangements. This summer Negative has released their fifth album 'Neon' which was recorded in LA under the supervision of music producer Jeff Blue who once discovered Linkin Park.
At Tammerfest they played mostly songs from the ‘Neon’ album, including the singles ‘End of the Line’ and ‘Jealous Sky.’ But the most epic songs (judging by the audience’s reaction at least) were ‘Fucking worthless,’ when Jonne started to conduct the live chorus of fans, and ‘Love that I lost.’ It’s amazing how Jonne feels his audience and plays with its emotions surfing on them like on ocean waves. It’s equally amazing how they are sincere, open and unspoiled.
The day before Negative’s gig, rock icon Michael Monroe was proving again that among ‘Dead, Jail or ‘Rock’n’Roll,’ he preferred rock’n’roll and this song which he made up himself when starting his solo career after Hanoi Rocks. His show programme was the same as in March, opening up with ‘Nothin’s Alright,’ peaking with ‘Not Fakin’ It’ and closing with ‘Dead, Jail or Rock’n’Roll.’ And the audience were caught again in the shiny and twitchy glam rock bubble – the illusion of everlasting, “no boundaries, no tomorrow, no worries” rock’n’roll fun – that Michael creates at his gigs like no one else in Finland.
Questions and worries were raised in my head by the gig of festival headliners, the phantasmagoric Leningrad Cowboys. I never heard about the band before – I only saw them in Tammerfest commercials and was impressed with the number of members (11!), their stage look (half a meter long unicorn hairdos, long sharp-pointed shoes and tight trousers with stripes a la Elvis) and themes (Soviet Union, covers, folk). There was an extra “hard-to-believe” shock for me when I recognized Ville Tuomi (from Suburban Tribe) in the lead singer of Leningrad Cowboys.
Leningrad Cowboys are a great show band, suited perfectly well for the festival in Tampere this year as it is true that music festivals are first of all about partying and only then about loving music or a particular band.
Starting at midnight, Stam1na’s performance strongly resembled a Sabbath of evil spirits where Ozzy Osbourne might surely feel at home if only he could speak Finnish. The “spells” were screamed out by long-haired muscular unshaved men, naked up to the waist and wearing wide knee pants and “has-been” sneakers. The ritual singing was accompanied with Speed Metal riffs and progressive, alternative and trash arrangements which all together ecstasied the audience like no tomorrow, and that was where the ritual dances started, horns up – beers down. It’s curious that Stam1na are currently the number one band in Finland touring it like hell and playing for sold out clubs almost every night! This summer Stam1na has made appearance at literally each music festival in the country, and Tammerfest didn’t become an exception.
Rain Diary cannot boast such popularity and demand as they are too “underground” for that. You need to be in a special mood, in a special place and in special company to be inspired by their music; industrial, dark, a bit gothic, with beautiful rose pink melodies. You need to understand it. This is the music for ‘semi-evil’ spirits in pain. At Tammerfest, Rain Diary were pretty close to get the above listed conditions for their music to be digested: they performed on an island, in the rain. Unfortunately, as for the third condition (company\audience), they got the raw end of the stick – colourful soaked teenagers could hardly appreciate their intellectual music.
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