The 69 Eyes live in Tampere 2020
The 69 Eyes
Sorsaklubi, Tampere-Talo, Tampere, Finland
10th October 2020
With everything that has happened this year, I was not sure if this show was going to take place at all. The original date for this was meant to be 10 April 2020 as announced already last year. Then by March the worldwide pandemic had spread across Europe and every country went into lockdown. This show was one of thousands of events that ended up either cancelled or postponed. The new date was set for the autumn. A lot has changed since then. Every country had a slightly different strategy on how to tackle the new challenges, yet some things were the same. Face masks are a common sight in public places and social distancing has become the way we do things around here. While healthcare professionals worldwide continue searching for a vaccine, all we can do is follow the new rules, do our best to stay safe and live as normally as we can under the circumstances.
Live streams have become very popular. I have seen several since the lockdown began. Some were excellent, such as Behemoth’s professionally made and visually stunning ‘In Absentia Dei’, others not so impressive but still entertaining. None though are any match for a real live show. I still kept my ticket for the re-scheduled The 69 Eyes show in hope that it might still happen. Luckily a new set of security measures and guidelines was introduced for small scale events in Finland, which meant that the show was given a green light. The new social distancing regulations stated that the venue, Sorsaklubi (the smaller hall inside the Tampere-Talo) was only allowed to be filled to less than half of its normal capacity. In addition to this, the hall was divided into sections with limited seating and a specific number of people allowed to stand in each row in order to allow for social distancing. Face masks were strongly advised, everyone was instructed to keep a 2 meter distance from one another and there was hand sanitizer available in every corner. I arrived there with my mask on well in advance and I did my best to maintain a safe distance from the rest of the crowd.
This was obviously a completely different experience from the last gig I attended before the lockdown. This time there were no support bands and the Helsinki Vampires were only on for a solid hour and a half. Not the longest of sets but it was definitely long enough to enjoy. Once the band started playing, I felt relieved and oddly calm. They played many fan favorites including Gothic Girl, Brandon Lee and The Chair, new hits such as Two Horns Up along with some oldies such as Wasting The Dawn and Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams. The mask stayed on and I kept my distance but I still managed to dance a little.
In summary, I’m really glad that despite the new challenges caused by the ongoing pandemic this show was allowed to happen. It was worth spending over two hours in a face mask to see The 69 Eyes live again. It was a great show in spite of all the adversity. With all the hardship, panic and fear going in the world sometimes the perfect tonic is music. So, masks on, hand sanitizer at the ready, social distance away and get ready to Goth’n’Roll!
Iza Raittila
Valkyrian Music 
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