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Mary-Ann / Monster Mullet

In summer I was 100% convinced that nothing would get me back to Kouvola, but well, here I am again 3 months later. At Rytmi-Katti, the local Rock club, as this was the second gig of Mary-Ann after their comeback show at the Pioneeri-Festivaali ( see our report )
And even more, the next day I just had to check out concert nro 3 at Motör Pub in Lahti too, curious if things have improved that had not quite worked out last time. And I was not disappointed.

Rytmi-Katti unites restaurant and concert location, on two floors, the concert cellar offers room for 150 -200 people. Cosy atmosphere and friendly staff make it a very inviting place, and also the sound leaves nothing to be wished for, although the ceiling is rather low. I don´t get to hear much of the openers Monster Mullet, because I was caught up at the acoustic show of J.Ahola. Monster Mullets music can be described as experimental-instrumental, sometimes the guitarist also uses the microphone. And he should do that more often, as his voice and the music are in perfect harmony. Listen to this quite skilled band, although I think it´s better to watch them live. http://www.myspace.com/themonstermullet

Mary-Ann enter the stage, a bit later than planned, but they give it all right away. Unfortunately there are not as many people in front of the stage as they had deserved. Because musically they offer catchy melodies, spiced up with other ingredients. Their own – somehow Punk-ish – songs appeal to the audience as well as the covers of Duran Duran´s „Wild Boys“ or „Darling, Darling“ by Hellacopters. Singer Jape keeps his announcements short in this show which, in my opinion, could not have been better. Well, maybe a glitch or two, but I bet nobody in the audience would have noticed. The mood was great and also the set list – therefore it´s a pity that those guys re-starting their project don´t receive more attention. But this might take more time. The main issue is that they have fun playing, and this seems to be the case. They can be proud of this concert, as it was much better than this festival show – here you could hear instruments and voice clearly. A great gig you could fully enjoy.

The next evening in Lahti offers maybe a way too far-out location: The Motör Pub seems to be a small Biker /Trucker bar, maybe not that cosy but very interesting. As it´s not that easy to find at the outskirts of town and I assume there wasn´t much promotion, only 20 people were present when the band started playing. Drummer Aba Ruuskanen is the local dude, therefore some of his friends are in the audience. And it´s a reason to give everything they have. The atmosphere is very relaxed, it feels much more like a band rehearsal than a concert, which I enjoyed a lot. Still the guys played the full show, including Jape´s kneeling. Although I am sure they would have enjoyed a bigger crowd, you can feel that they put their heart and soul in it. This kind of passion appeals to me much more than a sold-out hall with screaming fans. Two great shows that I would not have wanted to miss.

Mary-Ann page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mary-Ann/174644629368300?fref=ts

Sandy Mahrer

Fresh Act editor, reports, reviews, photos - - - Favorite genres? - Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Pop-Rock etc. Less Death, Black, Grind Core