Long heavy summer in prospect on the Finnish rock front

Metal acts to the fore on festival programmes

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By Jussi Ahlroth
     
      O-hoh. Regardless of the weather, Finnish rock music enthusiasts and visitors to the country are going to have a sweaty old summer. The local rock festivals are offering up an exceptional measure of heavy rock and metal in their headliner acts, and even the arena gigs seem to be strong on the "hard" end of the spectrum.
      Heavy music fans will be working up a lather just hiking around to get to all the gigs. Fans of lighter, more melodic rock will just break out in a cold sweat and hives at the deluge of metal names.
     
Last summer was deemed to be a "heavy headbanging summer" based on the appearance here of just a few big-name acts from the genre, for example Metallica in the Olympic Stadium.
      By comparison with Summer 2005, that was just a warm-up act.
      Next week sees the beginning of a long and heavy rock-summer that continues without any noticeable break until mid-July and then throws the last spoonfuls of heavy water on the sauna stones in August.
     
The series was kicked off already by 80's veterans Mötley Crue, who had gigs in Helsinki and Turku. They were accompanied by In Flames from Sweden, and the homegrown outfits Private Line and Thunderstone.
      Next up was Zakk Wylde (known for his stint as Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist), who played in Tampere and the capital. Last Thursday [the date this article appeared in the Finnish print-paper] saw the beginning of the Sauna Open Air metal festival in Tampere.
      This Tampere event, in its second year, has already established itself among the top three must-go gigs for the devoted Finnish heavy/metal fan. The other two are the Tuska Open Air Festival (in Helsinki) and Nummirock in Kauhajoki, the big Midsummer weekend draw for the heavy brigade in Ostrobothnia.
     
But how is it that metal acts and all things heavy have also taken over the "non-specific" rock festivals like Provinssirock and the granddaddy of them all, Turku's Ruisrock? And what about all those headbanger ice-hall and arena gigs?
      The professionals are reluctant to draw too many conclusions about the situation - leastways none that suggest some kind of planned takeover bid.
      "Festival promoters as such do not decide on their artists, but they take what is on offer. Hence programmes can look very different from one year to the next. It was the 1980s policy that you'd just go out and buy some band to get them to your festival line-up", argues Risto Juvonen, Managing Director of concert promoters Welldone.
      His remarks are borne out by the fact that the same sort of metal content is in evidence at festivals right across Europe. In other words, the Finnish summer is being flooded with metal acts, because there are a lot of them active in the market.
     
"Rock seems to be undergoing a phase right now where the heavier sounds are on the surface", says Ruisrock organiser Juhani Merimaa.
      He nevertheless points up the fickleness of trends in rock: "Ten years ago, metal was practically a swear word on festival organisers' lips."
      Whatever. Anyway, metal is selling briskly right now. And its devotees show no signs of metal fatigue, turning out year after year to concerts.
      "It's a genre with a very faithful audience. Metal fans are more ready to take the trouble to go to see their favourite bands live than are the devotees of other types of music, and we cater to that wish", admits Harri Pihlajamäki, Executive Director of Provinssirock. This year's headlining acts at the Seinäjoki gathering in mid-June are Marilyn Manson, Slipknot , and Nine Inch Nails.
     
Pihlajamäki is nonetheless at pains to point out that Provinssirock does not want to get itself branded. Metal is taken on board just as any other genres.
      He confesses that this year it has turned out that the heavy component has leaned specifically towards the biggest names on the festival bill.
      With the self-confidence familiar to successful festival promoters, Pihlajamäki also adds that the majority of the punters come first and foremost for the event itself, and not for the artists on display.
     
If Provinssirock is leery about getting pigeon-holed, the dedicated metal festivals have no such qualms. "Metal festival" has become quite a handy brand, and there is already competition in the market.
      Nummirock (est. 1987) went all-metal in 2001. At the same time it downsized itself somewhat. In its present format, Nummirock is a relatively small and remote gathering, and the foreign acts on the bill are marginal names, even in the metal world.
      Tuska Open Air in Helsinki has been the metal fans' #1 date since the end of the 1990s. This year, however, Tampere's Sauna Open Air spread out over three days from Thursday to Saturday last week, and is clearly throwing down the gauntlet.
     
When one glances through the list of artists appearing this summer, the first impression is one of déjà vu. Nearly all the headlining acts are old stagers and a sizeable share are what might be described unkindly as resurrected dinosaurs - like Accept,Dio, and The Scorpions.
      The most modern bill of fare is from Ruisrock, on the second weekend in July. The headliners at the three-day bash are Rammstein, Within Temptation, and local heroes HIM.
      As it happens the old-timer phenomenon, too, is a pan-European one. There are not many newer names to be seen at any of the big European heavy festivals, either. The only notable exception - who will not incidentally be arriving in Finland - is the American-Armenian band System Of A Down. They will be heard at Hultsfred in Sweden, but will not make it this far. It is worth noting that Hultsfred also features the three Provinssi headliners - but then again Hultsfred is from June 16th to 18th and the two events overlap. This is a typical "herd" instinct for festivals, and makes sound sense as it allows for touring artists to play several gigs in a shortish space of time.
     
One pertinent question is just how long the metal audience can go on listening to the constant reworking and band reformations of their now-ageing heroes from the 1980s and 1990s.
      The fact that their popularity has already continued as long as it has, and the sincere sense of nostalgia felt for the music, is quite unique.
      If one discards the mega-caste of stadium artists and "rock circus acts" like U2 or The Rolling Stones, it is precisely in the fields of heavy and metal that bands have most effectively been able to turn themselves into some kind of permanent institution, enjoying remarkable longevity and an enduring bond with their fans.
      "Metal bands are starting to get so ancient that they have several generations of fans. In the case of veterans Iron Maiden, I calculated that there might even be a fourth generation coming up through the ranks", ponders Risto Juvonen from Welldone.
      Or as Provinssirock's Pihlajamäki puts it: "You always want to take topical bands to perform. And Black Sabbath are always topical."
      They'll be here, too, complete with the original 1969 (!!) line-up of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward. But if you want a ticket, you're way too late. It's sold out. Naturally.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 9.6.2005

More on this subject:
 FACTFILE: Heavy, Heavier, Metallest
 There are no heavy industry losers

JUSSI AHLROTH / Helsingin Sanomat
jussi.ahlroth@hs.fi