Last year, we had so much fun during the Coolhead Live shows in Viikki that we decided it was one of our top-tier events to attend this summer. Fortunately, they had a great program, featuring the Brazilian crossover thrash outfit RATOS DE PORÃO on July 10th, 2024, in Helsinki. The band was supported by Finnish FORÇA MACABRA and the legendary TERVEET KÄDET.
The unforeseeable happened, with some technical issues causing delays. Our first clue was being restricted from entering the festival as usual. After a long walk, we found ourselves stuck in the bar area, unable to advance to the stage. It soon became apparent that the stage wasn’t properly built yet. Despite this, the event organizers did everything in their power to still put on a show, though it resulted in a 2-hour delay and the absence of a backdrop (which, admittedly, added a magical touch since the event was surrounded by fields and forest). This delay made it challenging, especially with a strict curfew. When the show finally started, FORÇA MACABRA played a brief 15-minute set. Thankfully, their songs aren’t very long, so they went full-force and delivered as much as they could. TERVEET KÄDET’s performance was also short but powerful, as expected from the legendary band. The audience seemed to have forgotten the delay and engaged enthusiastically.
When it was finally time for RATOS DE PORÃO, promoter Sami Silvennoinen of Nahka Agency took the microphone to apologize for the technical difficulties. He promised a full refund to attendees if they wanted one and announced that the coming hour would be happy hour, a nice touch at a brewery. The crowd cheered, and all was forgiven. I applaud him for the miraculous effort of setting up the stage in just a few hours—a task that usually takes several days. Despite the challenges and uncertainty, RATOS DE PORÃO delivered an energetic performance from start to finish, making the wait worthwhile. Check our photo gallery below…
FORÇA MACABRA
TERVEET KÄDET
RATOS DE PORÃO
Photos by Laureline Tilkin
