European fans of (mostly) instrumental electronic music had the great fortune of a tour from PIHKA IS MY NAME pop up in a few countries around Europe this fall. As someone who adores this band, has never seen them play live, and who missed them in Utrecht by about two weeks, it was easy to get bummed out about the lack of local opportunities to see them. Fortunately, they snuck another show into their schedule locally, at the Lafka-klubi at Koko Teatteri in Helsinki on October 24th, 2023. As such, we had to make the journey to town to see how these guys fare live!
Not only was this our first time seeing PIHKA IS MY NAME live, we also hadn’t even heard of the Lafka-klubi before, which is held on Tuesday evenings in Kallio at Koko Teatteri. The venue itself has art cafe vibes, but was mainly decorated by retro-clad manequins, with a stage in the window next to the patio.
The event was showcasing all sorts of different artists, like a young rapper, aaltoharha kristian, who had some okay rhymes but needs to work on adding some character to his vocals; an esoteric noise duo, urGe, who sat on the floor, started their show by flailing about, and proceeded to make slow, droning adjustments to patterns on their synths; and Jekaterina X, who sang a few vibrant songs like “Naamari” and “Maatuska” that really impressed us, largely due to her fantastic vocal passion. There was also a cover of Paleface‘s “Helsinki Shangri-la,” which, if I understand Finnish well enough, was updated with some modernized lyrics relating to Riikka Purra and her flagrant racism. As mentioned, she had some impressive wailing vocals, making for a very intense, stripped down (as she was only accompanied by an electric guitarist), and intimate performance, which was only boosted by her charisma between songs. We quite enjoyed their set!
After another 10 minute changeover break, it was finally time for PIHKA IS MY NAME to take the stage, with the promise of some new material from their recent release, “Caller Unknown.” The wall next to the window allowed for them to have some projected visuals of various equalizers that ran throughout the set and added a little extra flavor to the venue. They got started with “Station in Flames,” but it was interesting to see that they don’t remotely stick to the album recording, but rather like a DJ set, they play around with the music, almost like a live jam. Even better, both of them hardly stood still the entire time, yet the musical zones they went into were quite unique to each of them, with Henna Helasvuo appearing in a more flow state, while Lasse Turunen was full-on in the dance mode. It’s quite common, in Finland at least, for DJ-type artists to not really do a whole lot behind their boards, so these guys were a very refreshing change of pace from the other electronic acts and DJs I’ve seen!
Next up was what felt like a medley of a few of their tracks, namely “Priority Class” and “Valid Sync,” followed by a fabulous rendition of “Reaching for the Out of Range,” which has more vocals. They then took us back to their first album with the fantastically atmospheric and chilly-feeling “Between the Icicle and the Flame,” and then they went into a really vibrant and energetic rendition of “Exponential Potential,” wherein the anti-capitalist lyrics really drove home!
Lasse chatted pleasantly with the crowd as well, talking about how cool it was that they got to go on their recent tour with PRINCESS GOES, playing in Paris (FR), Utrecht (NL), Berlin (DE), and Dortmund (DE). They also spoke a bit about the “Dance Forbidden” EP from the previous year and included the title track in the set, before wrapping things up with a medley of “Caller Unknown” and “Binaries” from their first album. I found myself grinning idiotically throughout their show and had a very hard time keeping still in my seat (and I say that as someone who is not much of a dancer), so I truly hope the next time we see them, they’ll be in a more dance-worthy venue! These guys would be a surefire hit at trance parties, raves, and I’d kill to see them at Kosmos Festival one of these years! They’d be perfect for a late-night dance-party in the forest, both musically and in the spirit of their sound! One way or the other, this was the first time seeing PIHKA IS MY NAME and most definitely won’t be the last!
Lafka-klubi takes place every Tuesday at Koko Teatteri, and PIHKA IS MY NAME can next be seen on November 17th, 2023, at Arkkiklubi in Helsinki!
Written by Bear Wiseman
Setlist
- Station in Flames
- Priority Class / Valid Sync medley
- Reaching for the Out of Range
- Between the Icicle and the Flame
- Exponential Potential
- Dance Forbidden
- Caller Unknown / Binaries medley (encore)
