Klubi, Tampere, Finland 19th March 2022
The 69 Eyes
THE 69 EYES started in 1989 as a Sleaze band in Helsinki and over the years developed their very own style the Goth’n’Roll. The band is also known as “The Helsinki Vampires” among their fans and came over to Germany for the first time in 1998.
Things kicked off during the early 2000s when they went on tour with PARADISE LOST and won over more and more fans. THE 69 EYES constantly toured during all these years not only in Europe but also in Australia, Japan, Russia in the USA establishing a big and very dedicated fanbase. Celebrating the bands 30th anniversary in 2019 they released their new album ‘West End’ and went on a mostly sold-out tour in Europe and the USA. The band recently signed with Atomic Fire Records and announced a new album for later this year. www.69eyes.com / www.facebook.com/the69eyes
Music & Performance
Since the setlist in December for the gig in Lahti had been a blast, the author decided to swallow her anger about the cancelled show in Estonia and go to Tampere instead. The days before the show, the showtime had been shifted several times, so I checked the social media again on Saturday morning to find out that it had been postponed to 22:30. The author usually arrives at the venue at least 30 minutes before the show and that was the case tonight, too, just to find a long line before the club and to hear THE 69 EYES performing songs that did not sound like soundcheck ones.
The people in the lines seemed to be surprised as well and it took quite a while until I arrived at the front desk, to find out that my name was not on the photo-list. Showing the mail from the person who had authorized me led into waiting for the manager, who allowed me to take pictures from the audience, since there was no media pit anyway. Not the best start into the night, but to make it short: THE 69 EYES delivered a hell of a show.
The setlist had changed a bit compared to Lahti and as far as I could hear from the entrance, the show was opened with ‘Devils’ instead of ‘Two Horns Up’. ‘Never Say Die’ kept its spot in the opening part of the show and the next one was ‘Dance D’Amour’ followed by ‘Black Orchid’ that had made it back on the setlist. The next one was ‘Still Waters’ and sometime between this song and ‘Perfect Skin’ I finally made it inside, so I could see the band on stage. ‘Sister of Charity’ seems to have won a permanent place on the setlist, which is obviously much appreciated by the Goth prone audience followed suit.
A touch of biker attitude was brought in by ‘Cheyenne’ from the band’s latest release ‘West End’ and a song that might have been new for fans who didn’t follow the band from their early years came next. ‘Mrs. Sleazy’ had been on the setlist during the bands tour in December and it totally took me by surprise. In 2022 the release of the song has its 30th anniversary, for it was first released on a vinyl EP called ‘High Times - Low Life’ and was later released on CD on ‘Motor City Resurrection’. Since the author likes some good “Helsinki Sleaze” she was more than happy, that the song was on the setlist again.
‘If You Love Me The Morning After’ took us from the band’s early days back to an album that the author never really understood, but this melodic song gave the audience the chance to catch their breath for we were more than halfway through the show now and ‘Two Horns Up’ opened the part of the show that always comes with highly energetic fan favourites. ‘Wasting The Dawn’ took us back to the days when the band slowly changed their sound towards what we nowadays call Goth’n’Roll. The energetic ’27 & Done’ took us back to 2019 and it’s still strange to hear the crowd sing “Let’s all die young…” aloud. Now it got really hot in the club and Jussi69 amused the ladies by getting rid of his shirt.
The crowd heated up even more, when the first tunes of ‘Feel Berlin’ became audible and as a German I always wonder how people around the world can love our capital so much that they sing along every line of the lyrics. I really don’t know who is going wilder, the crowd or the band, when it’s time for ‘Brandon Lee’ and after the last chord the band left the stage, they left behind a crowd that loudly demanded an encore that literally kicked off with ‘Framed In Blood’. Timo-Timo once more performed his trademark Izzy Stradlin style jump while playing guitar and Bazie and Archie proved that the time of social distancing is over and got as close to the edge of stage as possible, while Jussi69 was beating the shit out of his drums.
Jyrki’s killer performance of ‘The Chair’ got us all Goth before it was time for the most important question tonight: “You wanna rock?” Of course, Tampere wanted and the whole club, that was packed to the roof rocked, as if there never had been a gap called “lockdown”. It was a hell of a show and I hope the band put all this energy on the upcoming record. I’m not one for the crystal ball, but looking at the recent setlists in my collection, I find the mix a very interesting and promising one.
THE 69 EYES just announced a tour with MINISTRY, check their website and social media for details and make sure, that you grab your tickets soon. You wanna rock! Remember?
Setlist
01. Devils
02. Never Say Die
03.Dance D’Amour
04. Black Orchid
05. Still Waters
06. Perfect Skin
07. Sister Of Charity
08. Cheyenna
09. Mrs. Sleazy
10. If You Love Me The Morning After
11. Two Horns Up
12. Wasting The Dawn
13. 27 & Done
14. Feel Berlin
15. Brandon Lee
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16. Framed In Blood
17. The Chair
18. Lost Boys
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Light: 7
Sound: 10
Total: 9.3 / 10
All Pictures by Munich Vampire
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