Saturday, September 08, 2007

METALLI FRIDAY


Not even an hour ago I finally checked out night life in Jyväskylä. It did not take me long to find out one place which offers the thing I was after - so called metal bar. This one is called Inferno and it is located in the centre of the city. Well, as you can see, the first visit was short, it lasted just two hours and a half - but it was only a first check up. So I might be writing more on this theme in the future.

I have had this Finnish friend (luulen, ettet lue blogiani ennä...), yet for some reasons our interaction and Internet communication had never tackled night life in Finland. At least not in details. Thus meaning I have been lacking some essential information. Like when to come to the bar. But still, I like to discover things on my own, despite I am sometimes embarrassed. The bar opens at 20:00 and so I decided to take the bus which leaves from my place at 21:15. However, when I reached the destinations, first I had to show my ID. Yep, the bar is only for those aged twenty and onwards; during some days, however, the entrance is allowed to those who are eighteen, too. This limitations are marked with the sign K-20 or K-18. No matter if I may seem younger, being well over twenty, heh, I then entered into...a completely empty bar. Well, there was music playing and all, but at 21:3o there was only the barman and the securities. In my shaky Finnish I managed to get the following information: night life in Finland starts a bit later than my arrival. Okay, if there is some Finn reading this, please, just feel free to correct me if I might be finding out wrong info.

I bought quite a big glass of coke, 1.50 €, and sat alone. Feeling slightly silly, of course. However, the bar is indeed similar to our Orto; this is the very brief impression. Two places, yet here both on the same level. One bigger with the bar, some seats and a stage for the gigs, one with the bar and many seats only. And yes, as this is metal bar all the time, it is opened several days during the week. Anyway, after some time of my feeling silly and guessing if any Finns will appear before midnight, people started to pop in. Soon, the place looked more like a proper metal bar as there were finally some fans in it.

The music. What can I say, pretty similar selection than at home. Some more local, in Finnish only singing bands. Quite lots of hardcore. Melodic death-doom, some thrash. And then, also some favorites - Satyricon's K.I.N.G. and, yep, Finntroll. Actually, I have heard some guys behind me discussing whether it is Finntroll or Korpiklaani... before the Swedish lines started. Well, metal fans looked interesting, and despite I felt a bit silly, I was not the only one siting alone in the bar... but this is just a current brief impression.

As I felt tired, I took a bus back home at midnight. So here I can also add a note on the buses. It feels quite a luxury to me that I have a bus stop so close to my block. Despite the monthly pass here is expensive, I did afford one. Well, there are some buses at 2:00 in the morning - and I think that in some other areas even later.

Finally, this Inferno looks like something close to our Orto bar metal nights. The place seems even slightly too fancy, perhaps. Could metal in Finland (or elsewhere) still be considered as a proper subculture, with alternative shabby-looking places, or it has actually become a commercial main-stream act? Something to observe and to think about in the future, I guess...

The photos of the place TBA when I make some.

3 comments:

Aelfsciene said...

Slisi se ful zanimivo, no, vsaj vedela bos, kdaj naslednjic priti :) Pa imas sreco, da si tujka, ker vsaj lahko s kom navezes pogovor v stilu "kaj se se kaj tu dogaja?"

R-20 bar, zakon :D Pa se to bi bil folk malo mlad zame :D Ampak tu so vsi okrog 16, ce gres kam ven :/

Kolko je bilo pa na koncu folka? Je zadeva vecja ali manjsa od Orto bara?

Pa uzivaj se za nas!!

kaneli said...

Oh, saj res... hvala za komunikacijski namig. ;) Sicer pa verjetno veš, da nisem taka, da bi kar načenjala pogovore... (blush).

Na koncu je bilo kar nekaj folka... in verjetno so se potem še nabrali, ker je zadeva odprta od 4:00. Večje ali manjše... kaj vem, morda kar približno enako.

Anonymous said...

I guess you've already gotten the information but as you requrested for it anyway: yes, people usually hit the bars somewhere around 23:00-00:00. Around ten is still quite early.