Ankkarock Festival 2008 Korso Park / Vantaa, Finland

Ankkarock Festival

Ankkarock Festival 2008

01.08.2008 Korso Park / Vantaa

Von: Daisey Cheyney


The sun was shining as around 17000 people trooped towards the Ankkarock festival area in Korso and my first port of call was the Korsostage where Finnish legends Hanoi Rocks made a great start to the weekend. Michael Monroe was of course donning his customary eye-catching attire, including feather boa and more sparkles than you can shake a stick at! With their unrivalled enthusiasm and energy of artists half their age, they definitely set the tone for the rest of the day, getting the whole crowd singing along to old favourites including Don’t You Ever Leave Me and Back to the Mystery City as well as tracks from their latest album Street Poetry such as Fashion.

Next it was over to the Rockstage to see the Californian psycho-billies Tiger Army. They are hugely popular with the Finns and tickets to their shows earlier in the year sold out almost instantly. Their performance here at Ankkarock provided a perfect example of why. The rockabilly and psychobilly influences, the imposing stand up bass playing of Geoff together with the originality of Nick 13’s bittersweet vocals bring a refreshing sound to the punk-rock genre which has recently become, well, less than inspiring.

Kent played the closing gig of their 17-date summer tour on the Korsostage. Anticipation was mounting in front of the veiled stage and as the black fabric dropped, the crowd was launched straight into the energetic opening of Stenbrott and almost immediately the crowd were becoming strong competitors to the band themselves in the enthusiasm ranks! Kent treated the crowd to a new song for the tour, Håll Ditt Huvud Högt, new versions of Om du Var Här and Dom Andra, and a three song encore too!

Continuing with the Swedish theme, next up were The Hives. Admittedly, having previously not been a particular fan of the Swedish rockers, I was more than a little impressed. In their identical outfits, looking like cheeky school boys, they whipped the already overexcited crowd into a complete frenzy with their overwhelmingly energetic performance, not to mention their oh-so-postmodern freeze frame where the band resembled an exhibit from Madame Tussaud’s. Surprisingly for me, they even managed to inject a certain ‘je ne sais quois’ into Hate to Say I Told You So a song I previously considered overplayed and found generally irritating! By the time they played Tick Tick Boom I was a complete convert and dancing like a madman (or Nicholaus!) with the rest of the crowd.

As the first day drew to a close, headliners HIM played on the Korsostage and judging by the size of the crowd, an increasingly rare performance in their home country was eagerly anticipated by all. The amount of screaming and chanting would never have given it away, but it wasn’t until after the musical melting-pot Sleepwalking Past Hope that the band really started to warm up and sound more like the HIM we all love. The punchy intro to guaranteed live favourite Soul on Fire resounded across the festival area, and with songs such as Razorblade Kiss and Poison Girl from their earlier albums following, the dullish beginning was forgotten. Their ultimate song of the festival, Rebel Yell had the crowds screaming for “more, more, more” and the Saturday of Ankkarock definitely ended on a high note.

Sunday’s weather was certainly the perfect weather for ducks and with the vast majority wearing ‘emergency’ ponchos (or popliinitakki!) you’d be forgiven for thinking that there was some kind of Ankka-army... or an Apulanta-army! The popularity of the Finnish band hasn’t waned over the years and with their catchy radio-friendly songs it’s no wonder an excitable crowd congregates in front of the Puistostage. Playing a selection of songs from across their discography, you can’t help but sing along (admittedly in appalling Finnish!) with songs such as their 1996 breakthrough track, Mitä Kuuluu and the more recent Kesä EP.

Despite the drizzle getting heavier, the weather did not impede Danish rockers, Volbeat, who are increasingly becoming known for their great live performances providing a refreshingly original mixture of heavy metal and rock and roll from the 50s and 60s, summer radio favourite Radio Girl and their renowned cover of Dusty Springfield’s classic, I Only Wanna Be With You together with harder songs such as Sad Man’s Tongue and the attention was no long on the rain and everyone’s feet were moving.

At the Rockstage, Soilwork attempted to lift the dampened spirits of an increasingly wet crowd and definitely got some festival goers energetically moving especially with songs such as Bastard Chain and Exile but with their melodeath sound and the fact that their set overlapped with Apocalyptica, Soilwork failed to engage my attention. So I made my way over to the Puistostage to catch the famous four cellos and a drum kit. This time the band had a little something extra for their fans in the shape of Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica who performed I Don’t Care and I’m not Jesus to an appreciative crowd. After the sentimental Bittersweet, the customary Metallica covers such as Search and Destroy and Enter Sandman, an element no Apocalyptica performance would be without, got the crowd singing along despite the depressing weather!

The festival drew to a close and the rain continued to get heavier, yet Opeth still drew a sizeable crowd to the Korsolava stage. In my experience, the opinion of these Swedish death-metallers is mixed; some considering their sound to be somewhat inaccessible, a point which is perhaps due to the diversity of each of their albums, and others considering them to be one of the essential metal bands of today. The opinion at Ankkarock was definitely the latter and with songs such as Melancholy, Porcelain Heart and the undeniably hard hitting Heir Apparent, Opeth’s combination of the empyreal and the brutal made for an exhilarating end to a wet, yet wonderful weekend.



http://www.musicheadquarter.de/v1/konzert-festival-event-berichte/ankkarock-festival-korso-park-vantaa_448.html

University of Sussex's The Badger

The University and College Union (UCU) have introduced a guidance pack aimed at combating the amount of casualisation in higher education in order to reduce inefficiency and inequality and secure better working conditions for academic staff. It is the UCU’s policy to campaign for a reduction in the use of fixed term contracts (FTCs) and hourly paid staff in favour of permanent contracts or where full contracts are inappropriate, a fixed-term contract with a FTC policy.
Employment legislation that came into effect on the 10th July 2006 means that fixed term staff that have been employed on successive fixed-term
contracts for 4 years or more by 10 July 2006 can request confirmation that
their post has become permanent unless the use of a FTC can be objectively justified. Despite this legislation, according to the UCU, 43% of academic staff in the UK (around 70,000 people) are still on fixed-term contracts. Jackie Rymell from the University of Sussex’s HR department comments on how this legislation has been implemented: “At Sussex, we have had a number of requests for permanent status from staff on FTCs who meet the 4-year threshold. Some have been confirmed as permanent, others have been confirmed as remaining fixed-term - these staff have been given the reason why this is the case i.e. the objective justification”. Those who are on hourly-paid contracts are “generally employed on indefinite rather than fixed-term contracts”. Rymell also comments that “The University will continue to respond to requests made, and, where appropriate, staff will be confirmed as permanent”.
The guidelines published by the UCU offer information aimed at ‘providing help to those in this vulnerable position’. Advice on how to secure full contracts, negotiate FTC policies, model letters of request for full contracts and advice on the prevention of less favourable treatment of fixed term employees in comparison to employees with indefinite contracts.
Since 1st October 2002, fixed-term employees have had the right to be treated equally to comparable employees on indefinite contracts with regards to issues such as pay, pensions and training opportunities, but according to the UCU, a quarter of staff on fixed-term contracts felt that their treatment compared to employees on full contracts was unequal. In response to the regulations, the University of Sussex introduced a ‘Policy on the Use and Management of Fixed-term appointments’, which was negotiated and agreed by all three of the university’s recognised trade unions. Rymell states, “The University does not treat staff on fixed-term contracts less favourably than staff on comparable permanent posts - they have the same terms and conditions other than the
permanent/fixed-term nature of the appointment.

Daisey Cheyney


Published in The Badger Feb 2007
http://www.thebadgeronline.co.uk/

Part-time staff get improved contracts

The University and College Union(UCU) have introduced a guidancepack aimed at combatting the amountof casualisation in higher educationin order to reduce inefficiency andinequality and secure better workingconditions for academic staff. It is theUCU’s policy to campaign for a reduc-tion in the use of fixed term contracts(FTCs) and hourly paid staff in favourof permanent contracts, or where fullcontracts are inappropriate, a fixed-term contract with an FTC policy.Employment legislation that cameinto effect on 10 July 2006 meansthat fixed term staff that have beenemployed on successive fixed-termcontracts for four years or more can re-quest confirmation that their post hasbecome permanent unless the use of aFTC can be objectively justified.Despite this legislation, accordingto the UCU, 43% of academic staff inthe UK (around 70,000 people) are stillon fixed-term contracts. Jackie Rymellfrom the University of Sussex’s HumanResources department commented onhow this legislation has been imple-mented. ‘At Sussex, we have had anumber of requests for permanent sta-tus from staff on FTCs who meet thefour year threshold. Some have beenconfirmed as permanent, others havebeen confirmed as remaining fixed-term - these staff have been given areason why this is the case, i.e. theobjective justification.’ The UCU arecampaigningfor a reductionin the use offixed termcontracts Those who are on hourly-paidcontracts are ‘generally employedon indefinite rather than fixed-termcontracts.’ Rymell also commentedthat, ‘The University will continue torespond to requests made, and, whereappropriate, staff will be confirmed aspermanent.’The guidelines published by theUCU offer information aimed at ‘pro-viding help to those in this vulnerableposition.’ Advice on how to securefull contracts, negotiate FTC policies,model letters of request for full con-tracts and advice on the prevention ofless favourable treatment of fixed termemployees in comparison to employ-ees with indefinite contracts.Since 1 October 2002, fixed-termemployees have had the right to betreated equally to comparable em-ployees on indefinite contracts withregards to issues such as pay, pen-sions and training opportunities, butaccording to the UCU, a quarter of staffon fixed-term contracts felt that theirtreatment compared to employees onfull contracts was unequal. In responseto the regulations, Sussex introduceda ‘Policy on the Use and Managementof Fixed-term appointments,’ whichwas negotiated and agreed by all threeof the University’s recognised tradeunions. Rymell states, ‘The Univer-sity does not treat staff on fixed-termcontracts less favourably than staff oncomparable permanent posts.

Daisey Cheyney
www.ussu.info/badger