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Ruisrock 2011 - 7/8/2011 - *** - Turku

Friday

It took waaaay more walking around town and queuing than I thought it would. In addition, it was also too hot for my taste. It seems that no matter what, we Finns enjoy to complain, especially about the weather.

Paramore (Beach Stage):
It was pretty close, but I managed to navigate the Via Dolorosa that leads to Ruissalo in time to see Paramore. The first thing that caught my attention was the amount of people on stage. In addition to the three current members, there were in total six people, with one guy alternating between playing the synth and third guitar. All the guys were wearing black, but Haylee had pants which were half black, half white. Also the stage show only enforced the fact that this was her show and the rest just happened to be there.
Haylee’s stage presence had surprisingly much attitude, she was jumping around and even moshing furiously at times. Her voice wasn’t as great live as on record, but it wasn’t too far off. The audience was lively and enthusiastic; there was a nice crowd choir in “That’s what you get” for example. They played their newest song, “Monster”, for the third time live, and it was pretty well received, even though it clearly wasn’t one of their better songs. They seemed genuinely happy to be in Finland and Hayley said in her speaks that “We usually don’t play ballads live, but since we come so rarely to Finland we must.” and “You are now a part of the Paramore family.” Near the end of the gig they took a girl from the audience to sing along, which was a nice touch and guaranteed made at least one fan’s night. They ended their gig with “Misery Business” and they had their fans run into the sea as the confetti cannons filled the air with colours. A great ending to a great show.
4½/5

Hurts (Meadow Stage):
I as I got reacquainted with the Jägermeister Battery slushies from Sauna Open Air, Hurts played their dreadful Britt pop. Sappy and utterly boring, I would rather have sat in silence.
½/5

Kotiteollisuus (Tent Stage): Kotiteollisuus was pretty much the same as a few weeks ago, but they did have more energy to them, maybe a little more sleep and a little less booze? They still didn’t play any of the songs I really would’ve liked to hear but it didn’t matter that much. Hyrde from Stam1na was acting as Hynynen’s guitar tech this evening, so of course he got playfully crap for that. In addition, Hyrde took the stage for some back up vox, in the nude of course. Nothing surprising, since Mokoma, Kotiteollisuus and Stam1na have a long history of doing random stuff during each other’s gigs. They also had a half a minute’s silence to respect the passing of skiing champion Mika Myllylä.
4/5

The Prodigy (Meadow Stage):
It was ’97 when The Prodigy was last in Finland, and it mostly felt like the band never left the nineties. The ground literally shook as people danced along to the beats of years past, but the gig felt a lot like a DJ set, not a proper performance. All the hits were there, “Firestarter”, “Breath” and “Smack my Bitch Up” and others, and it was fun to hear those songs for the first time in ages. The opinions of true fans were very divided as much as I could gather, others enjoyed the gig immensely and others were disappointed beyond belief. Since I had no expectations, I couldn’t be disappointed, but still I think they could’ve done and been more.
3/5


Saturday

Uusi Fantasia (Tent Stage):
Having gone to bed at around five and slept like a baby (i.e. not at all), I was tired as hell when I managed to get to Ruissalo again. Luckily, I didn’t miss Uusi Fantasia, which I really enjoyed in Provinssirock. I stayed outside the tent and chilled along at the edge of sleep. The gig was pretty much the same as last time, sadly even the mix was awful again. Another disappointment was that they didn’t do the song where the vocals were done by Paula Vesala, the other vocalist of PMMP who was also performing the same day. Still the gig was really good and just what the “morning” needed.
3½/5

Happoradio (Beach Stage):
I managed to only catch a glimpse of Happoradio, the last song to be exact. Very surprisingly it was a cover of a Leevi & the Leavings song. This was great in my opinion, so a positive surprise.
3/5

Stam1na (Beach Stage):
Hyrde had got a new spandex stage oufit and was glad to show it off. He wasn’t naked today, so the crowd was glad, everyone wins! Stam1na have a new album coming out rather soon, and they’ve clearly started promoting it. They tried to play a new song, but just before the drum pedal broke. While some furious fixing took place a peculiar stage show was made up. Hyrde wore a strange mask and along with the crowd they shouted a new catch phrase, ’ish ish’. We’ll probably later on find out what this all is about. The new song was fast and seemed to be catchy. They finished the set off with “Eloonjäänyt” (The Survivor), and Hyrde’s guitar got quite some punishment, rock’n roll!
4/5

Sabaton (Beach Stage):
This was what I was waiting for, the Swedish war machine once again on Finnish soil. There disappointingly little people watching, rather strange considering how big Sabaton has become the last few years. The set began with the normal “Final Countdown” as intro and another intro tape after that. A bit too much, considering how little time there is to perform on a festival. Then they launched into “Ghost Division” and all complaints end there. There were all the hits and a lot of pyros and also the guaranteed showmanship and the same speaks praising Finland and the Finnish Sisu. Nothing new, but that’s what one expects from a Sabaton gig. It was too bad I had to miss the last few songs to catch my train, but at least I got to see some proper warring before that.
4½/5

Report a cura di Markus Karppinen