Finland’s folk-metal band is coming for a tour across the US and Canada starting in August.
We are crossing the Atlantic Ocean again this year and support on this trek will come from Warbringer.
Confirmed dates are as follows:
Aug. 22 - Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
Aug. 23 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero
Aug. 24 – New York, NY @ BB King Blues Club & Grill
Aug. 25 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
Aug. 26 - Montreal, QUE @ Club Soda
Aug. 27 - Quebec City, QUE @ Imperial
Aug. 28 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
Aug. 29 - Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s Down Under
Aug. 30 - Mokena, IL @ Pearl Room
Aug. 31 - Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
Sep. 01 - Winnipeg, MB @ Garrick Centre
Sep. 02 - Regina, SK @ The Exchange
Sep. 03 - Calgary, AB @ Warehouse
Sep. 04 - Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room
Sep. 06 - Victoria, BC @ Sugar
Sep. 07 - Vancouver, BC @ Plaza Club
Sep. 08 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
Sep. 09 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
Sep. 10 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
Sep. 11 - West Hollywood, CA @ House Of Blues
Sep. 12 - San Marcos, CA @ Jumping Turtle
Tickets are on sale now exclusively through EnterTheVault.com until May 3 at which point they will be made available through all normal ticketing systems.
In 2006, there were 4 Finnish bands at MusExpo. My friend was invited to come see Bloodpit perform by their manager and she brought me along. And it was fantastic… Matthau Mikojan was in his “Jack Sparrow” phase and ripped the stage with his high energy performance and eye bending high kicks with his long legs. Apologies but I can’t find the great photo that used to be on MusExpo’s site of Matthau in mid kick. Have a picture of him in the spa instead… dressed!
We were sorry to realize that we’d missed out on seeing Kwan who’d been the first band on stage because we are big fans! After Bloodpit, we went next door to the Rainbow as is our custom and Kwan ended up sitting at the table next to us on the patio. Between their gang and their friends, they were too many for a little table of four so some of the friends moved to our table. Which is how we met The Winyls, yet another Finnish band there to play a showcase. But to our mututal dismay, they’d already played the night before so no chance for us to see them on stage. They’d come out that night in support of Kwan and because The Rainbow is the Finnish Rock Mecca. While I can’t speak for their onstage performance, I can tell you that Leady, James James, and HC are a bunch of great guys and look forward to meeting them again one day.
Redrama was also there but I didn’t see them at all. Poking around the MusExpo site I found a video clip of highlights from 2006 that shows a few seconds of performances by Bloodpit & Kwan as well as several interview soundbites with Matthau, Mariko & Tidjan (Kwan). Redrama appears at the end and all there is of the Winyls is a fragment of “Let’s Sing” in the video’s fade out.
Fast forward to 2007, three more bands jetted over from Finland. However, this time around, we only saw Deep Insight. I don’t know why Finnish people consider themselves the rudest and unfriendliest people cause they’re nothing but the opposite when they come here! Jukka, Johannes & Ville Boy were a pleasure to get to know. In the showcase, Johannes, Jore and Ville boy really rocked it and I got to see how Jukka uses his moodiness on stage. Have a couplepictures from MusExpo.net for now and later I will post my own photos from that night.
We also met their manager, Asko Kallonen, co-founder of HMC (Helsinki Music Company), Deep Insight’s music label (and HIM’s). It wasn’t til later that we realized that we’d just met with Finland’s version of Simon Cowell! Asko is the “ruthless” judge on Idols, the Finnish version of Simon Cowell’s show. He was nice enough in person but I enjoyed talking with Sami Peura of SamAgency (label for Bloodpit, The Winyls & Poets of the Fall) more.
MusExpo returns for 2008! It’s a music expo put on by A & R Worldwide which gathers industry members in Hollywood for a meeting of the minds. It includes a nightly showcase spread among several Sunset Strip clubs of musicians and bands from around the world. It’s a great opportunity for international bands to try and get signed by other labels outside of their countries as well as a chance for bragging rights to say they played such and such famous spot on Sunset Strip.
Collectively, FinnishRock.com staff members have been twice previously to showcase performances by Finnish bands. More on that later, but it gave us a chance to meet Sami Peura, of Sam Agency.
This year, Sami’s coming back and bringing another band with him: Poets Of The Fall! This year, they will be the only Finnish representation as it is the year of THE UK! I’m sure Poets will do a great job. I’m hoping they play The Ultimate Fling from the new album as I’m really digging that song right now.
Stay tuned next week for our first exclusive FinnishRock.com interview… with Poets Of The Fall!
24.04.2008 - The concert in Sayreville is cancelled
Sad news for the fans who were planning to go to the concert in Sayreville, NJ on May 5th. Unfortunately, the band has to cancel the show due to circumstances beyond their control. The only suitable cargo flight from Mexico has been cancelled, which means that there is no way to get the backline transported to the venue in time. We are truly sorry about the cancellation.
Kudos to the band/management for letting the fans know a reason for the cancellation. Many bands do not do that which I know drives people nuts. Its nice to see an explanation. But I am sorry New Jersey. I really do feel for you!
So the numbers are in, and the release of Blooddrunk last week has put Children of Bodom on top of the charts! The first week chart positions are: Finland #1 (second week #1 as well), USA #22, Canada #7, Germany #10, Japan #12 (international chart #2), UK #44 (Rock albums chart #1), Austria #19. For a metal band in the US, #22 is a pretty good place to be! Congrats to the guys!
“We are so surprised about these chart things that are going on, it’s amazing! Even though it’s not the main thing for us to be high in charts, or whatsoever, it still feels really good. I think it indicates that metal people buy their records, even though the internet things can make music easily illegally available! We wanna thank people who’ve been supporting us in this matter! Respect!”
Henkka and the Bodom boys (from cobhc.com)
I want to take a moment and point out if you didn’t already know… Apocalyptica is playing an outdoor radio station festival, KFMA Radio Day, in AZ on the 16th of May. Why this is of note is that the headliners are Metallica! How often do Apocalyptica and Metallica share the stage? Given that Metallica was very supportive of Apocalyptica in the beginning of their career, I can’t imagine them not coming out and joining Apocalyptica for a song or two. Hey it’s my fantasy, let me have it.
Either way, even though my wish to see Apocalyptica again one more time this tour has been fulfilled with the addition of the Ventura, CA date, I’m still toying with the idea of taking the day off work and trekking out there for this.
Tickets are still available.
KFMA DAY 2008 Concert at the Pima County Fairgrounds, Tucson, Arizona.
Featuring Metallica, Flobots, Apocalyptica, & Scars On Broadway.
$47.50 + 7.25 s/ch.
All seats are general admission.
Rain or Shine.
Gates at 3:00pm and Music 4:00pm
That adds up. For two tickets, you’re looking at $112.50. Between that and the high cost of gas, I may sit it out anyways. If you go, let us know what happened!
Seeing Apocalyptica in San Diego & Hollywood left me with a burning desire to figure out a way to catch another gig before this US tour ends.
I woke up this morning to the wonderful news that Apocalyptica has been booked into the Majestic in Ventura, CA which is only an hour’s drive away. I should know because I used to live there!
Tickets will go online for sale from Ticketmaster on Friday (25th) at 10am. You can also call and order them over the phone at (805) 653-0721. $20 cash or $23 by credit card.
Show is General Admission so first come first served for positions in front of the stage. I asked because sometimes Majestic has “reserved” seating.
The camera policy is not yet determined because it is up to the band & band mgmt. Given that they did not search us in San Diego at the House of Blues (notoriously anti-camera), I think it’s a fair guess to say that Cameras will be allowed. The Roxy operates under the same policy as Majestic and they didn’t say No Cameras there either.
See you there!
UPDATE: Forgot showtimes! Doors at 7pm. DJ will play while we wait for Apo to take the stage at 8pm. They are playing about a 90 minute concert including encores (based on SD & Roxy shows). Not too bad for those who have school or work early the next day.
UPDATE #2: It’s been pointed out that it would be helpful to know what day! Answer: May 18th, Sunday.
“thank you all very much for remembering my birthday! A year has gone by
soooo fast. I will be celebrating it today with my new born son!! See you
soon on the festivals.” lauri
The Winyls’ long awaited sophmore album released today with a record party in Helsinki at Semifinals. This FinnishRock staff member definitely wished she could have been there at the party which given the time zones is taking place now.
01. See Me Alive
02. I Know
03. Keep Rock ‘n Roll Alive
04. Would You Believe
05. What If
06. Loser’s Blues
07. Honey & Lime
08. If You Ever
09. Loose Talk
10. Now
11. You, Me & Rock ‘n Roll
12. Little We Can Do
#8 has me puzzled, did they re-record If You Ever? A mystery that I look forward to solving. It’s my favorite song from Rockmotor.
Correction: The album isn’t available til May 21st but the guys still had their record release party yesterday.
