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Provinssirock - 6/17/2011 - *** - Seinäjoki

Saturday, June 18th

Apulanta (Mainland Stage):
Having missed the first day because of work, I only arrived at Seinäjoki during Saturday. I had enough trouble getting my press pass and having walked around the entire festival area I finally got to see a bit of Apulanta, “Pahempi toistaan” (Worse than the Other). Toni Wirtanen’s voice wasn’t quite working live, not as well as last time I saw them in Ankkarock 2009. Three small guys alone on a huge stage, and not that much show to talk of. At least I saw “Reunalla” (On the Edge) which was very nostalgic, a huge hit of years past.

3/5

Paleface (X-Stage):
The Finnish rapper began his set with some acoustic folk medley, then moved on to his greatest hit of last year, “Helsinki Shangri-La”, a very observant critique of modern politics and times in Finland. The song got the crowd singing along, the groove and swing of the gig was really top notch. Usually I really loath hip hop, but the newest record in Finnish, from which almost all songs on the gig were, is a really good album.
This was part of the Amnesty tour, an attempt to raise awareness and recruit people into Amnesty. They played “Africa Corruption”, which really fit the mood. One of the few English songs was Paleface’s breakthrough hit, “Back to Square One”. They ended their gig with the “party” hit “Rellestää” (a sarcastic song of getting too drunk and doing stupid shit). The sarcasm was lost on the drunken crowd who sang along...

4/5

Social Distortion (Mainland Stage):
Former punk band playing soft rock, quite a disappointment. It was sorta feel-good music, but I really expected something with more of an edge. I didn’t like what I saw, so I moved onto the next stage.

2/5

Medeia (Rumba Stage):
Some metal, at last! The moshing and a proper pit made me instantly feel at home, they even managed to get a proper Wall of Death going. The guitarist were putting up a show with their fancy licks and the female synth player was wearing stay-ups, so there was something for everyone to see onstage. The gig had both faster and softer songs, but probably the most metal band I’ll see during the festival.

4/5

Kotiteollisuus (Island Stage):
The festival whores, who play almost every festival every summer played an okay gig. Most of the songs sounded exactly the same, and at several instances I was sure that this was the song I’ve heard before. Somehow, even though I thought I know all their hits, they still managed to only play completely strange songs, obviously I must’ve missed a few records somewhere in between. This kinda ruined the gig for me, but the crowd really enjoyed what they got, so that’s probably what’s most important.

3/5

Pendulum (Mainland Stage):
I haven’t really listened that much to Pendulum, but they started their set with a song I recognized, so I guess it has to be one of their hits. They had a big screen next to the stage and a really cool background screen, which changed to fit the moods of the different songs. The outwards appearance and the mood were just like a big club party, an insanely big party with ridiculous amounts of people everywhere. The band really got the crowd dancing and jumping, so it was a successful set. Only bad thing I have to say about the gig, is that it gets a bit repetitive after a while.

4-/5

Mokoma (Island Stage):
Surprisingly enough, the evening didn’t end with the biggest band, but instead with Mokoma and Wolfmother (who played so long that they got their plug pulled which almost caused a riot). I chosed Mokoma, cos I was in the mood for some metal again.
Not much had changed from last week’s gig at Sauna Open Air, including the strange Norwegian flags on the drum kit. The sounds were a bit muddier and the setlist clearly more mainstream friendly with more ballads. Marko Annala did have some good speaks ready; ’This is clearly how they do things in the big world, it really is strange to see so many people at a time having been brought up in a village of 200 people’. The Finnish attitude was also reflected in his closing comments: ’Playing an encore is kinda like being in detention, it wouldn’t be necessary if the gig was done properly.’ True comments, indeed.

3+/5

Photos:
Apulanta


Viikate


Medeia


Kotiteollisuus


Wolfmother



Sunday, June 19th

Uusi Fantasia (X-Stage):
I had never even heard of Uusi Fantasia, so I was barely interested to get to see them through the rainy weather. Luckily, this band was the best new discovery of Provinssi for me. Playing their own strange blend of electronica and band music, they made a good impression on the crowd. They had both a percussionist and a drum machine guy, but also a synth player, a cellist, a guitarist who also played the bass, and a guy who played the electric fiddle. Sadly, mostly only the electronic instruments were heard, since the acoustic instruments were mixed way too low. They had a pretty 80’s sound and combined with some showmanship it was a winning formula. The instrumental songs worked very well, but when a guest vocalist joined the team it quickly went bad.

4/5

Jukka Poika (Mainland Stage):
Next up was some relaxed Finnish reggae, complete with saxophones and bongo drums. The sun was shining and the weather was appropriate for some summer music. They even played a fast version of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”. Reggae just doesn’t work in Finnish and the groove didn’t really do anything, at least for me.

3-/5

Graveyard (Island Stage):
Graveyard played some doom-influenced rock which also had its faster parts, but after just a few minutes the soullessness of the performance got too much, and I changed stage.

2/5

Hadouken! (X-Stage):
This was a really strange one, a peculiar combination of electronic elements and bouncy rock, it had a whole different realm of energy in its presence compared to Graveyard. The songs weren’t all that inspired, but the strange samples made the music a lot less boring than it could have been. Mostly Hadouken! felt like a more rock Turmion Kätilöt, which is a good thing.

3+/5

Circle (Rumba-Stage):
After an awful intro where the band in their strange performance outfits just stood there, the first song finally began. I was at once missing the awful intro since the music itself was utterly abysmal. I think it was supposed to be some operatic classic heavy metal, but the awful presentation and stupid stage show combined with horrible songs were a definite low point of the entire festival. Not even three guitarist could save this band from having a gig full of fail.

0/5

System of a Down (Mainland Stage):
Luckily, the rain had finally ceased as the festival’s main band, and for a lot of people the only reason to be there, was about to begin their set. Provinssi made their all time crowd record, 81 000 people, and it really showed, as every place was filled to the brim with people. The stage was covered with a dirty fabric on which the band’s logo was supposed to be projected. The sun was so bright, however, that it could barely be seen. Luckily, the disappointing thing ended the second SOAD took the stage.
The band was really fired up and both their vocal and instrumental technicality was really stunning. With “I-E-A-I-A-I-O” the crowd sang as hard as it could, and it truly was an awesome sound. Daron looked like he was completely drugged up (which he might have been), but he was very charismatic on stage when he kept on dropping his hat by moshing furiously and have it brought to him by the stage hands. He managed to steal the spotlight from Serj every once in a while, an achievement considering the way Serj captures his audience. He also played some acoustic guitar and synth in some of the songs.
The surprisingly early appearance of “Chop Suey!” was one of the highlights of the show, also the magnificent mountain backdrop they used in the latter part of the show. The speaks were pretty minimal, which just gave them the opportunity to play more, with 28 songs, it was quite a show. The evening was made even more special by the first ever live performance of “Vicinity of Obscenity”, which the band said was inspired by the crowd and wasn’t even included in their setlist. They also played “Honey” from their demo, a song they haven’t played live since 2002. It truly was a night to remember and I was genuinely surprised how much better the band was live than on record, quite a feat considering the quality of their albums. The gig was well worth all the trouble went through to see it and one of the high point of this summer.

5/5

Setlist System Of A Down:
01) Prison Song
02) Soldier Side - Intro
03) B.Y.O.B.
04) I-E-A-I-A-I-O
05) Needles
06) Deer Dance
07) Radio/Video
08) Hypnotize
09) Question!
10) Suggestions
11) Psycho
12) Chop Suey!
13) Lonely Day
14) Bounce
15) Kill Rock ’n Roll
16) Lost in Hollywood
17) Forest
18) Science
19) Vicinity of Obscenity
20) Honey
21) Holy Mountains
22) Aerials
23) Tentative
24) Cigaro
25) Suite-Pee
26) War?
27) Toxicity
28) Sugar


Photos:
Uusi Fantasia


Volbeat


System Of A Down


Report a cura di Markus Karppinen, photos by Janette Holmström