Finland’s most internationally successful band, HIM (a.k.a. His Infernal Majesty) are bringing their extraordinary 26 year career to an end with the Bang and Whimper tour which made its stop into Philadelphia on November 15th for a Sold Out show with special guests 3TEETH and hometown heroes CKY. This was a very emotion filled evening for the sold out crowd in attendance as it was the final Philadelphia performance that HIM would ever have, not to mention this is HIM’s first show in Philadelphia since 2014. The Bang and Whimper Tour was the bittersweet ending to and final tour to HIM’s musical journey in which embarked its way through 14 countries to give the fans one final performance in each city that has supported them through the years.
Launching the evening was industrial rock band, 3TEETH which was a weird yet great addition to open up the show and get the crowds energy flowing. Their epileptic inducing strobe light show darkly illuminating the band drowning them in blue and red lighting with fast explosions of white strobes perfectly matching their heavy riffs and growls. 3TEETH was the perfect launch to the night although it would be more fitting to see them later at night and not launching a show at 7pm. Continuing the show was hometown heroes CKY, who got the perfect introduction from April and Phil Margera. CKY is now a three piece band with guitarist Chad Ginsburg now taking on all vocal duties as well as guitar (after the departure of original vocalist/guitarist, Deron Miller), with bassist, Matt Deis and of course their drummer, Jess Margera. CKY’s set was a well-blended mixture of their skater and Jackass anthems, as well as new tracks “Replaceable” and “Head for a Breakdown” off their recent album, The Phoenix. CKY shared with the sold out Philadelphia crowd that this may be the final performance you will see of HIM in the city of brotherly love, but CKY will be returning early in 2018. The musicianship and talent shown on stage was next to perfect during the duration of CKY’s set performing hits like “96 Quite Bitter Beings,” “Rio Bravo,” and “The Human Drive in Hi-Fi.” Of course they ended their incredible performance with special guest Bam Margera joining them to sing “All My Friends Are Dead” before welcoming HIM to the stage for the final time in Philly.
With eight studio albums and a countless number of exciting and talent-filled concerts, the time has unfortunately come to say farewell to the band we all love, HIM (a.k.a. His Infernal Majesty). The Finnish metal band not only made a huge mark on their hometown of Helsinki but also making an incredible mark across the globe. In 1997, HIM released their debut album titled, Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666, which turned into an upward spiraling whirlwind for the band who then caught the attention of Bam Margera in 2000, who went on to boost the bands success by introducing their music to a wider US fanbase and continuing to direct the band’s music videos for “Buried Alive by Love” and “The Sacrament.” Then in 2005, the band became the first ever Finnish musical act to hit Gold sales in the USA with their fifth studio album Dark Light, which included their singles like “Killing Loneliness,” “Vampire Heart,” and their smash radio single “Wings Of A Butterfly.” Then releasing another highly successful album in 2007 titled, Venus Doom, which introduced fans to new singles like “Bleed Well,” and “The Kiss of Dawn.” HIM fans seem to be diehard fans who emotionally connect to the dark music in which frontman Ville Valo pours his heart and thoughts into his dark emotion filled lyrics. The band’s most recent and now being know as the bands last release ever is their 2013 release of Tears on Tape. HIM gave Philadelphia fans what they wanted and then some with a perfectly created and well balanced setlist including all of the songs fans love and wanted to hear one final time which felt like 2 hours of HIM’s greatest hits being performed live. Ending out their set with a phenomenal rendition of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” encore leaving fans wishing for another chance to see HIM perform live but this was unfortunately their final Philadelphia performance. Fans were then see exiting the venue with mascara and tears flooding down their cheeks as they said goodbye to the band they grow up adoring. To end this review, I would like to say Thank You to HIM, Ville Valo and the entire band/crew for their incredible music that they will be leaving with us and for giving us the chance to see them one final time before ending what will be known as one of the greatest Finnish metal bands to ever exist, and we will continue to jam their music forever, cause it will never die.
“After quarter of a century of Love and Metal intertwined we sincerely feel HIM has run its unnatural course and adieus must be said in order to make way for sights, scents and sounds yet unexplored. We completed the pattern, solved the puzzle and turned the key. Thank you.” -Ville Valo
Check out our exclusive gallery of HIM’s final tour ever, by our photographer Andrew Wendowski.
HIM:
CKY:
3TEETH:
