12-03-2008 Uniklubi

Venue: Apollo Live Club
By: Elvira Visser
 

My first introduction with this Finnish band was in summer 2004, when I heard their song “Rakkautta ja Piikilanka” on the radio. Now almost 4 years later it was time to see them live. My colleagues Sabine and Nina both wrote about this band before me and also about their history.Uniklubi played in Apollo Live Club, a great venue with a little bit of ballroom decoration, ceiling and balconies. Many girls had gathered in front of the stage and some guys where sitting on the side or standing near the bar. I arrived just in time and when I found a nice spot they started to play. Good timing. When Uniklubi entered the stage the girls screamed very loud but luckily the band just started and the girls stopped creaming to sing along from the first line to the last one Jussi was singing. They seemed to know every song inside out. Which was nice because as soon as an intro from a song started the girls recognised it screamed and then sang along. It went even more crazy when they played their singles like “Huomenna” and “Rakkautta ja Piikilanka”. But it gave the evening a special feeling.

At the intro from the second or third song it started a little industrial, very good bass line and pounding drums mixed with flashing light. This showed that the band is not a pop band, as to what some people think. They showed at various moments that this band is capable of providing some good dozes of rock. The light show this evening was quite amazing. The back of the stage was filled with one big screen and there were some light beams on the stage. Which let the band stand out even more then just a pop band.

They sing the lyrics in Finnish and I do not really understand what they are singing but the melody lines immediately stick to your head, which is the strength of this band. Jussi (the singer) can sing low and high but I wish he put a little more feeling in some songs. He did that several times, but I would like to see some more. Or maybe add a little more scream like sounds as in the song “Huomenna” where it is not only just charming. Most songs start with charming singing mixed with some guitar solos here and there, to burst out a little more in the choruses.

The band seemed to just play their songs tonight, although Janne (guitar) and Teemu (bass) walked around and played maybe little duels facing each other you could see they had a good time but I think I expected a little more. The songs were good, the light show was great but there was still something missing. Maybe the magic that Nina was writing about in an earlier review. For me it was not there that evening. It was a good show but did not stand out.