10-04-2015 Viikate

Venue: Rock Café, Tallinn (Estonia)
By: Nilla Meri

Viikate(meaning scythe in Finnish) is a Finnish rock band formed in 1996. The band has released 11 studio albums so far. They are best known for their melancholic lyrics which are fully in Finnish.

The band has a special spot in my heart since it is one of the very first Finnish bands with Finnish lyrics that I’ve started to listen. Most of my Finnish vocabulary memory has been filled up with Viikate songs. I had the honour of seeing the band for the second time last week in Tallinn. They were the support band of Estonian rock band Kosmikud on April 10 in Rock Café Tallinn, Estonia. They started the show sharp at 22.00 and finished approximately an hour later.

The band has been talking to the crowd quite often but unfortunately mostly in Finnish. Some Finns are tend to forget that Estonian is a different language from Finnish and not all Estonians can speak Finnish. Even though I found it a bit rude that the band was talking Finnish but not English, the crowd seemed not to care too much. Well, also to mention that the major part of the crowd seemed to be Finns. This changed dramatically before Kosmikud took the stage.

When Viikate started to play “Viina, terva ja hauta” almost everyone in the crowd sang along with them. Oh yes, this band is the best Finnish language teacher ever! At the end of the show I caught the guitar pick of Viikate and slept in peace murmuring , “Jos ei viina ja terva ja hauta auta pilkkomaan pimeää” the whole night.

Kaarle Viikate (Kalle Virtanen) — vocals, guitar
Simeoni Viikate (Simo Kairistola) — drums
Arvo Viikate (Ari Taiminen) — guitar, vocals
Ervo Viikate (Erkka Koskinen) — bass, vocals

Links:
Viikate Facebook
Viikate Official