After just three shows in January (but including a great trip to Helsinki) I was ready for more. For high spirits and drooling monsters ;)
Yeah, once in a lifetime one should have experienced a LORDI monster monsterman show ;) Finish Devils again haunt across Europe in support of their brand new record Deadache, punishing nonbelievers. With two bands as an interlude and an extra truck full of requisites and pyros.

Doors of the X open too late for many fans waiting outside dressed with just a t-shirt… it is fucking freezing, but generally speaking, very early. It’s Friday evening with a disco connecting up, a very annoying circumstance as it will emerge later at this evening…

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Swedish Glam rockers :: FATAL SMILE :: open the evening with a 30 minutes asskicking Rock show. Audience is lethargic, at points even ignorant, decrying FATAL SMILE as fags. Venue is hardly filled and people don’t response on any announcement of singer Blade. Maybe they missed the English lessons at school… Just a handful of fans appeared in the first row, showing respect and delight to the rulers. Ok, not enough for the World Domination ;) But its tracks at least ruled the evening. In hindsight, FATAL SMILE was the best band of the evening. They rocked the hell out of the tiny stage room left for them. Also later the gents had a lot of fun at their merchandise. That’s the way it has to be. Coolness!
Setlist: Neo Natural Freaks, Stranger, Out Of My Head, Run For Your Life, Learn Love Hate, S.O.B.

Hyped and pampered backed by a major label “newcomers” :: SILVERLANE :: were not only up to enter the stage next, but also to enter the German throne of Power Metal. Promising hopefuls, but for sure not new to the scene. Founded back in 1996 under the moniker he Rising Force, they renamed in 2005 and now look back on a 3 albums and 2 EP’s spanning history (both bands). The brand new sophomore of SILVERLANE fame is entitled My Inner Demon and waits for its release on February 20. But attendees of this tour already get a full service show with 8 of the 12 new tracks. German melodic metal, the classic way, played with crispy riffwork and a lot of enthusiasm. Female keyboard player was banned into a dark corner (no room – small stage – large equipment for the Lord’s). Nothing to see, nothing to hear of her. The axe-men were lacking of proper stage-acting. Such headbang-driven riffwork downright demands headbanging stage-acting ;) The guys even had fans running… perfect conditions ;) From guys trying to step into Edguy’s shoes I expect 100% physical play! Only singer Ecki got the hang of it.
Setlist: Intro, The Dark Storm, Miracle, Kingdom Of Sand, Full Moon, The Taste Of Sin, My Inner Demon, The Flight Of Icarus, Wings Of Eternity

With the equipment of the support bands off there was finally room for the headliner. Building up all that stuff already caused much excitement and many “ah’s” and “oh’s”. The teenies in the first rows were hardly to stop, despite of the moms and dads in their neck attempting to control the kids. Yes :: LORDI :: is a family spanning entertainment ;) Not voluntarily if I interpreted the parent’s faces right *lol*
Anyway, LORDI delivered a much experienced bloody monster show. Made more for the eyes than for neck and ears. Four- and six-stringers quickly started sweating under their costumes, what made them dripping and drooling, perfectly suiting the scenery ;) Mr. Monsterman Lordi didn’t move that much, instead he was handling lotsa pyros and slaughter stuff. Besides, teetering on 30cm plateau shoes doesn’t make it easier I guess. Also here, key bride Awa was living a dire existence in the shadows. At least she came to the fore every now and then for some lovely slaughter. Songs went across the band’s history, focusing on the highlights of the new record, always garnished with fireworks, foam and confetti bombs. Sound could have been more punching; also the lightshow was quite lame. LORDI allowed themselves the one and the other wrong note and asynchronous playing. Same to the sound engineer who missed his entry at the end of the show. Yeas, that were entertaining and family-compatible 90 minutes, but also quite predictable. Anyway… as I said, once you should have seen LORDI playing live ;)
Setlist: Intro, Girls Go Chopping, They Only Come Out At Night, Raise Hell In Heaven, Bite It Like A Bulldog, Who's Your Daddy, Blood Red Sandman, Man Skin Boots, Hunted Town, Deadache, Bringing Back The Balls To Rock, Monster Monster, It Snows In Hell, Wake The Snake, Dr. Sin Is In, Missing Miss Charlene // Would You Love A Monsterman, Devil Is A Loser // Hard Rock Hallelujah

10.30 pm over and out. No time to take a breath and the disco started. No metal disco or something like that. Ya know, for culchies. Already during the LORDI show organizers opened the doors for them, with the peeps coming into the concert hall and leaving stupid comments. Mood was quickly on the edge and I was actually waiting for the punch-ups. To make the chaos perfect they let hundreds of culchies surging in before they let the show attendees out. In the lobby and cloak room tumults broke off, hardly to tame by the security. That was really a STUPID hand-made situation. However, it took me more than an hour to get me cloak and to get out. Entry and exit were almost the same with more hundreds of people waiting outside and blocking the doors. Fuckheads! Finally out *phew* And now… off home!

story & pics © Dajana