During a January filled with events of all sizes, and a night with at least four or five metal gigs to choose from happening in town, we couldn’t miss seeing this Kuopio/Turku combo of PÄÄKALLO and MANSION in one of the best-sounding venues in Helsinki – if not in Finland – G Livelab, on January 18th, 2025. It is always an interesting setting to see a concert in this venue, especially on nights such as this where people can sit at the tables and quietly sip their drinks while watching the shows.
Coincidentally, we have seen both bands last year on at least one occasion: PÄÄKALLO at Bar Loose opening for THE COFFINSHAKERS, and MANSION in one of the very first gigs at Alimus last summer, but never together. Performing in front of a large backdrop filled with devotees in black and white, MANSION performed their ritual with the same intensity and eerie preachings from Mother Alma with their solemn and doomy atmosphere rigorously setting everyone in place. Dispensing warnings against sin and spreading the teachings of Kartanoism, this very niche band certainly has a loyal following and never fails to deliver. Once again tonight they left the audience satisfied, although the venue was not perhaps as crowded as expected to be honest due to the many overlapping events.
PÄÄKALLO livened things up a notch with their more upbeat atmosphere – and in fact, they even had one ultra fan going wild in the front (but really a bit to the side as he was mindful of the audience behind him I guess). Compared to their brief set last spring, their show was perhaps even more engaging, so much so that some people in the audience have been dancing a bit. Of course, to that end it helped that they had in their set a cover of “Born To Be Wild” (STEPPENWOLF) and one of MOTÖRHEAD’s “Bomber,” but their own material also got a positive response from the crowd to the point that the gig almost felt a bit cut short when the time for the final “Muodonmuuttaja” came.
A huge bonus was that the evening ended quite early so that left plenty of time for people to either go to the next thing or get some early sleep. G Livelab has proven once again to be a great venue for these kinds of shows and it’s always a pleasure to pay it a visit. Check our photo gallery here…
MANSION
PÄÄKALLO
Photos by Marco Manzi
