Beast in Black, Metal de Facto @ CoolHead

21.7.2023 CoolHead Taproom & Terrace, Viikki Helsinki, Finland

Some time ago, having an outing with delicious pizza and local craft beer, I noticed the large stage in the spacious guest garden, and indeed, the concert series “CoolHead Live” offered something for all musical preferrences throughout this July. That Friday it was time for Metal with 2 well-known Finnish power metal acts, probably one of the best-attended concert evenings of the whole series – well, maybe Hevisaurus the following day broke this attendance record.

CoolHead Taproom & Terrace area (formerly known as Gardenia) is surrounded by forest and parkland, just 20 minute trip by public transport from Helsinki centre. And soon, a new tram line will provide even easier and faster connections, especially since some university buildings are located in the neighbourhood. It could hardly be more appealing and cosy, and the beer prices are even within the expected range. What’s more, between under 7 and even less than 9 Euros, there’s the local craft beer only and not some watery festival “beer”…

The weather remained friendly, too, except a few minutes of rain when doors opened and again for a few minutes, luckily during the stage changeover.  Which added a certain effect to the outdoor light show…

Well, I don’t think that I need to write a lot about the concert as such, just look at the CONCERT PHOTOS HERE – a great location, nice big stage, the sound was perfectly balanced –  just fantastic. The crowd was totally excited when the Metal de Facto intro started playing, which pretty much describes the rest of the gig. Which – probably not only for me – somehow felt like being waaaay too short, which is always a good sign that the band did everything right.

Despite a short changeover, the audience seemed restless, totally eager to see  Beast in Black – and naturally everyone freaked out when drummer Atte entered the stage first, his big smile and cheerful nature shining as brightly as the sun. Again, there’s not much to say about the show – it was simply a pleasure to watch those Finns, once again, pulling off a perfect concert in terms of music and presentation, the full monty – fire, singalongs, simply having a lot of fun, not just the fans in front of the stage but everybody on stage as well. I can only recommend to watch those 2 bands live, it’s always a blast. And I love this location, which offers seats and a nice view from almost every spot in the area.

Summing up, it was a perfect concert evening in a pleasant surrounding. For next year I plan to attend CoolHead Live more often, even though the music genre might not quite exactly be my cup of tea.