The first ever Porvoo Heavy Metal Weekend was organized last september. The 2 day event was a huge success and attracted audience from all over the country. The Guillotine met the main organizer Ben Pakarinen and asked few questions about the event.

What is heavy metal weekend and why did you want to organize it?

Well, the idea of something like this started when me and Jouni (bass player in Coprolith) went to see some gigs of well known bands who were playing in Porvoo and we were surprised that there were hardly anyone in the audience. Jouni said that we should try something out with some local bands playing and see if that would attract more people. As the discussion went on we suddenly had so many potential local bands for such an event! In the end it became an event with 8 bands playing and they had to be divided between 2 separate days. And what the fuck, we have so many good bands in Porvoo!!

So, how did it all go?

It was a great success! More than 200 people were inside on each evening. And every band was giving their best and the whole atmosphere was awesome! As we would say in finnish "suuren urheilujuhlan tuntua"!

What kind of an effort was it alltogether to organize such an event? What was the financial result?

It was the first time I’ve ever organized anything like this and hellyeah, it was a lot of work!!! But with support from friends and other local bands we made it happen.

For the bands it was a great success because every band got money from it!!!! (laughter) At the beginning we decided that if it brings any money all will be shared equally between all the bands! And so we did! More beer for everyone!!!

Was this just a one off event or will you offer some more local heavy metal for porvoo in the future?

Well, hellyeah! Definitely! This kind of an event should take place at least once a year!

The Guillotine Magazine #2

Poster art by A.Vuorinen aka "Raaka-Ana"