QUEENSRŸCHE + NIGHT DEMON – KULTTUURITALO, HELSINKI – 31/01/2025

por Emil Gil Bretón · 17/02/2025

Queen of the Reich

Another interesting tour that begins in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. And it is no secret that one of the main reasons why many metal bands want to start their European tours on Finnish soil is because of the popularity of this genre among the Finnish population. PANTERA already did it a week ago and OPETH will do the same next week. But on this occasion we wanted to review the concert of the legendary progressive metal band QUEENSRŸCHE, which took place at the Kulttuuritalo event hall in the city of Helsinki. The Americans brought us their popular The Origins Tour, in which they play from beginning to end their two debut albums, the EP “Queensrÿche” (1983) and their studio album “The Warning” (1984). The also American NIGHT DEMON served as the opening band for such a special night. Below are all the details:

NIGHT DEMON

Very rarely has the opening band given us such a pleasant surprise as on this occasion when we witnessed the great performance of the American band NIGHT DEMON.

The trio from the city of Ventura, California gave us a hectic performance full of effervescent screams, energetic riffs, restless jumps and fast tempos.

NIGHT DEMON perfectly executed that mix of heavy metal, hard rock and punk that takes from classics such as IRON MAIDEN, ANGEL WITCH, SAXON and THE MISFITS.

With Jarvis Leatherby on lead vocals and bass, Armand John Anthony on guitar and backing vocals, and Brian Wilson on drums, the 45 minutes of the concert flew by.

Ten songs performed, of which we highlight: the epic and full-power “Screams in the Night”, the fan favourite “Outsider” and the already classic “Night Demon”.

NIGHT DEMON should already be considered a reference band since their refined sound and wonderful staging is a breath of fresh air for the heavy metal genre.

QUEENSRŸCHE

The American band had not set foot on Finnish soil for 14 years, their last concert here being in 2011 at the Sauna Open Air Festival in the city of Tampere with Geoff Tate as vocalist. This time they return with Todd La Torre, who has been the vocalist of the band since 2012.

Following the great success of The Origins Tour in their home country, QUEENSRŸCHE wanted to reward their European fans with the same tour in which they could enjoy that musical material from the band’s early years that they almost never play live. A great gesture!

The Seattle band started by playing their entire self-titled EP. Thus the first three songs of said EP: “Queen of the Reich”, “Nightrider” and “Blinded” encouraged the Finnish audience with their fast riffs and tempos. While the power ballad “The Lady Wore Black” brought calm to the stage.

The audience unleashed madness when the band played their album “The Warning” in its entirety. The audience at Kulttuuritalo unleashed the madness: fists in the air and sing-along all the songs. And La Torre‘s immense voice in the mix was the perfect combination!

The newest in the band Casey Grillo (exKAMELOT) made himself felt with perfect drum hits that kept the fans alive. Michael Wilton and Mike Stone are the perfect duo that bring amazing guitar solos to life. And Eddie Jackson is the linchpin that keeps this ship afloat.

The band did not say goodbye without first playing an encore of their super hits “Walk in the Shadows” and “Screaming in Digital” from the album “Rage for Order” (1986), “Eyes of a Stranger” from the album “Operation: Mindcrime” (1988) and “Empire” from the album “Empire” (1990).

QUEENSRŸCHE gave us a great concert with a set of 18 songs lasting an hour and a half. Thus demonstrating that they are not finished yet and that despite being on tour playing old material, they have energy left for a while and that they have an arsenal of unforgettable songs!