Il portale della musica Heavy Metal

Stam1na - 3/1/2014 - Nosturi - Helsinki

It’s a special kind of annoying when you can see the venue, with barely a line in front of it, but when you get there the line has quadrupled.. The warm-up act played and went away before I managed to enter Nosturi. Luckily, tonight was all about Stam1na in any case.
They did take their sweet time, with closed curtains in front of the stage and eerie background music playing. When the stage was finally revealed, I was blinded by the amazing light show. They had state-of-the-art multicolor LED pylons, which combined with the usual lights made for a pretty amazing atmosphere. This was their third consecutive gig in Helsinki, with a secret gig on Thursday and a crowded Tavastia on Friday. This being their record-release tour, they played 9 out of 11 songs from the brand new album SLK. No matter how complex the new material is, it worked live incredibly well. Sadly, they seem to have given up on their old tradition of playing the entire new album in order on the first gigs.
The first thing that really stood out for me was the fact that everyone was singing along to the songs, even the new ones that have been out for only less than a month. That takes dedication from the fans, and was far from the only way they showed their love for the band. I haven’t been on a gig this intensive in ages, the constant massive moshpit, the singalongs, the sheer joy of being there was overwhelming. To think that this was the third gig in three days in the same city really shows how popular Stam1na is nowadays, and it’s hard to think of a band that would’ve more earned their gold records than the ever hard working guys from Lemi.
To me, there’s a huge difference between the Stam1na I saw and the one that plays at all the summer festivals. There were none of the idiotic antics and crowd-pleasing shenanigans to be seen this time. The Stam1na that played were the ultimate pros that they are, with impeccable instrument work and Hyrde’s vocals sounding as good as on record. It’s impossible to get the accurate sound required for this type of technical metal in a open air festival, and I was frankly surprised they’d managed it so well in Nosturi, which is infamous for it’s muddled and blurry acoustics. Still, I know I for one will miss the venue when it’s gone. As pointed out by the band, this is almost the end of Nosturi, which will be destroyed in the name of public progress, with no new venue guaranteed yet in return. It’s good that the bands are also aware of the lack of proper-sized gig places in Helsinki, and that they speak out so that this might be yet corrected. As for the gig, it was all-in-all fantastic. It’s good that every once in a while a gig comes along that really reminds one why I FUCKING love metal and going to shows. Now I just hope that the greatness of Stam1na will not be lost to all non-Finns, because this is definitely music that stands out compared to anything the world over, no matter what language the songs are in.

Setlist:
(intro)
Kolmen minuutin hiljaisuus (SLK)
Heikko ehkä (SLK)
Arveton on arvoton (Nocebo)
Dynamo (SLK)
Paha arkkitehti (Stam1na)
Kylmä kuuma kylmä (SLK)
Luova hulluus (Raja)
Masiina (SLK)
Rikkipää (Viimeinen Atlantis)
Kalmankansa (SLK)
Kuoliaaksi ruoskitut hevoset (SLK)
Puolikas ihminen (Nocebo)
Panzerfaust (SLK)
Encore:
SLK (SLK)
Viisi laukausta päähän (Uudet kymmenen käskyä)
Lääke (Raja)

Report a cura di Markus Karppinen