After the ground was shaken during the first day of RockFest and the dear citizens of Vantaa have become acquainted with what a rock and roll audience looks like, the festival continued to the second and unfortunately last day. Mistakes of yesterday were settled when we finally got our media passes and we have been treated very well, so before starting this review about the rest of the day, here’s a shout out to the service of the production team! They have done an amazing job.
The day started out with Metsätöll on mainstage. This four piece folk metal band from Estonia, sure knows how to start a festival. They played a short but well balanced setlist. What struck me the most was the many talents of Lauri “Varulven” Õunapuu, who played all the folk instruments and makes it seem like it’s no big deal. They interact a lot with the audience and the audience seems to love it. The gigantic stage also doesn’t feel like it’s too big for them.
photo by Niki Soukkio
After Metsätöll’s performance it’s time for Santa Cruz, while one could have expected a lot of screaming teenage girls, that was not the case however. The audience seemed to be still a bit tired from the events of yesterday, but nevertheless they were there and having fun. When Santa Cruz played their new single “River Phoenix” the crowd was very enthusiastic about it.
photo by Henri Juvonen
We next caught the beginning of Michael Monroe at main stage, a show that looked like a blast. We were able to stay for the first few songs, Michael Monroe, formerly known as the front man of Hanoi Rocks, is still one of the most beloved Finnish artists. His energy and enthusiasm are quite remarkable in his performances and even more so in this show. Unfortunately we had to leave during the middle due to preparations for an interview.
photo by Niki Soukkio
The next show we were able to catch was Stam1na at main stage, Stam1na showed us that they truly live up to their name. By now most of the people had arrived at Vehkala and they played in front of quite a big audience. An audience, that was very excited by their act. No need to say that Stam1na knows what they are doing.
photo by Julius Konttinen
The next show for us was Evanescence. Quite the opposite from Rammstein, the stage was kept minimal, for that intimate atmosphere I guess. We haven’t heard from Evanescence in a while, but they have a European tour right now and are about to release a new album somewhere this year. The show consisted mostly of those hits from the first album that every one knows, filled up with material from the second and third album. Amy Lee sings amazing live and they have quite a good stage presence. All fans seemed to be really excited and we were mostly taken back to memory lane.
photo by Henri Juvonen
Thus concluded a fantastic set of shows and many hours of rock and metal. The festival has a lot of potential to grow into something really awesome. The lineup, location, service is something worth mentioning as really good factors. The girls working in the media tent were especially making life so much easier for us, providing us with different snacks and drinks. Also the team in charge of the interviews, did a great job. All-in-all we are really happy with the service we got at the media tent.
They have a lot of good ideas, which might benefit from working out a little bit more perhaps (for example the different zones and how they function and price-quality compared to one another). Some downsides were perhaps that at some point in Friday it seemed like there were a bit too many people, which felt much better on Saturday. The amount of people caused some issues with getting from the area. Also we would have liked to see more water points, as there was only one for 30,000 people. But all-in-all, we would definitely like to be present next year!
Did you miss out on the report of the first day? Check it here!
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