On April 10th, 2024, Finnish band SARPARANTA and English band NEW MODEL ARMY arrived in Helsinki for a show at Tavastia.
I arrived at Tavastia-klubi way too early and had to wait for quite a while in the bar section before the crew even opened the doors to the concert hall. The evening began with SARPARANTA, a completely new name for me. No surprise, since I barely listen to any music in Finnish. SARPARANTA is a project by the singer/songwriter Sampsa Sarparanta, who used to be part of a band called NO SHAME. The show itself was quite nice and engaging. Even though the music genre was too poppy for me, I really enjoyed their stage performance. It gave me such a good feeling.
The headliner of the night was NEW MODEL ARMY from Northern England. Even though they have visited Finland a few times already, this was my first time seeing them live. They have a couple of songs like “51st State” and “Vagabonds,” which everyone instantly recognizes, so I also wanted to hear them live for a change. I admit I didn’t expect a wild show from such an old group who have been touring since the beginning of the ’80s. And as such, the show was what could be expected. What did stand out – quite literally – was someone from the audience who was able to stand on someone’s shoulders – I guess – for quite a long while without a security guard intervening, which could be because of the number of people blocking the security from reaching the middle of the crowd. Overall, it was a satisfying evening, and I can now cross seeing them off my bucket list.
Check our photo gallery of the evening here…
Sarparanta
New Model Army
Photos by Richard Forsman
