'Black Salem' gig (Tavastia, Helsinki 07.09.2002)
by Heidi Ekbom from Finland :)
...see also pics taken by Heidi.

     Yes...Black Salem was HIM!! And...they played only new songs!! The set was pretty short , only 45min. And they played 6 new songs and I must say...from the bottom of my heart...they truly are fantastic...so incredible good!!!! Yeah, I swear...I am totally speechless. They are different from DS&BH for sure, more heavier, more rock if I can use that word. I'm not that good in telling so much more about the songs cause of course it was the very first time I heard them and you try to get so much of them in memory etc. but honestly, I'm almost sure that most of the people will like them and also the ones who don't have that warm feelings for DS&BH.I do love that album also a lot but I just know that everybody wasn't that pleased with it so and wanted more "rocking" songs and these really are!!
      It was pretty hard to hear the lyrics when I was right in front of Ville in the very front but everything else was very positive, melody wise and also they did one slower song and it was oh...my..god..so beautiful!! Ville did not tell the names of the songs, just the first one but I cant be sure cause he said it in Finnish but I saw the setlist shortly and I THINK they were some songs called like Rescue & Sacrament but I cant be 100%. Its very hard to tell you about how the songs sounded like cause honestly they were very different from both DS&BH AND Razorblade!! All I can say is that they are faster, more rocking and one song started out very beautifully with Linde's guitar playing. They worked already live very well and that's good when you think they played these songs for the first time to an audience and the people there seemed to like what they heard a lot:)In the beginning Ville said : "Well after all this confusement about our name, is it HER or HIM...tonight we are Black Salem! He didn't talk that much, just seemed to enjoy it a lot and also the rest of the guys.
       After their set they also watched the Skreppers gig along with the rest of us and also stayed at the bar. I was lucky enough to have a few words with Ville and asked him about the Mexico gig etc. and he said it went very well and they liked it there a lot. He was in a very good mood and we shook hands before he left and I thanked him for the fantastic gig in Tammerfest All in all...its gonna be really hard now to wait for the new album cause I already know how good it must be after tonight!!!