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Tuska Open Air 2011 - Day 1 - 7/22/2011 - Suvilahti - Helsinki

Everything new at this year’s Tuska: change the location, from the green, central park of Kaisaniemi, to the industrial area of Suvilahti, not so fancy-looking anymore, and no more trees or grass, but the place has apparently proven itself in the past with other events. There’s an additional stage, or better, one main stage, a smaller one, a tent, and a “club stage”. The format of the event has changed as well to adapt to this, shaping more like the bigger european festivals, where many bands play at the same time on different stages. Along with these, many other news, and as always together with news, comes skepticism, surprise, and uncertainty.
Personally I didn’t have good expectations for the new place, given that I enjoy much more when there’s some green area when I’m in a festival, but even if the place is not as nice-looking as before, it’s still easily reachable, maybe even a little bigger (though it doesn’t give this impression), and somehow it worked. Somehow, because clearly after three days in this hot weather over a sprawl of asphalt and gravel, most (yes most) of the people got their skin burned, at least to some degree.
But moving on, let’s get into business and talk about the music.

It’s a slow start for me on this first day, a day packed with stuff to do, places to run to here and there, and that’s why I have my inseparable schedule continuously with me. But personally today is the less interesting day for me band-wise, even though we start with a pretty interesting and awaited show from Hell.
The english band, revived directly from the eighties, with the addition of Andy Sneap at the guitar, has made a lot of sensation with the finally released debut “Human Remains”, gathering classics from their 30-years-old career. Quite theatrical the show, as the singer David Bower welcome the crowd to hell and thanks them for being all there to see “some middle aged old english men”.
“On Earth As It Is In Hell” and “Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us” are among the best songs of this set. But I unfortunately have to divide myself between here and the EMP stage, where a few minutes later, the italian Bulldozer has just started performing.
A bloody lectern and a vampire-ish outfit are what makes the frontman Alberto “AC Wild” Contini stand out on stage. These thrashers are one of the forefathers of the italian metal scene, and along with the post-reunion record “Unexpected Fate” there’s room for many classics like “Ilona The Very Best”, dedicated to a famous pornstar, or “The Derby”, a song pro-AC Milan in the traditional classic match against the other team of Milan FC Internazionale. Quoting the band itself: “We are... Italians” and that says all!
This funny show that makes people smile in this hot early afternoon ends with “The Exorcism”, I wouldn’t say the performance itself was flawless, but surely entertaining!
There’s no time to breath and already Arch Enemy takes position on the bigger stage, sponsored by Radio Rock. Here I manage to follow just a bunch of songs: “Yesterday Is Gone”, “Revolution Begins”, “Ravenous” and “My Apocalypse”, show a band with a good grit, in front of an excited crowd, and especially Angela and the Amott brothers seem in a good shape and quite energetic. I’m pretty sure that with these premises the fans weren’t disappointed, as for me it’s time to rush to the backstage for an interview with Mr. Jari Mäenpää.
Soon after rushing to shoot pics at the swedish Grave, which I had the pleasure to see one month before in Hellfest, it’s time for another band who played also in that same festival: on the EMP stage it’s the turn of Electric Wizard.
To me is very strange to see for the first time this band at the sunlight, and without all the usual smoke (thanks wind). You can even clearly see their faces for once! As this was the show I was most looking forward to during this day, I’m happy to take my time and enjoy the performance of the english guys. The atmosphere is quite different though, without all those psychedelic light effects that are not so visible in this setting, and with the singer Jus Oborn visibly (and comprehensibly) sweating in this hot Finnish summer which resembles more to the Italian one.
Obviously the best comes at the end, in the second part of the show with “Satanic Rites Of Drugula”, followed by “Dopethrone”. The band is not one of the most lively on stage due to their music, but the super-tattooed bass player looks particularly agitated compared to the others. Musically at first the sounds appears a bit mixed, but that’s solved immediately. This nice show ends as expected with “Funeralopolis”. No major complains, that is, but I would have expected an opening with the good “Black Mass”, and I must confess that after all, on a visual level it’s much better to see the guys perform in a gloomy small club than under the sunlight on a big stage. Or maybe it’s just me.
In many were waiting already in front of the main stage instead for At The Gates to come. The Swedish deathsters re-reunited again, and let’s see how long this time it’ll last. But while these thoughts cross my head, “The Flames Of The End” introduces the band on stage, as the titletrack of the same “Slaughter Of The Soul” comes next.
Thomas Lindberg, which I saw performing previously only with Lock Up, wearing as usual a black cap, is going quite wild, igniting the audience and teasing them continuously when he’s not roaring at them. That’s one good frontman!
“Raped By The Light Of Christ”, “Windows”, “The Burning Darkness”, are just a few of the great songs that well represent the four studio albums of the Swedes, during a show where the fans had really high expectations, met quite well I’d say by the 5-piece. All in all a lively and captivating concert, and it sure was worth watching.
The schedule here gets tricky again, and missing Spiritual Beggars, with a quick glimpse at Killing Joke, with the vocalist looking like a mechanic-Sylvester Stallone and making funny faces and jokes all the time, I find my way for the first time of the festival to the club stage, where the local black metallers Cavus are going to play, preceeded by a church-like intro.
Their debut “Fester And Putrefy” is a good example of proper black metal, and the guys had the opportunity to tour across Europe to promote their work together with Gorgoroth. The first impression with the indoor stage is that the sounds are a bit confused, but that gets cleared up and the guys can sweep away the audience with their powerful songs - see “Death Rattle” and “Worship And Rot”. Good job from these guys who manage to capture the crowd in the half hour at their disposal. And the place was quite full for this brief show of the headliners of the 4th stage, as it served its purpose of a proper warm-up for the main curse of the day: Morbid Angel.
I saw the band lead by David Vincent already in France, and it didn’t quite get much my attention on that occasion. I’m not going to digress into the matter of the new, extremely criticized, new album, and the disappointment that created among many fans, but show-wise the guys seems definitely in a better shape. Except Destructhor. He had all these red spots and white crusts all over his arms and face, and looked like a leper. Allergic reaction to Finnish food? In any case, I was expecting one of his arms to fall down any time.
Luckly there’s only three songs from the latest record, among which the most successful is surely “I Am Morbid”, especially among the most elated fans, banging their heads furiously in the front row with their old MA t-shirt signed by the guys. However, I could enjoy myself some moments of this when songs like “Maze Of Torment” and “Sworn To The Black” came to invest the big crowd gathered in front of the Radio Rock stage.
A long encore ends with the triplet “Blood On My Hands”/”God Of Emptiness”/”World Of Shit”, which makes all the hardcore fans up there in the front visibly satisfied. Not being a huge fan of Morbid Angel from the start, I just could enjoy the rest of the show drinking my righteously deserved beer. Not a great show for me, even if better than the last time.

Personal winners of today are for me the Swedish At The Gates, who put up a really nice show. As Friday is finally gone, I find myself able to get a proper meal in one of the many pubs in Kallio, nearby the festival site, heading soon after towards one of the many possibilities for afterparties that the city offers. Still trying not to overdo it, and to save some energy for the following day!


Photos:
Morbid Angel


Cavus


Killing Joke


Spiritual Beggars


At The Gates


Electric Wizard


Grave


Goresoerd


Arch Enemy


Bulldozer


Hell


Report a cura di Marco Manzi