Spring has finally begun and what better to celebrate Vappu (May Day) than with some good tunes at one of your favorite venues in town? Polish progressive rock/metal act RIVERSIDE recently released their album, “ID.Entity,” and after a couple years of not having set foot in Finland, the band made it their priority to cross the Baltic Sea for a well overdue visit on May 1st, 2023, at Tavastia.
During the show, frontman Mariusz Duda mentioned the premise of their tour: they wanted to spread happiness (especially after all the sorrow of the previous album). This was expressed not only in the music – they decided not to play anything from “Wasteland“ – but also through many production choices; for instance the lighting and the way that the stage was set. It was clear the band upped their setup since their last stop in Helsinki, which was really great to see. The new songs that were included in the setlist were absolutely amazing, especially “Friend or Foe” was a great feast for the ear. It was a surprise not to hear their single, “I Am Done With You,” but I presume due to the fact that they wanted to keep things positive, they opted to leave this one off of the setlist.
Alongside the new songs, the band also added in plenty of older songs and, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Shrine of New Generation Slaves,” the band even included “The Depth of Self-Delusion.” The set included a lot of moments allowing for fan participation, however, as per Mariusz‘ warning, because they’re a prog band, the audience had to wait usually about 5 minutes before they could sing along to the song. Altogether, it was once again a pleasure to see these guys – Mariusz with his funny speeches, keyboardist Michał Łapaj with his youthful energy (who towards the end also got his hands on a Finnish graduation cap in full Vappu style), and their great tunes. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait this long again to see them play live!
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Riverside
Photos by Laureline Tilkin
