RoD header

Translate

amorphis P2590006Logomo, Turku, Finland
21st July 2022
Amorphis

Finnish band AMORPHIS was founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen as a Death Metal band in 1990. Over the years, the band formed their own style by merging other Metal genres including Progressive Metal and Folk Metal. The band released their highly acclaimed album ‘Halo’ earlier this year and embarked on a long US-tour afterwards. This summer the band played several festival gigs in Finland and Europe and will embark on a long tour all over Europe in November and December 2022.

Music & Performance
When I arrived at Logomo terrace, all the benches were already occupied by Metal fans enjoying conversations about their favourite genre while having a drink or two. The three bars were quite busy as the sun was still shining on this exceptional warm Finnish summer day. Those who wanted to secure a spot as close to the band as possible were already standing at the crash barrier in front of the stage. When I looked at the stage I realized that the usual backdrop was missing and that the standing platforms looked differently. Instead of bearing a printed cover, they were all black. “New album, new stage-design”, I thought, but what would follow a few minutes later was a lot more than just a new stage design…

amorphis P2570772

The band came on stage at 20:00 sharp, starting the show with the opening track from their latest album and the atmospheric intro of ‘Northwards’ was the perfect choice for getting the crowds attention. Due to the bright sunlight front man Tomi Joutsen was wearing sunglasses which he removed when the sun started setting later that evening. As I mentioned earlier, the band had a new stage design and after they invested in a fantastic light show a few years ago, the new multi-media projections on the backdrop and the platforms took the show to a new and amazing level. The second song for tonight was ‘On The Dark Waters’ that was released on ‘Halo’ as well and when I looked at the crowd, I realized that the front rows already knew the lyrics by heart. ‘Death of a King’, a track from the bands album ‘Under The Red Cloud’, brought lots of energy into the pit and more and more people left their seats to move to the stage.

amorphis P2580060

Then it was time for the authors favourite track ‘Silver Bride’ (check out the amazing video the band released for this epic track); as soon as Santeri Kallio started the intro on his keyboards everybody in Turku had their hands in the air. Guitar wizard Esa Holopainen and Olli Pekka Laine gave us heavy thunder like riffing on guitar and bass and when it was time for the chorus, Tomi Joutsen asked the crowd to perform it. Effortlessly Tomi afterwards switched to amazing dark growls, while Olli performed the clear vocals and when the last tune faded, the band got loud cheering and applause from the crowd. Another classic from ‘Tales From A Thousand Lakes’ was next; we are talking about ‘Into Hiding’ that is not on the setlists so often and it obviously made the fans more than happy to hear this song. ‘Wrong Direction’, a song with amazing clear singing parts, followed suit and then it was time for ‘The Moon’, the band’s first single from ‘Halo’, and as soon as the first tunes became audible the fans were cheering quite loud. Now the new multimedia show told an amazing story about ‘The Moon’ in the background, underlining the lyrics contents. Chapeau! ‘Seven Roads Come Together’ from the same album followed next.

amorphis P2580747

After a short break, the band performed a song from their last album ‘Queen of Time’ that gained them lots of radio play - ‘Amongst Stars’ - and so far, I never had heard the song live and I was glad that it was on the setlist tonight. The song originally is a duet and while Tomi Joutsen performed his vocals live, the female vocals provided by Anneke van Giersbergen came from a tape, but snips from the songs video showing her performing the vocals appeared in the background and made it a perfect performance. The fans had their hands in the air and when Tomi switched from clear vocals in an amazing deep growl he got a very loud cheering from the audience in return. The multimedia approach was a perfect idea for this song and leaves the band the opportunity to play other songs they recorded in collaboration with other musicians live on stage.

amorphis P2580828

‘Heart of the Giant’ followed next and after that the band started a firework of songs that started with ‘Black Winter Day’, a really heavy song that is almost a must for the band. The slower and very melodic started with a longer instrumental intro and the red illuminated stage was perfect. Esa Holopainen gave us an amazing guitar solo and Santeri Kallio wonderful keyboard solos. The song was most welcome by the fans, since it had not been on the setlists so often in the last years. Heads were banged hands in the air and that for almost seven minutes, because the band gave us a full version of this track with all the amazing instrumental layers and solo parts. The band left the stage under a big applause and the fans immediately started demanding the encore.

amorphis P2590519

It was the track that opened the band’s live shows ever since ‘Queen of Time’ was released. We are talking ‘The Bee’, during the intro the band came on stage and Tomi Joutsen addressed the audience before the musicians picked up their instruments and played one of the most versatile songs the band ever released. The fans had big smiles on their faces and soon the venue was a sea of raised hands, as soon as Tomi Joutsen started the growls, head-banging was mandatory and the band really drove the fans to maximum metal attitude. There was almost no break to catch before the band performed one of their best and most well-known song which is ‘House of Sleep’ and Tomi Joutsen delivered such a wild performance that the micro stand gave in, so he just had half of it in the hand and held it into the audience, whenever it was time for the chorus.

amorphis P2600015

Then it was over and I wished the band would have played a shows that lasts four hours or so. AMORPHIS have such a large back catalogue they can choose from, that the audience can never have it all, but maybe one day, the band will return to some residence concerts at TAVASTIA and play songs from each decade live on stage for one night. In Turku they delivered a perfect and very energetic gig and the author is counting the days until the band embarks on their European tour. Make sure to grab a ticket, the bands shows in Germany are usually sold out.

Setlist
01. Northwards
02. On The Dark Waters
03. Death Of A King
04. Silver Bride
05. Into Hiding
06. Wrong Direction
07. The Moon
08. Seven Roads
09. Amongst Stars
10. Heart Of The Giant
11. Black Winter Day
12. My Kantele
---
13. The Bee
14. House Of Sleep

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Light: 10
Sound: 10
Total: 10 / 10

  • amorphis_P2570772
  • amorphis_P2580060
  • amorphis_P2580080
  • amorphis_P2580080_1
  • amorphis_P2580456
  • amorphis_P2580747
  • amorphis_P2580828
  • amorphis_P2590006
  • amorphis_P2590519
  • amorphis_P2590539
  • amorphis_P2590944
  • amorphis_P2600015
  • amorphis_P2600064
  • amorphis_P2600183

All Pictures by Munich Vampire

See also (all categories):

Comments powered by CComment