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Wankers of the Zoo Crew / Mojo Waves / The Compass Schedule

26 April 2014, Semifinal, Helsinki, Finland (Photos by Klaudia Weber on Flickr)

Never heard 2/3 of tonight´s line-up, but Semifinal has always had positive surprises, and also this evening should not be an exception.

Whereas big sister club Tavastia had to put the sold-out sign outside because of Michael Monroe & Support, the scene at Semifinal was much more – err, intimate. One of the reasons might have been the early and very punctual start (20:30h), because the later, the more people showed up…

The Compass Schedule

are quite a young band, as only a few months old, yet those guys are professionals. You could see that they did not complain about the lack of audience, they rather used the chance to chat with them – mainly singer Dan displayed his humorous nature. Those 4 guys chose a quite fitting band name, if you think of a compass with a wildly rotating needle which occasionally stops for a while at Punk, then at Blues-Rock, or at Alternative or then even at Reggae … Therefore I am already curious about the next gig, what they might come up with (Hip-Hop? Opera??)…

The following trio Mojo Waves
gave a nice introduction for the headlining act – meaning, they already gave the impression of a bunch of lunatics that were granted a short excursion on a stage… Lotsa action and fun and a mix of Psychedelic Rock/Stoner/Punk/Metal in high-voltage presentation style… Von Hertzen Brothers on Speed or something… The falsetto voices fitted nicely, although I am usually not such a fan of high-pitch vocals. Semifinal was filled up by then and the audience put into a good mood right from the start of this band´s show, and I really don´t mind to see those guys live again soon. And I am sure there was only one person present who enjoyed the fact that encores were not possible this evening due to extremely tight schedules – the young man who played drums in both support acts…

Wankers of The Zoo Crew
are not unknown to me – in fact I have enjoyed those lunatics live many times before, and this is one of the bands I have on my “not to miss” list… Besides their “whatever-comes-into-our-minds” sound, it is the talented singer (influenced by Freddie Mercury as well as Mike Patton, as you can hear) and of course the completely crazy show which I find totally appealing. You cannot help smiling even after a tough work day (which I experienced this very evening). How to describe it – “hyperactive front man” does not even give an accurate description … I always wonder how Tommi Salmelainen still manages to find breath for singing after all those jumps, dancing around, salti and other Ninja performances… Although the second CD is almost ready to go, the program focused on the well-known hits of their first CD (you can listen to those songs on the band homepage) – perhaps also to celebrate the live premiere with new drummer Joonas Pyhtilä. Well done gig in any case!

Summary: Three acts that guarantee “you will feel entertained”, so a pretty much perfect evening! And hopefully see U soon again!

Klaudia Weber

reckless and merciless dictator, so KNEEL! In other words, editor-in-chief, translator, website and ad admin, "Jane of all trades" - - - addicted to books (everything between Lord Of The Rings & quantum physics) and music, mainly Metal made in Finland. Furthermore, there's painting, drawing, movies, theater... so you can expect some variety on this website too. MA Master of Arts, English and American studies & Media communication = completed two full studies parallel within 5 years; very proud of my achievement - a bit later in life thanks to a scholarship - as a working class girl in a highlyconservative-romancatholic nation...