On a quiet Tuesday night at Kuudes Linja, on February 24th, 2026, we were in for a chilled early evening night in good company: originally announced at Savoy-Teatteri, GRAILS‘ Finnish show on this European tour – started in fact from Turkey, to then move through Scandinavia and the Baltics – was downscaled to this smaller venue, to the benefit of those present today, who got in turn to enjoy a more intimate experience.
Opening the evening on the crammed stage was drummer Paul Quattrone (OH SEES, !!!) and his solo project EXPENSIVE $HIT. With his drums and samplers, he looked very intense and focused on stage, creating a combination of distortions and drums that entertained the crowd during the earlier part of the evening. “Veni, Vidi, Lusi” (I came, I saw, I played) sums up the attitude of this one-man act.
Our last encounter with GRAILS was at Roadburn in 2024. They were having a show in the main hall of the 013, and the place was relatively chilled, or at least more empty than some of the other venues at the same time. It was one of those moments in which we really needed to catch a break from the hustle and bustle of the festival, from all the people, and so we simply sat down on the stairway by the side, leaning against the wall, closing our eyes and listening to their instrumental magic. It was definitely the right choice at the time and did us a lot of good in mustering the energy to continue with the day.
Tonight, of course, the setup was much different, way cozier, and basically in our backyard (almost), so no hectic festival overwhelming feelings; instead, we could just stand there, listening to the masterful soundscape created by the Portland-based combo, as the accompanying images played on screen in the background. The band itself must have been in a bit of a hurry to play, as only after the first song – “Word Made Flesh” – Emil Amos asked the sound tech if it was now too late to record the show. No recording then, but the night went rather quickly, infused with instrumental magic in front of a very attentive – and surprisingly well-behaved – audience, and so their 9-song set came to an end almost too soon with “New Prague.”
The playing time, including the final, pre-planned encore (“Origin-ing”), was a bit short of 75 minutes, which, considering the gig started at 20:00, left plenty of time afterwards for the fans to either hang out with the band, buy merch, go for some drinks, or just straight home. It would be nice if all gigs ended this early in the evening!
EXPENSIVE $HIT
GRAILS
