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[s-annas-gig-blog]

Living room concert featuring A.Impivaara + MeriTuuli

[Anna] It was a little past 7 PM on a Saturday in Turku. It was getting dark, and just a little too cold for this to count as spring, even in March. Me, Sanna and our friend P hesitated in the yard of an old wooden house. Was this the right address? We all quickly checked our phones, in silence, and then realised we’re actually standing exactly outside the correct building. So, we headed up some steep stairs, following the sound of voices. We awkwardly climbed in through an open door, and timidly looked around a cozy apartment and at the twenty-ish unfamiliar faces. Ah, yes, this really must be the right place.  

The concept is actually quite amazing in its simplicity: First, find one or a couple of up-and-coming musicians that you love, invite them to come play in your living room, and then invite a bunch of nice people you think will appreciate it. What you have is a mix between an acoustic concert and a regular house party - where everyone brings something to eat and drink, and there’s a voluntary entrance fee - all profits given to the performers after the gig. 

During the concert itself, everyone was either sitting in the couches, on the floor on pillows, or standing around the room. If for a moment I forgot I was in someone’s living room, the joyfully babbling toddler rolling around on the carpet reminded me of where I was. The performances were brilliant, relaxed and intimate.

A.Impivaara performed first. All I knew of him was that he’d played in punk bands, which made me wonder how that might translate at a show in a living room. But it worked. The songs described personal experiences and almost-happy life-stories, and the whole spectrum of less-than-successful relationships (“This song is about how you’re having an argument with your partner, and you’re just thinking about how you want them to kill themselves”. You know, just, basic relationship stuff like that). The lyrics were far from mundane or unauthentic. The songs were played on acoustic guitar with mesmerizing and irregular arrangements, and raw vocals that were on the border between singing and reciting poetry.

[Sanna] Next up was the folk-pop duo MeriTuuli, twin-sisters from Helsinki. The organizer had read an article about them in Helsingin Sanomat and fallen in love with their music. The sisters have pretty much been making music together ever since they got their hands on their brother’s guitar as preschoolers. At 21, they’ve now released their first album.

I’ve since listened to their album and while their songs are beautiful, it does not compare to how they sounded acoustically. On the album, the simple purity of their voices and guitars often gets drowned by a whole orchestra of musicians. Yngwie Malmsteen is wrong: sometimes less really is more.

Before grabbing their guitars, the two of them had been walking around, greeting guests like anyone else there. Most of us probably didn’t even realize who they were. I at least didn’t. The atmosphere was light and people were chatting with each other. When the sisters suddenly stepped up and plucked the first chords on their guitars, the room went silent. It was as if a collective shiver went through all of us when Meri and Tuuli started humming their song in unison.

A candle lit living room. Someone’s home. Outside, a winter that’s slowly melting away in spring rain. Two identical instruments and voices, weaving songs in harmony. Mere wooden walls and our lungs as their amplifiers.

Music that bares it’s soul and doesn’t hide in cynicism or dark humor is rare in Finland. It’s even rarer that it then doesn’t end up being over-sentimental, but simply breathtakingly beautiful. It makes me so happy that these two young artists exist and are only now starting out. We will hear from them yet, they are inevitable.

[Anna] What made this whole event special was the amazingly warm and appreciative atmosphere. On the private FB-event it says that “the goal is to sweeten these evenings in March, showcase lovely music, bring culture into people’s living rooms, and obviously to bring wonderful people together” [translation from Finnish by A], and I believe that goal was perfectly met. 

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The Mansion + Jess and the Ancient Ones @ Dynamo

[Sanna] Like any little Child of the North, I once had my face Jackson Pollocked by hormones and became infatuated with metal. However, as a pathological optimist, even back then I could never truly take angst all too seriously. Luckily the conflict was forever resolved when I came upon a story about Black Sabbath.

One evening on a tour, Black Sabbath found a group of fans had gathered in front of their hotel rooms. For a band that was just becoming popular, there wasn’t anything unusual about that. This time, however, instead of asking for autographs, the fans sat there with candles, chanting about satan. After a moment of W.T.F, the band made a quick, tactical retreat. Once they’d devised a plan, the men walked in a solemn progression through the candle lit hallway of satanists and into their rooms. The moment their synchronised clocks struck their targets, they burst out simultaneously, blew out the candles and started singing ’Happy Birthday’.

There was no return. Satanic rock had forever won me over.

When you’re used to seeing hipsters in Dynamo, it always gives you pause if the crowd suddenly consists of black clad, long haired metal guys. It’s a little as if the opening flute of Swanlake were playing and instead of ballet dancers skipping in, the stage was turned into a mosh pit. For a moment you wonder if these people got lost on their way to Klubi or Portti and simply wandered in to escape the soul freezing cold. Of course the moment Mansion started playing, all was as it should be.

We’ve seen Anniina perform as Anniina Auf a lot lately, so it was exhilarating to instead see her black clad, dramatic alter ego take stage. In many ways, the Mansion feels like a tribute to 70’s satanic rock, while their melancholy, highly distorted power chords are very much from the 21st century. Anniina's bright, powerful voice compliments the band’s heavy, rolling electric guitars. They sound impressive live, but in addition to that, Anniina’s book of satanic verses and 70’s hair deserves a special mention.

If the Mansion sounds like 21st century, the main act -Jess and the Ancient Ones, sounds like the 70’s. With some 80’s power riffs mixed in, they still very much embody satanic psychedelic rock.

As a band who has been the opening act for King Diamond in the States, it’s amazing to have them keep coming back to perform in Turku. With her hair, her smudged, crazy eyes and booming voice, Jess is clearly possessed by spirits that have finally found a home. The whole band performed with such wonderful immersion, yet weren’t afraid to crack a smile. They sounded amazing.

There’s something inexplicably adorable about satanic psychedelic rock. It’s the same kind of naive and naughty as 80’s synth pop. Both genres dip their toes in to flirt with conservative Christian taboos; the other with black magic, the other with sex. A second similarity the genres have is how the 90’s temporarily ruined them. Norwegian penguin men started setting fires to churches and E-Rotic happened. Too much, guys. Too much. Now I’ve witnessed a third similarity. Both genres go with Dynamo perfectly.

[s-annas-gig-blog]

Jantso Jokelin Duo @ Kuka (+ Possu-tekno @ Bar Ö)

[Anna] When me and my friends did US Route 66 in 2014, we had a “must-see”-list of things each of us absolutely needed to see. Mine was to go see a blues gig, preferably in Chicago. And so we went to the legendary Kingston Mines in Chicago and happened to see the Mike Wheeler Band (who’s been playing blues in Chicago since, like, the 80′s). It was awesome, and I thought my quota for blues was appropriately filled. But, on Friday 22.1.2016, we went to tiny bar Kuka, on a normal Friday in Turku, to see a couple of pretty regular, young white Finnish guys (so, pretty much as far from the Chicago blues scene as you can get) play insanely convincing delta blues; Jantso Jokelin playing a beautiful resonator guitar and the harmonica, and Sampo Laaksonen (who plays in Sigi Tolo) on a cajón (with various extra pedals and things that go “chink” and “clonk” attached to it).

I had only listened to a couple of youtube videos with Jokelin right before the gig, but it was enough to convince me that I needed to see this live (if not only because Jokelin’s harmonica-beatboxing is a little mind-blowing). 

Kuka was quite full when we got there, but we thankfully didn’t end up at the very back. Jokelin is surely a good singer and performer (who knows the value of a ridiculous “let me take my shirt off”-joke), sure of his skills, and the duo sounded great together. They mainly performed classic delta blues covers, but also (at least?) one original song, which blended in seamlessly with its older counterparts. 

Anyway, I am shamelessly going to fan-girl this dude, and gonna have to keep an eye out for more of his blues gigs, because, well, it was awesome.  After the gig we headed over to Bar Ö (which is right next to Dynamo and opened quite recently). There, we sat and listened to what was described as “Possu tekno” (”Piggy techno”), for obvious reasons. Ah, what an appropriately random way to end the evening <3

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Have You Ever Seen the Jane Fonda Aerobic VHS? @ Dynamo

[Sanna] Once upon a time, two sisters found something that belonged to their mother. Inspired by the wide smiled lady on that vhs, they put on a brightly coloured gym outfit and a pink tutu. The following hour was hard work indeed, but they made it to the end. Fast forward a couple of decades, Have You Ever Seen the Jane Fonda Aerobic VHS? definitely rivalled a Jane Fonda aerobic vhs as a workout.

It wasn’t until the band started playing that we realised we’ve seen them at AP fest last autumn. Back then they stood out because it was a punk festival and HYESTJFAV did not have an electric guitar on stage. Instead they use distortion with their bass to add some grittiness to their sound. As to ’their sound’; is it a nod towards surf rock? Garage rock? Pop rock? Punk rock? They sound nostalgic, yet fresh. Silly, yet smart. Rebellious and wonderfully happy.

Dynamo was packed and the audience was jumping around and grinning madly all throughout the gig. It’s been a very cold week, yet a couple of songs in, I very much wished I had been wearing something other than a triple layer of wooly stockings. Perhaps even white leggings and a pink tutu, once again.

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Horse Attack Sqwad @ Dynamo

[Anna] “This song is about a horse” (”Tää biisi kertoo hevosesta”) was the introduction to almost all the songs. On stage there’s three guys in horse masks. 

Ever wondered what it’s like for a horse? What life is like down at the stables? I certainly never knew and never wondered. None the less, I have now relearned something I already knew (but perhaps never truly understood until now): that you should never, ever, assume you’re allowed to touch a horse. Especially someone else’s. If you do, then we’re gonna have a problem, and some truly nasty shit is gonna go down.  

This gig certainly gave me some valuable insight into the dark and gritty reality of horse-life, and from (and this stupid pun is so totally intended) the horse’s mouth, no less.

“Heinät on tehty ei ongelmia hampaat on pesty ei ongelmia kengät on putsattu, turkit on harjattu, annettu kaurat ei ongelmia tallissa ruunat ei ongelmia, tallissa tammat ei ongelmia tallissa luvaton vieras sen kosketusyritys hevoseen, ongelmia varotus kerran jo annettu, ja tää varotus koskaan ei vanhennu silti varotus monesti viitattu kintaalla monet täält arkusta kannettu   ala villilän talleilta ikuiseen lepoon mut vittuukos koskit sää koskit mun hevoon” (from “Hevosia ei ongelmia”)

There’s lots of people in the audience (and at least one horse). I’m short, so I can’t really see much more than the occasional glimpse of what’s happening up front. But, it’s due to other reasons that a lot of the lingo and references go completely over my head (sorry not sorry, can’t help it with the puns).

I must have heard a bunch of grime bands before, but never actually looked up a definition before this, simply assuming it was just a type of rap. The electronic songs were quick, complexly off-beat (which is seemingly typical for grime, besides the generally violent and sexual lyrics), and the delivery of the lyrics was a flurry, where “hevonen” (horse), “nakki” (sausage) and “talli” (stables) were the most prominent words.

“Älä koske mun hevoon” (”Don’t touch my horse”) is even the name of their album from May 2015, that’s how important this lesson about not touching horses is. In the music video for their song “Hevosia ei ongelmia”, the brutality of a horse being touched is clearly demonstrated.

I’m also not the first one to immediately think of Taidevandalismi’s awesome picture when hearing the album name:

Anyway, me and Sanna pretty much laughed ourselves through this gig (because of absurd lyrics like ”[...] jos sul on kaks joilla nakkiruokavalio, nosta ilmaan kavio!”), so it was awesome. 

Before writing this post, I was actually thinking “I don’t really listen to enough rap or grime to be allowed to write about this”. But then I realised, that if guys in horse masks rapping about horses is allowed, then who gives a damn?

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Paperi T @ Klubi

[Sanna] ”Is Paperi T a cute guy,” my sister wondered. ”There’s so many young women here.” That’s how it definitely seemed like, when we’d accidentally gotten to Klubi way too early. However, in an hour the place was already filled by your regular Turku-hipster crowd and hip hoppers. Once it was Paperi T’s turn to take stage, Klubi was so packed one might’ve confused the event with a CMX gig.

Going to this concert, I very much felt like I’d missed out on that moment where someone has just gotten discovered by a select few, but isn’t super popular yet. ”I’ve performed in Turku more than I’ve performed in Helsinki this year,” he said. When he came on stage, everyone around me knew his songs by heart.

Paper T’s lyrics are an interesting combination of regular angry rap, earnest heartaches and sudden cultural references. His rhymes seem to be created by someone who knows he’s getting a little too old to pass as cool when he drinks until dawn on a weekday. Over and over, he keeps skilfully tagging a line between romantic and pathetic. Amidst dark bass beats, mixed with elements of anything from Suomirock to Soul, it’s exhilarating to listen to how he churns your regular ”shits” and ”fucks" and suddenly weaves them into poetic rhymes.

I haven’t heard a lot of rap live -aside from festivals, so it felt like a nice change to see Paperi T perform. At the same time there were a lot of familiar elements to it all. Mainly the crowd, Paperi T’s long, tangled hair and self-parody, not to mention the bottle of red wine on stage.

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Hey Elbow @ Dynamo / Anniina Auf @ Dynamo

[Sanna] A long week at work made us miss out on Dead Girl Diamonds, who was the first band to take stage. They were just about finished with their last song as we entered Dynamo, so I can’t say much else than that they sounded good for the two minutes we got to listen to them. Hopefully we get a chance to see them again.

Last time we saw Anniina Auf in Dynamo was in April, when she was the opening act for Jaakko Eino Kalevi. She impressed us then, even if her stage performance was very raw and she was quite clearly nervous. Not that she hadn’t performed before. She’s been in Slow BLVD (amongst others), but it must be a very different matter to step up on stage alone with one's own material, than to be part of a band. In August at Kirjakahvila, she already performed with confidence, and in H2Ö her show had evolved and become very refined. The contrast between April and now felt exhilarating.

Tonight we saw a confident artist with vision on stage, no longer an opening act but one of three bands to perform that night. She hadn’t added new songs to her set, but the electric guitar and especially the saxophone brought so much to her songs. Can’t wait to see what she does in the future. She has so much potential.

The last act of the night was a Swedish indie-rock band called Hey Elbow. I’d listened to them a little bit on Spotify, just to know what they were about, but it had not prepared me for what was to come. They sounded absolutely incredible live, their drummer especially. Halfway through, our friend B pointed out that he looks like Jim Carrey from Dumb and Dumber. In any case, we’re all fans of Swedish Jim Carrey and all of Hey Elbow now. [Anna’s short comment] What struck me most about Hey Elbow’s performance (besides the amazing drumming) was the intensity with which they played. Intense, but meditative, oddly enough. Also, there was almost an air of seriousness about the whole thing; communication between band members seemed minimal, and no one smiled. It was as if (to use a really silly metaphor) they were aliens who had just landed on stage, and this was their natural state, just performing these songs where ever they went. //end of comment Instead of an encore, their singer walked up to the stage, looking taken aback and a little embarrassed by the roaring applause. “That’s it,” she said shyly with a Swedish accent, “that’s all we have. Sorry!” We left Dynamo on cloud number nine, squealing about how this gig was a prime example of why we go out in the middle of the week and listen to bands we’ve never heard of before.

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Satellite Stories @ Dynamo

[Sanna] Satellite Stories. We’d heard about them before, but I have to admit I had not realised just how popular this band is. They’ve toured around Europe and Japan, but Britons seem to find them especially delightful. This Wednesday, they performed in… yes. Dynamo. What is up with Dynamo and midweek gigs? First LCMDF and now Satellite Stories.

The band performed solidly, it was more than apparent that they’ve done this before. At the same time they seemed genuinely delighted to be playing in a tiny club in Turku. Four Duracell bunnies from Oulu. The place was packed, people knew their songs and they jumped along. Such energy is always wonderfully contagious. Anna pointed out in slight dismay, that Satellite Stories fans seem to be quite tall. She saw very little of the performance. Nonetheless, the gig was a breath of fresh, happy, indie-pop air.

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LCMDF @ Dynamo / DISCO I MITT HJÄRTA @ Dynamo

[Sanna] Dynamo was nearly empty when we got there at nine on just another Thursday evening. Generally the great thing about small club or bar venues is their intimacy, but there’s not much intimacy about a hectare forest with a handful of spread out trees. It really was too bad for Disco I Mitt Hjärta, who did an excellent job.

Everything about them, from the sounds to their pastel shirts, was like straight from the 80′s. I mean it literally. Their songs did not only take influence from the 80′s, they were the 80′s. If it wasn’t for the smart phone that was sticking out from the keyboard player’s jacket, I would’ve thought I accidentally stepped into the DeLorean on October 21st. 

As much as we enjoyed the gig, we became quite aware of the fact that the 80′s have been in fashion for quite some time already. The generation that barely lived then but feels nostalgic about it, is becoming old. I found myself wondering: “what defines the 90′s?” What will 90′s nostalgic music, made by the generation that barely experienced the 90′s, sound like?

As it happens, the next band answered that question.

A few more people had time to show up for LCMDF and as soon as they started, the hectare forest’s trees rushed in together to jump around madly. A few songs in, a joking but obviously confident grin rose to their singer’s face. “One day,” she said, “we’re going to play for a stadium and then you’ll all be like: ‘we saw them when they still played at Dynamo’”. I believe her.

I haven’t seen anything quite like them before. They sounded wonderfully fresh with their rap and 90′s nostalgia clothes and soundboard. No wonder they’ve done well abroad. It was obvious they’ve taken entire rooms over before. They already took over an entire stage at Flow. So thank you, LCMDF, for performing in Dynamo on just another thursday evening. Despite the small venue, you set Turku ablaze. That’s how it felt to us who saw you live.

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Squeee.

Hiii.

Squeeeeeeee.

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Draama-Helmi @ Bar Kuka / Whale and the Village  & Odd Hugo (EE) @ Dynamo / Lion Eyes @ Old Bank

Anna: “So do you have a ticket?” Sanna: “Oh, uhm, I thought you got one for me too?”  Anna: “No, what? Oh no, we only got one for me and N, because I didn’t know if you had one! And now there might not be tickets!” (panic-face) [Anna] How is the story going to end, you ask? (I assume, with great urgency) 

Well, thankfully, a magical unicorn-angel appeared, a magical chain of events unfolded and - Whoopie! We got a ticket. 

(I swear, we didn’t mug anyone for it.) And we get front-row seats (next to Kauko Röyhkä, I might add). Or, well, we create some front-row seats by taking up all the space. Draama-Helmi gets on stage, takes off her shoes, and introduces herself. Judging by how she twists her hands, she seems really nervous, but otherwise like a regular, shy human being. She’s one of those “accidental” musicians, that just sort of started performing her own brand of irregular rap. She seems to have a bunch of friends (or hard-core fans) in the audience that cheer her on. She goes through her repertoir of songs (not that many) about parties, about being drunk. Then she casually performs her “silliest song” (”hupsuin biisi”, as she put it) about killing a dog by torture. At this point it comes so completely out of the blue and out of context that it feels absolutely perfect. And this is why I think Draama-Helmi is awesome.

The headliner at Kuka was actually Dxxxa D & Hzzzt, but we were on a mission: still three gigs to go see! 

We headed over to Dynamo (6€), and came in as Whale and the Village were already playing. The place was pretty empty, but we went up front, none the less. The band is local, from Turku, and was founded in 2013. They’ve already released a few albums. I’ve tried to catch their gigs earlier, but there’s always been other gigs that somehow felt more urgent. They’re a wonderfully upbeat and talented ensemble, that managed to create a well-rounded sound with very little (though I think they played both a mandolin and a banjo, yay!)

Next up was Odd Hugo from Estonia. It was the first time they were in Turku, though they’ve toured in Finland before. Currently the band had 7 members, six of them on stage (girl with the accordion not visible in the photo below, sadly). Stylistically they fall in the same category as Whale and the Village, but their arrangements were more fluid, and obviously the amount of instruments (trumpets etc.) made it more epic (personally, I can’t resist any song with a trumpet. Recalling the Tundramatiks gig. Whee!). 

Except for liking their music, I was also pretty stoked about supporting an Estonian band. Because it feels like we are only recently starting to get some bands from across the gulf. I might be wrong, and just haven’t been paying attention, but wanted to support them anyway. So yeah, got their album. Look at that gorgeous cover-art: 

Last but not least, we ran down the block to Old Bank to see the duo Lion Eyes. Considering the venue (large, crowded, noisy), they still managed to keep people’s attention and delivered pretty perfectly. They’re friends of a friend, and they mainly tour doing some pretty awesome covers, but they also make their own music, with great vocals and very strong vibes from the classic rock genre (which they also cover). Great ending to our gig-night. Also, good job us for being such enthusiastic gig-goers. 

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Milja Inkeri @ Kuka

[Anna] Milja Inkeri, or the artist formerly known as Milya, released her first album! Sanna and I saw her last spring at Dynamo (5.5.2015) when she was performing along with Maglevs and Kolmas Ilmestys! It was a much more confident musician performing in Kuka -- still dead serious about her performance, but not one that would get flustered if her playback wouldn’t work immediately. Her live performances are pretty impressive considering her entire setup, and one-woman shows are pretty hard-core in genereal. 

You can listen to her album on Soundcloud, where I just got stuck listening to her stuff on repeat. Live performances are always different from album versions of songs, obviously, and I think I prefer the live-versions. Part of the charm of Milja’s music is the etheralness and how a venue like Kuka or Dynamo makes the playback and piano sound. Her album-songs lack a bit of that immediacy. Her remixed music then also reminds me more of Tori Amos and Fiona Apple (even if her music was describes as “a mix of Björk, Muse, Joanna Newsom and a bit of Radiohead“ in Dynamo’s FB event back in May), which is in no way bad, just different from the live-versions. Oh! Oh! My favourite songs: “My Maker” and “Sapphire Blue Eyes” <3   

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Marc Melia (ES) @ Kuka

[Sanna] What better way to start a week, than a gig at Kuka? This one was quite a find and we have the bar’s event page on facebook to thank for it. We'd never heard of this before, but a short visit to Marc Melia's Soundcloud page was more than enough to convince us. Besides, Kuka's event page said: beautiful electronic landscapes, complicated arpeggio transports and post-Kraftwerk melodies. What more could these obscurity loving, pretentious hipster corners of our hearts wish for? Anna and me will be completely happy listening to all kinds of weird shit. We'll giggle and bounce when someone pulls out a game boy and preforms an hour long gig of complete cacophony, but this gig was not in that category. It was interesting, beautiful and completely captivating. This is why we drudge through a swamp of tiny little Turku gigs! Sometimes you find something weird to laugh about, and sometimes you find something truly wonderful. This gig was amazing! [Anna] What Sanna said! 

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FLOW / 14-16.8.2015 / Helsinki

[Anna] The idea for this gig blog was born at Flow Festival in Helsinki, while sitting on a slightly damp lawn under a few birch trees, in the light of lanterns and with an endless stream of people passing around us. My feet hurt like hell and the entire day had been somehow overwhelming and awesome at the same time. So I really wanted to jump early to post from Flow, even if most part of the posts will be retrospective and will appear in a most non-chronological order (but achived according to their actual dates). 

We had a ticket for all three days, and it was worth it. The band I truly wanted to see was Florence + the Machine, which really was the high point of the weekend. Actually, the show was so amazing we decided to just call it a day afterwards, and head back home. The aftershock of Florence’s stage charisma sustained us the entire 3-hour drive.

If I remember correctly (and I might not, since I may have suffered from some kind of completely voluntary “amagad-it’s-Florence-and-I’m-in-the-fifth-row-aaaah”-syndrome just then), but I took this picture just as she was singing:

"Say my name And every colour illuminates We are shining And we will never be afraid again." 

Here’s the program! (the incredibly difficult code here is; circled/underlined = bands we thought sounded interesting & dot = bands we actually listened to): 

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The Kaneel @ Kirjakahvila / Anniina Auf @ Kirjakahvila / Johanna Porola @ Kirjakahvila

[Sanna] Ahh, Kirjakahvila. Turku's womb for subculture, activism and vegan food. They provide a space for a variety of events, especially in the summers. Tonight was KEIKKAILTA ((((((((( We stepped into Brinkkala Yard when the Kaneel started performing. It’s a delightful hipster band from Turku that plays great indie-rock. They’ve been out and about for quite a while already, but this was the first time we had a chance to catch them live. Solid and good.

Next up was Anniina Auf. This was the second time we saw her perform her set and already she did it with far greater confidence. The sky turned pastel coloured and darkened as the medieval yard filled with Anniina's light soundscapes. I especially enjoyed her cover of ”My name Isobel” by Björk. Hearing a new generation of female artists pay homage to the Goddess of artsy electronic music is delightful. It’s the ciiiiircle of liiiife!

Johanna Porola took the stage when night had already fallen. Her sound was experimental, while most her songs also had a straight forward, dark rave beat to them. A perfect follow up to Anniina’s much brighter tunes. Porola’s show was completed by the video performance that was projected on the old wall behind her. Our friend B even saw the merman of his dreams!

After three great performances, Melting Hearts seemed like a joke. Sadly, I really can’t say anything good about it. It felt forced, wannabe-artsy and lacked a sense of aesthetics entirely. Then again, maybe I’m just too dumb to understand it. Maybe we would’ve had fun with it at Kuka on a Wednesday evening. Now, however, we left after two songs, to not ruin our otherwise excellent night.

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Olavi Louhivuori @ Monk

[Sanna] Sometimes Jazz gets overwhelming, when every instrument wishes to outshine the other. You focus on the drums, only to realise the bass is doing something awesome, and then you notice you haven’t been listening to the sax. With any genre, drums are often the ones that fade to the background, same as bass. It’s a damned shame. 

At Olavi Louhivuori’s gig, you got to very much focus on the often ignored backbone of a band. The minimalistic electronic sounds only added ambience and allowed the drums to take centre stage. Obviously Louhivuori was amazing. In his hands (and feet...), drums are very much an instrument. Something you can play with varying intensity, sound and tone. This performance had me grinning from ear to ear, while having serious difficulties staying still.

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Soen (US/SWE) @ Turun Klubi

Video: Someone amazing managed to film the last song of the gig, thank you for that. <3 [Anna] One thing that might be good to know about me and Sanna when it comes to reviewing gigs (and I’m sure Sanna agrees with me here) -- we’re rather hard to disappoint, and most of the time we love or at least appreciate whatever we’ve gone to listen to. There are of course exceptions. Though this isn’t one. This gig was awesome. And we loved it. Confusing thing about this gig was though, that the ticket cost practically nothing (16,50€, considering it’s a rather established band from abroad), and there were barely any people at the gig. But the band performed at 110% none the less and focused on the fans that actually were there. It made me happy.