13,14,15-06-2008 Provinssirock

Location: Seinäjoki (Finland)
By: Nina Mende

After the WGT my next festival I went to was Provinssirock in Seinäjoki/Finland, definitely in the province but still a very nice town. I already flew up to Seinäjoki on Thursday via Helsinki. That morning I had to get up early since the plane was going early, so all tired and crappy looking I started the journey into the province of Seinäjoki and celebrate the 30th anniversary of the festival there. The plane arrived in Helsinki around noon and the connection flight departed around 2pm, so 2 hours for airport shopping.
Waiting at Gate 14 A after some shopping, a group of Americans arrived at the gate as well, having fun not too quiet. Two of them pushed each other around in these … was it the luggage carts? I think so, anyways it looked totally funny. These Americans cheered up and entertained everybody who was around…

But this review is not supposed to be about these guys and me running into each other all the time and everywhere, but it’s about Provinssirock, so let me go on with the actual story…

After settling down in my hotel room and checking mails I went back outside through Seinäjoki taking a look around the town and checking in at the festival to get my staff wristband (which was green), and my photo pass. Checking out all entrances and walking around the festival area and hoping it would not rain, it did though, a couple times and it would rain throughout the weekend as well, so no warming sun. But hey, what’s a festival without bad weather? The party of the people and the atmosphere is all that counts at a festival, or am I wrong? And I always think it is better when it’s cold because you can wear as much as you like and take clothes off when it’s getting warmer. But what can you do when it’s totally hot?? You can’t (or at least shouldn’t) run around naked…
So that was my Thursday.

FRIDAY:
I got up in time to still get breakfast, then I went shopping, oh what a surprise. But I think Seppälä is just the best clothing store in Europe. The festival would start at 6pm; I wanted to get there by 5pm so I could check out the new territory and take a look around. So that was still a lot of time for me to go exploring Seinäjoki. Unfortunately I even saw a terrible car crash which got me big time, but sitting in the park down next to a church for a while helped me a bit to get over the shock and what I have seen… After getting all done for the first day of the festival I went to the festival area, went in and walked around to see where the stages are at and how to get in the pit, where the press truck is at and such. Staff already got in before the regular visitors, so it was still quiet on the festival ground and empty, everything was still clean and untouched. Some stands were still being built. The peace before the storm of 25 000 people began. Provinssirock was sold out, but with headliners such as Linkin Park, Billy Talent and Serj Tankian, and the head-headliner Foo Fighters that was no real surprise.

There were five stages, two of them in huge tents. Saarlilava (Islandstage) and Zanzibar were building a corner. A little river was going straight through the middle of the festival area and a little pond was behind the Saarilava. There were several drinking areas for the ones over 18 years where alcohol was served. One, the biggest, was in a tent as well, on the other side of the main stage called Päälava. There were also two huge screens. The second biggest stage was the X-stage in a huge tent, then the Rumbateltta, Saarilava and the little Zanzibar.

My evening began at the littlest stage Zanzibar where Samettivallankumous opened the festival. Samettivallankumous was founded in 2007, so still a very young band. They play great chilling country music, quite slow and very melodic. The band began right as it had stopped to rain and played for about half an hour. The size of the audience grew throughout their performance, a couple people became 20 or more and everybody cheered and enjoyed the couple songs the guys played. On stage was also a red floor lamp, which gave the whole show more the atmosphere of a living room concert, very familiar and home based. The guys sing in Finnish and have one album released so far.

Next band on my plan played at the Päälava, so I went across the bridge to that stage and got ready for the pit. The viewing area in front of the stage was very crowded already; everybody was waiting for Coheed and Cambria to start playing. A band from New York, founded in 2001 playing progressive rock with two female backing vocalists and a keyboard for some songs. They have five albums and three DVDs released so far. Coheed and Cambria rocked the audience through a rain free hour and received lots of applause for that.

Now I rushed over to Rumbateltta, right in time before it started pouring down like a water fall and just in time for one of my favourite Swedish bands: Hardcore Superstar. Energetic and powerful as usual the four guys started rocking the province and the Finnish crowd who were not less powerful: shouting, singing, jumping, capping… they did everything. Vic, the new guitar player wore a Day Eleven tour shirt from 2005, Jocke laid down on stage again, and both were jumping around on stage big time. For one song Vic put on funny sunglasses, Jocke’s superman shorts were visible several times and the guys had fans on stage for cooling off themselves in the already cold Seinäjoki. But as much as they moved they must have been sweating a lot. The singer was getting quite close to his fans which they appreciated very much. Adde was playing with the video camera as he got filmed; he and Vic had fun on stage like chasing each other and such. “Standing On The Verge” began as acoustic version with only Jocke singing and Vic playing but the rest joined the song later on. They played three songs as encore and for “We Don’t Celebrate Sundays” Jocke took off his shirt. The whole amazing show lasted almost an hour. Way too short, but this was a festival…

But I did, and I don’t regret it. So over I went to Päälava. Since it had stopped to rain I decided that I should go into the audience and watch some of the show from there, and I did. Thanks Seinäjoki for leaving me in one piece. Behind me there was a girl crying, she was so happy to finally see this band live. I gave her a hug because it was so cute to watch. Oh, I didn’t mention who was playing now, did I? My apologies. It was Linkin Park’s very first performance in Finland who played songs off all albums and were jumping around all the time. So was the audience, as well as singing along and just having a blast. The cheering and singing was so terribly loud that they were almost as loud as the band if not even louder at times. A really great show that lasted for about an hour. Chester put on a fuzzy hat for a while. Mike and Chester were also talking a lot with the audience. Joseph had this little stuffed animal sitting on his keyboard. So many people were watching their performance… And it was such an amazing atmosphere, the audience was so happy to see these six Californians live.

After Linkin Park I went back to X-stage to take a peak into the Stam1na show, a Finnish metal band that is always having fun on stage. In the audience there were many metal heads banging along to the harsh guitar riffs of Stam1na and shouted along, but there were also very many girls in the audience banging along with guys. But I didn’t stay for long because I went back to the Päälava…

… to see CMX who began at 1 am. CMX, originally Cloaca Maxima, is another Finnish rock band. They started with English language hardcore punk, but later moved to a more mainstream style of rock music with Finnish lyrics. This band began in 1985, which is quite some years ago, but they are still pulling off a great performance live. It was the last band for the night and it was still light outside. Oh how I love Finland in the summer. Now the masses of Provinssirock visitors went to their hotel, the camping areas or home to be back soon for another great (and unfortunately rainy day) at Provinssirock.

SATURDAY:

Back at the festival area Negative was opening this yet sunny Saturday at the Päälava. With their new guitar player Gary this Finnish band from Tampere began to warm up the audience which was not that big yet, but it was still early in the day and this day would be long! The girls in the first row were screaming already though and loved the energetic performance of the six boys. Jonne was dressed in all white and looked very tired. Antti played with the audience. They played songs off all albums including several songs off the latest, but all their fans were able to sing along to even the newest ones. Jonne put on a hat sometime in the middle of the show and turned the spots to the audience while singing “Moments Of Our Love”. They played for about an hour and closer to the end there were already more people watching.

The next band for me to watch was at the X-Stage where it was also still quite empty: Scandinavian Music Group. Founded in 2002 they have released four albums so far. As they began playing their country music the tent filled up quickly. Somehow it reminded me of real American country music with the banjo and stuff. The songs were slow and melodic. Really nice listening to.

Next one, at Saarilava though, was the singer of Neljä Ruusua and a drummer. A totally crowded place as well, but Neljä Ruusua is a big band with many fans so no wonder that many people also like the solo project of the singer. My first thoughts as he began singing were: Wow, he is like the Finnish version of Morten Harket (singer of A-HA). Ismo has gorgeous vocal skills and great facial expressions that make you feel the music with every note. The lyrics are in Finnish but easy to understand because they are sung clearly and “High Finnish”, no slang. The stage was full with music instruments and they played for almost two hours.

Danko Jones began playing at the Päälava in time, there was no running late at this festival so it seemed. The three Canadians played a little more aggressive rock and Danko talked a lot with the audience and also shared some valuable views of his with the audience. Danko Jones worked the crowd and heated them up big time. Everybody screamed, jumped, and rocked along. They declared that music is never too loud and kicked asses. Including encore the Canadian rock trio played for more than an hour.

Over to X-Stage again to dance to Swedish sounds, again: The Sounds. The Sounds are a post-punk revival band from Helsingborg, Sweden founded in 1999. They said it would be the only show this summer but it seems like they will also play at Ruisrock in Finland. Female fronted Maja danced and sang, talking to the audience and had a great time on stage. The performance was very energetic and positive, a typical happy feeling obtained in the tent. The peaceful and friendly atmosphere this festival had was even stronger during this performance. The audience almost sang louder than Maja and even sang for her during some songs. It was really great to hear and see everybody acting along with the band, having fun and appreciating the band. The four guys around Maja and Maja herself gave everything, rocked the stage, rocked the audience and rocked Provinssi. They played for about one and a half hours, thanking us a lot and enjoying the festival.

That was the end of another great day at the 30th Provinssirock. One last one to go.

SUNDAY:

Back to the festival area I went to the X-Stage where Paramore were about to play. A Canadian female fronted band. The singer is still very young but does an amazing job on stage. It was totally crowded, people were even standing outside of the tent watching the show. Everybody clapped along and many people even sang along, there was lots of purple light and the voice somehow reminded me of Die Happy. It was the band‘s very first time in Seinäjoki. The bass player jumped around a lot and he even spun a wheel. And there it was again, the indescribable feeling Provinssirock has, I am sure the artist are just as amazed by it.

The last band before the grand finale of this festival: Disco Ensemble rocking the X-stage. A very powerful performance began as they jumped on stage bursting out with “Magic Recoveries”. You could so tell that they were happy to be back in Finland and play in front of this audience which was just as happy. The cheering was totally loud and the audience did everything the band asked of. Disco Ensemble played for more than an hour but it seemed so much shorter. The audience with all their fans loved it, singing along and cheering along, celebrating them like heroes.

Now, the grand finale, 25 000 visitors moving the same direction: Päälava to see the one and only perform: THE FOO FIGHTERS. I don’t think I have to introduce the band to you. Everybody knows them, whether you like them or not. I went into the crowd again for a couple songs until it began to rain, but till then I was part of the jumping and cheering masses, singing along and listening to what Dave had to tell us. Foo Fighters had many instrumentals and solos, including a triangle solo. They had a female violin player on stage. Dave said they would play till we tell them to stop or they are not allowed to play anymore. There was a long drum solo, as well as some songs played with an acoustic guitar and the violin player. For some other songs she sang the backing vocals, for another song there was a piano. The drummer also sang a Coldplay song off the new album of them. “Best Of Me” was of course the last song of the performance which lasted full two hours. 25 000 people cheered, sang along, clapped and danced. Everybody, really everybody could sing along. It was also the first time in Finland according to Dave and he promised to be back soon. The two hours seemed to be only one or even less, the Foo Fighters know how big they are and they don’t pretend like they wouldn’t know that, yet was there something about these guys that made them like your next door’s neighbors, a simpatico thing about them. An amazing show, an amazing band, and a gorgeous festival. Thank you Seinäjoki, we rocked the province.

See you all in Seinäjoki to the party of the people next year!!! Let’s have another 30 years of this wonderful festival!

Links:
Samettivalankumus MySpace
Coheed & Cambria MySpace
Hardcore Superstar MySpace
Von Hertzen Brothers MySpace
Linkin Park MySpace
Stam1na MySpace
CMX MySpace
Negative MySpace
Scandinavian Music Group MySpace
Ismo Anlanko MySpace
Danko Jones MySpace
The Sounds MySpace
Ihmiset MySpace
Lauri Tahka Official
Paramore MySpace
The Black Lips MySpace
Disco Ensemble MySpace
Foo Fighters MySpace