Hanoi Rocks bids farewell with series of eight concerts
By Jarkko Jokelainen
It was not so much a wake as a show of strength.
When the last of the eight farewell concerts of the Finnish rock band Hanoi Rocks was over late Sunday night, the predominant feeling in the air was one of joy. What a magnificent gig! What a unique band! What great songs! what a dazzling final stretch of six days and eight concerts!
On the last evening there were no tears on stage. Vocalist Michael Monroe had shed some already during the Saturday day concert, when the band said goodbye to their fans who were under the age of 18.
Even that tear was a tear of joy. The last confrontation of Hanoi Rocks and the next generation that it had brought up was the most emotional of all of the concerts that had taken place during the week. One could not help but feel moved by the enthusiasm of the young audience.
There was not much sentimentality at the other concerts of the week. All that there was good rock and roll.
Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy, the power duo of the band for nearly 30 years, bid farewell to each other, at least for now, but this was not the end. Both came to show that they still have something to contribute.
The very last concert went on for well over two hours, and moved ahead like a train. Songs blended seamlessly into one another and there seemed to be no end to the energy in Michael Monroe.
More than anything this seemed to be the week for guitarist Andy McCoy. He was always the soul of Hanoi Rocks - the creative fire, whose songs have raised the band to its heights. He has also been the band’s wild card, brilliant at best, and a vacillating captive of his own self-promotion at worst.
Now he was nothing but excellent, present at every moment, and fit for playing in a way that is appropriate to his reputation.
One of the high points of the week was undoubtedly the three gigs in which the band’s original guitarist Nasty Suicide appeared on stage and took the audience with his sincere smile.
After all of this, the question that inevitably comes to mind is: why now?
Why was the band more focussed and passionate than perhaps at any time during its seven-year comeback? And why stop now, that everything seems to be right on target?
All indications are that Monroe and McCoy, both 46, are not ready to make Hanoi Rocks their pension job, deciding instead to do something different than the last time, and quit while they were ahead.
After a career of decades it is not easy to leave the stage and go toward the unknown. It takes courage.
Hanoi Rocks has found itself in a similar kind of cul-de-sac which occurred 25 years ago when the band’s drummer Razzle died. The band could have reached dazzling heights, but that was not meant to be.
Not even their second coming changed this, and it seems that seven years was enough to prove this. Hanoi Rocks will remain the exclusive right of its passionate fans, such as the Japanese, who basically moved into the Tavastia Club for the entire farewell week.
Or as Michael Montoe sang in the middle of his piece Don’t You Ever Leave Me: “Don’t worry about me, I’ll just wipe the dust off my shoulders and come back. I hope you’ll be there too.”
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 14.4.2009 - TODAY |
 Hanoi Rocks bids farewell with series of eight concerts |
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