(Report by David Tattooman)

The H.I.M. gig took place on the Lycabettus Hill, which is from my point of view the perfect environment for the kings of 'Love Metal' with a touch of melancholy. As expected, the average age group of the audience was around 16 but it didn't change the fact that the crowd of this half-full theater was rocking the whole 90 minutes.

H.I.M. started punctually without any support group at 21:30. Although the intensity of Ville Valo's unique and striking voice was (from my aspect) too 'low' in comparison to the rest, it was quite impressive what he was able to do with it, considering the fact that he was smoking at least 2 cigarettes per song.

Next to classic songs like Poison Girl, Your Sweet 666, Join Me and Right Here In My arms, they played quite a lot of songs from their previous album such as Vampire Heart & Killing Loneliness and of course hits like Rip Out The Wings Of A Butterfly. Needless to say, they also gave us a sneak peak into their new album Venus Doom with a couple of songs including their new single Kiss Of Dawn.

All in all, it was a solid concert with a good set list, which ended as punctual as it started (23:00). Unfortunately, it was a concert without strong emotions, especially when we expected something more from the band's charismatic Finnish 'Sex Icon'. Throughout the duration of the concert, he gave me the impression that he's a bit bored. As a matter of fact, the guitar smashing during a song seemed a bit fake.