The Wrath of Lordi Shows No Sign of Letting Up After 25 Years

Photos by David Rubene

 

I didn’t get much sleep last night. That’s not uncommon for me. There are nights where I don’t get home until nearly 2 AM from a show and have to turn around and be functional for my day job by 7. After nights like those, I am understandably tired. Last night I was home, in bed by 11 (thank God for early shows) but I still didn’t get much sleep. I just couldn’t stop seeing those masks and costumes in my mind.

Finnish heavy metal rockers Lordi have been around since the early 1990’s. They are known for their extreme stage show, intense costumes, and legendary music. These guys have been touring almost non-stop since 2002 but have only come to America a handful of times so to say the people in the crowd were excited to see this legendary band on their 25th anniversary “MonsTour” would be a bit of an understatement. Before the members even hit the stage, you could feel the excitement in the room. As soon as the characters took the stage, the crowd erupted in applause and I completely lost myself in a fantasy world.

I was trying to explain the costumes to some friends in the Twittersphere but I was having a hard time doing so because I didn’t want to look directly at the characters. Believe me when I say I am definitely a scaredy cat– I still have nightmares over Bruce, that shark in Finding Nemo. Regardless of how easily you scare, the costumes worn by Lordi are terrifyingly believable. The outfits were much more than just costumes, they were pieces of art and I definitely more than respect the amount of time and creativity that must have gone into the looks. Regardless, I was still scared shitless. 

The music of Lordi is heavy but not too heavy. You can definitely hear elements of Kiss and Alice Cooper in the music but you don’t hear the brutality that you see in the costumes. They definitely reminded me of one of my favorite local bands, Impaler. Lordi, like Impaler, has a look that doesn’t quite match the music they play. That’s not to say that the music is boring in any way, shape, or form because it’s not. It’s full of energy and each song sounds completely different than the last even when keeping with the horror/ shock rock theme.

The coolest thing about their set was all of the solos for all of the musicians. After every couple of songs, the band would feature one of the characters. It started with the bass playing playing along to a bit of a techno track. It was completely different than the songs that the band had started their set with and it gave “Ox” (the bass player’s character) a chance to shine. After a couple more songs, it was Mana’s (the drummer) turn to shine. This went on through the night. It was truly amazing to see just how great these people were as musicians. Some bands like this use their costuming and intense stage show as a bit of a veil to hide just how bad of musicians they are, but not Lordi. If anything, all the extra stuff just enhances their show and truly takes you to a dream world.

Lordi was the only touring act of the night but they shared the stage with three, local Minneapolis groups.

Malice brought a clean and powerful heavy metal set to the table as they played directly before Lordi. I don’t know if I would call these guys up and coming as they have been around for a little bit of time, but last night was the first time I had gotten to catch these guys live and they are definitely on my radar now.

Eternal Voyager was the second local act to the stage. I had seen these guys a couple months ago when they opened up for Alestorm and I was intrigued. They have the feel of a viking metal band but without the traditional instruments or calling themselves a viking metal band. Their music is the type of music you want to be listening to with a cold beer in your hand and good friends by your side. Micah, the singer, has an amazing voice and is able to switch so the lowest lows to the highest highs without hesitation or even effort. It made for a truly standout performance and I can not wait to catch these guys again.

Opening up the show was Caster Volor but, unfortunately, due to the mix of an early start time and a day job, I missed majority of their set.

I shouldn’t have come to work today. Mr. Lordi told the crowd that we could all have today off of work because of last night’s show. He went on to say that “if anyone’s boss had a problem with that, they could definitely come talk to Mr. Lordi directly.” Pretty sure if I had given my boss the option, I could have gotten away with taking today off work.