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Bar Loose, Helsinki, Finland
22nd September 2010
Phoenix Effect

Again my friend and I found ourselves in Helsinki and again we got a chance to enjoy a concert but this time of a local rock act called PHOENIX EFFECT. This young promising formation originally was founded as a solo project of Janne Kärkkäinen but a bit later three no less talented musicians joined him and then that solo project turned into a quartet. The release of the debut work entitled ‘Cyanide Skies’ in 2009 helped the band to win a reputation as an interesting phenomenon on the modern rock scene. The eponymous sophomore album is planned to be released on the 13th of October while the gig on the 22nd of September was called “sneak preview” yet we could appreciate all the songs off the forthcoming creation. PHOENIX EFFECT is Janne Kärkkäinen (vocals, guitar), Pyry Nikkilä (guitar), Lauri Hämäläinen (bass, backing vocals) and Anton Laurila (drums). http://www.phoenixeffect.fi/ / http://www.myspace.com/phoenixeffectmusic



Music & Performance
The concert started quite suddenly as I had barely realized that the musicians were already on the stage when the first song ‘Black Art’ sounded and filling the hall with its drive, energy and creating a peculiar atmosphere that actually remained till the very end of the show or maybe even further. Actually the best word to describe the state we were plunged into was “euphoria” like the title of the next song of the evening and it’s still not an exaggeration however all impressions may be way too subjective. Speaking about the composition itself it must be the only track or one of those few I heard before and could understand the words as well and of course fully assess the emotional delivery typical for the band. The setlist mainly consisted of the absolutely new songs and that’s why it’s possible to give only an overall description of them. So the expressive, heartfelt and powerful melodies maybe more powerful than those on the previous album with catchy choruses, a clear measured rhythm and I guess meaningful lyrics yet it was hard to comprehend everything on the spot.



The band was so absorbed with the music that it seemed the musicians didn’t even notice what was going on around them but indeed they established a mutual contact with the audience at the very beginning and after each song Janne used to say “kiitos” (thank you) and other stuff in Finnish that may mean “happy to see you here”, “thank you for coming” and some useful phrases of the kind. The fans in their turn expressed their attitude with prolonged applause and approving shouts. So in that I would say almost domestic atmosphere the time flew by imperceptibly and after two old well-known tracks namely ‘King See no Evil’ and ‘Broken Promises’ the whole gig came to an end in the same sudden manner as it had begun. As usually I was too slow to realize it even when the musicians went through the crowd accompanied by the applause.



Well, everything good finishes sooner or later but I guess I’ll begin to like such club concerts without pomposity, special effects when only four guys playing simple, but moving music are enough to produce an unforgettable impression and make you want more.

Setlist
01. Black Art
02. Euphoria
03. Killing the Afterglow
04. A Light to Guide
05. Babylon
06. All 4 Nothing 4 All
07. Mask of Sanity
08. Into Flame
09. Sugarcoated Illusions
10. Stand Your Ground
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11. King See no Evil
12. Broken Promises

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 10
Light: 7
Total: 9.6 / 10



All pictures by Nataly Night
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