Bericht: Ankkarock 2008

Finally I was back in Finland, last time I went there was for Provinssirock and that was already six weeks ago. But the weather hadn't changed much. It was still cold and raining. Just somehow that doesn't bother me too much when I'm "home".

This year's Ankkarock was very promising: Not only great international bands but also many gorgeous Finish bands, which somehow made me forget the rain and the cold compared to Germany.

Saturday:
The day began very early: at 11:45 the first band I went to began playing. I was one or two songs late. But I still made it and was able to see most of the show and even got to go to the photo pit longer than only for the first three songs as usual, which was probably because many of us photographers came a little late…

So here we were at the Rocklava with only a handful of people to watch the Finnish band Throwaway Heroes, an energetic alternative rock quartet who has played tours in Spain and Finland. At the moment the band is recording their debut album but also rocking the Korso for Ankkarock. Although there were only a few people there watching, they audience enjoyed the show and cheered quite a lot. The band gave their best rocking and seemed to have loads of fun doing so.

The next band playing at the stage next to Rocklava, at Korsolava, was Mokoma. Drawing from trash and death metal, Mokoma belongs to the A-list of Finnish hard music bands. Active gigging, raw sound and melancholic lyrics form the essence of Mokoma, whose sixth album "Luihin ja Ytimiin" (2007) hit the top of the official Finnish album chart. Obviously also adored by critics, Mokoma have dominated metal categories almost in all possible award ceremonies during the on-going year. There were many more people in the audience now. Mokoma entered the stage with a circus intro and began to play right after it. The audience was rocking their heads of, moshing and head banging. Many windmills were going off the metaller's heads. Everybody was cheering for the band and did everything they wanted.

The next Finnish band I went to watch was Hanoi Rocks. Led by Andy McCoy and Michael Monroe, the band rocks the stage, if possible, even more devastatingly than ever before. Hanoi Rocks' latest album "Street Poetry" was released last year and the band were honored with the first ever Radio Rock Finlandia -prize for their significant career - a career that is flourishing in a whole new way. There were many many people already waiting for hours for Hanoi Rocks to perform. Michael was hyper active as usual, jumping around all over the stage and climbing up on the sides. He got gifts from the audience and sat down on the sides of the stage, although he couldn't stay seated for to long. He interacted a lot with the crowd, getting them screaming, clapping and cheering. They put up a very energetic performance. I liked the red and silver style he wore during the show. For some songs he was playing saxophone again. I didn't watch their whole show because I wanted to go see Amorphis who played at the stage downhill: at Puistolava.

Amorphis are currently no less than on the top of their career: they, for example, hit the gold record limits with their latest two albums "Eclipse" (2006) and "Silent Waters" (2007). The band's fame has nothing but grown and in addition to being an always as eagerly awaited act in Finland, Amorphis are also a hot seller at European festivals. And so was it here as well: eagerly awaited by many many fans, most of them wearing fan merchandise. Everybody could sing along to the songs and enjoyed the gorgeous energetic performance just like I did. Many people were head banging along with the singer. The band seemed to have fun on stage, so did everybody in the audience. What a great show…

After my highlight of the festival, which was not Finnish but American Rockabilly, and the Swedish band Kent which many people seem to love just like I do, the highlight of the festival was up: HIM. The inventors of such nowadays worldwide concepts as love metal and Heartagram are big, both on their home ground and elsewhere. And by saying that HIM are big, we really mean it: the band sealed their international success by achieving high chart rankings and breaking gold record limits in the U.S. - accomplishments to go down in the Finnish history! Being a rare treat in Finland nowadays, HIM will keep the audience enthralled and begging for more. It was more than crowded; the complete festival seemed to be here in front of the main stage to see HIM perform at this Saturday evening. So the cheering was very loud as they finally entered the stage. The singing along was very loud as well and could be heard very well. Ville seemed to be in more than just a good mood, he talked and told a lot, laughed a lot and had a blast. So did everybody in the audience. Many people were dancing, everybody clapped and cheered and had a great closing for the first day of Ankkarock.


Sunday:
...the weather hadn't gotten better at all, rather worse. But hey, what is a festival without rain? And since we got these stylish yellow rain thingies the day before, I didn't care at all.

Getting up early (for a festival and a Sunday) again to try being in time for the first band on my "to-see" list, which was Poets of the Fall. Poets of the Fall got off to a flying start in their career in 2004, as their first single "Late Goodbye" earned the guys immediate international recognition after appearing on an acclaimed computer game, Max Payne 2. The band have ruled the official Finnish album charts with all their three full-lengths and rocked their way to the hearts of numerous fans. The tour supporting the release of Poets of the Fall's third album "Revolution Roulette" (2008) will take the band to a massive tour that covers venues around the world. As I arrived there I was astonished because so many people were there already singing along to the wonderful songs of Poets of the Fall. The band had a blast on stage and the audience had a blast in front of it watching. Their songs are easy to sing along and the music just gets you dancing, so did everybody. The cheering was quite loud for a Sunday at around 2pm. A great show of a great band that ended way too soon.

But the band wasn't less great and it wasn't less crowded either. A band that needs no introductions: Apulanta. Having been incredibly popular for over a decade, Apulanta's ninth album "Eikä vielä ole edes ilta" (2007) was yet another feather in their cap and now the rumor has it that the band are planning to "go Radiohead" on their next album and self-release it. As so many times before, their gig was a real hit parade! Here they were not as a trio as they usually were, but they also had a keyboarder along. Everybody sang, danced and jumped along to the beats of the band. During one of the first songs the bass player tore a string of his bass guitar. I found it amazing that you could find all kinds of people in the crowd together: punks, Goths, rocker, popper, metaller, everybody together in the crowd to see Apulanta. The band played a couple songs in acoustic.

Next band was metal again and playing at one of the stages up the hill, so up there I went again to see them: Sonata Arctica. Sonata Arctica are amongst the internationally most renowned Finnish bands. The band's unique version of fast, melodic heavy has received an enthusiastic welcome around the world. Sonata Arctica's tour in the turn of the year supporting the release of their seventh album "Unia" (2007) was highly successful and without question, the band has a bright future ahead of them. It was very crowded there as well. The intro ended with fireworks and the band now finally began to rock. People were head banging and moshing again, singing along, shouting along and of course clapping along. The guys did many funny things on stage but most metal fans in the front rows kept their straight faces while I busted out laughing. They had a stairway behind the drums where everybody of the band went up at least once during the show.

We went downhill again to catch a quick peak of Ismo Alanko Teholla and listen to some of his great songs and see some of the gorgeous show. New band, new album, new label, new producer - Ismo Alanko's career has certainly gone through some major changes lately. Evidently, all the new collaboration projects have more than paid off since the recently released Ismo Alanko Teholla debut "Blanco Spirituals" (2008) hit the first spot in the Finnish album chart. Ismo Alanko Teholla orchestra might be small in size but not in sounds! Not many people were watching his show, which was a pity because it is really a great show, great singer and great songs.

Finally it was time for Disco Ensemble to rock. The place in front of Puistolava was crowded again and everybody was ready to rock with the guys. Disco Ensemble is getting ready for the most hectic year of their career. The release of the band's long awaited third album "Magic Recoveries" (2008) will take them to an umpteenth European tour and to the U.S. to be the first Finnish band ever to play the legendary Warped Tour. A totally energetic band who somehow share their energy with the audience which jumped around just like the guys, singing along and not minding the rain that was pouring down now. Everybody in the audience went crazy during the show, especially at "Black Hero" and "Threat Letter Typewriter". What a great show.

Next Finnish band to see was the classic metal band: Apocalyptica. The unique cello heavy band Apocalyptica made their mark in the 90's by playing Metallica but has moved more and more from covers to own material. Apocalyptica's albums have featured several prominent artists and many of these collaborations have become international smash hits. A wide range of noted musicians, Till Lindemann from Rammstein and Corey Taylor from Slipknot and Stone Sour to name but a few, starred Apocalyptica's latest album "Worlds Collide" (2007) that has received an enthusiastic welcome around the world. For the songs "I don't care" and "I'm not Jesus" the singer of Sonata Arctica sang. Eicca, Perttu and Paavo ran around on stage with their cellos while playing, playing with each other and having much fun. So did the audience. I always enjoy seeing them live.

Last band and last Finnish band for the night was PMMP, the mother of songs that stick to your head for months, have gone platinum with all their four albums and that certainly is something to be proud of. Totally crowded they closed the festival but opened their show with a big bang after the first two songs. Everybody, really everybody could sing along to the songs and danced around, just like the two singers on stage. In their pink dresses they rocked and sang, danced and got the crowd doing everything they wanted. It was a happy show and a positive feeling during their performance. They played all their radio hits and many more.


What a great festival. I am so looking forward to the next... See you again at Korso in 2009. Kvak!

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