Tuvalu @ Wartti 28.03.09

My favourite place in Seinäjoki is Wartti (or Bar15). The name is derived from the Finnish phrase „Vartti“, which means „quarter“ in English. Wartti is a rock bar with a groovy dark atmosphere. During the week it's a regular bar where heavy music is played 24/7 and most of the guests wear black clothes. On the weekends it is usually turned into a concert place. The next concert that I'm about to describe took place on Wartti's birthday weekend. Unfortunately I was late so I missed the first half of the evening (and the whole performance of a band called Duo Trebbio). I'm really glad that I made it to the other half though. The band Tuvalu is described on the internet as an indie rock group. The roots of their music do lie in indie and a fun fact that I found from wikipedia makes them actually a true indie cliche. „The band has stated that Tuvalu's music will not be played in radios in an act against Finnish music business.“
But since the concert took place in Wartti, it had more of a space-metal vibe to it. The singer looked like a woman from one of the planets discovered by Captain Kirk and the Enterprise. One of the instruments that the singer used added an even more space-like vibe to the whole performance. Her voice also has a cold tone and all of the songs were in Finnish. When I was standing there in the audience, I imagined small drops of pure crystal snowing around me. After the concert I was so thrilled that I even bought one of their CD's. Most of the audience seemed to enjoy the concert as much as I did. Some girls were even dancing in front of the stage. This was my first good and true rock experience in Seinäjoki. Pure awesome. Thank you, Wartti and Tuvalu!
http://www.tuvalu.ws

AC/DC Tribute @ Rytmikorjaamo 19.03.09

I haven't been to many tribute concerts so I'm not sure if I should compare the band to the original or just describe the concert. Anyway, the concert took place on the same night as Black Ander's concert so I already had a certain state of mind when I stepped through the doors of Rytmikorjaamo. The atmosphere was completely different from the one that I had previously experienced. I can't say that the place was packed with people, but there actually were quite many of them, so I guess AC/DC is still popular here in Seinäjoki. I don't know anything about the band that was performing and unfortunately I can't seem to find anything about them from the internet as well. There were at least five men on stage. One of the singers looked like a young Johnny Rotten, but he actually sounded a lot like Brian Johnson. The other singer had a typical 80's rocker look and so did most of the other band members. I think the bass player was the only one who just looked like a regular Finnish guy (or was it the lead guitar?). The whole band was seemingly filled with pride and energy, so they spent a great amount of time posing on stage, as a typical 80's rock band would. I haven't listened to AC/DC very much so I can't really comment on the setlist. Some of the songs sounded familiar, so maybe they played the most popular ones. The performance was quite alright and some old guys in front of the stage really rocked out, but most of the audience just sat behind their tables or stood quietly in one place. This seems to be very common here in Finland. I always feel a bit sorry for all of the bands who give out so much energy and recieve many times less from the audience. But maybe that's just the Finnish way. So even if you can't see moving hips, you still see the eyes of the audience on you and this way you know, that somewhere deep below the surface their hearts secretly are moving together with the music. In the end of the concert the band gave out free tickets to an AC/DC concert in Paris and the lady who won them had the happiest face I had seen all night. So at least someone was moved on the inside and outside as well :)
I personally didn't like the concert very much though. I guess I'm just not that fond of AC/DC. But it did bring a smile to my face, when one of the singers shouted out „Seinäjoki – Rock City!“ from the stage.

Black Ander @ Palaveri 19.03.09

Black Ander is a Damien Rice cover band. Palaveri is a very small bar with about five or six tables and an interior which reminds me of my grandmother's home. When you combine all of these elements, you get a really cozy evening. The members of Black Ander are cultural management students from Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences. The lead singer Marko Nikula is also the lead singer of a band called Abysmalia and currently he is working on his solo album (which I can't wait to hear). Annika Mustonen has been a singer in some other groups (Funkin' Trouble) and smaller projects as well, but since this is about Damien Rice, she only supported Marko as a backup singer. Her voice is very strong and at some points it can literally send shivers down your spine. Usually I consider this a good thing, but as a backup I felt that she came on a bit too strong. It was still enjoyable though. The guitar player Pekko Mustonen (AllAround, Lost in Moments) played in a soft pace, which gave the atmosphere of the concert a mellow vibe. The concert was for free and Palaveri was filled with students, who all had a good time with a few beers, good friends and beautiful music. Black Ander is not a rock group, but this was a very special experience to me. A city can't rock out all the time, sometimes it has to rest and relax as well :)

Kyky09 @ Rytmikorjaamo 14.03.09

Kyky was the first musical event that I visited in Seinäjoki. It is a talent competition for the youth of Etelä-Pohjanmaa (Southern Ostrobothnia). This isn't directly connected to the local rock scene, but some associations can still be made. One of the competitors was a rock band called Her Sweet Parable with four or five members, all of them girls, seemingly between the ages 14 and 16. They had written their own songs and during their performance I didn't hear anyone miss a single note. It seemed like they had started learning their instruments as soon as they grew out of their cradles. This isn't always the case when it comes to these kind of competitions, so I was positively surprised. Their style was of course poprock or radiorock, but for this I would blame their age. Most of the currently existing rockbands start out by copying their favourite artists and some of them never stop. Hopefully these girls will someday find their own unique style, since the world does need more female rockers!
The winner of this competition was a young girl called Viivi (accompanied by a boy with a guitar - Samuli) who had also written her own songs. She sang in a high voice and that's about all I can remember from her performance, so in my humble opinion – nothing remarkable there. I am supposed to write about rock here and she didn't rock out that much, so now I will just stop writing. The end.
http://www.kyky09.fi