HIM To Headline Ilosaarirock

Ten years after it played one of the smaller Ilosaarirock stages as a young emerging band, HIM is going to back to headline this year’s festival.

Five albums and more than 4 million worldwide album sales later, the Finnish superstars will be topping a bill that already includes Calexico, The Cinematic Orchestra, Porcupine Tree, Hatebreed and Swedish rockers Opeth.

The lineup traditionally includes some of the best national acts and, apart from HIM, Disco Ensemble, Husky Rescue, and Finntroll are already confirmed.

For HIM, the 20,000-capacity event at Joensuu (July 13-15), the capital of Eastern Finland, will be the band’s only summer outdoor of 2007.

Ilosaarirock was started in 1971 by a group of music enthusiasts and has since become a year-round organization dedicated to bringing top international talent to the Karelia region.

The 20,000 tickets go on sale May 2.