Spiha, Gas Giant, Dark Sun - Psychotropic Zone, Stella Star Club, Helsinki 4/19/03
From Aural Innovations #24 (July 2003)
It is a beautiful day and we are hanging out on the back porch eating, drinking and smoking. Some of the band had a rough night (Jesper!) and others are fresh. Thomas makes some pasta and I go to the local market and bring back some bread, cheese, ham and milk for the coffee! We get to the club around 14:00 and hang out and drink beers for a few hours. The band goes out to see the town and get some food and I hang out with Santtu. The club is incredibly cool. A huge bar but there are a bunch of people covering up the mirrors with cool fluorescent backdrops and putting up a screen to project the show on, etc. Soundcheck goes ok and we are like 2x as loud as the other bands! Stefan is really loud and the delay is not very good on the synth (and it is off completely when we play!). Oh well...
Dark Sun open the show about 10:45 with a very spacey piece of music and go into "Electrified". It sounds great but is different without the sampled percussion and electronic drums. Next up is the old song, "Our Man Inside". "Blinks Of An Eye" is a brand new song and is very different, almost like indie rock or something. "Lucifer Sam", a Pink Floyd cover follows and is amazing. Another recent song from a few years back but still unreleased, "Astronauts Of Innerspace" is excellent. The band close the set with one of their oldest songs, "Black Spires". A great set but too short!
Set List: Space Jam, Electrified, Our Man Inside, blinks of an Eye, Lucifer Sam, Astronauts of Innerspace, Black Spires
We (Gas Giant) are up next. I start with some sounds on the synth before going into a drone and Jesper layers in some vocals and then Stefan with some spacey guitar. Very cool and spacey and then we rip into "There’s One". The people start moving up a bit and we are flying. A great song but hard to play. Stefan’s guitar is very loud but a great sound. We go straight into "All Creatures" and this really rocks. Jesper is flying all over the place! He is a bit nervous and can’t really speak to the crowd and mumbles something about the next song and we go into "Dragon’s Cave". Stefan plays a killer solo. "Ride The Red Horse" is next and we play the best version we have played since Leipzeig. Amazing. The crowd are really into it. About 75 people in front of the stage but many more (300) in the club. "Back On The Headless Track" is next and all is going well when Stefan breaks a string. But it works out ok as Jesper grabs the djembe and I make some space drones and we fill in the gap while Stefan quickly changes the string and comes back with a monster solo. We are blowing the roof off tonight. We should have played something softer but we slam them with "Firetripper"! Hard, fast and Heavy. "Storm Of My Enemies" is next and we go out into space and have a great jam as well. Stefan is in another world tonight playing the most amazing guitar you have ever heard. Hendrix on a space ship! We end the set with "Too Stoned", our anthem. The people want more but we must stop so Spiha can play. Santtu, who arranged the gig said we were the best band that had ever played at the Psychotropic Zone, so we feel quite honored. A lot of fans come up and talk with us. A great show and I am tired and drained now.
Set List: Space Intro>Theres One, All Creatures, Dragons Cave, Ride the Red Horse, Back on the Headless Track, Firetripper, Storm of my Enemies, Too Stoned
Spiha come out and are more psyched tonight than the last night for the rock and roll show. The girls are now up in the front. They play the complete new CD from start to finish again. Some of the new songs like "Altamont" have really cool guitar riffs and grooves that just make you move to the music. The singles, "If I Ever Let You Go" and "Monster" are more commercial but good songs. "If I Fall", an old song but re-recorded for the new CD, is an amazing song but more psychedelic in the past. The band leave after this song but we call them back out for "New Beginning". I had been telling them they must play this one and they did. It was a little raw but cool. A great live band.
Set List: Egoreactor, Bloodrain, Altamont, If I ever let you go, Samurai of the Sound, Monster, Scratch, Freedom Fuel, I ain’t the One, If I fall, New Beginning
Reviewed by Scott Heller