FRIDAY

At some point Disco Ensemble was touted as Finland’s biggest indie/alternative rock bands, but I’m not sure what happened to the world domination or if it’s still on going. I’ve never clocked the time to listen to their shenanigans, despite having had some distant personal connection to the band, but alas, the lads were doing a pretty good thing on the stage when I walked into the festival grounds. Energy levels seemed alright and the drive was actually decent at times, so perhaps someday I’ll actually take the time to check out what the rave is about, or was.

Disco Ensemble’s Jussi Ylikoski still putting an effort

Kaija Koo was up next, briging in some major flashbacks. Just like last year on the very same stage, the show seemed to repeat last year’s playbook — from what I gathered anyway. I actually enjoyed her show last year and quite frankly, there wasn’t anything wrong with this one either, but I just disconnected after a while. Still, I have to say it’s somewhat interesting to see just which ‘80s/’90s pop singers are able to stay relevant throughout the years and with what kinds of audiences. Kaija Koo seems to do just fine branching out from the her old fanbase and reaching out for all sorts of new listeners.

Kaija Koo provided some major flashbacks of last year’s show

Finnish reggae superstar, Jukka Poika, performing with the Soul Captain Band, was another repeat offender from last year. The last time I saw him perform was some years ago at some city festival in Tampere and while relaxed reggae might not be my go-to music too often, I had to admit that the guy had a decent show. This year’s overly positive Wanaja set wasn’t that bad of a thing either, but it felt different and somehow more calculated. It’s hard to pinpoint it exactly, but it’s kind of like the feeling you get when you deal with reptilians. Everything seems perfect, too perfect perhaps… but it also got me thinking just how important of a part the backing band, Soul Captain Band, plays. In my opinion, they’re the true stars of the show. The backing band is tight and easily appreciated. Plus their bass gave a tingly sensation all around.

Jukka Poika seemed to be on a good mood

Stam1na, Friday’s only (and the festival’s first of two) metal band, has been featured on our festival reports a couple of times. Since I didn’t get to see the band last year, I didn’t mind seeing them once again. After all, they always give their all and put on a great show. I guess it could be entertaining to see a bad show from the band, one where you’d die out of boredom but alas, that, as expected, didn’t happen this time around either. Instead, the group came in and gave an entertaining slab of heavy metal, armed with some new material since they released a new album (SLK) last year. There didn’t seem to be a particular theme this year, aside from some running dick sucking joke, but the show started out funnily enough with the band performing their own intro. Supposedly they didn’t happen to have time to arrange anything else. Another curiosity was that this year, almost all of their songs were being introduced as being about the current situation in Greece.

Stam1na always putting on a sweat on stage

Next up was Elastinen, a Finnish rapper turned singer and every mother’s fantasy son-in-law. The man has been said to be partly responsible for the rise of Finnish hip hop and rap in the late ‘90s as the duo he was in, Fintelligens, was one of the first ones to break out to the mainstream in an impactful way. That’s the official story anyway. The real deal is that in the early ‘90s, acts like Raptori, Hausmylly and Nikke–T laid the true foundation. Now, many will say how at least the first and last one killed Finnish rap by making it a joke for a good 10 years, but we all know that’s revisionist, sensational bullshit. You can’t rewrite music history like that, not like military history anyway… but enough with school.

Elastinen elastically reaching towards the sky

Elastinen has come a long way in ~15 years and his show sounded big, well crafted and every punch was made to make it seem epic and grand. Everyone on stage was dressed in white like in some cult ready to be raided by the FBI while the man’s own label’s (Rähinä) logos were featured on every available inch. So the show is big as fuck, trying to bring a stadium gig to a much smaller stage, and in some perverse way, actually doing a good job with it. But that’s where the thing starts to lend itself to an unintended parody; the going gets so fucking ridiculous and while it’s packaged into a positive, fun, experience it still reeks as too fucking serious for it’s own good. But maybe I’m jaded. No. I am jaded. The whole bigger-than-life thing began last year with another rapper, Cheek, who sold out (or almost) two stadium shows before taking a year off music. Now all the biggest sellers are trying to build an empire, craft themselves as living legends and most likely quote Scarface in the privacy of their mansions. The most hilarious part of Elastinen’s gig was when the guy put all his soul into a PMMP cover, pouring down the syrup so thick it actually made all the late ‘90s mallcore angst seem genuine growing pains. Jesus F Christ.

Eppu Normaali had the honors to close the day off. For those not in the know, Eppu Normaali is one of the cornerstones in the Finnish music scene. The group began as a punk band in the ‘70s but throughout the years, it has become one of the biggest rock groups in the country.

Eppu Normaali and the highlight of the day

At Wanaja, Eppu Normaali was celebrating the 30th anniversary of one of its most celebrated albums, Kahdeksas Ihme (‘Eight Wonder’) by performing it in its entirety. After quite a few pompous acts, the comparably minimalistic, straight to the point approach cemented the fact that sometimes, some-bloody-times, music is actually enough. Personally I don’t know the band’s whole discography too well, but even I had a few flashbacks to early years once sure-fire hit “Vuonna ‘85” blasted on air. Before that, ”Voi kuinka me sinua kaivataan” actually made me want to revisit the group’s stuff to see if there’s anything else a bit less obvious, but good. The band seemed to be in a good condition for a 40-year old band. They were able to evoke, not necessarily nostalgia but certain reminiscent longing. And no matter what you think of the band or their material, their songs are so incorporated into the culture nowadays, that they’re sure to evoke at least something else other than total indifference. Definitely the highlight of the day, a perfect way to close Friday and embrace the night.

SATURDAY

The next day brought in a bit colder weather with plenty of light rain. I didn’t mind.

Atomirotta is the current incarnation of Notkea Rotta. They’ve been mentioned a couple of times in the past festival reports. What’s different is that they’ve gone from a full-fledged orchestra into a three man group. What’s not different is that the group’s still entertaining. Guitarist and a general swiss-army-knife, Rane Raitsikka (also known from the ‘80s act Smack), seemed genuinely excited about the stuff they’re doing.

Atomirotta

Samuli Edelman was up next. Now, for some he’s turning into this icon and some sort of an heir to another well-regarded Finnish singer, Vesa-Matti Loiri. Both of ‘em are also well known from acting, with Vesku being most well known for his role as Uuno Turhapuro; a mythological Finnish comedy character. Fun fact: one of the Amorphis guitarists bought some vintage guitar equipment that was used for the soundtracks of those comedies. Anyway, Samuli is more well known from his a comedy group Vintiöt, but also as the bad guy’s right arm in Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Dude came out on stage with a chair set up and basically did the whole gig from there. If you like mellow and easy pop tunes that somehow make middle-aged women weak in the knees, give him a shot. As much as there’s certain smugness to it all, can’t hate the dude at all.

Samuli looking for Tom Cruise

Mokoma was the other actual metal band set to play on the bill. After their two albums received somewhat lukewarm reception, the band parted ways with a major label, formed one of their own and readjusted their musical focus by leaning towards thrash metal. With the help of the single “Takatalvi”, 2003’s album Kurimus shot the band to a whole other level and basically paved the way with gold again for Finnish-sung metal. 12 years and some seven-ish albums later, the band still does well in the top lists. While the band’s past few albums haven’t really resonated as well as some of those earlier ones, the level of consistency is undeniable, especially live and on stage, where the band has proven to be top tier even after all these years. And, Wanaja 2015’s set was no different.

Mokoma put ona good show. As expected. However…

The biggest surprise of the festival was Olavi Uusivirta. Now, I had expectations set in the minus celsius degrees, but the dude came and conquered. His music is an absolutely terrible blend of pop, indie and rock that caressed absolutely zero of my taste buds, but the stage ethic was unrivaled by a long shot. The man absolutely gave a sincere 100 and one percent effort, accidentally tearing up his shirt during the first couple of songs. Unlike Elastinen‘s set the day before, the going here actually felt authentic, so while the music was a miss for me, it’s hard to bitch and complain.

…Olavi Uusivirta put on a better show.

Since I’d already gotten my nostalgia fix few years ago, I decided to skip Leningrad Cowboys’ show at the end of the festival, and thus Haloo Helsinki’s performance became the last one for me. The band has grown into one of Finland’s biggest rock groups in the past handful of years, each year becoming bigger and bigger. In fact, so big that they are in the midst of a see you later -tour as they’re winding down their operation for a break. If I were to bet money, I’d bet on singer Elli releasing a solo album within the next couple of years. To celebrate their temporary retirement, the show was taking visual cues from Germany and topped it with pyros, thus disallowing photographers to point their technical soul sucking devices at them at close range. But credit where credit is due, it seems like all the touring the band has made has paid off and it’s no wonder, with catchy pop-rock songs, that the thing has blown into huge proportions. It does help that the lyrics are a bit wordier from the usual nonsensical bullshit that most mainstream acts try to peddle.

Haloo Helsinki doing farewells with a bang

So another year, another Wanaja, another coverage of non-metal acts on a metal-dedicated website. I like the festival, partly because it gives a quick vertical slice of the current Finnish music scene that I otherwise don’t pay that much attention to, but also because it’s a chill gathering in a perfect environment. Now, they could update their practices and have quotas for minorities, ie. metal acts. Let’s say, three bands a year. Yeah. At least three metal acts a year sounds good.

Anyway. Until next year.

You see, I ain’t young anymore. It ain’t easy breaking the 30-year old mark. Not that it happened today or yesterday, hell, I think it might have been a while ago. But I ain’t young anymore and actions have begun to have consequences.

Thus, there I was, in the serene photo pit at 2014’s Wanaja Festival trying to take decent pictures of bands for your amusement with a sore fucking leg. Actually, it’s more than sore. I think it might be broken. Or fractured. Or whatever the fuck, but using that hunk of meat with a ton of nerves and some withered muscles was painful.

But I like the festival. Even if I had to skip the first day when Andy McCoy’s new band, Grease Helmet, played (featuring Amoral’s guitarist and someone from Amorphis). I didn’t know Andy was active, but good for him. I also missed Michael Monroe headlining that day. He must have climbed the rafters again. He always does. Actually, I wonder if Friday featured some sort of a Hanoi Rocks comeback, considering that I think Sami Yaffa plays in Monroe’s band nowadays too, so 1+1+1 equals… I don’t know.

But as I was saying, Wanaja Festival is an event, even if it’s hard to recommend for oppressed metalheads. Out of all the bands, only two (Turisas and Deadforger) were straight up metal with one (Kotiteollisuus) being sometimes lumped into the genre, even though it’s mainly schlager with distortion and jokes about being drunk.

The layout of the festival had changed a bit again from last year, with the removal of the third tent stage. A sad loss, but I guess it didn’t warrant an inclusion. Another addition that I didn’t get to experience were two separate, special concerts. One earlier on Saturday by Vesa-Matti Loiri or Finland’s Johnny Cash in lack of a better comparison. The next day, on Sunday, Finnish boy pop sensation Robin would perform to a screaming ocean of teenage girls. Sadly, I wouldn’t be one of them. As for the main event, changes didn’t stop there as it appeared like there was no main stage anymore. The two remaining stages were scaled to almost exact proportions and didn’t seem to prioritize bands by their fame or popularity. An odd choice at first, but I’m not sure if anyone noticed a thing and I guess it allowed ‘big acts’ to go straight after one another. Weather was nice despite the forecast promising thunder and lightning. Not the first time those meteorologists have been incorrect. Rather than face electrocution, when the sun pierced through clouds, it actually burned through and made the experience scorching at times. Anyway, it was good to be back. The grass was green. The people seemed relaxed and there wasn’t a hint of Tuska’s ruthless concrete jungle, aside from the sun.

Diablo’s Aadolf laying down the bass for Deadforger

Aforementioned Deadforger had the honors to start the day. The currently unknown group consists of heavy metal veterans from various bands that didn’t have any major breakthroughs for the most part; Corruption Inc, Helion, Jane Doe 69 and Pain Confessor — even though the last one had mild success in Finland and even got to do a couple of shows in Japan. Actually, some of you might remember then from last year’s article.

Deadforger is pretty much a pastiche of the band’s origins and inspirations, mainly materializing into a mix of groove-driven hardened heavy metal and hard rock that hasn’t been in the limelight as of late. The songs vary and take cues from various depths, say Alice in Chains, Mustasch/Sparzanza, Godsmack (or Alice in Chains again), Soil and hell, even Sentenced. Unfortunately the song material isn’t quite there yet as it tends to slightly dry up and be less than the sum of the band’s parts; there’s still some way to go before radio play if that’s the way they’re aiming.

Deadforger did however manage to hit me with a curve ball straight to the balls. I didn’t realize what was happening at first and it took me a long while and a bit of a push to figure out. The group ended the show with a cover of Danzig’s “Five Finger Crawl”. Now, if you’re doing Danzig covers, and nobody does Danzig covers, including from Blackacidevil and forward, I’m definitely not willing to write the band off just yet. Too bad it had me so flabbergasted that I didn’t appreciate the moment fully at the time… because goddamn. Nice move!

Kotiteollisuus hadn’t changed at all, really.

Then it was time for Kotiteollisuus. I think I saw the exact same gig from these guys two years ago at the same exact venue. I didn’t have any notes with me but the in between song banter was probably the same too. Actually, that’s not completely true, as I think they’ve since added another guitarist to the lineup in Mitri Aaltonen (responsible for a lot things, producing a ton of Finnish metal bands etc., among other things).

Jenni Vartiainen

Jenni Vartiainen became part of an all girl pop group after one of the first talent shows on TV years and years ago. The group never really got anywhere and disbanded after a while. Then some years later, she appeared dressed up as a nun or some shit on the music video of a Finnish hard rock/metal band, Sturm und Drang which consisted of a bunch of kids and sold 100,000 albums in the process before they too disappeared from the face of the earth. Not soon after, Vartiainen released her first solo material and shot to instant success, steadily becoming the top female performer in Finland. Whereas Chisu (see our Wanaja piece from 2012) has put her coins in nostalgia and quaint, romantic city streets, Vartiainen has adopted more mystic and shamanistic overtones. Even when I’m not part of her target audience, it’s hard to deny Vartiainen’s sheer professionalism on stage and skill to captivate and lure her audience into obedience. A good example of a performer who unapologetically owns the space with her performance.

Compared to Vartiainen, Anna Abreu — who rose to fame for coming second in the Finnish Idols, losing to heavy metal oriented Ari Koivunen (currently singing in Amoral) — has a lot of growing up to do, and that’s not even a bad pun about her actual height. Whoever is responsible for her development is doing a shitty job, as Abreu seemed to come to terms with her career a few years back, but this year seems to have fucked it all up — at least as far the music is concerned. The new album apparently hasn’t gained the same traction as the one before and the media has mainly concentrated on her abs and pondered books-worth of pages whether or not her ass was authentic in a video or not. Serious business, that show business.

Anna Abreu

While she’s undeniably talented, she somehow managed to muster this year’s shittiest song in “Ra-ta ta-ta”, even though my niece loves the bejesus out of it. The lyrics in that atrocity make no goddamn sense even for a modern pop tune. It’s like she has an identity crisis of sorts that has her ‘trying too much’ so to speak, as she wants to be all grown up and raunchy while targeting the thirteen to sixteen year olds. It all comes off as forced. It just seems odd to me, considering she appeared to be aiming for an older audience on her previous album and seemed to pack at least a bit more universal appeal. As it stands now, compared to Vartiainen and her presence on stage, Abreu looks like a kid that’s lost but still deep down tries her best to impress the grown ups. We’re not even going to touch the 140,000 difference in the sales numbers…

Anyway. Perhaps Abreu’s not to blame in all of this. Perhaps the background powers that be have simply jacked off one times too many to Miley Cyrus’ latest vomit and think there’s some substance there. It’s not often I’m reminded of Britney Spear’s “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” but somehow saying that out loud seems apt. Besides, this is a goddamn heavy metal website and here I am raving about this shit?! FUCK!

Anyway. The best part during the show was when Abreu talked rather lovingly about another artist who she wrote a song with and who makes an appearance on the track she was just about to do. I first thought she’d bring the guy on stage because she kind of set it up so, but fuck it, background tape that shit all the way. Strike one. Then she played that song she’s featured on and does the chorus to, but without the two actual guys whose song it is. Strike two. Lastly, she even manages to make a cover song somehow insincere, as she did a piece by Finnish reggae artist Jukka-Poika, “Kylmästä Lämpimään”. Granted, that cover was part of an extremely popular TV-show featuring the two artists (among other Finnish musicians) doing covers of one anothers’ tracks, but Jukka-Poika probably played that song the day before at the same festival. And doing the expected can be kind of lame anyway (unless you’re my favorite band. Then I only want to hear the good shit). Strike three and you’re out!

…and so am I mentally, because the next couple of acts had even less to offer. Having done most of my growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, there’s no denying that I like rap or hip hop, so long as the beats are good and/or the tone is dark enough to please my antisocial tendencies. One Finnish rap label had constructed some sort of a b-tier all-star outing to give the three artists some traction, but I forfeited the gig and didn’t feel bad about doing so at all. Pick your battles, as they say.

Yö’s Olli Lindholm

Another skip for me was Yö. If you’re in your 40s or 50s and reminisce the past good old days when love was reserved to heterosexual couples in the backseat of a beat up Ford Escort, then Yö (as in ‘Night’) might resonate with you. Originating from some punk-ish roots and successfully wading through growing pains throughout the years, the band grew into a safe-bet Suomirock-institution. I don’t think they’ve had as big of a success as of late like they did 10 years ago, but still have a somewhat devout following at live shows that in an instant raises the average age of attendees on the front row by ten, twenty or thirty years.

Haloo Helsinki

Haloo Helsinki was another repeat from two years ago. The band put out an energetic showing back then and only seem to have grown (both in fame and in skill) even more since then, even though the frontwoman Elli starting the gig by hand greeting the front row audience felt a tad awkward. While the music is far from controversial, they’ve introduced a bit of roughness to the presentation that most artists battling in the pop rock genre tend to avoid most of the time. It adds an unexpected punch to the show and makes the group more interesting than they are on paper. Okay.

The basic deal at most gigs is that you can photograph the first three songs from the pit and then do whatever once you’re back with the peasants in the audience. One thing I’ve noticed though, throughout the years, is that a lot of bands skim through the first few songs and then, finally put it into gear later on in the show as they somehow manage to find better stage lighting and even better performance from within themselves. Perhaps they’ll even remove their sunglasses then. I do realize that you can’t go full speed all the time, that you need to balance the act and hell, even have a crescendo at the end of it to leave a lasting impression but goddamn does it make photographing the acts a pain at times.

Turisas

Luckily Turisas isn’t one of those acts that constantly blueball people and cheapskate their way on stage. The Hameenlinna-native band had returned to their home stage, playing into the time machine aspect of the festival. Though, this time they didn’t have a Japanese video production after them, but they still remembered to take a pyrotechnician off the dole. Turisas has been touring the world and appeared somewhat elated about performing for their home city, and if there’s one thing the band does — aside from shuffling its members every now and then — is that they put out a good live show. At one point Warlord Nygård cherished seeing friends and family again, thanking some fans from America and Europe for showing up for the gig as well while inquiring the audience if they had any reasons to complain. “There’s nothing to complain about!” he determined, savoring the moment and somehow missing the few complaints that echoed “Yö!” Turisas’ set didn’t hold any surprises with “Battle Metal” receiving a quality response from the fans and “Stand Up and Fight” finally ending their tour de force along with the bangs of some fireworks.

Kaija Koo

Kaija Koo is a long-running female singer with a ton of hits behind her and somehow she’s stayed relevant throughout her long career. She’s been able to avoid my CD player for all those years, but hot-diggity-damn, against all odds, I actually enjoyed her set which makes me confused. I’m not sure why, but the audience around me seemed extremely happy and lively, dancing around and singing along, giving a better response back to the artist than the people at this year’s Tuska. Plus, while I’ve seen some bloodied up people at Tuska, thanks to the pits, Kaija Koo actually got some unfortunate soul to drop into such a condition that the person had to be carried away in an ambulance. “So, let it go!” Kaija Koo sung, nothing to do with that horrible song off Disney’s Frozen, as the security and ER moved in to save lives.

The main portion of the festival was ended by Klamydia, who’ve appeared at the event so many times the organizers must have ran out of fingers by now. I missed them too, as I was pretty much satisfied with the day by then and the goddamn leg, that I’d forgotten about, started acting up again, putting my pain tolerance through some serious conditioning.

2014´s Wanaja Festival served more people than it expected with some 24,000 visitors going through the grounds in three days. The festival hasn’t relied on foreign acts in two years now and with the good outcome, I doubt we’ll see any outsiders next year either. There were also some doubts whether or not they could organize the event at the same perfect location next year too, but Monday papers said that they could, so good.

Wanaja Festival still provided a nice, relaxed conclusion to my summer’s musical needs and it’s always entertaining to see how oblivious the security manning the gates to the photo pits is. This time, I witnessed as one photographer tried to make the guard understand that the pass he was holding granted the press access in front of the stage like it even read on the guard’s cheat sheet. The guard instead insisted that we go shove our way through the audience to gain front row access. Luckily the matter was sorted and things worked fine until another guard took his place and only allowed us through once the band actually got on stage. Minor things and nothing to stress about. It’s all good.

Wanaja Festival is a ‘joy’ to visit, even though the artists aren’t necessarily up my alley and most of the time, less so on this site’s real agenda. Hopefully they’ll book some more metal acts next year under which’s guise I get to do this all again… even more older and fragile.

PMMP touring for the last time…

Take for example the Finnish girl duo, PMMP, who are winding their 10-year (or so) career down by doing this final tour. Their at times minimalistic music and relentless performance has gathered plenty of fans from all areas of music and listening to them doesn’t seem to bring any shame at all to anyone. Perhaps it’s the fact that their sometimes genre bending pop tunes hold melancholic and excessive realism; a fact not that surprising considering that the band’s music is pretty much composed by one Jori Sjöroos that some might know from such acts as Magenta Skycode and This Empty Flow or even before that, funeral doom act Thergothon.

But I’m fast forwarding.

Shut up, Pää Kii!

I arrived to the scene late due to prior obligations and caught the last few songs from Finland’s currently hottest punk rock group, Pää Kii (or ‘Shut Up’). Going by what was happening on stage musically, either I’ve got a completely distorted view of punk or the band was playing their most mellow songs. Either way or both, there didn’t seem to be much danger on stage aside from the band laughing at their bass player for showing off and fucking up a song in the process. After the scandal that mainman Teemu Bergman caused earlier this year by appearing somewhat wasted (on whatever) in an interview for the national TV, I was expecting something different. Something with a bit more spit and piss, I guess. Instead the band sounded almost like reinvented Klamydia.

Jonne Aaron

Another safe act followed as Jonne Aaron took the stage with his solo ensemble. The guy’s appeared on teenagers’ walls for his duties in his rock band Negative. Now there were some older faces in the audience too for the guy had appeared in a TV series where a bunch of rockers, poppers, new and old talked shit with one another and performed each others’ songs, making those at home teary-eyed for one reason or another. I can’t say I waste my time by hating the guy or anything, but it would be safe to say that the stuff does absolutely nothing for me.

This guy seemed to appreciate Notkea Rotta

Unlike Notkea Rotta whose jamming soundcheck I decided to check instead. They appeared at the very same festival last year, this time manning the second stage (fitted them better) and co-touring with another Finnish rap oriented group, SMC Lähiörotat — who romanticize Finland’s version of the life in the projects. Notkea Rotta’s metal connection was discussed last year but what was forgotten to mention was the fact that guitarist Rane Raitsikka originally played (and still does) with the legendary Finnish punk act, Lama (who in turn made an appearance at this year’s Tuska). The ensemble threw an entertaining, enjoyable set that sometimes was a mere distortion pedal away from proper crossover. Maybe some day. The show did rile up the audience and in turn, the band on stage as well.

PMMP’s Paula Vesala empowering the audience

As for PMMP, they came and did what was expected of them. The two singers, Paula and Mira, we’re all over the place (including the top of the stage) making the best out of their last times on stage together — sometimes to the ire of the security who tried to hold them back from interacting with the audience too closely (at one point making Paula shout “Let go of me!”). Crowd participation was good and the songs echoed nicely live. Towards the end, the duo caused yet another problem for the security as they invited everybody (“We ain’t gonna pick and choose the cream of the crop”) on stage. I didn’t stay around to see the clean-up aftermath, but it was interesting seeing fans climb all over the place.

Elakelaiset showing how it’s done (be it music or boozing).

On the outside Eläkeläiset (roughly translated into The Pensioners) has very little to do with metal, but their humppa covers of known rock songs — and not least, alcoholism — has raised them up to legendary levels over here and abroad (with quite a few stints to Wacken). While one might skip them on CD, in a live setting they’re nothing but pure destruction and mayhem, disarming the audiences of any nay-saying and inhibitions with self-deprecation, showmanship and catchy fucking rhythms; “Twenty years of this same shit and still you come to see us”. The ultimate live band.

Apulanta’s Toni Wirtanen

Friday ended with one of Finland’s biggest and most successful rock groups, Apulanta who crashed onto the scene with their punk-ish (pop) rock nearly 20 years ago or so. They’ve gone through various phases in that time, at one point adding a few more strings to their instruments and a meatier downtuned flair to the music (see 2005’s “Pahempi Toistaan”). That happened around the same time when everyone else did so as well due to finally discovering Meshuggah again or something. But, they’ve since toned it down (or up) again. Interestingly the band’s origins were in (death) metal when it was formed by Antti Lautala and Toni Wirtanen, but Lautala left the band when he wanted to continue with metal, with the rest wanting to add more pop and punk to it. So, Toni Wirtanen picked up the vocal duties and eventually launched the band into the success it is today. Personally I’ve never gotten the feeling that the band has calculated its way to success, as they’ve been able to keep themselves somewhat relevant and accepted by simply doing their own thing.

During the show, Apulanta bathed in a wall of extreme light, with some displays set up to support the close encounter of the third kind. The stage setup, which I felt to be quite unique for a Finnish act, acted as a clear contrast to the band as the trio performed in classical, childhood fantasy cowboy outfits. I only got to watch the first three or four tracks since I was on the clock, but it didn’t look like the group was underperforming.

The weather was tons better on the bright new day, with sun shining and warming up the place — it was still summer in Finland, hallelujah! I had a clear cut plan. Go in. Three bands. Get out. Due to my prior commitments I didn’t have the opportunity to stick around longer, but that was okay, as the festival had kindly organized all the metal acts to open up Saturday.

THEN CAME SATURDAY

The gates opened at 2:00 PM. I was there 30 minutes later ready to witness Hameenlinna locals, melodic death metal group, Pain Confessor, take on their home turn at three o’clock. Pain Confessor made note of themselves with their debut album Turmoil back in 2004 — especially with their memorable hit song “Lake of Regret” (which is a lake in Hameenlinna where, as it’s been said, people went to wash off their forced baptism). The band released two more albums in 2006 and 2007 but never gained the real, lasting breakthrough they were perhaps hoping for (despite scoring a few international gigs as well). Last year the band returned rejuvenated with an updated lineup and released Incarcerated — their strongest and most interesting outing yet. The album saw Pain Confessor tackle some heavier notes and at times sport a strong Vader-esque feel. Just see “Oceans of Sickness”.

Pain Confessor’s Jaakko Kunnas gazing

The day’s opening show was held on the fourth stage inside a tent that stood within the gated alcohol zone, a new addition to the festival since last year. Pain Confessor’s crowd seemed to consist of the band’s friends and family — not unexpected considering most of the ticket holders were probably still sleeping off their hangovers.That didn’t stop the group from making a decent showing for themselves, though. A reliable live band that hopefully will carve out more interesting, pummeling songs in the future.

Omnium Gatherum still rocking

Next up on the main stage was Omnium Gatherum, making it a second time for me to see them live this summer. They didn’t seem to have a problem with it and I didn’t have any reason to complain either. Omnium Gatherum acknowledged that the festival had a bit of everything for everyone, and hoped that the (still rather small) audience wouldn’t mind some metal. Vocalist Jukka Pelkonen did his earnest to whip at least some kind of a reaction out of the tiny crowd. “You girls up front, yeah, you — clap your hands…Why? Because it’s fun. Try it” or singling out someone at the bar area “You in the In Flames shirt. Yeah you. Show me what you’ve got”. Between his smiles and vocals, he also gave out a general rule to the pop-oriented audience who were there lined up for ‘good seats’ to see shitty Finnish rap sensation Cheek: “Try moshing!”. Omnium Gatherum too did a good, warming show on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Peer Günt, surprisingly lively

Last on my list was a somewhat legendary, again Finnish, hard rock group Peer Günt who I thought might have called it quits not too long ago. Last time I heard of them, they had a huge lineup change due to alcohol related differences, so I didn’t know if they were still operational. Apparently they were. I saw the band before with the previous lineup about ten years ago at some shady, local American car gathering. Compared to that, the going seemed quite sober. Not necessarily a bad thing, as the band looked quite happy to be on stage despite the early time slot, throwing some authentic-sounding, hard rock ’n’ roll towards the now steadily growing audience and adequately ending my festival experiences. It was finally time to enjoy a bit of the summer — or what was left of it; the clouds were brooding.

After two larger, dedicated metal festivals, Wanaja Festival again provided a nice, differing if not even relaxing experience. The festival’s area, with grass, trees and a big fucking castle at the back, was the best one out of the three, adding to the festivities’ feeling; it felt like a place where you could come, sit around and enjoy the music even if it wasn’t always your cup of tea.

Omnium Gatherum’s audience

According to festival goers, the security was tighter this year as the men in neon vests tried to weed out alcohol from the area (and I too got searched). But inside the festival area, the atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming — even if outside, the nearby city streets were littered with drunken and passed out teenagers trying to grasp what was left of their vacation.

Finnish goddamn summer.

― You wanna go to Wanaja?
― Huh?
― Wanaja? Wanna go?
― Sure.

So we picked up our broken bones, depraved minds and our gear, bracing ourselves as we marched in through the festival’s gates.

Consider this a quick look at the Finnish music scene in general.

Friday

Since we forgot to photograph Elokuu, here’s a picture of some of the hardware stored right next to the Häme-castle. Doesn’t get more metal than this.

Mikko K (MK): When we arrived, Elokuu were playing on the main stage, cashing in on the nostalgia-craze that seems to be going on at the moment, where fields are golden, sun is either shining or casting long shadows and the girl from the next-door farm is mighty fine. The group’s frontline consists of B-tier Finnish reggae artist Nopsajalka and rapper Juno. While the somewhat small crowd was eating that shit up, we decided to begin our day with a plastic pint of reasonably (for a festival) priced beer.

Matti M (MM): Woe these couriers of entropy! Elokuu, what an awful excuse for music and an even worse soundtrack to drinking beer. Even the two goofs blabbing into their mics did not look that excited by the filth they were spewing. They looked as into it as two hookers on an all-night long street sweep motivated just by the fearful thought of being caned in the uterus later by some shady pimp character if they were to go back empty-handed. At least there was relatively cheap beer.

Haloo Helsinki. For ages 14-19 and 30-45.

MK: Haloo Helsinki was up next on the second stage, playing early for its major fan demographic, ie. kids, teenagers and those about to step into adult life. Sympathetic pop-rock with easily remembered choruses and instantly recognizable hooks. The show was surprisingly energetic for what it was. Three albums in, I’m predicting there’s plenty of more coming in the future (Ooooh!)

• MM: The singer Elli succeeded on making herself look very unattractive on the stage, as she resembled Courtney Love’s bastard daughter in every photo I took.
• MK: You monster. It should always be about the music and nothing but the music.
• MM: You almost sounded convincing.

Kotiteollisuus — Finland’s Black Label Society?

MK: Kotiteollisuus is a household name in the Finnish hard rock scene. Watching the band perform live brought the eternal question (from 2006) to mind once again: why would anyone still want to see them live? They were probably more tired live than on CD and their long-running schtick of manly frontman Jouni Hynynen belittling the audience lost its sharp tongued edge a long time ago. Occasionally they throw in a riff or two which, in a different context, might actually lead to a better experience, but no such luck here.

MM: Gather up your food stamps and coupons, there seems to be a never-ending retirement party on the stage. About ten years ago, I was sort of a fan of these guys, and then they made that cursed Helvetistä Itään record. An album that became their so-called breakout record followed the awful Finnish tradition of writing songs about living a shitty mediocre life filled with melancholy. The kind of music that soothes the semi-alcoholic, fatalistic and melancholic Finn by giving him something to thrive on — mainly sympathy and acceptance for being a hopeless sandbag to society. After they found a way to cash in, they’ve kept making that same record over and over again. The heavy sound and attitude that I kinda dug back then was replaced with parody-like apathy and righteously earned self-loathing. Seeing them farting up the stage again made me hope that somebody would climb up there and give these guys a wristwatch or something.

Pariisin Kevät guitarist for hire.

MK: The first and previous time I saw Pariisin Kevät (Spring of Paris) play live was on TV and the set was crushingly painful, mainly because of primus motor Arto Tuunela’s vocals as he aspired to become something unique and particular. I was expecting the worst again, but when heard live, the dude didn’t sound that bad at all. The music itself is basically classical ‘indie’ with its goods and bads. Not my bag, but props to Tuunela since he’s responsible, apparently, pretty much for everything that’s going on in the band’s music as the live outfit is merely there to play the instruments when he cannot.

Arto Tuunela. A full-time hippie.

MM: Seeing that Tuunela guy live and up close gave me the creeps. I might be paranoid, but something is not right with that hippie. And I am not saying this just because he is a hippie… or maybe that was just it. Is he even a hippie? I thought real hippies do not use prescription drugs, or do they? If they don’t, then why is he singing about not taking them anymore? Now I am confused…

Quite possibly the festival’s bigger (positive) surprises, Freeman.

MK: Freeman (Leo Christer Friman) is a legendary rock-artist who’s responsible for many of the now-hated songs that receive quite a bit of airtime (for example: “Ajetaan me Tandemilla”). He is part of the canon though, and at Wanaja Festival he was backed up by an army of able musicians such as Lauri Porra (Stratovarius) on bass and Zarkus Poussa on drums. Needless to say, despite the light content Freeman threw a rocking set that at times reached quite progressive tones. A good match for a summer day.

MM: I was out getting extra gear from HQ during this gig, but I had seen Freeman play live under a year ago. Back then, I kinda liked what I saw and heard, even though it is not something I would throw in while wanking off in my humble abode. Some harmless and ultra-catchy pop-rock that does not get on my nerves at all. This time, I got back during the last few songs and they seemed to have added some progressive-like elements here and there which I had not heard before.

Metal + dusk is an unbeatable combination.

MK: Friday’s only ‘pure’ metal band manifested itself as Stam1na took the stage. Always a whirlwind on stage, the band did not disappoint and provided an hour’s worth of thrashing as the sun began its steep decline. Like most Finnish bands, the guys are no strangers to dorky Finnish humor and they conquered the stage dressed up in working-class outfits. The festival’s only wall of death was seen as well at the band’s command. Earlier, Kotiteollisuus said some words about jokingly about Stam1na, so the band dedicated their “Kadonneet Kolme Sanaa” track to Hynynen, replacing the ‘human’ in the lyric ‘I hate you human’ with Hynynen. Too bad they too were only joking.

Deep down, Hyrde is actually a nice man.

MM: Yup, I gather they are best backstage buddies [with Kotiteollisuus], having toured the same Finnish rock circles together all these years. On stage, Stam1na is something of an antithesis to Kotiteollisuus when it comes being animated during their live performance. It has been a while since I last saw them and they appear to have kept their act solid during those years. Sometimes I still wonder how they got so big so fast and generally accepted by mainstream music listeners…

• MK: Must have something to do with signing up with Sakara Records (operated by some of the guys in Mokoma). They seem to do things right.

MM: …not to say that that it is a bad thing or anything. Quite the opposite. In ways they seem too fast, loud and maybe even too edgy to be regarded as a household name so easily. Maybe it’s just that their lyrics sometimes give off a poetry-boyish mystique, which then makes everything feel that much more deep and sensitive for the ladies.

• MK: When you think about it, the Sakara Records’ roster is full of tongue-twisting grammar foreplay. Speaking of language, Stam1na actually had their only English-sung song “Nomad” in the setlist.

Michael Monroe. It’s him.

MK: The evening’s headliner Michael Monroe needs no introduction. After finally shedding Hanoi Rocks off his shoulders some years ago, he’s since found a new drive after going solo back in 2010. Having turned 50 recently, the man shows no sign of taking it easy — as far as the stage performance goes. Dude’s an energetic piece of rock’n’roll and brought Overkill’s Blitz to mind; these old guys are simply shaming a lot of younger rockers. The New York Dolls’ (and Hanoi Rocks’) Sami Yaffa manned the bass, Steve Conte and Backyard Babies’ Dregen the guitar, with Karl Rockfist on drums. Pretty tight group that made the female fans quite eager.

Love is in the air.

MM: I agree with the above about Blitz and Monroe. Both of them seem to have been sculpted out from the same rock made of pure rock`n`roll, with stardust sprinkled all over them afterwards. This was my first time seeing Michael live and all the rumors about how Michael Monroe has the it-factor, and how he never fails to put on a show — I can’t argue with that. Once the band started it was clear that a world class rock n’ roll circus had just rolled into town. Most of the songs they played had more hooks than one could find from the island Tortuga circa 17th century, while some of the material could be labeled as generic hair-band stuff. A sublime show that had most of the crowd jumping from joy ended with a cover, as they busted out a Finnish rock classic “Get On” from Hurriganes. Naturally some of those trademark Michael Monroe leg-splits were performed in the middle.