SLASH

featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators

SPECIAL GUEST

MICHAEL MONROE

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

19′TH of February 2013

REVIEW AND PHOTOS BY MARKO SYRJALA

Legendary guitar hero Slash appeared in Finland for the second time as a solo artist, this time in Hartwall Arena in Helsinki. Slash released his second solo album LOVE APOCALYPTIC LOVE last May and it also features Slash’s longtime touring band members: vocalist Myles Kennedy, drummer Brent Fitz and bassist Todd Kerns. The new album has not only been a sales success, but critics have also generously praised the disc. The success of this album and ongoing tour has proved that ex Guns’n Roses guitarist is doing great on his own without the burdens of the past.

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MICHAEL MONROE

REVIEW AND PICTURES BY MARKO SYRJALA

Year 2012 was another great one for Michael Monroe. The band did shows in U.S, South America, Sweden and they played numerous shows in Finland including all the biggest festivals. Lately the band has been working on the follow up for highly successful SENSORE OVERDRIVE and the album should be out in early 2013. The band returned to Helsinki and Club Tavastia on early December and played three sold out shows in a row. These gigs were the last ones of the SENSORE OVERDRIVE –tour which lasted over one and half years.

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Michael Monroe

 MICHAEL MONROE

CLUB NOSTURI, HELSINKI

31′st of December 2011

REVIEW AND PHOTOS BY MARKO SYRJALA

2011 was definitely a great year for Michael Monroe. The new album SENRORE OVERDRIVE was a critical and commercial success and Monroe won several prizes from the media including the album of the year award from the valued Classic Rock magazine as well as the band of the year title from Finnish Emma gala. Monroe’s great year ended up with two sold out nights in Helsinki’s Club Nosturi before leaving for a well-earned three month break.

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Iconic rock front man, Michael Monroe, has released his new cd Sensory Overdrive in the U.S and Canada on August 23^rd  on Spinefarm/ Universal.  The new cd from the former front man of the influential band Hanoi Rocks was produced by legendary producer Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, John Lennon, Cheap Trick).   The cd also features guest performances from Americana artist Lucinda Williams and Motorhead front man Lemmy.  The first single and video from Sensory Overdrive is the track “78”. 

In support of the CD, Monroe will head out September 30^th on a 16 date U.S and Canadian tour with his all star band featuring guitarists Steve Conte (New York Dolls) and Dregen (Hellacopters , Backyard Babies), bassist Sami Yaffa ( Hanoi Rocks, Jetboy, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts), and drummer Karl “Rockfist” Rosqvist (Danzig).

Following the U.S run, the band will head to Japan for the V Rock festival to be followed by shows in Michael’s home country of Finland. The band will then end 2011 with a run of shows in the U.K co-headlining with Wednesday 13.  Tour dates are as follows:

TOUR DATES:

FRI, SEP 30                   PHILADELPHIA, PA                              TROCADERO

SAT, OCT 1                  BALTIMORE, MD                                  SONAR

SUN, OCT 2                 NEW YORK, NY                                    BOWERY BALLROOM 

TUE, OCT 4                   BOSTON, MA                                      GREAT SCOTT

WED, OCT 5                MONTREAL, QC                                  LES FOUFOUNES ELECTRIQUES

THU, OCT 6                  TORONTO, ON                                    MOD CLUB THEATER  

FRI, OCT 7                    CLEVELAND, OH                                 PEABODY’S

SAT, OCT 8                  CHICAGO, IL                                      REGGIE’S ROCK CLUB

SUN, OCT 9                 ST PAUL, MN                                        STATION 4       

MON, OCT 10             ST LOUIS, MO                                      FUBAR 

WED, OCT 12               DENVER, CO                                       MOE’S 

SAT, OCT 15                SEATTLE, WA                                        EL CORAZON 

SUN, OCT 16                PORTLAND, OR                                   DANTE’S

TUE, OCT 18                 SANTA CLARA, CA                             AVALON THEATER

WED, OCT 19               SANTA ANA, CA                                 GALAXY THEATRE

THU, OCT 20                HOLLYWOOD, CA                              WHISKY A GO GO

SUN, OCT 23                V-ROCK FESTIVAL                                SAITAMA SUPER ARENA JAPAN

FRI, NOV 4                   LAHTI FINLAND                                    FINLANDIA CLUB

SAT, NOV 5                 TAVASTIA FINLAND (2 SHOWS)           TAVASTIA CLUB

THU, NOV 24               ENGLAND       WOLVERHAMPTON     WULFRUN HALL

FRI , NOV 25                ENGLAND       MANCHESTER              RITZ

SAT, NOV 26                ENGLAND       NOTTINGHAM             ROCK CITY

SUN, NOV 27               SCOTLAND      GLASGOW                  GARAGE

MON,  NOV 28                        ENGLAND                                NEWCASTLE ACADEMY

TUE,  NOV 29               ENGLAND                                           LEEDS  ACADEMY

THU, DEC 1                  ENGLAND                                           BRISTOL ACADEMY

FRI,  DEC 2                   ENGLAND, LONDON                          ELECTRIC BALLROOM

SAT, DEC 3                   WALES  PRESTATYN                             HRH

The band will continue to do extensive touring in 2012 in support of Sensory Overdrive.  For more information go towww.michaelmonroe.com

KOTKAN MERIPÄIVAT

KOTKA, FINLAND

REVIEW AND PICTURES BY MARKO SYRJÄLÄ

The Kotkan Meripäivät festival is organized in Kotka in July’s last weekend and it typically has an attendance of more than 200,000 visitors in four days. The festival is Finland’s second largest festival and it’s been held since 1962 onwards. As always, the event now includes a wide selection of performers for different target audiences. On Saturday there were performers like Joe Cocker and The Village People. The main event was held on Friday and it included such bands as legendary U.S. hard rockers Twisted Sister, Hardcore Superstar, the Michael Monroe band, and reformed Pelle Miljoona Oy which now had former Hanoi Rocks members Andy McCoy and Sam Yaffa in their ranks.  

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In anticipation of the August 23^rd release of Michael Monroe’s new cd, SENSORY OVERDRIVE, the entire cd will be available for streaming on Monroe’s facebook page for the week of August 15^th through 22^nd.  The link for the site is http://listn.to/michaelmonroeofficial.  The new cd featuring the debut single 78 also includes appearances from Motorhead front man Lemmy and Americana artist Lucinda Williams.  The video for 78 debuted this past week on AOL Music/ Noise Creep.

As reported earlier, Monroe and his band featuring Steve Conte, Dregen, Sami Yaffa, and Karl Rockfist will be doing a North American tour starting in Philadelphia September 30^th.  Tour dates are as follows:

WED , Sep 7                            Stockholm Debaser Medis, Sweden

FRI, SEP 9                     NAANTALI, FINLAND

SAT, SEP 10                  FINLAND                                              RADIO ROCK CRUISE,

Fri, Sep 30                   Philadelphia, PA                              Trocadero

Sat, Oct 1                  Baltimore, MD                                  Sonar

Sun, Oct 2                 New York, NY                                                Bowery Ballroom 

Tue, Oct 4                   Boston, ma                                       Great Scott

Wed, Oct 5                Montreal, QC                                  Les Foufounes Electriques

Thu, Oct 6                  Toronto, ON                                                Mod Club Theater  

Fri, Oct 7                    Cleveland, OH                                 Peabody’s

Sat, Oct 8                  Chicago, IL                                      Reggie’s Rock Club

Sun, Oct 9                 St Paul, MN                                        Station 4       

Mon, Oct 10             St Louis, MO                                      FuBar 

Wed, Oct 12               Denver, CO                                       Moe’s 

Sat, Oct 15                Seattle, WA                                        El Corazon 

Sun, Oct 16                Portland, OR                                   Dante’s

Tue, Oct 18                 Santa Clara, CA                             Avalon Theater

Wed, Oct 19               Santa Ana, CA                                 Galaxy Theatre

Thu, Oct 20                Hollywood, CA                              Whisky A Go Go

SUN, OCT 23                V-Rock festival                                Saitama Super Arena Japan

FRI, Nov 4                   Lahti Finland                                    FINLANDIA CLUB

SAT, Nov 5                 Tavastia Finland (2 shows)           TAVASTIA CLUB

THU, Nov 24               ENGLAND       WOLVERHAMPTON     WULFRUN HALL

FRI , Nov 25                ENGLAND       MANCHESTER              RITZ

SAT, NOV 26                ENGLAND       NOTTINGHAM             ROCK CITY

SUN, NOV 27               SCOTLAND      GLASGOW                  GARAGE

MON,  NOV 28                        ENGLAND                                           NEWCASTLE ACADEMY

TUE,  NOV 29               ENGLAND                                           LEEDS  ACADEMY

THU, DEC 1                  ENGLAND                                           BRISTOL ACADEMY

FRI,  DEC 2                   ENGLAND, LONDON                          ELECTRIC BALLROOM

SAT, DEC 3                              WALES  PRESTATYN                             HRH

Monroe recently taped an episode of Alice Cooper Nights, the hugely successful syndicated radio show and will be making other high profile appearances during the upcoming tour.  For all info Michael Monroe visit his facebook page or MichaelMonroe.com.

Iconic rock front man, Michael Monroe, will release his new cd Sensory Overdrive in the U.S and Canada on August 23^rd  on Spinefarm/ Universal.  The new cd from the former front man of the influential band Hanoi Rocks was produced by legendary producer Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, John Lennon, Cheap Trick).   The cd also features guest performances from Americana artistLucinda Williams and Motorhead front man Lemmy.  The first single and video from Sensory Overdrive is the track “78”.  The video will have its world premiere on AOL on August 1^st.

In support of the CD, Monroe will head out September 30^th on a 16 date U.S and Canadian tour with his all star band featuring guitarists Steve Conte (New York Dolls) and Dregen (Hellacopters , Backyard Babies), bassist Sami Yaffa ( Hanoi Rocks, Jetboy, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts), and drummer Karl “Rockfist” Rosqvist (Danzig).

Following the U.S run, the band will head to Japan for the V Rock festival to be followed by shows in Michael’s home country of Finland.  The band will then end 2011 with a run of shows in the U.K co-headlining with Wednesday 13.  Tour dates are as follows:

TOUR DATES:

WED , Sep 7                            Stockholm Debaser Medis, Sweden

FRI, SEP 9                     NAANTALI, FINLAND

SAT, SEP 10                  FINLAND                                              RADIO ROCK CRUISE,

FRI, SEP 30                   PHILADELPHIA, PA                              TROCADERO

SAT, OCT 1                  BALTIMORE, MD                                  SONAR

SUN, OCT 2                 NEW YORK, NY                                     BOWERY BALLROOM 

TUE, OCT 4                   BOSTON, MA                                      GREAT SCOTT

WED, OCT 5                MONTREAL, QC                                   LES FOUFOUNES ELECTRIQUES

THU, OCT 6                  TORONTO, ON                                    MOD CLUB THEATER  

FRI, OCT 7                    CLEVELAND, OH                                 PEABODY’S

SAT, OCT 8                  CHICAGO, IL                                      REGGIE’S ROCK CLUB

SUN, OCT 9                 ST PAUL, MN                                        STATION 4       

MON, OCT 10             ST LOUIS, MO                                      FUBAR 

WED, OCT 12               DENVER, CO                                       MOE’S 

SAT, OCT 15                SEATTLE, WA                                        EL CORAZON 

SUN, OCT 16                PORTLAND, OR                                   DANTE’S

TUE, OCT 18                 SANTA CLARA, CA                             AVALON THEATER

WED, OCT 19               SANTA ANA, CA                                 GALAXY THEATRE

THU, OCT 20                HOLLYWOOD, CA                              WHISKY A GO GO

SUN, OCT 23                V-ROCK FESTIVAL                                SAITAMA SUPER ARENA JAPAN

FRI, NOV 4                   LAHTI FINLAND                                    FINLANDIA CLUB

SAT, NOV 5                 TAVASTIA FINLAND (2 SHOWS)           TAVASTIA CLUB

THU, NOV 24               ENGLAND       WOLVERHAMPTON     WULFRUN HALL

FRI , NOV 25                ENGLAND       MANCHESTER              RITZ

SAT, NOV 26                ENGLAND       NOTTINGHAM             ROCK CITY

SUN, NOV 27               SCOTLAND      GLASGOW                  GARAGE

MON,  NOV 28            ENGLAND                                           NEWCASTLE ACADEMY

TUE,  NOV 29               ENGLAND                                           LEEDS  ACADEMY

THU, DEC 1                  ENGLAND                                           BRISTOL ACADEMY

FRI,  DEC 2                   ENGLAND, LONDON                          ELECTRIC BALLROOM

SAT, DEC 3                   WALES  PRESTATYN                             HRH

The band will continue to do extensive touring in 2012 in support of Sensory Overdrive.  For more information go to www.michaelmonroe.com

Michael Monroe – headline

Sensory Overdrive Scandinavia Tour 2011

Vomit Supreme (support act)

Rock The Night Club, The Rock

Copenhagen, Denmark

April 2, 2011

Reviewed and live pictures by: Anders Sandvall

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23.03 2011

CLUB TAVASTIA, HELSINKI

REVIEW AND PICTURES BY MARKO SYRJÄLÄ

Michael Monroe finally released his long awaited studio album SENSORY OVERDRIVE. Despite this, the band spend the whole last year performing across the globe band now started another tour to support its new release. The new album has received excellent reception here in Finland. It was number one in the official album list here and that’s something, I’m not 100% sure about this, but it’s something that the re-united Hanoi Rock’s was never able to reach with its three albums. For sure it wasn’t an easy thing for Michael to decide to quit Hanoi Rocks but the success of this new album does prove that it was after all a right decision. 

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Michael Monroe

Another Night In The Sun Tour 2010

Kulturbolaget

Malmoe

Sweden

12/10-2010

Reviewed and live photos by: Anders Sandvall

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RUISROCK FESTIVAL 2010

9 – 11′th of JULY, TURKU, FINLAND

 REVIEW AND PHOTOS BY MARKO SYRJÄLÄ

Ruisrock celebrated its 40th anniversary in sunny Ruissalo. Although the festival lineup included mostly domestic artists, there were lots of interesting foreign names as well such as the legendary Ozzy Osbourne, former Guns’n Roses guitarist Slash, Arch Enemy, and Amon Amarth represented the heavier side while there were also a long list of bands from pop, punk, prog and alternative worlds as well. Such names as: Billy Talent, Canned Heat, NOFX, Flogging Molly and the Sounds show clearly how versatile the festival Ruisrock is and that mix seems to work out well. Altogether there were over 70,000 visitors in Ruisrock during three days.

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SWEDENROCK FESTIVAL 2010

MARKO SYRJÄLÄ, ARTO LEHTINEN, PATRICK CLEMENT

Jävlä Swedenrock, här kommer vi igen. The annual roadtrip to Swedenrock by the Finnish Metal‑Rules.Com  team is already the tenth time in a row.  The  2010 line‑up presented a wide range of metal and hard rock. Therefore, over 70 bands offered nothing but an utter blast and a helluv an experience for the attendees to enjoy metal and rock. Swedenrock has been successful during the past ten years as the festival has always been sold out. This year wasn’t any exception as the fest was sold out despite the lousy economomic situation worldwide. As mentioned in the first sentence, this is the tenth time in a row when Sweden Rock has been featured on Metal‑Rules.com, so it is quite logical for us to give a real in‑depth article of several bands performing at Sweden Rock. The  weather wasn’t ideal compared to previous years. It either rained or was windy with a little sunshine. But we were there for bands, not for having some beach party. We are not able to cover every bloody band, but hopefully you will have a pleasant reading experience… Enjoy or die !!!

 

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MICHAEL MONROE

Club Tavastia, HELSINKI

1′st of APRIL 2010

REVIEW AND PICTURES BY MARKO SYRJÄLÄ

It’s been about ten years since Michael Monroe last played a solo show in Helsinki.  That’s of course because of Hanoi Rocks rebirth which started in 2001. Hanoi Rocks released three successful studio albums before they decided to disband again in 2009 after a series of sold out shows in Club Tavastia. Unlike his former colleague Andy McCoy, who announced his very short live Real McCoy project almost right away, Michael decided to take to some time before getting  back in action.  In January of 2010 Michael announced his new all star band which included: Ginger from The Wildhearts, former Hanoi Rocks / Demolition 23 bassist Sam Yaffa, guitarist Todd Youth and another former Demolition 23 member Jimmy Clarke. This new band first did a handful of successful shows in the USA before heading back in Europe. They arrived in Finland in late March to play six shows with the renewed line up including New York Dolls guitarist Steve Conte and and drummer Karl Rosenfist.

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ELECTRIC BOYS

CONNY BLOOM AND A.C CHRISTELL

On April 12th, 2009 the eighth sold out gig in only six days, at the legendary Tavastia Club in Helsinki, concluded the series of farewell performances by HANOI ROCKS. After putting out three albums, TWELVE SHOTS ON THE ROCKS in 2002, ANOTHER HOSTILE TAKEOVER in 2005 and STREET POETRY in 2007, since reuniting, Andy McCoy and Michael Monroe have decided to call it a day.

To coincide with the farewell tour, a book entitled "All Those Wasted Years" has been released, but since it hardly scratches the surface concerning the more recent stages of the band we decided to sit down for a chat with current guitarist Conny Bloom and bassist Andy Christell. Both also share a long history in connection with HANOI ROCKS, having already toured alongside them in the 1980′s with THE ROAD RATS [also featuring ex-HANOI ROCKS drummer, Gyp Casino]. In addition to HANOI ROCKS and THE ROAD RATS, Conny Bloom and Andy Christell have played and reaped success together in ROLENE and most importantly the, now reunited, ELECTRIC BOYS.

INTERVIEW BY MARKO SYRJÄLÄ AND JARNO HUOVILA

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GYP CASINO ex-Hanoi Rocks, Live Ammo, Road Rats, Rolene

GYP CASINO

Interview by Marko Syrjälä

Pictures: Marko Syrjälä & Archives

The Swedish born drummer, Gyp Casino, will forever be best known as a member of the original, and arguably the best, lineup of the legendary Finnish band HANOI ROCKS. He played on the bands first three albums, BANGKOK SHOCKS, SAIGON SHAKES, HANOI ROCKS in 1981, ORIENTAL BEAT and SELF DESTRUCTION BLUES both in 1982. His tenure with the band culminated in getting fired over an on-stage fight with the band leader Andy McCoy [the reason why he isn't credited for his work on SELF DESTRUCTION BLUES despite playing all the drums].

He then went on to play with the Swedish ROAD RATS and later ROLENE, together with future HANOI ROCKS members Conny Bloom and Andy Christell. Later on he got to enjoy great success, both in the charts aswell as live, all over Sweden with PELLE ALMGREN before again joining up with Andy McCoy in his band LIVE AMMO and putting out the BUILDING ON TRADITION album in 1995. He currently runs a business in Stockholm where he was gracious enough to recount some interesting tales from his career with HANOI ROCKS, ANDY MCCOY’S ALIVE AMMO, ROAD RATS, ROLENE, etc.

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