Live Shows

[winterburner]

Was a pretty dang amazing show yesterday. Loved how everyone clearly had their own thing and the sets were great - it never got anything short of engaging and interesting. Liked how they really embraced the 'live' aspect of the performances by engaging with the audience and playing some of thenmusic live. Pertsa's new set in particular is bonkers! Pleasantly surprised Dynatron played so much of his newer, ambient stuff. Worked surprisingly well in the live environment.

[Blood Music]

Man, I totally agree about Dynatron there, I was actually a little concerned his might be 'lightweight' next to the other guys but it all goes down hard live and the stuff from the new EP live was mesmerizing, loved his set! Loved all their sets. Tommy was killer too, it was all great to me!

Thanks for coming!!!

[winterburner]

With his recent direction, Dynatron is probably my fave of the bunch. Love that kinda analogue synth space ambient to death. My buddies weren't too impressed by his show but I loved it, as most people I saw seemed to do too. Would really love to see him perform on a bigger stage with big production. Space!

And hey, thanks for organising! Loved to come.

[Slrfyr]

With his recent direction, Dynatron is probably my fave of the bunch. Love that kinda analogue synth space ambient to death.

Totally second that! I love the more ambient side of synthwave and the visuals in the show were a perfect fit for the set.

[Wadimator]

The show was an absolute blast and, hands down, one of the best I've been to! All four sets were mind-blowing. Was really happy that I got to buy both of the limited Dynatron LPs and sneak in the first row despite being a bit late to the show. My only gripe was that the lows were a bit muddy during the Dynatron set for some reason

[Blood Music]

Cool to hear so many people here were there and really glad everyone enjoyed it. Had such a great time myself, thanks everyone for coming.

[Lanttu]

I have to admit I was disappointed myself. Maybe my mood wasn't right and/or I didn't have enough alcohol in my veins but especially GosT left me really cold this time. I appreciate his energy on stage but the music itself had zero live vibe for me. Less than last time. Perturbator was much more enjoyable to just watch thanks to actual hardware synths and overall slight variations to recorded versions here and there. Really cool lightning too. I absolutely loved the moments where to whole bright color pallet was used at the same time. Still, last year will remain as superior overall experience in my memory.

Poorly managed merchandise stand increased my stress level a bit at first and lowered my overall excitement towards the night. I feel some kind of lining system would've made a world of difference because now people were in this huge clump where you had no idea when you get through it. Of course this is one these things you might not think beforehand even if you expect people to be massively interested in merchandise available (and even then it'd be venue's responsibility to e.g. fence off a specific lining area).

One more guy behind the desk would've helped sell more merchandise most likely as well. Some must potential buyers must've left the venue without any. All love to the person doing all the work but when I had waited for almost an hour (being around 40th person to get in to the venue, had to wait an hour for merch in the end) and getting increasingly stressful (I was starting to get worried for Dynatron's Throttle Up) I couldn't help think how I could've handled the same in twice the speed without problems.

Ah well, at least most people seem to be very happy with the evening and that's what matters in the end. I don't think I will be attending these in the future unless there's something really special. Ääniwalli with these playing times isn't exactly a place I look forward going to after travelling 250 km and these kind of artists need certain mindset to get everything out of for me. This was 4th synthwave evening I attended and kind of sealed my wondering how anything in this genre could work as good live anymore after Carpenter Brut.

Actually if it wasn't for the Dynatron's Throttle Up vinyl I had to get, I would probably have sold my ticket for this evening already.

[Blood Music]

There was twice a second person hired for the merch booth. One of them landed a full time job and couldn't do it, and the other person got sick at the last minute. It took me 8 straight hours of pulling all the merch variations and getting all the stock counted out, not to mention all the effort at getting the gig exclusive stuff printed/flown in/etc. Didn't get home until 6AM cause load out was also a bitch. A lot of effort went into it, so that's the best we could do on the merch end.

Of course, the performances are up to the guys. I found GosT to be about the same this year personally, no better nor worse but I thought he was great last year and same this. For me this year was not only about performances but also crowd. People were there early, ready to go, no hesitation, last year was a bit more "eh let's see what these guys can do," as I think everyone came for Perturbator year one, and now everyone came for all 4. Plus, few to zero production glitches or backstage production snafus to worry about.

[Lanttu]

There was twice a second person hired for the merch booth.  One of them landed a full time job and couldn't do it, and the other person got sick at the last minute.  It took me 8 straight hours of pulling all the merch variations and getting all the stock counted out, not to mention all the effort at getting the gig exclusive stuff printed/flown in/etc.  Didn't get home until 6AM cause load out was also a bitch.  A lot of effort went into it, so that's the best we could do on the merch end.

Of course, the performances are up to the guys.  I found GosT to be about the same this year personally, no better nor worse but I thought he was great last year and same this.  For me this year was not only about performances but also crowd.  People were there early, ready to go, no hesitation, last year was a bit more "eh let's see what these guys can do," as I think everyone came for Perturbator year one, and now everyone came for all 4.  Plus, few to zero production glitches or backstage production snafus to worry about.

Nice to know you were prepared with a second guy (like a responsible organiser should). Not so nice with complications but that's life. I also realise that amount of merch must be pain in the ass to sort so kudos to you for that. I didn't want to sound too harsh or entitled but I don't want to sugar coat things either. Actually, I think this time I would probably have got more satisfaction out helping selling merchandise than watching the gigs themselves.

Yeah, crowd liked what they got and that's always nice to see. Must be so much the sweeter for as their label owner and friend. Hell, I enjoyed Cheek's (the most mainstream hip hop artist in Finland for you outsiders) live show out of all possible artists more than most metal shows I go to. I sure as hell wouldn't listen to it at home but the package with great crowd and interaction between it and the artist really made the show. (Wouldn't pay to see him either, this time I was working at bar gate so I saw everything). Too bad I was in receptive state enough in that way this time.

I too was impressed how many people there were for Tommy already when I finally managed to get out of merch at 22:20 or so. Front of the stage didn't clear either like it did almost completely after 2nd or even 3rd artist in Carpenter Brut's gig. Too bad Ääniwalli is a bit lackluster in how fast they can get people in due to cloak room being such a bottleneck. Not much they can do to it I'm afraid. (Though I know for a fact I could've worked faster there, half or even twice as fast. )  There could've been even more people.

[kadaver]

I'm just jealous you guys got to be at this awesome gig. The only synthwave gig I've attended thus far was by Dance with the Dead, but, wow, that was so much fun. One of the best gigs so far this year. Bummed they dropped out of an event last month in Amsterdam; had to sell my tickets as I don't find standard synthwave that exciting, and the rest of the lineup was pretty much exactly that.

Definitely see what you are saying about synthwave/darksynth and how it could be hard to squeeze more out of it in a live setting. Dance with the Dead had at least some crowd interaction because both members play guitar at the gigs on certain songs. They also talk to the crowd a bit to get them excited. I'm a big fan of their stuff, so I was sold, even if it wasn't the best venue (space for about 4/5 people in one line with some room to move. They barely had any space to get out in front and pick up their guitars and play. They were level with the crowd, standing behind a counter with all their stuff on it.) Their music is packed with energy and it's not hard to dance to. A lot of energy at the front. Not so much a line or two back. Looking at YouTube it's always the more eastern European countries that have the highest energy gigs.

Saw Enslaved last Tuesday. The crowd was so dead. Granted it was a Tuesday night, but still. I walked into the venue right on time. I wasn't overly excited because I had some other stuff on my mind, even if they are one of my favorite bands. They always deliver a good show. I warmed up to them after a couple minutes of playing and got really into it. Hardly any excitement in the crowd. Wasn't really that crowded, but I guess I just felt like the band deserved more. People seem to be so stoic here at gigs sometimes.

Anyway, seeing Carpenter Brut in Brussels in two weeks time from now. I'm sure the atmosphere will be amazing, can't wait.