Photo Reports

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the last day on the Radio City (tent) Stage Finnish melodeath supergroup Warmen, Faroese nightingale Eivør, and modern metallers Bury Tomorrow, while on the OPEN AIR II stage we caught Norwegian promises Fixation and the viking warriors of Brothers Of Metal!

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the last day on the Karhu Main Stage bands like the German modern melodic outfit Beyond The Black, house band Lost Society, Opeth stunning with an old school set, and headliners Parkway Drive setting the stage ablaze yet again!

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the second day on the Karhu Main Stage bands like the Danish moder prog masters VOLA, heavy metal cult heroes Tarot, Finnish favorites Stam1na and Amorphis, and an absolutely massive show of a corpse painted Bring Me The Horizon as headliner of this day!

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the second day on the Radio City (tent) Stage US death metal legends Devourment, while on the OPEN AIR II stage we caught modern metallers on the rise Ankor opening the day, one of the most energetic shows of the weekend from Australia’s metalcore stars Make Them Suffer and Finnish disko metal stars and crowd favorites Turmion Kätilöt!

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the first day on the Radio City (tent) Stage Finnish black metal supergroup I Am The Night, Moldavian modern metal superstars Infected Rain, local cult heroes Suburban Tribe and experimental black metal project Zeal & Ardor, while on the OPEN AIR II stage we caught an exciting show from GHØSTKID!

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the first day on the Karhu Main Stage bands like Lord of the Lost as festival openers, Alestorm bringing the pirate metal party, legendary guitarist Kerry King with his solo work, Norwegian symphonic black metal institution Dimmu Borgir and headliners drum ‘n’ bass rockers Pendulum!

A sold out On The Rocks truly got warmed up for the upcoming Tuska Festival when the legendary Suburban Tribe played their first show in over 13 years! Preparing for the summer festivals, Suburban Tribe is in top-notch condition and for sure a must-see during any summer festival you might be attending. The set consisted of all the classic songs you’d wanna hear and even an appearance by the original vocalist, mr. Tuska himself Jouni Markkanen busting out some old Suburban Tribe tunes for the old school audience.

In the beginning of June, the madness and circus that is Metallica touring the world with their “M72 Tour” took over Helsinki for the weekend with the usual 2 shows they’ve been playing in every city they’ve landed. Perfect timing for Apocalyptica who had just released their “Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Vol. 2” album, the follow-up to their legendary debut album that got them to where they are right now. And kudos to their management and marketing team, because organizing and booking a show where the iconic Finnish band plays their new album with Metallica covers in the middle of the Metallica weekend in Helsinki is simply genius. The show was everything we’ve come to expect from Apocalyptica, and the Metallica songs played by 3 cellos really strike that youth nostalgia chord within me. Of course, it would have been great to see the Metallica dudes pop by for a little guest appearance, and I bet that a lot of people there were kind of hoping that, but these musical wonders don’t really need such gimmicks to deliver a wonderfully captivating show. Absolutely amazing!

Ever since they exploded on the scene in the early 2000s with their monster hit ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’, I’ve been a huge fan of The Darkness, and they’ve been delivering sold rock ‘n’ roll year after year. Sadly, I never had the pleasure of seeing these guys in action live. So when it was announced that they were dropping by in my neighborhood in Finland, I knew I had to be there for a night of good rock ‘n’ roll! The culture house in Helsinki pulsated of the old school rock ‘n’ roll show The Darkness brought and with local rock heroes Shiraz Lane opening up the night, it was a night to remember!

We’re always up for a good black metal gig, and when we saw that the popular Danish project Afsky was going to set foot on Finnish shores to do a small co-headline tour with the just as popular locals Havukruunu, we just knew we had to be there. And while we were of course expecting a class act, we were really surprised by how the night went like and how the atmosphere felt. With all 3 bands, Afsky & Havukruunu with openers Qwälen, came some really intense and relentless shows as you’d expect from a black metal gig, but at the same time, I don’t think we’ve ever attended a black metal show where everyone felt as welcome as here. The bands are not afraid to express their dislike towards a certain faction on the far-right and speak up about certain social issues, causing the crowd to exist of not just your standard black metal fans, but people of many walks of life. We saw for instance a whole bunch of people who portrayed their affiliation to LGBTQ+ quite openly and proud, and we can only praise bands that actually make those people feel comfortable enough to be out and in the open!