Author: Antonio Diaz

Categories
Antonio's blog Blogs

R.I.P. David Bowie

Today one of the greatest artists of the last century, David Bowie, passed away at the age of 69.

I had the luck to see him for first and last time performing live during the year 2004 at Provinssirock festival in Finland. A very fun festival with great environment. Being 24 years old, as you can imagine, the fun was just equally enjoying the music and also the booze and pretty girls around. It was a rainy weekend, but when Bowie appeared on stage the sun appeared on the horizont.

Lizard Dusk

I was not even a huge David Bowie fan at that time, knew a few of his famous songs, but I was at that point more into hard rock and epic heavy metal. However, Bowie not only captivated me, but the whole audience. His charisma on stage was unbelievable, joking with the audience, moving like the star he was, making everybody have a great time putting the cherry on top of the cake to a superb weekend of music. I can certainly say after many years, many concerts and many artists checked live after that night, that Bowie was probably the artist that most unexpectedly blew my mind when I saw him first time live.

Few days after that concert Bowie’s health got worse and he never stepped on stage again, although recently he had released a new album. However, his music and his memories will remain among us. In the years to come, I will always remember with a smile on my face that I was there, I saw the man with the million faces on stage making the audience fall in love. And that piece of memory will remain. Rest in piece Ziggy!

Categories
Antonio's blog Articles Blogs Misc

“Choke”, probably the best documentary on MMA ever made

Nowadays Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a well recognized sport that provokes admirationa nd moves a good amount of money and fans around the world. Right at my office we can have a discussion with my co-workers about Ronda Rousey´s defeat or Emelianenko coming back from retirement like if we would be talking about the latest football match. UFC is a big organization in USA, you can see reality shows in TV channels where future fighters are getting prepared to go pro, the fighters are multidisciplinary athletes that can both perform great standing up, kicking, punching or going to the ground and working on submission techniques…

But if we take a look back not so many years ago, mixed martial arts were pretty much unknown to the great sports public and most of people who had heard about it would consider it a brutal activity done by some crazy violent people. The Gracie family was one of the pioneers to expand MMA to the big audience, and at the same time promote their Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu style, and Rickson Gracie was the jewel of the crown for the family, never officially defeated in any fight before.

What “Choke”, a documentary shot during a Vale Tudo fighting tournament in Japan in 1995 and released in 1999, shows is a period where mixed martial arts was growing and in development, where the fighters were still not so well rounded in multiple disciplines but were more defending their different styles of fighting and where you could see a more brutal way of fighting than nowadays, where the rules are much more measured. At that time, pretty much everything except of hitting the genitals of the opponent would be allowed between fighters.

“Choke” counts with a wide array of memorable moments for the spectator. Apart from the usual and a bit boring ranting from Gracie family members always self promoting their style, you see the real Rickson gracie backstage between fights. The documentary revolves about his figure: masculine, handsome, dominant. But he also shows that outside that facade, he is also like the rest of the fighter human, nevous before a fight, sometimes humble, sometimes big-mouthed.

As some mythical scenes and moments to remember we can see Rickson godalike enjoying the energy of the freezing water under a cascade in a Japanese river, his umbelievable training and movement of his abdominal muscles like they would not belong to his body (maybe you remember to have watched exactly the same if you saw “The Hulk” movie with Edward Norton training with Rickson in Brazil), the recognition in front of the camera of holding the rule not to have sex with his wife 2 weeks prior a fight, the moment at the fighting venue when he surprises his brothers telling he literally needs to take a crap seconds before having to go to the arena to fight, Rickson throwing Yamamoto during his first fight out of the ring noticeably pissed off at him for holding on the ropes all the time, his cat flip on the air during his fight with Kimura (his son Rockson, sadly deceased years after this documentary on a motorbike accident, commenting in the dressng room that he saw him flying like Superman) the moment before the final of the the fight when suddenly he says he wants next time to get a belt as a champion instead of a trophy…

Choke Rickson Gracie

The show however gets partially stolen from Rickson by the other finalist of the fighting tournament, the small but brave Japanese Yuki Nakai. A small wrestling specialist that subsequently will lose the vision in one eye due to his fight with Gerard Geordeau (who will pass to the history as one of the dirtiest MMA fighters ever stepping onto a ring) who soccer kicked him on the head and gouged on his right eye. Nakai shows a total lack of concert about his own health, and as a true samurai, challenges guys double his size. He also became a legend by hiding for years that this tournament provoked him to be blind in one eye for the rest of his life just to protect the reputation of mixed martial arts. On favour of Rickson Gracie, we have to say that he avoided as much as possible punching Nakai on the face and moved the fight just to a grappling match.

The documentary is not the best technically shot, neither has the best structure or dialogues. But nowadays you cannot deny is an instant classic to understand the roots of MMA sport. And the best is that is fully available for free in Youtube to watch. Enjoy:

Categories
Cover story Misc

Do not miss the next incoming X Games in Oslo on February 2016!

Tickets to Norway’s biggest action sport event ever are now available online. The world’s best snowboarders, skiers and skateboarders will meet in Oslo to compete for prestigious X Games medals, to the backdrop of a musical and cultural extravaganza in the Norwegian capital.

Ticket prices are being kept accessible so the entire family can watch X Games Oslo together.

Some of the events at the inaugural X Games Oslo will have facilities to accommodate large numbers of spectators, while others are limited. The biggest arena is located at Tøyen, where 15,000 tickets are available for the Big Air finals, at which skiers and snowboarders will compete on the same day. There is seating for 9,000 spectators at Wyller for the Skiing and Snowboarding SuperPipe finals. The smallest arena is Skur 13, at the Filipstad wharf, where only 1,000 tickets are available for Skateboard Street (indoors).

The event will also feature concerts and entertainment at the Tøyen arena, the X Games Oslo Village and its collaborative partners will offer innovative fun activities for the public, and parties will be held all over the city.

X Games 2016

The world’s greatest athletes are ready for Oslo

50 action sports superstars have already qualified for competition, and among them are the Scandinavian Ståle Sandbech, Silje Norendal, Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen and Kjersti Buaas from Norway and Peetu Piiroinen and Roope Tonteri representing Finland.

The world’s best skateboarders are making their way to Oslo: Nyjah Huston, Chris Cole and Curren Caples. In addition, the lists of competitors for snowboarding and skiing are full of world champions, Olympic medal winners and stars of action sport films.

“We will be bringing together the most experienced athletes from all around the globe at our world-class arenas, so this is going to beat anything that’s ever been done in the past on the Norwegian sports scene,” said former pro snowboarder and head of the sports committee at X Games Oslo, Stine Brun Kjeldaas.

The countdown has already begun. The world’s toughest action sport event is on its way to Oslo, with banners flying: X Games Oslo, February 24 to 28, 2016.

Categories
Features Music

Demons Of Old Metal Premiere New Single

British metallers Demons Of Old Metal recently streamed their latest single “The Quiet Ones” via Puregrainaudio! Taken from their upcoming new album “Dominion”, which is due for release on December 7th, fans of the band can check out their latest offering ahead of time!

Check out “The Quiet Ones” here – http://puregrainaudio.com/audio/demons-of-old-metal-the-quiet-ones-exclusive-song-stream-premiere

Sat somewhere between classic Exodus, Pantera & GWAR; theatrically tinged British metallers Demons Of Old Metal have been making an unholy din across the UK for a while now. And if latest record “Dominion” is anything to go by, they’re just getting started!

Formed at the tail end of 2010 by four veterans of the UK metal circuit with the sole intention of cranking out classically tinged metal and engulfing venues in a sea of blood, sweat and beers. Coupling a cracking knack for writing quality songs, their penchant for schlock horror imagery and an otherworldly stage show, DOOM set about putting together their debut record; “The Demonic Chronicles Vol I”. Released on Halloween 2012, the response from fans and the media alike was overwhelmingly positive and saw the band begin making a name for themselves.

Demons of Old Metal

In 2013 the band released “The Demonic Chronicles Vol. II”; a further addition to their stunning repertoire. This was followed in 2014 by the final part of “The Demonic Chronicles Trilogy” which was greeted with critical acclaim in Europe and the U.S. They proceeded to hit the road and carve their mark viciously into the psyche of the British live scene; scoring slots at Beermageddon in the UK, as well as shows in Ireland.

Simultaneously, they began work on their new record “Dominion”. Set for release on December 7th 2015, “Dominion” stands as a huge leap forward, as the band have pushed their musical boundaries and created a work that will no doubt appeal to fans of both the new and old schools. Tracks like ‘You Version 2.0’, ‘Fakeskin’ and ‘Behind The Mask’ are groove laden gems on a record full of brilliance. Tall and short of it; you need Demons Of Old Metal in your life.

Categories
Articles Concerts Features Misc Music

London Rockers Reverted Announce Intimate Launch Show

London based hard rockers Reverted have announced a very intimate release show for their upcoming new record “Stripping The Worms”; an acoustic re-recording of their debut record “Sputter The Worms”, on November 3rd.

The band are set to appear at the legendary Shaka Zulu, a lush African themed bar and restaurant in Camden Town, where they’ll be premiering their new video “Time” and performing live renditions from “Stripping The Worms”.

Vocalist Tony Vega had this to say on the record and its launch:

“Stripping The Worms” is, for us, an intimate voyage of sorts. We aimed to preserve crucial elements of the songs while giving way to new gripping and exciting structures.

Herod

Fans can check out the band’s open invitation and choice clips from “Stripping The Worms” here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCErXm7swEA&feature=youtu.be

Completed by guitarist Danny Ruiz, drummer Ozzy Preciado and bassist Luis Lopez; Reverted formed in 2010 and quickly set to work putting together their debut EP “Tolerance” in 2011. They followed “Tolerance” up with the successful “Sputter The Worms” in 2012, which elevated the band to higher levels; selling thousands of copies independently and scoring the band coverage in Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Powerplay Magazine. The band also gained airplay on Total Rock and countless other stations across the UK, Europe and the US with the single “Die My Saint”.

The video for “Die My Saint”, their first music video, was released later that year with appearance on national TV such as Scuzz, Kerrang & MTV. The clip captured both the band’s explosive energy and their commitment to storytelling. In 2013 the band began working with acclaimed producer Pedro Caparros (Breed 77, The Answer) on their latest record “Stripping The Worms”; an acoustic re-imagining of “Sputter The Worms”.

Alongside their incredibly output, the band have secured support slots with American Head Charge, Evile, Fozzy, Kill Devil Hill and countless others. Not content with ruling the London scene, the quartet are set to hit the road throughout 2016 with tours in Central & South America, and Europe before heading home for a headline UK tour.

With a new album in tow and an insatiable hunger to hit the road, Reverted are looking to end 2015 with a band and lead a trail of fire through 2016. Book your ticket for November 3rd now, before they sell out!

Categories
Articles Concerts Misc Music

Raging Speedhorn Announce Support For Winter UK Tour

UK Sludge legends Raging Speedhorn have announced Ten Foot Wizard & Telepathy as the support acts on their upcoming UK tour this November!

The band are set to embark on a six date UK tour in support of their upcoming, as yet untitled, new record which is set for release in early 2016. Their first release since 2007’s “Before The Sea Was Built” and their first to feature new guitarist Jim Palmer.

The dates for the tour are:

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 – The Globe, Cardiff
Fri, 27 Nov 2015 – The Underworld, London (Support acts – Gurt, Ten Foot Wizard & Telepathy)
Sat, 28 Nov 2015 – Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton
Sun, 29 Nov 2015 – The Corporation, Sheffield
Mon, 30 Nov 2015 – Star & Garter, Manchester
Tue, 1 Dec 2015 – The Exchange, Bristol

Herod

The band, who launched a Pledge campaign earlier this year for their new record, have recently announced that fans participating in the Pledge will received a free live EP as a thank you.

Fans wanting to contribute to the Pledge can do so here – pledgemusic.com/projects/raging-speedhorn

Raging Speedhorn formed in 1998 and went on to release four records, the most successful being their second release “We Will Be Dead Tomorrow”, recorded by Billy Graziadei & Danny Schuler of Biohazard fame. The band achieved chart success with ‘The Gush’ in 2001, toured continuously with acts like Slipknot, Ill Nino, Rammstein and Will Haven, and performed at countless festivals across the globe, including main stage at the inaugural Download Festival in 2004. They split in 2008 following the release of their last record “Before The Sea Was Built” and a subsequent tour of Japan.

Categories
Concerts Music

Room Full Of Strangers Hit The Road

US Punk mob Room Full Of Strangers are set to hit the road through Germany this autumn in support of their new album “Bad Vacation”, which is set for release on October 30th through True Trash Records & Godless America Records!

The band will be appearing at the following dates:

Oct/24/15 FR – Tranqueville-Graux, La BaZka
Oct/27/15 DE – Dresden, Chemiefabrik
Oct/28/15 DE – Berlin, Cortina Bob
Oct/29/15 DE – Hamburg, Monkeys Music Club
Oct/30/15 DE – Essen, Freakshow Bar
Oct/31/15 DE – Bonn, Kult 41
Nov/04/15 DE – Kaiserslautern, The Clearing Barrel
Nov/05/15 DE – Würzburg, Immerhin
Nov/06/15 DE – Leipzig, Zoro
Nov/07/15 DE – Crailsheim, Juze

For US whatever-punks Room Full Of Strangers, in 2015, it’s a Love / Hate situation. It would be easy for a band of working class guys, with roots in America’s Rust Belt, struggling to make ends meet, to embrace hate, lash out and become big drinking, fist-fighting, rock n roll clichés. In fact, for a period of time, that’s exactly what happened. The sons of immigrants and factory workers, Room Full Of Strangers haven’t always managed to plough the path of controlled chaos that they currently inhabit – for a while it was just chaos. It wasn’t so long ago that their shows were sparking mass brawls and, in one terrifying instance, witnessed the tragic overdose of a member on stage…

Herod

Led by front man Mick Mcluan, it was time to embrace their struggle, and the difficulties of being in a penniless band, in a very different way. They looked to other Rust Belt bands like The Stooges, Dead Boys, DEVO, Pere Ubu and Lux Interior, and instead adopted a new outlook – one they’d need to stick to, if they were to come out of this alive and well. The band got pro-active. Their own self-promoted (huge) warehouse parties drew the attention of proper venues and producers. The offers were coming thick and fast, and they now boast a live show so renowned that they’re invited invited to play CMJ every year and fests such as SXSW, CBGB Fest and have shared stages with acts as varied as Joanna Gruesome, Fan Modine (members of Neutral Milk Hotel), Jacuzzi Boys, Capsula (Bilbao Spain), The Misfits and – GG Allin’s band – The Murder Junkies.

Naturally it wasn’t long before acclaimed knob-twiddler and Godfather of the NYC underground art punk scene, Mark Kramer, known as Kramer (Jacuzzi Boys, Half Japanese, Sonic Youth, Daniel Johnston, Butthole Surfers) discovered the band and put them in the studio. The resulting sessions became new album ‘Bad Vacation’ – an album packed with collective experience, ferocity, punk spirit, all set to an us-against-the-world party soundtrack. This is a band who is influenced by its own collective personalities and life experience, and a band that ardently refuses to write music that is derivative of the sound du jour.

“Bad Vacation is about real people, places and things, and reflects on our life story as band. It’s kind of like being the main character in the movie Shawshank Redemption. At first you’re screwed, then screwed a little less and ultimately, if you’re patient and persistent, you get to crawl through a sewer pipe of crap to your freedom.”

~ Mick McIuan – Room Full of Strangers

Designed to carry you signed, sealed, delivered, in a sweaty heap on the floor, ‘Bad Vacation’ serves as a reminder that bad trips happen, but you can always come out the other side.

Categories
Concerts FREE! Blog Music

Swiss Metallers Herod Debut New Video On Noisey Ahead Of Deathcrusher Tour!

Teutonic Quartet’s New Clip Announce Ahead Of Support Slot on Deathcrusher Tour With Carcass, Napalm Death, Obituary & Voivod This Winter!

Swiss noise mongers Herod have premiered their latest video, Northern Lights, through Noisey on October 13th ahead of their upcoming slot as part of the stunning Deathcrusher tour; opening for legendary death metallers Carcass, grindcore overlords Napalm Death, Floridian extremists Obituary and Canadian thrash gods Voivod!

The video can be seen here – http://noisey.vice.com/alps/music-video-premieres/exklusive-videopremiere-herod-northern-lights-224

Herod

The dates for the tour are:

Friday, 23 October – Wulfrun Hall – Wolverhampton, UK
Saturday, 24 October – Barrowlands – Glasgow, UK
Sunday, 25 October – Limelight 1 – Belfast, Northern Ireland
Monday, 26 October – Vicar Street – Dublin, Ireland
Tuesday, 27 October – Motion – Bristol, UK
Wednesday, 28 October – Northumbrian University – Newcastle, UK
Thursday, 29 October – The Forum – London, UK
Friday, 30 October – The Ritz – Manchester, UK
Saturday, 31 October – Trixzaal – Antwerpen, Belgium
Monday, 2 November – Live Music Hall – Köln, Germany
Tuesday, 3 November – L’Usine – Geneva, Switzerland
Wednesday, 4 November – Longhorn – Stuttgart, Germany
Thursday, 5 November – Folimanka Hall – Prague, Czech Republic
Friday, 6 November – The Factory – Magdeburg, Germany
Saturday, 7 November – Aalborg Metal Festival – Aalborg, Denmark
Sunday, 8 November – Tradgar’n – Gothenburg, Sweden
Monday, 9 November – Arenan – Stockholm, Sweden
Wednesday, 11 November – B90 – Gdansk, Poland
Thursday, 12 November – Rprogresija – Warsaw, Poland
Friday, 13 November – Täubchenthal – Leipzig, Germany
Saturday, 14 November – Music Hall – Gieselwind, Germany
Sunday, 15 November – Simm City – Vienna, Austria
Monday, 16 November – Backstage – Munich, Germany
Tuesday, 17 November – Estragon Club – Bologna, Italy
Thursday, 19 November – Schlachthof – Wiesbaden, Germany
Friday, 20 November – Astra Kulturhaus – Berlin, Germany
Saturday, 21 November – Speedfest – Eindhoven, Holland
Sunday, 22 November – Garage – Saarbrucken, Germany
Monday, 23 November – La Cigale – Paris, France
Tuesday, 24 November – Le Transbordeur – Lyon, France
Thursday, 26 November – Sala Riviera – Madrid, Spain
Friday, 27 November – Cine Teatro – Lisboa, Portugal
Saturday, 28 November – Sala Santana 27 – Bilbao, Spain
Sunday, 29 November – Sala Razzmatazz – Barcelona, Spain

Initially the brainchild of guitarist Pierre Carroz, Herod formed in Switzerland back in 2011 and have since gone on to carve a solid niche for themselves in the realm of head crushingly heavy metal with their 2014 release “They Were None”. Recorded by renowned Swiss producer Julien Fehlmann (The Ocean, Coilguns and Unfold) and mastered by Svante Försback (Volbeat and Rammstein), “They Were None” was met with universal praise by the media, and has seen the band go on to tour Europe a number of times.

Be sure to catch this stunning outfit this winter when they rip a blackhole through Europe with some of the finest extreme metal bands on the planet!

Categories
Articles Blogs FREE! Blog Misc

Steven Tyler and the street musicians

The charismatic leader of Aerosmith, Steven Tyler, seems to enjoy surprising street musicians wherever he goes. If not so long time ago, you could have seen him in the heart of Helsinki replacing a street musician in a curious set of bottles (which you can still see nowadays played every day if you walked around Aleksanterinkatu street), there are other famous viral videos circulating in Youtube where he joins a couple of beautiful classic street musicians in the streets of Vilnius, the capital or Lithuania, or more recently, when he surprises another musician in Moscow and starts to sing his hit “I do not want to miss a thing“. Steven, what a legend both on stage and on the streets!!!

Categories
Articles Concerts Misc Music

Nordic Thrashers Dienamic Announce Japanese Tour

Norwegian thrashers Dienamic are heading to Japan for the second run of dates! The band are heading over to support their new record “Afterlife” which will be released in Japan on September 3rd.

Dienamic

The band are to play the following dates:

Sept 3rd – Flying Son, Sendai
Sept 4th – Tight Rope, Nagoya
Sept 5th – Wild Side, Tokyo
Sept 6th – Wild Side, Tokyo

Straight from the heart and right in your face! Dienamic has a super energetic and intense live show, with unique audience contact and a great atmosphere. The band first saw the light of day in 2010, and ever since the first live show following the release of their self titled EP they have been bringing it on the stage.

With over 60 live shows to date, they have become a bone crushing five piece metal act that will definitely leave a mark on the world. The band has already toured Japan, most of central and eastern Europe along with their home country Norway. This band is addicted to touring and get out there every chance they have!

Categories
Blogs FREE! Blog Outside Finland Travel

The Formula for Happy Traveling

Backpacking has become one of young Finns’ favorite hobby. Born under the Aurora Borealis, nature’s own spectacular light show, people are later willing to travel a great distance to chase other wonders of the world. Perhaps you, too, have always wanted to hike the Inca Trail to see the first rays of sun falling on the ancient city of Machu Picchu in Peru? Or maybe it is walking along the Great Wall of China or imagining gladiators fighting for their lives at the Roman Colosseum that truly thrills you?

To a number of people being on the road is a life choice. For some, it symbolizes the ultimate freedom and detachment from material things, while others focus on broadening their horizon, having an experience that can later be told to friends with great excitement and nostalgia. And who would not want to have their picture taken next to a breath-taking scenery, an exotic animal or a new friend with whom to communicate only by using sign language?

While it is true that places the essence of which even the best cameras cannot quite capture exist in this world, witnessing these locations requires initiative and effort. Maybe you have always wanted to travel more, but other commitments and duties, perhaps financial, have put the long-needed decisions on ice?

Luckily, there are solutions. To secure the success of your trip of a lifetime you just need to navigate to the best online deals to save money on your travel arrangements

Backpacker

Today flying is an ever-cheaper option to reach distant continents. Affordable flight tickets are compared for you by different websites, which does not only save up your time, but helps you to spot the best prices at a glance. And it does not end there. In order to really help you manage the budget of your unforgettable journey-to-be, Internet also offers you coupon codes to save on your flight reservation. Look out for the codes prior to reservation and be surprised at the checkout.

While some independent travelers are adventurous enough to choose camping or couchsurfing as a form of accommodation, the rest of us appreciate a fun yet clean hostel or a good-quality hotel. After all, a good night’s sleep is essential to enjoy new sites. Perhaps you have already browsed through a few websites and picked a couple of accommodation alternatives for your trip based on prices and reviews? What if you got told that the cost of your future stay might not be as final as your decision to book it? To lower the price of hostels and hotels all over the world you only need to look for vouchers. Suddenly the minimum effort of simply noting down a short voucher code to get 10% discount starts to seem a small price to pay.

Experienced traveler or not, the most important thing is that you are hungry for a new experience and always keep an open mind. Leaving the cozy comfort zone is never easy, but there are things that help. Whether you wish to encounter the new world by yourself or with a friend, a good gear is an essential companion to any thrill-seeker. You might notice that the nearer your trip, the more you flick through web shops offering adventure-proof clothing, trekking gear or sports equipment. In order to live up to the title of a true budget-traveler, it is worthwhile to keep an eye for discount codes. They give the finishing touch to organizing and financing your journey budget-friendly and hassle-free.

Before you know it, you will be making your dreams come true.

Categories
Concerts Features Interviews Music

Blind Guardian in Helsinki 2015. Interview with guitarist Marcus Siepen

In a chilly spring Finnish evening the first fans queue at the doors of Nosturi while around the corner, at the terrace of Nosturi ‘s restaurant, some members of the epic German metal band Blind Guardian chill out before the show and attend their media compromises.

It is there where, sitting relaxed at a table, FREE! Magazine meets their guitarist Marcus Siepen for an exclusive interview:

Thanks for your time Marcus! As I guess you know Finland well as you have visited here in the past, what are your feelings when coming back here?

-Oh it has been great. We have played here a couple of times, we played at Tuska Festival and has always been great, the people are great and we have friends here in Finland. Me and my wife spent the whole day yesterday walking around the downtown with friends and we are looking forward to the gig!

Do you know good bars around the city?

Actually I have been to a metal bar, Prkl, and we have also been to Steam bar, that looks amazing. So yeah, we have been walking around.

What do you think of the Finnish audience, some people think they are a bit different when compared to other countries where they scream a lot.

They are a good audience, they are calmer here, yes. It changes it anyway from country to country. Spanish fans are different from German fans and German fans are different from Swedish fans and Swedish you cannot not compare them to Brazilians. And that is fine, as far as you know how to handle them. I don’t need to have people screaming all the show in order to see the fans are enjoying.

Blind Guardian

The band is cancelling 2 dates in Russia after this gig in Finland. What are the reasons if I may ask?

There were problems with organization and stuff and sadly we had to cancel, which is a pity.

So you will play in Russia, Belorussia and then Australia and Japan and after that you will have a summer break. Will there be time to relax or busy preparing your incoming live album?

We are already booked for the studio so we have to go through recordings and stuff and we also want to do a couple of rehearsals and there are still some songs that are on the list to be played that we have not played so far and we want to be ready for the next block of the tour. We leave for South America in September and we will be on the road almost until Christmas. And next year will continue, all the festivals, more individual shows, we will be on the road until Autumn next year.

I have heard that you were planning for long to do this orchestra album. Will there be time with this hectic schedule to work on that one?

There will be. The original idea was maybe to finish it on the summer break, which now will be occupied by the live album stuff, but we definitely would like to finish it next year. So that is a fixed plan.

Coming back to the current tour, even when talking to some of my Spanish friends who saw you in Madrid, we commented if you guys ever get tired when audience request “Majesty” all the time…

Yes we do! You know, Majesty is not a bad song, not at all. The thing is that it was written in 1986, so it is almost 30 years old and you know, at some point I really do not get the obsession with that song, when there are so many songs to choose from! But you know, we play it. It is just that we cannot always give in to the crowd to dictate the set. The funny thing is, in one of the shows we played recently, we actually put Majesty on the setlist, and we did not put Valhalla on the setlist. What happens? Right from the beginning nobody screams for Majesty, everybody starts to scream for Valhalla! Hehehe. And we are like fuck! What is this?! What is wrong?! Hehehe. So we ended up playing Valhalla as well…

I remember to have seen you myself live on the Forgotten Tales Tour when I was 16, more than half a life ago. How do you notice the change with the past of time with the audience. Is it still people who grew with the band or do you see new generations coming too?

It is a mix, and that is the great thing. Normally when we go on tour, we always see people who seem to be growing with the band, who were there on previous tours and they keep coming, but we also see younger kids, and that is great for us, as it means we are keeping old fans but we are gaining new ones as those kids are too young to have been in all those previous tours. It is great to see new generations digging our music.

And for you, how do you keep motivated after so many years playing?

We love what we are doing. I do not need to motivate myself as this is what we love to do. Anybody in the band. We still love the music that we are playing and we still love touring. Obviously sometimes you get tired of touring because it is demanding, all the travelling and stuff. So sometimes we look forward to taking a break at home, but then when we take the break we are looking forward to the next tour block because playing live is just awesome.

What about your new album Beyond the Red Mirror. Has it been particularly demanding as you have collaborated with different orchestras, 3 different choirs, etc.

It has not been different than previous stuff. People have been telling in the past “it will not be possible to play that song live” and it was possible. We have a keyboard player with us and it is perfectly possible to play all that stuff.

Blind Guardian

How do you perceive the reaction of the people to the new album?

The reaction has been pretty awesome. What normally happens in the past is whenever we went on tour with a new album and we play new songs, reaction to the new songs have been a bit calmer compared to the old classics and only on the next tour they were on even level. This time is different, we play 4 new songs and there is a 5th one coming that we are still rehearsing a bit and they seem to be instant classics. The reactions are almost the same as with Valhalla, Majesty, etc. The reviews of the album have been excellent, not only on magazines but also when you talk to people.

I know you are also a fan of fantasy books and they represent a big source of inspiration for the lyrics of the band. Do you follow Game of Thrones?

I love the books, I read all of them in a row and I am waiting for book 6 to be released. But I have a kind of love/hate relationship with the TV show. As if you consider it as only a show, it is very well done, great actors and settings… but they fucked up the story. They changed it so many things… and that is why I fucking hate it. I even did not watch The Hobbit movies for that reason. When Jackson announced he would do the Hobbit, I was curious, but when I read he was planning to do 3 movies of a book of 200 something pages… I did not want to see them. If somebody makes a movie out of the book The Hobbit, then it should be based on The Hobbit. Not 10% on the book and 90% on things that could have happened.

With Game of Thrones I watched the first 4 seasons and most likely I still will watch the 5th one, because as I said it is a love/hate relationship. When I watch it I try to forget the books but in the end I keep bashing and cursing, but then I keep watching it. If you could disconnect the show from the books, it would be awesome, but I keep thinking “That is wrong, they do not go there, they do not do that”.

Is it true that when Jackson was preparing the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies, there were contacts with the band to take care of the soundtrack?

The whole story got blown up a bit out of proportion. Yes, at some point we were asked to send some samples. There were some sites where fans could vote who they wanted to participate and our name kept popping and we were asked to send some stuff. Actually the orchestra project would have been fitting. But if we would have got that job, we had not released any album, our priorities was not releasing soundtracks. It would have been a cool experience but we preferred to focus on our albums.

Anything else you want to add for the readers?

Actually yes, for readers in Helsinki and everywhere worldwide. A message from the band to the fans: If you come to a gig, please leave the fucking phones on your pockets and try to see the gig with your own eyes, you will see the colors with better resolution, it is even 3D and better than 4k. That would be my message to readers! Hehe. It started a couple of years ago and it is getting worse and worse. Taking pictures are fine, but I have seen people standing on the front row not moving recording the whole concert for two and a half hours. If you want to see the DVD, go to the fucking shop and buy it, the quality is better. And as a band, it is not fun to play in front of phones! We want to play in front of an audience that enjoys! There are people who even record the show with an iPad!

So with that request full of sense, and with my 1996 concert ticket signed by Marcus, we let them rest for the show during the night.

And what came later? A venue really fully packed at Nosturi, fans delighted, a great setlist, new songs matching perfectly with the old classics, some surprises as hearing Guardian of the Blind and some other songs that almost brought a tear to the eyes of many old fans like Bright Eyes or The Bard’s Song… and a few requests from the audience to play Majesty that were dismissed :)))

Blind Guardian Setlist at Nosturi in Helsinki. 2nd of June 2015

1. The Ninth Wave 

2. Banish from Sanctuary 

3. Nightfall 

4. Fly 

5. Tanelorn (Into the Void) 

6. Prophecies 

7. The Last Candle 

8. Miracle Machine 
(Acoustic)
9. Lord of the Rings 
(Heavy)
10. Guardian of the Blind 

11. Bright Eyes 

12. And the Story Ends 

Encore:
13. War of Wrath 

14. Into the Storm 

15. Twilight of the Gods 

16. Valhalla 

Encore 2:
17. Wheel of Time 

18. The Bard’s Song – In the Forest 
(Acoustic)
19. Mirror Mirror

Categories
Articles Misc

The Rise of the Finnish Poker Pro

Considering the size of Finland and the fact that the local casino and poker room scene is virtually non-existent, the fact that Finland is home to some of the most respected (and feared) poker players on the planet, says a great deal about the character and perhaps even the fierce competitiveness of Finns.

 

Poker history is filled with breakout players dating back to the early 1970’s, except in the case of Finnish players. The internet poker boom in the early part of the 2000’s gave birth to the Finnish pro. Universally the Finnish players brought a wildly aggressive style to the table. For some time, the other internet players referred to them as “fish” a poker term for weak, exploitable players. They also had a tendency to lump them all into the “Scandinavian” category. Those players soon learned (usually as they saw their chips being pushed to “fish”) that their read was totally incorrect and that the Finns, while technically Scandinavian, were in a category of their own.

 

Determining who the top players in the poker world are is a somewhat tricky problem. The only reliable and verifiable method is to rank players based on their tournament results. Tournament poker, however, is only a part of many players’ poker career. Finnish players have excelled in both.

 

Juha Helppi

Juha Helppi

Like many poker players, Helppi got his start in gambling as a dealer; unlike many of those professional players, Helppi was a croupier, not a poker dealer, in Helsinki. Prior to be introduced to poker by some friends, he was a champion paintball player. Like many other poker players around the world, he was also an avid Magic: The Gathering Player.

 

Many poker fans and players got their first introduction to Finnish players by Juha’s appearance on one of the first World Poker Tour broadcasts from Aruba. After winning his seat in the Aruba tournament, he bested a field of amateur players in Aruba, which earned him a seat in a single table tournament where he faced five professional players. His aggressive style earned Helppi his first major victory after he defeated poker pro Phil Gordon in heads-up competition.

 

His victory convinced him to try poker professionally, which has turned out to be a very good career decision. His tournament earnings are approaching $5.5 million.

 

Patrik Antonious

Patrik Antonius

Patrik Antonious’ is arguably the best-known Finnish poker player in the world. He came to poker after a career in professional tennis and, not surprisingly, modeling. While Antonius has tournament winnings which near $7 million, he is better known for his skill and aggression at the cash tables. He excels at both Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. He holds the title for winning the largest single pot in online poker history ($1.35 million). He plays in some of the largest cash games in the world in Macau. The combination of his skills, aggression, and good looks has also made his a regular on televised poker broadcasts around the world.

 

Ilari Sahamies

Ilari Sahamies

Like many Finnish players Ilari Sahamies, who is better known as “Ziigmund” in the poker world, was introduced to poker by playing at a friend’s house. In his case that friend was Patrik Antonious who he met while playing billiards. While Sahamies tournament earnings are “only” in the $1.5 million range, his has earned that amount many times playing cash games and he is considered on the best high stakes Pot Limit Omaha players in the world. Like Helppi and Antonious, Sahamies is an active online player, where he has over $4 million in online cash game winnings. Ziigmund is one of Finland’s more colorful players. In addition to his aggression, on both the virtual and real world, tables he is one of the most talkative players at the table and takes particular delight in verbally taunting his opponents.

Ziigmund is in many ways the more typical Finnish player, as most are cash game specialists. Players like Jani Sointula, Ville Wahlbeck, Sami Kelopuro, and Jens Kyllonen pop up on the tournament circuit from time to time but do not have as high of a profile with poker fans as the others on the list. However all are respected by the players at the cash games both online and in casino poker rooms.

Gambling is a major part of Finnish life. The ubiquitous slot machines are everywhere and the low minimum age for playing means that Finns learn to gamble at an early age.

One recent incident may be an indication that there is more to the success of Finnish players at casino games than just availability.

Sara Chafak

Earlier this year, former Miss Finland Sara Chafak participated in Shark Cage, a broadcasted poker tournament powered by PokerStars. The Shark Cage pits professional and amateur players against one another for a $1 million top prize. In one of the first hands of the tournament Chafak made major bets on every betting while heads up against a seasoned pro will on a total bluff. While most of the table, even her opponent to a degree, wanted to have the beautiful Chafak at the table as long as possible, a million dollars is a lot of money and the pro eventually folded the best hand to Chafak’s aggression. The hand instantly became an internet sensation as poker players worldwide watched the amateur make a play that would be commonplace for Antonious and Sahamies but almost unheard of from an amateur.

 

So perhaps, there is something in the basic Finnish DNA or the cultural makeup of the country that leads to players who are not only aggressive but also incredibly successful. Taking into account that the history of professional poker in Finland is only slightly more than a decade, poker players may well be advised to protect their bankroll and avoid taking a seat at the table if they are facing a Finn now or in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Concerts Music

Norwegian Black Metallers Aura Noir, Khold & Dodheimsgard Added To Trondheim Metal Fest Line Up

Fans of Norwegian black metal rejoice, as scene legends Aura Noir, low-end heavy mob Khold and avant garde outfit Dodheimsgard have been announced to join the already stunning line up at this year’s Trondheim Metal Festival!

Formed in 1993 by Aggressor (Carl-Michael Eide) and Apollyon (Ole Jørgen Moe), Aura Noir released their debut EP Dreams Like Deserts in 1995. In 2004, they were the first band to be signed to Tyrant Syndicate Productions, a sub-label of Peaceville Records, run by Nocturno Culto and Fenriz. Their fifth studio album, Out to Die, was released through Peaceville in March 2012, with a new record is set for release this year featuring Blasphemer (Mayhem) on guitar.

Khold was formed in Oslo in 2000 by Sarke (drums) and Gard (vocals & guitar) after the split of their former band, Tulus. In late 2000, they signed with Moonfog Records, the former label of Satyricon frontman, Satyr. They toured internationally with a number of big extreme metal bands, including Behemoth. Following a brief hiatus, they returned in 2008 with the crushing Hundre År Gammal. The band released their latest record Til Endes in September 2014 through Peaceville Records.

While, Dødheimsgard (also known as DHG) formed in 1994. Initially a straight-up black metal band, they changed tact with 1999’s 666 International, which saw them change into an experimental and avant-garde/industrial band. The band released their fifth studio album, A Umbra Omega, on March 16, 2015.

Be you a fan of the fast, the dark or the dirge-ridden; TMF have got you covered.

TMF are also happy to announce their new sponsors; US based metal giants Metal Sucks and Scottish crafts company Asgard.

Thondheim Metal Fest

Asgard had this to say of the new partnership:
“It’s a great pleasure to be sponsoring the Trondheim Metal Festival. As a business, we draw a lot of our influences from Norway’s Viking culture. Trondheim has been an important city for a very long time, and it is fantastic to now see it on the European festival map. Their selection of bands always includes a number of our favourites, and we look forward to seeing some awesome gigs there in October.”

Further to this, TMF’s sixth outing will be held at the glamourous Scandic Lerkendal Congress Hotel, both the newest hotel in Trondheim, and also the biggest conference hotel in Norway. Complete with three stages; sporting a total capacity of 2200, a metal market area, Q&A’s, clinics, cinema, meet & greets, quizs, tattoo stands, restaurants, bars, snack shop, gym, sauna, lounge areas and exciting travel excursions around Trondheim. In short, TMF in 2015 is not to be missed.

At 75 meters, the hotel is also Norway’s third tallest building; with a skybar/conference room on the top floor, which has an exclusive panoramic view of the city. This will be used for a series of activities during the daytime, and will be turned into a skybar with metal karaoke once darkness falls.

Festival head honcho Eirik Teller had this to say:

“This festival has always evolved, with adding something new and fresh every year. And when our city of Trondheim got an even bigger conference hotel last summer, it was clear as day, we had to have the festival there! Being that it´s actually on-site with Lerkendal Stadium (home of footballers Rosenborg), it gave us some real advantages, both logistically and also to enhance the experience for the audience. And of course, now we can call it a “stadium festival”!

And with the newly addition of great bands like Aura Noir, Khold and Dødheimsgard, we´re really knocking on the Norwegian metal spirit, but we also have so many great bands, yet to be announced! So, all in all, this will definitly be the biggest year in the festival´s history, yet. And we´d like to invite you all to a truly unique festival experience, where the hotel is the venue and the venue is the hotel! Hellcome to Trondheim!”

The festival’s current line-up includes British black metallers Anaal Nathrakh, Finnish folk metallers Korpiklaani, Irish black metallers Primordial, British thrashers Evile, German thrashers Tankard, Greek black metal legends Rotting Christ, Norwegian metallers Circus Maximus, legendary Swedish rockers Crucified Barbara & German artist Mambo Kurt!

Previous headliners of the festival have included Behemoth, Devin Townsend Project, Gojira, At The Gates, Napalm Death, Electric Wizard and more.

Ticket prices for the event are as follows:

Two-day Festival Pass
1190,- NOK + Ticket fee

One-day Festival Pass
TBA

Hotel Only (festival ticket not included)
Single Room Incl. Breakfast (per day)
NOK 695, – + Ticket handler fee

Double Room Incl. Breakfast (per day)
NOK 795, – + Ticket handler fee

Advanced tickets can be purchased here:

Festivalhotel: Scandic Lerkendal | Phone: (+47) 21 61 51 00 | Mail:
lerkendal@scandichotels.com | Reference: “Trondheim Metal Fest”

Categories
1

Mystery PUA and Beckster in Helsinki Boot camp Vappu in 2013

Now that Vappu, one of the biggest celebrations in Finland, is around the corner again, we wanted to share this curious video where infamous PUA guru Mystery together with Beckster patrol the streets of Helsinki a couple of years ago having a good time and admiring the crowd, particularly the female part of the crowd.