Bericht: Sauna Open Air Metal Festival 2008

The first Finnish festival of the year was greeted by glorious sunshine as the temperature soured to 30 degrees Celsius on Friday morning and continued through out the weekend. 2008 marks the 4th year of the annual Sauna Open Air Metal Festival, held in Eteläpuisto, Tampere from 6th-8th June. This year saw over 22,000 metal heads and rockers from all over Europe descend on Tampere for a weekend of heavy drinking and some serious rocking out…..they weren't disappointed. Eteläpuisto is the perfect venue for a rock festival, a leafy oasis in the centre of bustling Tampere, right on the shore on Lake Näsijärvi.

Friday kicked off with Widescreen mode on the second stage. This heavy melodic band from Riihimäki encapsulate a lot of what is going on in Finnish metal at the moment. They stormed the stage with an angry energy, throwing everything they have into their set. The well knows classics of "I Wont Believe You" and "Dead Again" go down very well with the early crowds already sipping on Perry cider and Jägermeister, enjoying the sunshine and heavy metal.
Then for something totally different, Airborne bounce around the stage with the energy only found in Australian rock bands and with the swagger only found from years on the pub circuit. Their AC/DC stadium rock sound goes down very well with the growing crowd, and the guitar solos have everyone jumping around in no time especially in their recent hits "Hellfire" and "Heartbreaker". Their short set is left memorable when lead singer Joel O'Keeffe scales the scaffolding to the side of the stage, much to the amusement of all.
Eläkeläiset (Finnish for pensioners) is a Finnish humppa band founded 1993, they are a band that only the Finnish will get and probably only in the summer at an open air festival. They play keyboard organ covers of popular Finnish rock and metal songs, such as "Nightwish - Nemo" "Children of Bodom - Hate Me" and such classics as "Van Halen - Jump" and "Neil Young - Rocking In the Free World". In this kind of heat and a drink in your hand, it's really not that bad.
Up next on the second stage was Finnish hardcore metal band Rytmihäiriö. They set the tone of their set by appearing on stage swigging from a bottle of red wine and diving straight in to it. The heavy keyboards and very bassy sound is a bit too much for me and some other festival goers, but with those here especially for the metal second stage it goes down very well!
Also up on the second stage is Kiuas. This band have just been signed to the new Spinefarm UK label and you can tell why, you get the feeling that this band would go down very well outside Finland and especially in the UK. Their prog and folk metal influences are evident as they blast out their own form of power metal and their Pagan beliefs come through in many of their songs such as "Ukko" and "The Wanderer's Lamentation" even including an Arabic oud (a lute like instrument) in some songs. With Ilja Jalkanen's powerful melodic metal voice and their excellent hard riffs I think we will see much more of them around Europe this summer. Catch them on their UK tour in September with Firewind.
Headlining the Friday is the wonderful Children of Bodom from Espoo on the main stage. The place is packed as they launch in to their crazy two hour set, playing many of the hits such as "Hate Me" and "Needles 247" packed with raw energy and tons of intensity! The crowd is going crazy and singing along to all the song as the effortlessly talented Alexi Laiho charges around the stage shredding while the pyrotechnics fire off from the front of the stage. A truly amazing set, everyone left the sight animated and very excited for the rest of the festival.

Saturday starts of quietly, the heat of Friday, combined with the heavy drinking yesterday is starting to take its toll on the crowd. Despite a few sore heads everyone seams to make it in time to see Sonata Arctica tear up the main stage as they so regularly do at open air festivals. They're powerful sound and energy comes across so well on a huge stage and with pyrotechnics! These boys from Kimi in Finnish Lapland really know how to play a large crowd and everyone from the front to the back is singing along and having a great time. They play a good mix of new songs from their "Unia" album and old classics such as the beautiful ballad "Tallulah" and "Full Moon". The more complicated more proggy songs from the new "Unia" album, such as "Caleb" and "Back and White" combine very well with the older heavier stuff to form a well balanced set. Lead singer Tony Kakko is on top form today, throwing the horns with a huge grin on his face.
Next up on the second stage is Moon madness. This band sends out mixed signals and I'm not totally sure what they're trying to sound like. This female fronted rock band dress glam, but are trying to sound classic rock. They have little stage presence and the keyboard player's red leather plants becomes the centre of attention for many people watching.
Then we get to the reason that a lot of people bought the ticket, Sebastian Bach. This man has been rocking hard since his days as Skid Row's front man over 20 years ago and he has lost none of his energy and magnetism. Still dressed in his trade mark leather pants and long blonde hair, he launched in to a great set of new songs and old Skid Row songs including "18 and Life", "Monkey Business", "Slave to the Grind" and "Youth Gone Wild", sending the crowd in to a frenzy. His energy is amazing, going crazy all over the stage and swinging the mic dangerously around his head, which only heightens the craziness of the fans in the pit. He has certainly not lost any of that powerful classic rock voice even when the monitor broke and he couldn't hear himself for the powerful Skid Row ballad "I Remember You". An epic set!
Up next, Mokoma on the second stage. A Finnish trash metal band formed in Lappeenranta in 1996, Mokoma have become a regular favorite on the Finnish summer festival circuit. Their growly vocals provided by lead singer Marko Annala, thrash guitar and doomy Finnish sound, together with the perfect weather combine to make this a good set.
Headlining the Saturday night is German classic rock gods The Scorpions. Their chilled out, melodic classic rock provides a very nice way to end Saturday's festivities, especially stood in the bar area with a cold cider. The Scorpions are seasoned professionals and you can tell, banging out a great set and finishing with huge classic "Rock You like a Hurricane" just as the sun was starting to set.

Sunday and the hard partying is really starting to catch up on a lot of people not to mention myself…it takes a while for the crowds to work their way over to the festival site, but as soon as people begin to drink and the bands kick off everything is back to its crazy, sweltering self.
Amorphis take to the main stage. The large crowd is in no way intimidating to this band from Helsinki, who like Mokoma and Sonata Arctica have become a must on the summer festival circuit. Tomi Joutsen's stage presence is awesome as the blast out their melodic thrash metal. Huge dreadlocks flying everywhere as he commands the stage. They played all the classics and end with the epic "House of Sleep" just as a massive thunder storm broke soaking everyone and providing a very atmospheric end to a fabulous set.
Masterstroke were up next on the second stage as the sun returned with all it's previous fury. This Tampere metal band were new to me and I was very impressed. Their thrashy metal guitars and rock keyboards are complimented well by Niko Rauhala's intense growely metal voice. Their gritty thrash metal went down very well in the humidity of the second stage.
The closing headliners of the festival were the epic English classic rockers Whitesnake, with a career lasting over 30 years you would be forgiven to think that they had lost it, over the hill. Nothing could be further from the truth. These seasoned rockers make the stage their own and have the crowd eating out for their hand from the very first screaming riff. David Coverdale is magnetic as he blasts out the classics with all the power and emotion from when they were brand new! They really showed some of the younger rock bands how it's really done playing the classic ballad "Is This Love" early in the set and the epic song "Here I Go Again on My Own". The very proggy 10 minute drum solo was a bit much for me, but the crowd were going crazy and as the set finished with "Still Of The Night" screaming every word.
As the sun sets (very late) on another Sauna Open Air festival and the crowds start to make their way back into town, hopefully to sleep for a full day. There is time to reflect on this year's festivity, the dusty flip flops, the ice cold cider, swimming in the lake at 10pm and snoozing in the shade of a tree….not to mention all the crazy brilliant rock bands and hours of fun at this years Sauna Open Air, roll on next year!!

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