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Eläkeläiset 2014 - 9/10/2014 - Tavastia - Helsinki

Going to an Eläkeläiset concert is always a bizzarre experience, the kind you would not understand without actually seeing them live.
Once again the “masters of humppa” come to the legendary Tavastia Klubi in Helsinki, although the atmosphere is a little more “quiet” than usual. Immediately noticeable are the already completely drunk fans wearing their traditional vest and tie with the reindeer symbol: They are the ones that will enliven the show even more throughout the evening. Of course there is also a great interest around the merchandise, which includes all sort of crazy stuff.
There is no warm-up band tonight, and the five guys come punctual on stage, just to see immediately that Tapio Santaharju, the band’s drummer from ’94 to ’96, has come back to replace Kristian Voutilainen (or maybe the latter just got thinner, and looks different). The show itself is full of Finnish inside jokes, beer, drunk people laying on stage in strange positions or dancing around. Of course it’s a guarantee to see (and jump in every once in a while) the human “humppa-train”: a conga-like trail of happy people singing and dancing and drinking without the least care for anything else in the world.
This is what I like of Eläkeläiset gigs, people genuinely have fun! It’s also an occasion to see a completely different side to the usually very composed and irresponsive Finnish audience. Obviously it is very difficult to remain serious (although “Humppa is a serious thing” according to the band’s own, self-joking, words) when you see these guys jumping around with accordion, banjo, violin and all sort of things while playing songs such as “Humppaan muna tulessa”, “Poro”, “Päivätanssit” and the likes. In fact, there is quite a few people that might have pretty much embarrassed themselves, but strangely enough they actually look proud of it!
The band is now more than 20 years old, and hopefully it will go on for many more years, because, as their motto says “Humppa tai kuole!” (humppa or die)!

All photos:


Report a cura di Marco Manzi