Once in a while, I like to check out what the local bands have in store for is. On The Rocks is the perfect venue for sniffing up the atmosphere of the local bands. Finnish hard rock newcomers of Thy Row blew me away last time with their very first performance at a sold-out Bar Loose. Something not many bands have done before them. This time around the band had announced that for the time being Asim Searah (Wintersun, Damnation Plan) would take over guitar duties for the occasion.
A bit later than planned, the band kicked off the show with the Queen classic “We Will Rock You”. I was told that Mr. Searah was only asked for this gig less than two weeks prior to the show. How on earth he found the time to both rehearse and practice the songs is a mystery to me. The general impression seemed that he knew what he was doing, respect. And even though, once in a while, the set sounded perhaps maybe not as tight as their legendary first show at Bar Loose, the band still played a solid show together and seemed to be having a lot of fun on stage. Let’s take into account that this is only the second show these guys have ever played… I think it’s remarkable how already so soon in their performing career the band has put themselves on the map. With their heavy-ass hard rock, powerful vocals and overall positive energy on stage, I have to say that I do have high hopes for this band and strongly recommend to see this band play live before they sell out shows worth of €99 a ticket.
On The Rocks is a big venue for small bands. But overall I think the same amount of people turned out for the second round of Thy Row. Not a bad turnout for a Thursday winter evening. The band manages to get the people closer and closer to the stage, and I once in a while catch someone behind me to even move their hips to the music. Truth be told the setlist again was way too short, and before we know it the show was over. Hopefully, the band will release a debut album soon, as we want some more additional songs to our playlists other than “Hidebound” and “The Round”.
Up next was Red Eleven from Jyväskylä. I had never heard from the band before, and they were not my main focus of the evening, but as soon as the band started with their set, they managed to blow me away. First impressions are everything and I remember pressing like on their Facebook page during the event itself… Something I don’t do that often. The band has played a lot around Finland, or that is what I have been told and that was definitely noticeable. Tight sound, great performance altogether with loads of energy.
Without knowing any of their music I definitely could appreciate the catchy songs the guys played for us that evening. I hope to discover more of this band and hope to catch them during another time when I have prepared myself better for the evening.
As for the show itself, it was high on energy and I have to say kudos to the person doing the lighting… Every aspect of their show seemed to fit together. And thus another evening of discovering young blood and great additions to the Finnish music scene was over again before I knew it. I warmly recommend both of these bands to anyone who likes their rock music hard and heavy!
