Beat a Go Go

Ismo Alanko (photo by Harri Hinkka)

In a voice like a lion's purr, Ismo Alanko is complaining about how hot it is. He looks dazed and he walks as if the sun is a weight on his shoulders. It's high noon and the midsummer heat is hitting the Finnish countryside with the force of a hammer. Nobody here is used to this kind of weather. And it's a bit early in the day for a rock star who had a big concert the night before.

"Viikate has become a real rock band," was the thought that came to my mind while watching the band playing at the Tuska Open Air Metal Festival at the notorious mellow-out day of any festival, Sunday. Although the band was easily the lightest of the bands performing in Kaisaniemi during the weekend, a couple of things were sure: Viikate connected with its audience the best and the band seemed to enjoy its first ever Tuska performance the most of all the bands I witnessed during the weekend.

Hidden Sky CD release concert, Seattle 2004 (photo: Nancy Chapin)

In October 2004, the Broadway Performance Hall in Seattle sold out all 300 seats in a special multimedia concert to celebrate Hidden Sky, the most recent CD release from cellist, composer, and singer Jami Sieber. In tribute to the elephants who participated in creating the album, a portion of proceeds from both the concert and the CD have been donated to elephant conservation. Against a backdrop of moving pictures that stretched from stage to ceiling, concertgoers were treated to the music, stories, and images that told the tale of how one woman was inspired to break new ground by jamming with elephants.