A bunch of days ago I dragged my ass to Suomen Turku to collect some rock shots at the RÅA goes Klubi 2010 event arranged to us by the fantabulous people at Rockföreningen vid Åbo Akademi. So, here you go! Some selected ones from the evening.

( Joe North of Nightmare Enemy )

Yes, this particular evening I was amused by 4 bands on the Klubi stage, these were Nightmare Enemy, The Blues and Bourbon Appreciation Society, At the Collapse and Daffus X. And yes, it was a lovely evening with some awesome tunes from the people on stage!

( The Nightmare metal! )

( The Nightmare Enemy scream! )

If you get the chance to see any of these rockers on stage, you should definitely grab that chance, these boys sure are some talented musicians.

( The Blues and Bourbon Appreciation Society on stage! )

( At the Collapse )

At the Collapse held their first gig ever this very night, I mean sure, the boys have been playing many years, but under a different band name and so forth. But this night was the first gig ever pulled by At the Collapse, and yes, they had some pretty nice tunes to show off. Definitely some dudes to look in to.

Kinda hard to describe their genre, their style of music.. It was a kinda grunge-ambient-rock-downbeat-radiohead type of thing. It worked!

( The At the Collapse show )

And then of course, Daffus X. A band that has been rocking the Finnish stages since the beginning of the 90′s I think. Experienced dudes, worth checking out if you have the chance!

( Daffus X )

Hope you found something you liked in this insert. I will also inform you that the Klubi stage (the small one) was very small with no lighting to speak of, so I’m quite pleased with the shots I managed to grab due to the photographic circumstances. Rock!

Thanks to all of you guys at the “RÅA goes Klubi” team. It was an awesome night with some swell tunes! Keep it up!

And why not visit the bands on the web?

Nightmare Enemy
The Blues and Bourbon Appreciation Society
At the Collapse
Daffus X

Have a great evening folks – Stay tuned, stay informed alright!

// Tage – RÅA goes Klubi

Last week I arranged a lottery with a grand prize – the new Nightmare Enemy Ep (Renata) signed by all the band members. It was not only a “comment this and you are in”-type of thing, no, it even held a question for you. And yes, the correct answer was B: The Destroyer.

Around 10-15 lads, blokes and dudes entered the lottery, I think it was 3 or 4 of them who even got the wrong answer, nice, and last night I “lotterized” the winner among the dudes who had the correct answer!

So, the lottery is now over, the winner will be announced right about now (drum roll), one lucky bastard!

The winner is: CHRISTOFFER ÅBACKA.

Congartulations man!

// Tage – Renata

( Nightmare Enemy – Renata EP )

I’m giving away one copy of the new Nightmare Enemy – Renata EP, and hey, it’s signed by the nightmare metal monsters. And not only is this thing signed, it’s also a very awesome 5-track EP with tunes that you’ll love! All you have to do to win this fantastic prize is to answer the following question:

What was the first Nightmare Enemy demo called?

A: Smell the Glove
B: The Destroyer
C: Use your Illusion II
D: Master of Puppets
E: Dancing with the Boys

So, comment this post with the right answer and this monster prize can be yours. Use an email address that works, so that I can contact you if you win it! The winner will be chosen on the 17th of November at 6 PM. Good luck!

// Tage – The Nightmare Man

Tomorrow I will point my fangs towards the Suomen Turku once again. I have been invited to play photographer at the event of the year, RÅA goes Klubi! This very evening I’ll be shooting all the rocking acts, and these are not your regular shows, they are consisted of high n’ mighty rock n’ metal value. Gonna be a fun night with loads of great opportunities to collect the best rock shots ever…

The bands tomorrow will be, and this time I’ll post links to their web empires right away – getting smart now are we!

—>>> Nightmare Enemy

—>>> At the Collapse

—>>> Daffus X

—>>> The Blues and Bourbon Appreciation Society

So, why not swing by Klubi tomorrow, if you’re in Turku that is, I bet you won’t regret it – let’s roll towards tomorrow shall we!

// Tage – Rocking Turku Tomorrow

Yesterday I hung out in Suomen Turku for a whole day of shooting different stuff for different clients from different homes in different cities. This was all loads of fun, but at the end of the day before my journey to Hellsinky I grabbed Nightmare Enemy by the balls and went out to the heavy wilderness of hell to collect some promotional frames of the rockers..

And this is how the shoot turned out – I’ll give you two different settings. Hope you dig..!

( Nightmare Enemy promotional shoot October 2010)

( …and the second one )

The guys have recently finished their second EP which will be avaliabe for listening at their myspace quite soon, so be sure to check in on them from time to time, and make sure you are a fan on facebook, cause these guys are gonna sell out arenas very soon – heavy metal people!

// Tage – The Nightmare Frames

( Joe North promoting an upcoming Nightmare Enemy gig )

So, if you happen to be anywhere near Eura on the 24th of July this summer, do go and see this show that Joe is promoting, I know I will.. They are acctually gonna warm up the crowd for the awesome Stratovarius. This is huge!

I haven’t seen Nightmare Enemy perform before, so it’s gonna be grand to see them for the first time in front of a large audience on a huge stage! I’ll definitely bring my camera so I can share some of the feelings felt with you my awesome reader. And Joe even has something spectacular in store before the show, something he will reveal exclusively for my v-log later on. So you better stay tuned!

If you aren’t familiar with this heavy act, please visit their myspace on the following clicker… ( Nightmare Enemy )

And yes, in the 80′s every cool band had a mascot or somekind of a beast printed everywhere, and Nightmare Enemy refuses to let a good tradition die – so that’s cool, they’ve only made the mascot digital on facebook, so please look up Desmond Dé Stroyer on facebook and become friends, he seems to have a really rock n’ rolly life, and he is very hip, so he decided to get a facebook site – how cool is that!

And some more links for ya. Well of course. Check out Nightmare Enemy on Facebook. And while you’re at it, swing by the Stratovarius site why don’t you… ( Stratovarius ).

Have a great evening folks!

// Tage – The Nightmare shooter!

It has all come down to this, the posting of yet another set of promotional shots. This time we shall turn our attention towards the Turku-based melodic metal band called Nightmare Enemy. Enjoy the shots, if you please…

( Nightmare Enemy in the basement of Faust )

A short story on the shoot, well I fell like I have to, so you might as well read it.. Or don’t. The fronter of this band is a guy called Joe North. I’ve known him since the 5th grade. He has always been a rocker, and this is the first time he is fronting an act. Usually he is placed behind the bangers at the very back of the stage. But as for now the dude is using his vocal cords, and I have to say – impressive!

( The nightmare at the round table )

Joe called me up and asked if I was willing to come to Turku to take some posing pics of him and his fellow metal mates. “I’ll pay for your train tickets and everything”.. “Well why not, I seemed to say”. And even faster than you can spell androgynous, I was in Turku. We spent some 3 hours on the shoot, and then we watched some funny stuff on youtube, like you do. The next day I headed back to Helsinki and the rest is history, editing history…

( What are they looking at? )

More stuff on the shoot then.. Well. Tage is thinking and listening to the Armageddon soundtrack (The one with the score music, not that Steven Tyler stuff).. Hmm. Well, somehow this shoot was kinda different from my recent shoots, we actually had plenty of time to goof around with the camera. No one was in a hurry, and that was really sweet. And you, yeah you, you should probably listen to their music at the same time while viewing my shots.. Yes? Deal? Hit the link with your index finger and voila! (french word for milk).

—>>> THE NIGHTMARE ENEMY MYSPACE <<<—

You listening? Good. More pics? Ok.. Just had a monologue with yourself? Ass.

( Form a flower boys )

Yes, the pic above is very Eurovision Song Contest. But at the same time it’s very Emo and to say the least, Joe actually looks a bit like Gerard Way. Now that is cool! And just to be nice to the band in my efforts to support them, I’ll post their myspace link again, just in case you missed it.. Or as my good man Anders once sain “Hey, I’m Justin, Justin Case”..

—>>> THE NIGHTMARE ENEMY SITE <<<—

Got it? Is it working? Cool.

( The boys in the band )

All the shots are taken in a small bar called Faust in Turku, except for the outdoor shots that is.. Those were very conveniently taken just outside the bar.

( The dramatic nightmare )

Have I left anything out..? I don’t think so. Well, if you wanna see these boys live, get your ass to Turku on the 24th of February, they are competing in the Turku Band Stand tournament – go go go – honor the nightmare!

And now we have reached the moment when I’ll post the very last shot for today, a shot I’ve posted earlier, cheap.. But hey, think of all the people that haven’t seen it, they demand another one of Nightmare Enemy, and I’m not gonna be an ass, so here you go!

( The Last Nightmare )

Thank you all for viewing these ones! Hope you liked the Nightmare journey! Peace out.

// Tage – The Nightmare Shooter

Why do we call Turku for Suomen Turku, what is it with the city that makes us “ironize” and “judge” everything about it? Such things as Turku jokes, the shitty smell, the hangover town, the place that has a statue of Jack Sparrow in the city center..? What makes Turku Finland’s asshole? Is it a geographical thing, I mean, check out the map and the location of the town, isn’t the ass suppose to be right about in Joensuu? But as the saying goes, put your asshole where your mouth is, or whatever..?

I will not find out anything or any answers to these questions, I will just tell you about my journey within’ the Finnish anus, or is it really Finland’s musical paradise, or are we all just shitty people in a very big a-hole?

( Nightmare Enemy )

I went to Turku during Wednesday afternoon to shoot promos for a good friend of mine and his great metal act called Nightmare Enemy, that is also the reason why I haven’t posted any new blog things for a couple of hours.. Was I in Turku for several days? No.. Didn’t they have Internet? Perhaps.. But as soon as I got back to Helsinki I had a lot going for me, and as soon as I was done with stuff – I had to go to Waasa, so now I’m here, very comfortable in a grey couch – suck on hat.. Missed the letter T. Why would anyone wanna suck on a hat?

We spent a fine four hours shooting Nightmare Enemy promos and hopefully we got some nice ones. I have only scrolled through the shots vaguely in like 2 minutes and I found one (the one above) to do a quick edit on since the guys needed at least one pic in a short notice.. I’ll edit all of the shots later when the time is right.. There will be around 4-6 shots I imagine, when the thing is done and archived.. But, the one I chose is not exactly screaming metal in your faces, but I kinda liked the brotherhood feeling I got from the composition and the overall feel in the shot.. I also had a visitor this morning, my good friend and photographer JK, who gave me some pointers on how to use Photoshop in new ways, and believe me, this guy really knows photoshop.. So as everyday has been a proof of, since I turned 15, everyday we learn something new, or was it that every new 15-year-old learns something old? Don’t recall what I’ve learned about that, this is weird.. Ignore all this.. Why not delete it, I hear you ask? Well, since my keyboard is full of dust I picked up in Turku.

The guys in Nightmare Enemy – Janne, Janne, Kalle, Joe and Juho were all really cool dudes and as always with metalheads, the humor was all around the place, and the talking was non-stop.. Like the parrot in Tropiclandia in the 90′s.. Ignore that.. Really cool dudes, and their music is as cool as the guys, I really hope and wish that these guys will get to record a full length disc some day.. Their influences, if you’re a rocker, will be kinda clear to you as soon as the title track “nightmare enemy” hits your speakers! A really cool song with some melodies and riffs to get your grandpa go insane like Cypress Hill!

Check out their myspace (not Cypress’s) for more info and some really good songs…

THE NIGHTMARE ENEMY MYSPACE

So, as I questioned myself earlier, why is Turku always being referred to as this country’s asshole, it remains unanswered… But assuming it really is our asshole, then it really gives this land some awesome fart sounds and humorous piles of poo!

//XOXO GossipTage

Now it’s time for a pack of shots, so get ready, and I hope you’ll enjoy this ride. All the shots are taken at the Coredust bandcamp in Vallila, Helsinki. I hung out with the boys on the 5th of January and I have now finally got all the shots edited from a day of rock. During this particular evening we inked together some ideas and notions for the upcoming music video.

The guys are really cooperative, ambitious and they even have a large touch of humor within’ the team. I know that out little video project is gonna be awesome, as long as we get the script written during the coming weeks. And the song to which the video is being planned, just awesome.. Everything’s awesome.. Awesome! Awesome like a hot dog (mild Eddie Izzard reference) <insert your favorite WHAT? here>…

So, let us start the Coredust showreel, everybody ready, probably not, but I’m gonna go ahead with posting anyway. Suckers!

( This one is Jyty )

( And over here we have the great Zhacce )

( The thinking Esa )

( Jyty and his Devil )

( The screamin’ Esa )

( The Devil awaits him.. )

( Lots of Jyty )

( Jyty & Esa after the show.. )

And this was it.. Hope you enjoyed the things as much as I did… We have now reached Wednesday and in just a few hours I’ll be heading to Suomen Turku, now that’s something right..? I’m headed there to take some promotional shots of the metal act called Nightmare Enemy this evening, hope for the best right! I’ll return with more pics and news from the band photographers world perhaps tomorrow, we’ll see..

PS. Check out the fabulous Coredust site —->>>>

( www.coredust.com )

Anyway. Ta-ta.

//Tage – Wants to rule Bejeweled Blitz on facebook!

The new client is Nightmare Enemy, a Turku-based hardrock/metal band and let me tell you, these guys have some awesome tunes going for them. The vocalist Joe North is a longtime friend of mine, born and raised in Waasa, and now we finally have the privilege to work together.

In two weeks time or so I’m headed for Turku to take some new promotional shots of these boys, or actually, not new, the first shots of these boys with Joe fronting the crew. And awesomeness – I get to promoshoot metal boys – my favourites!

They have also recently released a brand new 3-track EP, all avaliable for your listening on their myspace at the following click:

>>> NIGHTMARE ENEMY <<<

But one new band for my camera will not be enough.. Everyone in need of pictures or <insert you favourite type of media here>, wheter it is your dog or your aunt Selma, give me a ring and we’ll make something happen, cause I know at least you want a new facebook profile picture.. Not that it’s ugly, but still, vaihtelu virkistää you know..

And, also, in a very near future, maybe tomorrow or the next day I’ll post a major blog insert and a bunch of shots from the Sturm und Drang Rock Perry show, the show was held about six months ago, and I have been “somewhat” lazy with the editing of those shots, but now they are about 85% done, and very soon I’ll give them a go on this site, so hold your horses and drink red wine..

//Tage – Saturday night almost live