Пост N: 5926
Info: вместе навсегда...
Зарегистрирован: 23.06.07
Рейтинг:
127
Отправлено: 18.10.13 05:06. Заголовок: Наших обокрали пока ..
Наших обокрали пока они из Вены в Италию ехали... Какое-то чамо пробралось в грузовик с аппаратурой и вынесли все на приличную сумму евро, микрофоны, батареи и тд пока водитель спал (это почти на границе случилось)...кража стоимостью в тысячи евро. Заведено дело, но группа продолжает гастролировать. http://www.heute.at/news/oesterreich/wien/art23652,945437
Пост N: 5954
Info: В каждом доме быть должна бетономешалка!
Зарегистрирован: 13.06.08
Рейтинг:
127
Отправлено: 19.10.13 08:24. Заголовок: Я была в шоке от это..
Я была в шоке от этой новости. Поначалу даже не верилось, что это правда. Думала, может, неудачная газетная "утка". Да, ребята сидели даже без интернета первое время, Гас написал на фейсбуке... Это просто ужасно. Кто должен возместить расходы, если не найдут украденное???
И: привет! Это Зина - рок и все черное - с Вилле из HIM, конечно же. Мы собираемся ответить на несколько ваших вопросов.
Какая самая значимая песня, из написанных тобой, которая по-прежнему имеет для тебя значение? В: для меня? Я думаю, что есть причины для написания каждой песни. Для меня музыка - это как дневник. Я никогда не вел настоящего , так что я пишу свой дневник в музыке. Я помню , где именно я был, что я делал и как плохо мне было (улыбается), когда родилась та или иная песня. Они все занимают особое место в моем сердце.
И: в какой книге находится 43 страница? И какая твоя любимая книга? В: что ж, страница 43 это ссылка на текст песни. Так что я не должен .... Кто-то разгадал это. Полагаю, это было в Лос Анджелесе. Но я думаю, что хороший рок-н-ролл в любом случае должен иметь небольшую загадку. Моя любимая книга... Ааамммм.. Нууу, Библия - достаточно хороша. Нет, я сам не очень религиозен , но и не антирелигиозен. У меня есть одна в ванной комнате дома. Я обклеил стены страницами из Библии. Люди спрашивают : "ты читал когда-нибудь Библию? ", а я отвечаю: "каждое утро."
И: какая у тебя была самая памятная фан-встреча? В: С Тони Айоми. Мы очень странно начинали. Знаешь, одной из моих любимых групп и причиной, по которой мы собрали группу, была.. является тот факт, что мы все огромные фанаты Black Sabbath. (*минута тридцать, Вало неисправим). А теперь кажется, наш гитарист помолвлен с дочерью гитариста Black Sabbath (*1:38 - это напоминает Петросяна со шпингалетом) И: замкнутый круг В: да, Тони-Мари. Я говорю со стороны фаната. Так что это довольно дико.
И: ты когда-нибудь напишешь песню полностью юна финском? В: я пел на финском языке дома. Не со всей группой .. Так, некоторые известные фолк-песни. Это здорово. Но это не переводимо для мира, так что только 5 миллионов людей говорят по-фински и это один из самых сложных языков для изучения.
И: есть какие-то планы на детей ? В: (ржет) планы на детей? Уэээл, ееее.. И: твои планы В: план.. Аааммм, я не против, но я бОльшую часть времени провожу в автобусе, так что я не буду лучшим отцом. Посмотрим. Плана нет.
И: правда, что это последний тур и группе пришел конец? В: да. И: это конец! В: да, действительно сегодняшний вечер станет днем "Д"*. Группа всегда должна планировать на год вперед , но да, этот день определенно станет нашим последним навсегда.
И: ты себя видишь в роли секс-символа или принимаешь этот титул? В: аааммм, принимать титул.. Оооо, да что угодно , лишь бы помогало продавать пластинки. И: (ржет) В: честно говоря, это один из вопросов , на который сложно ответить. Я не знаю, что значит "секс-символ". И: ну все могло бы быть еще хуже, правда (*заканчивает интервью) В: нет (*смеется)
Приветствую всех жителей земли! Меня зовут Вилле Херррмани Вало из финской группы HIM. И в данный момент вы имеете удовольствие смотреть Daily Disruption. Расслабьтесь, мальчики и девочки, и все , кто между.
** D-Day : 1) ист. день вы́садки сою́зных войск в Евро́пе (6 июня 1944 г.) 2) воен. день нача́ла опера́ции
HIM & Italy by Alessia, Michela, Margherita and Alessandra Chronology of a love affair.. Lucky... a pretty unusual word I would use to describe myself, but in this case I think it is definitely the right one, since I had the rare chance to follow this band from its birth to the first steps throughout our Country. The first meeting between HIM and Italy happened 13 years ago, in November 2000 with three gigs in Milano, Roma and Cesena. Those amazing five guys coming from the cold Finland gathered a little group of dark supporters who wanted to witness with their own eyes and ears the band that a bunch of fine magazine reviews (first among them Psycho) defined the new wave of Northern Gothic Metal. From the intro notes of “Gone With The Sin” hot shivers ran through our spines and the whole audience went crazy. HIM were a total surprise and not just because of their frontman androgynous beauty, who was still unaware of his alluring charm back then, but above all because of their being able to arrange with simple chords songs that can move both the old and the new audience of fans still today, after so many years. The ones who were among the crowd that night can not forget the power of the rhythmic section of the bass player Migè and of the new drummer Gas (who had just replaced Patka Rantala) the incredible energy of Linde's guitar solos, the new emotion caused by Ville's deep and seductive voice and the delicate keyboard of Zoltan. Those five guys, half drunk and half hobos charmed the audience in a bit more than one hour and left us with this sensation of having witnessed something unique for the first time. Songs like Resurrection or The Heartless were the brighting stars in that November night. Most of European music magazines kept on talking about HIM and their second album “Razorblade Romance”, but they got to play in Italy in 2001, always in November and lacking of an adequate promotion, to perform in the same pretty tiny and smoky locations and in front of the same dedicated and committed audience, eager to see and hear them again. The band was touring with the third album “Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights”, and presented a bit more bohemien kind of style if compared with the last time they performed here. The main important difference is that they changed the line-up introducing us their new keyboard player, Burton, who preferred a softer and more classic oriented sound than the 80's one proposed by the former band member. That choice would have influenced HIM's future sound in the years to come. When I think back at those times I can recall Ville's appearently arrogant attitude to start singing turning his back to the audience, both because of his inner, instictive, typically Finnish shyness and of this new halo of “mysterious dark creature” that the international press had just created around his figure. It’s on the 7th of June 2003 and HIM return to Italy with a number of awards in their pocket after the release of their fourth album "Love Metal". The festival A Day At The Border of Milan save for them the honor of opening the Reverend Marilyn Manson, but something doesn’t work in the organization of the event. A little less than an hour before the show is announced that the performance of the American showman and our heroes find themselves on stage as headliners in front of an audience stunned, disappointed and not tolerant to Valo grins and him, on his side, will show first time the incapacity to manage his emotions, performing an embarrassing show for the poor audience remained. In the wave of the international success of "Love Metal", the band returns to Italy the following year (2004) with two dates, one in January at the Alcatraz in Milan and the other in June for the second edition of the Flippaut Festival in Bologna as support band of Korn. This time the music will be completely different, the American experience has clearly marked the style and attitude to perform in front of a demanding audience. So much that the first throw of fruits and vegetables by Korn fans, Ville replies from behind his mustache hawk: "Thank you but we already had lunch", giving to everyone (including metalheads) one of the best shows that even today I remember. 2005 is the year of "Dark Light" and the band is back on stage in Milan and Mestre, with an album that perhaps recorded the highest number of Italian fans and, I have to admit, my temporary absence from the extra music events of the band. I still remember the concert in Milan as a wonderful concentrate of sound and light , for one of the best interpretation of "Rip Out the Wings of a Butterfly" and for the atmosphere, full of adrenaline, maybe too much. The Alcatraz was full of people, very different fan than at the first performance, they paid more attention to the look of the singer than to his music. Ville & Co. after that night will make us wait for three years before returning in our country, in Milan and Florence. It's 2008, and it is precisely in the city of the lily that I try to rediscover the sensations experienced in the heydays. "Venus Doom" is an album full of passion and torment, but the performance of HIM is far from these atmospheres. I believe, and I say it reluctantly, to have witnessed one of the most ugly and undignified show for a rock band. Technically dull and devoid of personality and spontaneity, with a band listless, especially the leader, more interested in stuttering poems for young girls than to sing according to his potential. It 's very difficult for me to find a single positive note of that evening, and the silence that will fall on the band from then would have only fueled the fear of those who, like me, had witnessed the birth of something great, only to resign themselves to a slow and inexorable power off. Michela Marchi
HIM 15-10-13 MEET 'N' GREET REPORT Keep calm and... hug Valo (Milan- Tuesday, October 15th) “Ok, keep calm and breathe deeply, inhale, countuntilfive and exhale, alwayscountinguntilfive” ... mmm... I have some doubts this relaxing technique can work, but it seems to be the only solution coming to my mind to control this freakish tachycardia affecting me while walking my way to a destination named Alcatraz. Five years passed since HIM last performance in Italy. It was 2008 and they were promoting “Venus Doom”, but for me it is 12 years since the first time I saw them playing live in this same location. Back then “Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights” had just been released. Among the things coming through my mind about that night I rember that they were introduced onstage by Fratello Metallo, besides I can recall that Ville smoke at least two cigarettes during each song (including the ones fans threw him onstage) that thay did not come out for the encore, but that they played a very good gig. In the meanwhile my heartbeat doesn't seem to decrease, but it seems even to fasten when I reach Alcatraz doors: there's a very long queue of fans who seem to be there since the beginning of time. There are all the ingredients to make this night a really epic one. The atmosphere is full of pure excitement and while everybody's eyes are staring at the huge tourbus parked in front of the venue's entrance, mine, instead, are looking restlessly among the crowd to find the girls of “The Heartagram Path”, HIM's Italian Official Website. I'm very happy to meet them and to share with them the emotions of this event, a great one indeed, because it includes not only the show, but also the meeting among us, passionately dedicated to the cause in order to make this Italian site working and, above all, the very hard-earned, long awaited for and finally attained meet and greet with the band. It is not so professional to admit, but I spent a sleepless weekend thingking about that. The precious and rare chance to meet Ville, Migé, Linde, Gas and Burton in person killed my sleep, but I would lie if I told you that it was not worth the while. To the more or less twenty lucky accredited people, above all promoters, webmasters and journalists the five Finnish rockers dedicate thirty minutes of autographs, pictures and smiles. There is also place for emotion, moistened eyes, presents, hugs and fine small talks. Ville has catlike eyes, they are really charming and simply irresistible: their intense green can get you lost into them. He greets everyone very kindly and shakes everybody's hands, poses for pictures making his proverbial funny faces and signs cds, t-shirts, vynils, flags, but, above all he gives a lot of hugs, so many that I can even suppose he likes this latter part more than all the rest. Migé and Gas are the chattier ones: they are able to make us soon at our ease. They talk about their day in Milan and about the good pasta they ate at meal. The bass player has very deep blue and sweet eyes; the drummer seems to reply very gladly to all the people who keep on asking him about his health, because they had been so worried for his recent desease that they now are really enthusiast to see him there, safe and sound. Burton, who generally is hidden behind his keyboard set, seems the one of them who loves making jokes and tricks the most. He keeps on making incredibly funny faces to distract his bandmates and their fans while they are taking pictures. The blond guitar player, Linde, acts like a true gentleman and shots almost all the pictures kneeling down a bit to make some of us, pocket sized kind of girls, look less short, especially if compared with these five huge Scandinavians. When it is my turn to get to shake Ville's hand and meet his eyes I mysteriously find myself able to utter just monosyllabic sounds. All of a sudden it seems I forgot 20 years of English language and the few words I can say in Finnish. I am still pretty sure if he asked me my name I would have replied only after a bunch of seconds. Getting so close to be even able to hug him makes my synapsis collapse completely and my eyes water, but I do not complain at all, also because I totally did not expect him hugging me back so warmly. Damn cliché about the legendary Northern coldness... Luckily enough I start being able to speak again with the handsome Gas, to whom I confess it's my second HIM show, because I saw them in 2001 on that same stage and he naively remarks:“Wow! Quite a long time ago, we were really young back then!” Burton, with the hair gathered in a ponytail which makes him look even finer, keeps on showing me his tongue while I am taking pictures, so, if they are not usable, being too blurred it's because I am dying of laughter. As for Linde his incredibly long dreadlocks seem so soft I stare at him for a while too. Migé, vey kindly and nicely, suggests me to take a pic of the “Tears On Tape” CD cover, before the marker drips and signatures disappear. So, while the tour manager starts calling them back to reach their dressing rooms, he heartly recommends me to use the CD booklet next time. Next time? It seems to me such a unique chance that I just can't believe I could be so lucky to get to meet them so close twice, but, after all, what's wrong in reserving the right to dream? Margherita Realmonte
20 p.m: drunk on dreams Five years. Five long years have passed since the last HIM shows in Italy, three not so memorable gigs in Milan , Florence and Modena in 2008. Many people, at that time, considered the band almost done, an hypothesis quite confirmed, later, by the long stop that followed the seventh album Screamworks : love in theory and practice . Drummer Gas Lipstick suffered in fact of a serious arm damage, and the band had to stay away for almost two years from stages and rehearsal places. It was therefore with great anticipation that fans welcomed the new album and, most of it all, the new tour. After a shaky start of the American tour, immediately stopped due to Ville Valo being ill, summer festivals , Rock Allegiance Tour and the beginning of the European tour witnessed a band in a very good shape. HIM are back, against all odds! The sidewalk in front of Alcatraz is already flooded with heartagrams since the early morning of October 15. Fans from all over Italy came to Milan to finally see their favorite band in their only Italian show . In an Alcatraz only half full , the symbol of Tears on Tape already dominates the stage when Caspian, support act for the entire European tour, go onstage. The band from Massachusetts had undoubtedly an arduous task: to entertain a demanding audience, not used to certain sounds and impatient to finally see their heroes after a long absence. It surely would have been a better move to pick up a band with a sounds a bit closer to the one of the five Finns, but despite this Caspian entertained the audience for nearly an hour, offering an excellent instrumental post-rock. It must be said that this time the sound system of the Alcatraz worked greatly, spreading across the huge room the massive sound of guitars and psychedelic synth that, little by little, brought everyone in an oblivious state of looseness. And here they are , finally! The roadies leave the stage , the lights go out and " Unleash the red" caress an audience in awe . For the first three songs ("All lips go blue" , "Buried Alive By Love ", " Wings of a Butterfly") I’m in the photo pit , perfectly aware that I should take pictures showing just a bit of professional attitude. I can’t do it, obviously. This evening has already been full of emotions and I can’t help myself from singing my heart out while shooting hundreds of photos . Leaving the photopit is heartbreaking , as usual. It’s never easy to attend the show of your favorite band from the last rows. Old songs and new alternate in a setlist that would definitely need some updating (where are the songs that made HIM’s history, such as " The Sacrament ", " In Joy and sorrow", "Resurrection " ? ) However, what immediately catches the eye is the perfect harmony between the five members of the band: Gas, behind the drumset, is nothing less of perfect; Linde's solos send shivers down the spine; Ville’s voice, accompanied by his acoustic guitar, is again deep and powerful, and Burton and Mige give something special at the sound of each song. The last half of the show gives the strongest emotions : "It's all tears" , with a tribute to the great Peter Steele, "Soul on Fire " masterly performed at the point you really can’t help yourself but sing along and jump, followed by the most beautiful version of "The Funeral of Hearts " that I've ever heard , and ending with the heartbreaking " When love and death embrace" that always makes me shed a few tears. In spite of those who considered HIM finished, in spite of those who want to find a fault even in the most beautiful things , HIM are back and in a perfect shape and mood , ready to enchant their audience again and give emotions like few bands really know how to. Thank you , guys! We really hope to see you again soon! Alessia Poldi
Chronicle of an unexpected front row Let's face it: life in the front row is not easy. Until now I was in the third, sixth, tenth row or climbing to the audio console. Never been in the first row. In the first row you suffer. The fence penetrates your elbows, stomach and shins, the speakers break through your eardrums, the lights blind you, people push you from all sides, you cannot breathe, smells of any kind and origin stick to you , and the big man of the security do not care when you beg for a sip, only one sip, of water. In the front row you risk to get something on your head: joker technicians improvise pseudo- magical interludes and throw off the stage everything, from paper to empty plastic bottles. Sometimes it rains plectrums, setlists and drumsticks, and it's open war to grab them. In the first row you meet a lot of people: old and new fans, guys who don't know why they're there, sulkily security men , friends you knew online only, and those who dwell near to your house that you never suspected were following exactly that one band that with a song solves you the problems of an entire bad day. In the first row you speak. Of past concerts, about how many times you have seen this band and the other one, about the support band and music in general. And about Finland. In the front row photographers two meters high and three wide stop in front of you and for you, little dwarf, there's a stiff neck right in the first quarter of an hour. When they leave, however, the view opens on the best show in the world. The one you're waiting for years and never thought you could see just two meters away. The one that's worth and will always be worth the effort to endure everything. Some pains are meant to be forgotten and the pleasure turns them into sweet memories and you evoke with nostalgia. In the first row you do not feel selfish at the thought of your boyfriend lost ten rows back, the same to whom you have entrusted your camera and who therefore has the duty to take a video of the whole concert so you can cover it again and again. You're there, you don't feel alone, you have your hands free to clap and between you and the band for once there are no screens. In the first row you have multiple heart attacks: the music makes your soul vibrate, you can almost hear the footsteps of the musicians on stage and the singer's voice invests you like a colorful and warm wind. You can catch every expression, every look the gods up there exchange and you think you can touch them. You have fun and feel yourself as the architect of their fun by the mere fact of being there singing out loud their songs. They play, sing, joke, sweat, move in and out of the scene: your universe shrinks to that small space that is the stage, nothing else you know and care because, despite everything, that universe tiny for others, to you seems to transcend all boundaries both physical and emotional. Note by note it expands and its power accompanies you, embraces you and comfort you for days. In the first row you dream of wildest dreams because music does miracles and one of those dreams come true just when you least expect it. In the first row you would love to have the space to bow down to those who gave you two hours of superlative life , but you don't have it and you end up screaming "thank you" in three different languages hoping to be heard among the applauses and cries of the crowd. Meanwhile, your brain takes a reminder : next time bring a sheet with the words "KIITOS/THANK YOU/GRAZIE" on it. A lot of things happen in the first row. All priceless: they remain in your eyes and light you up and make you look stupidly, unreasonably happy. This was my first time in the front row, at Alcatraz , with HIM on stage after five years that were missing from Italy. Those who come after will be second and third rows, this was the first first: beating heart of a perfect evening. Alessandra Gargiulo
With their eighth studio album, ‘Tears on Tape,’ HIM have had a busy year. The band recently wrapped up their North American Rock Allegiance trek with Volbeat and All That Remains and now they are on the road in Europe.
During their last date of their U.S. tour in Brooklyn, we had the chance to chat with singer Ville Valo about the tour and the connection he has with his friends and bandmates. Valo also spoke about recording ‘Tears on Tape’ and why he thinks classical music should be banned. Check out our interview with Ville Valo:
How has Rock Allegiance treated you?
It’s been well, how does a tour go? Let’s see nobody’s been ill, the bus only broke down twice, everything got fixed quick the rest of the bands have been nice.
How have you been? You had some health complications earlier in the year.
That was when we were supposed to be touring in May. It was supposed to be a record release tour, it was eight dates in 12 days. Right before the first date I got the starting of pneumonia and bronchitis and since I have asthma I wasn’t in tip top shape. The doc said I had to lie down for about six to seven days and then see if you need to take more antibiotics and stuff like that.
It wouldn’t make any sense for us to wait for a week to play the last two gigs and then not even be sure if we could pull those off. When it’s a longer tour maybe you can postpone a couple of gigs or you skip one or something like that but with the schedule being so tight, we couldn’t do it. Now we’re trying to figure out if there’s a way for us to come back next year to kind of make up for the lost ones. S— happens, thankfully stuff like that doesn’t happen too often. This tour has been tremendously successful health-wise to everybody.
It’s odd, normally for a European in an AC bus with carpet, everybody’s ill at some point so many germs flying about and long drives. It’s been very mellow. It’s odd playing outdoors, in Brooklyn, someone just told me it’s a Brooklyn waterfront – I thought it was a gig, in an indoor venue. I was just like “What the f—?”
This tour has been real interesting because there’s been a mixture of radio station sponsored festivals, then a couple of monster festivals. There’s been these outdoor amphitheaters in Arizona and then the next day it’s like an old theater in Kansas and then all of a sudden it’s a smallish sports arena and then it’s something like this. Every day it’s not the same old, same old which is exciting and also audience wise because at some places people go bananas for Volbeat and hate everybody else. Then at times people appreciate all the bands, it can go both ways which is cool because it keeps us on our toes.
Being with the same bandmates for so long, with recording the new album ‘Tears on Tape’ did you notice anything that surprised you about the other members in HIM or even yourself during the recording process?
I think there’s always something that happens, but the base of personalities are set in stone. They haven’t changed that much. Playing music is like playing pool, in a way that if you’re not a professional pool player – if you play pool for a while, you kind of get stuck on a level and then you take a couple weeks off and all of a sudden you start playing again and you’ve gained a level or two.
It’s better and nobody knows why, I guess you subconsciously do the work and with music it’s the same. For example Linde [Lindstrom] our guitar player, he hadn’t done anything [for a while] and then all of a sudden he’s up a level and that’s really cool to notice. It’s the same with vocals, sometimes you surprise yourself on how it works and there’s no rhyme or reason or any logical explanation behind it.
What we try to do now is try to create as fertile ground as possible for such paranormal events that take place. That’s the fun thing, those unexpected mistakes because that makes it lively and organic and it makes it sound like music. For a band member it feels magical because it’s not just painting by numbers.
With a few years being in between ‘Screamworks’ and ‘Tears on Tape,’ what was the most important thing you needed to consider when recording this new disc?
Well the reason it took such a long time was our drummer had several hand injuries, there was some nerve damage. It was pain injury or stress injury and all types of things so he wasn’t able to play properly for about eight months which meant I sat down more with the acoustic guitar and was working the songs a bit more and getting f—ed up and hanging about.
It was really stressful for the band because we didn’t know if he was going to get better which ended up in these philosophical sessions with the guys. What are we going to do, are we going to have somebody else join us or do we call it a day as a band? It was stressful, that probably the biggest difference with this album. When he got his hands in shape, we did rehearsals, we started playing and everything was nice. I think the main thing was that since we didn’t know what to expect, if he was going to recover or not, as he recovered fully then everyone was like super pumped up.
It felt good to be back like “F—in’ hell we can still pull off an album.” It was a relief for everyone in the band and around the band too because we probably weren’t the best husbands and boyfriends at the time, everybody was super pissed off. There’s always got to be, not tragedy but some sort of s— has to always hit the fan. This time it was [drummer] Gas [Lipstick's] stuff, other times maybe the material isn’t strong or someone just isn’t feeling it. It’s tough to get five people in the same state of mind and wanting the same thing.
A lot of HIM fans have been devotees for a long time. Some, like myself, since a much younger age when we didn’t even know what the heck love and connections between people really meant.
Wow, yeah, I’m still trying to figure that out myself. I think good music evokes something and lets your imagination lead and do half the work. Then it makes it worth it, it’s the same with cinema and books, sometimes it’s nice when the stuff is not overly explained. I grew up listening to Sabbath and stuff I didn’t have the slightest idea – I was there with a dictionary trying to translate some of the stuff that was out there.
You figure out your own stories and that’s half the beauty of music. That’s one of the reasons I don’t find religious music and political music too interesting. Obviously when there’s bands like Rage Against the Machine, back in the day, the energy was astounding but I still couldn’t relate. I could relate to the aggression but the lyrics, for that band, didn’t matter to me – it was just the full on force they had.
What would you say is the biggest misconception people may have about you or HIM as a whole?
I don’t know any, the more stories about a band, the better. A lot of things should be left unexplained, whether it be musically speaking or any other way. It changes from country to country and from state to state. I think maybe somewhere people think since we play melancholy and gloomy, doomy music that we are gloomy doomy individuals which is never the case especially if you know people from Paradise Lost, they’re funny as f—.
It’s the same with people from Carcass or any of them, we grew up with horror movies and with Sabbath and we like music to be forceful and a bit frightening and that’s important. All kinds of people go and see horror movies. At the end of the day all the serial killers listen to classical music, so that should be banned. [Laughs]
This bus looks pretty clean but what would you say is the weirdest thing on this tour bus?
We actually emptied the bus, there were a bunch of very odd looking…socks. I’m not sure for what they were used or when but they’ve been here for a month and a half.
For the second year running I found myself spending Halloween in the lavish and attractive setting of Camden, London’s KOKO venue. However compared to last year’s all-out and wonderfully corny, un-dead celebration with Wednesday 13, All Hallow’s Eve 2013 was a slightly more sombre and romantic affair. Finnish stars and national treasures, HIM had brought their gothic, deadly, mournful and unrequited love potions (or songs) into the city for what should have been a hugely memorable occasion on the final sold-out dates of their UK tour (a second London date was added soon after the first sold-out). However despite pulling out all the big guns from their mammoth twenty-year spanning catalogue and the show falling on the perfect night for a band of their fashion, the Lords of love’s time in the Capital fell a bit short of spectacular.
Before I get into the nitty, gritty details of the headliner’s performance, a big shout-out and recommendation goes to the utterly brilliant Caspian from Beverly, Massachusetts. Although I missed some of the post-rock sextet’s support slot for Ville and Co. what I did hear was stunningly beautiful and mesmerising. The instrumental band’s sprawling and all encompassing sound, which fits somewhere amongst the likes of Mogwai and This Will Destroy You, blew me away as soon as I walked in and joined the sea of black-clad lovers. ‘Gone in Bloom and Bough’ and ‘Halls of the Summer’ from their 2012 album, Waking Season (which has already been downloaded and spun a dozen times now) both use a contrasting combo of heavy percussion and sweeping guitars, which resonated throughout the venue’s vast space and quite literally stopped people in their tracks. Inspiring stuff. They're by no means a new band with three albums already under their belts, but with the exposure from this tour and a new EP on its way this month, it’s safe to say that they'll be blowing up in 2014 - and deservedly so.
Ok so moving onto the main attraction and the real reason everyone was there - HIM made their entrance to an expectedly big and roaring applause, for the most part because of their eponymous leader, Ville Valo who is arguably one of the most recognisable and loved frontman in modern rock’s history. With no introduction or greeting, they stormed straight into new track ‘All Lips Go Blue’ from their eighth and latest studio album, Tears On Tape; their singer appearing to not have aged in the slightest sporting his usual and beloved black ‘uniform’ of beanie, scarf and cardigan. Shrouded in an apt setting of ice-blue lighting and watched over by their famous (albeit updated) heartagram motif backdrop, the cool seasoned rockers sounded great and indeed revitalised after what has been an up-and-down past few years for the Scandinavians (Ville’s continued battle with alcohol and cigarettes and drummer Gas’s recent repetitive strain injury).
If Mr Valo is indeed clean now, it was evident in their faultless performance as classics like ‘Buried Alive By Love’ and ‘Right Here In My Arms’ benefited from perfect lead vocals; the singer’s immense range from the absolute lowest of lows to a high-pitched shriek shining. But for all the immaculate vocal melodies, slick guitar solos and army-regimented rhythms, there unfortunately wasn’t a hint of personality. Getting through around eight or nine songs before uttering even a ‘thank you’ made for a very strange experience as a spectator. I didn’t appear to be the only one feeling underwhelmed by the lack of crowd interaction but the ‘hardcore’ fans in their matching Valo-inspired attire appeared to be just happy to lap up the brooding synth of ‘Join Me In Death’ and ‘Your Sweet Six Six Six’ without noticing their idols' failure to directly engage.
“Oh he’s just always been chronically shy” observed one fan. And ok so I can forgive the fact that even after so many years in the business you can still get stage-fright, but it doesn’t really excuse the lack of real interest felt from the stage from the band as a whole, especially on such a literally frightfully good date in the calendar in which any other band would have taken full advantage of! But no exciting or spooky surprises lay in store for the Halloween party-goers and it was a case of ‘play the hits and put a few smiles on faces’. Admittedly the beautifully dark and twisted riff and haunting melody of their cover of Chris Isaak’s timeless hit ‘Wicked Game’ was brilliant and still is in my opinion one of the best rock covers of all time. And with a slightly extended version which included a lengthy guitar solo from Linde; his usual flailing golden dreads kept back in place, and a ‘spotlight’ of sorts on bassist Migé, it was a nice little touch.
A bigger reaction also came with the inclusion of the Love Metal (their 2003 breakthrough album) track, ‘Soul on Fire’ into the set with costumed super-fans making themselves known across the floor space, straddling friends shoulders and repeating every word like it was their dying wish. And the hopelessly romantic and acoustic-led balladry of ‘The Funeral Of Hearts’ went down predictably well, sounding crisp and seamless underneath the sparkly and suitably wintry lighting. This slight high point was then brought down a notch again by a very unusual and yet not that surprising choice of encore in the shape of the band’s first ever single, ‘When Love and Death Embrace’. The 1997 track, as are most HIM tracks, is a gloomy yet sweet song about desire and death and whilst it sounded great, its sad, slow and subdued melody made for quite an anticlimactic finish to the night.
Technically perfect but lacking in communication, HIM came and did what they were supposed to do but what should have been a really exciting night of nostalgic, gothic romance on Halloween became just a fun but not visually very engaging show of well-performed hits.
Camden is full of weirdos on any given night of the year. But, with tonight being All Hallows Eve’, well, it's all gone a bit mental. A drunk woman runs around dressed as a pumpkin a la Angus, Thongs And Perfect Snogging, a man in a superb Clockwork Orange get-up struggles with an ATM near McDonald’s. A couple of elderly gents eat face on a bench, but the fake blood creates the creepy illusion of face actually being eaten. Basically, it’s a lot like the backdrop to a Romero flick with a dash of Poe for good measure – the perfect setting for a HIM show.
Nevertheless, it's a bit disheartening to walk into KOKO and see an audience being bored shitless by Massachusetts post-rockers Caspian. A band with incredible musicianship and genuinely interesting songs should be an instant winner, but this crowd only had one thing on their mind, and it wasn’t 10 minute prog-masterpieces devoid of vocals.
By the time they finished, with a synchronised percussive orgy that involved all five members pelting the drums like something from a Sky TV advert, only a tiny portion of the audience remained genuinely interested. It’s a shame, as a crowd for Swans or Pelican would have found plenty to lap up.
Polite applause was soon replaced by swathes of disturbingly excited screams from the female attendees (and, to be honest, the blokes too) as HIM frontman/very pretty man Ville Valo sauntered on stage with his band, kicking things off with new track All Lips Go Blue. The Scandinavian goth rockers sounded glorious; Mikko Paananen in particular was an absolute beast, his thunderous bass acting as the embodiment of his gargantuan build.
Valo looked so out of place - a schoolboy amid a crowd of sixth-formers, Cheryl Cole at a Weight Watchers session. His vocals started out slightly wobbly, occasionally straying from the path of, well, being in tune. But by the time HIM kicked into Buried Alive By Love he'd found his feet, demanding crowd participation and generally looking and sounding like he could be arsed to do his job.
Set-wise, this was a HIM fan's wet dream. Following Buried Alive By Love came Wings Of A Butterfly, and then it was time for Right Here In My Arms. A lesser band would avoid a track order like this, saving the hits for the tail-end of the set. But HIM don't suffer from such a problem, their back catalogue is rammed full of tunes.
The title track to this year's superb 'Tears On Tape' opus went down just as well as timeless anthems such as Your Sweet Six Six Six – a testament to HIM's consistent song-crafting skills. Valo loosened up as the evening progressed, taking great amusement in switching from his trademark croon to an evil baritone drawl in It's All Tears (Drown In This Love).
HIM played with the utmost professionalism, sprinkling a shower of songs over London that most bands would be jealous of. The crowd was on hand to represent one of the most dedicated fanbases in metal music - they're sometimes a tad too enthusiastic, with a guy dressed as a zombie being ejected by security for hitting people - and on the first of two sold-out London shows, HIM proved that they are still painfully relevant. Over 20 years on, Valo's musical bulldozer shows no signs of slowing down.
The early 20th century, blood-red decor of the KOKO auditorium is reminiscent of a set from Dracula. On Friday night the theatre thronged with Halloween revellers and the gothically clad fans of one of Finland’s biggest musical exports – HIM. The opening act was Massachusetts-based post-rock band Caspian; a selection of their sweeping, “gothic” instrumental tracks set the mood for the evening.
The night’s big event was introduced by way of Unleash the Red, the first song from HIM’s latest album Tears on Tape. The evening’s performance featured a crowd-pleasing mixture of favourites like Your Sweet Six Six Six, Chris Isaac’s cover of Wicked Game and the classic Join Me in Death, as well as tracks from the 2013 studio album, including the hit title song.
The show was energetic, flashy and full of crunch. Singer Ville Valo’s seductive voice was accompanied by the virtuosity of guitarist Lily Lazer (Mikko Lindström) and bass player Mige Amour (Mikko Paananen). Both proceeded to show off their talents, cavorting in front of the band’s famous heart/pentagram logo during an instrumental solo that brought back the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll and musical free-wheeling of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen (without guitar-smashing, though Lily Lazer did manage to hurl his across the stage). Indeed, these guys have in the past worked on a more typically rock ‘n’ roll album under the name of Daniel Lioneye and the Rollers, with the various band members reshuffled.
Characteristic brooding, so-called goth metal (or as the band prefer to call it “Love Metal”, playing on the two main themes of their music: love and death) shone through, with chilly synthesiser sounds recalling dark, Nordic winters. His Infernal Majesty delivered a cracking finale to the spooky Halloween festivities.
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Но этот смех...:))))) И Линде такой, типа не при делах 
Интересно, когда это снимали?
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