Live Review: The 69 Eyes at Islington Academy - 12.02.2013

Last time The 69 Eyes were in England I was living in Newcastle, they visited the city but due to lack of funds I was unable to see them anyway. It turns out that most of the show was interrupted by a huge power-cut in most of the area, which helped ease the pain. This time, the self branded "Helsinki Vampires" visited, I was in London and I had plenty of cash to spare, but I almost missed them again. I waited until the last minute to get tickets, and every website was listing them as unavailable. Just as I gave up hope more became available! Already very late, I printed one off as quickly as I could and rushed to Islington.

After some walking, waiting, walking and more waiting I was over an hour late when I arrived. I wasn't too bothered about seeing the support band, in fact I hoped I had missed them so I could get straight onto seeing The 69 Eyes. However, it seemed that the show was more behind schedule than I had been, and after another thirty-minutes of waiting Generation Graveyard came onto the stage. 

The native support act played well as well as being very energetic, though at times I found their attitude a bit false and over the top, which was quite off-putting. This wasn't helped when the band made a rude comment to the crowd. It received a deserved response (probably what most of us, including myself were thinking) from a confident spectator. Their "sleaze metal" musical style wasn't my cup of tea either - the audience was divided with half enjoying it and half praying for it to be over.

After some more dragged out waiting it was time for the "Helsinki Vampires" to take to the stage. They kicked off with the rock anthem Love Runs Away, the first track of the latest X album. Starting off with some sleazy guitars it flowers into a catchy, radio-friendly rock anthem. A great start that really got the crowd going.

From the outset it was clear that The 69 Eyes were on top form. All the instrumentation was near perfect - probably owing to the fact that they have twenty years experience on the road. They executed their heavy mix of goth and glam professionally and with style. Jyrki's vocals were excellent, equaling  if not better than in the studio productions. Additionally, the sound was unusually good for Islington.

The setlist was solid with the best tracks from X appearing, as well as most of the classics that fans would hope for. As the evening progressed the audience became more energetic, as though the music had a charging effect.

There's no denying that they owe a lot of success to their looks and image. Jyrki 69 played on this with his suggestive moves, gyration and flattery. Above all, I found their antics funny. I think it's meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, well let's hope it is anyway.

Overall an excellent show, The 69 Eyes really know how to make the audience go wild with both their music and presence.