Jytäkesä Go Go premiered at Suvilahti 2022 and has quickly become the place to be for friends of retro-influenced rock. The festival’s lineups are a collection of household names in Finnish indie music, punk, and hip-hop with an emphasis on older bands. They have been able to pick up interesting comeback shows, bands with important anniversaries to celebrate, and some rising names as well. As the second edition of the festival started on Friday, June 28th, we headed up to see what the festival that sold out last year had to offer this time.
Compared to last year’s festival the smaller stage inside at Cirko premises was a new opening that turned out to be a success. It was booked with new, up-and-coming bands, and the energetic shows on the small stage picked up good audiences.
On the main stage this year the main treats were the reunion of punk legends LAMA on Friday and Australian blues rock veterans WOLFMOTHER on Saturday. Apart from the two most awaited names, there were many other interesting acts to be seen at the two-day festival.
Friday opened with JUKKA NOUSIAINEN & KUMPP. at the main stage. The Finnish indie scenes household played their trademark schlager-influenced rock with a feeling, although the early evening crowd was not the easiest to get aroused. By the end half of the show and the hit song “Ei enää kylmää eikä pimeää” had the crowd singing along, so the festival was well on its way.
Next, we headed to the smaller Cirko stage to witness the much-praised stage energy of LALA SALAMA. The feeling intensified inside the small indoor venue, and the band lived up to their reputation delivering a rocking show with catchy energy.
Then on to the larger inside stage at Tiivistämö where THE BAREFOOT BROTHERS had already begun their show. The veteran rockers played their blues rock with a laid-back attitude, vocalist Mane Tukia electing to perform seated. Years of playing together make a well-knit unit, and the band knows its business, even if there’s not much innovation to it.
On the main stage next up was another veteran act, MELROSE. The three-man rock band plays straightforward old school rock’n roll with no tinkering. The head man, guitarist-vocalist Tokela is the band’s heart still playing with raw energy and bouncing around the stage like a younger man.
Next up at the smaller outside stage, Jytälava, was the first of the two interesting veteran punk acts of the evening. WASTED has been active for over 20 years and they still seem to be going strong. They released a new album last year, so it was interesting to see their live act. The concert picked up a little slow, but after a few songs the band seemed to get to the feel of things, vocalist Ville Rönkkö made an approach starting to sing closer to the audience, and by the end of the concert, they had the punk enthusiasts in the crowd swarming.
Next up was maybe the weirdest experience of the evening – but what can one expect when the main stage is taken over by 22-PISTEPIRKKO – one of Finland’s pop-rock scene’s official oddballs and outsiders? One could have expected them to showcase their more rocking material but it was not to happen – in the beginning at least. The concert started with keyboardist-bassist Asko Keränen playing two apparently previously unheard songs that appeared to be somewhat improvised, alone on a guitar. After that, the rest of the band joined him and it was time for the band’s own songs. But even then 22-PISTEPIRKKO didn’t make it easy for the rock and punk-oriented audience, as they played a lot of their more eerie material and only gave way for a couple of more rocking tunes by the end of the show.
Before the day ended there was still time for another act at the smaller stage. RISTO is another Finnish indie household name. The band’s center figure is keyboardist-vocalist Risto Ylihärsilä. Still, in this four-person band form (Ylihärsilä often plays solo gigs as well) the songs get some good support from guitarist Tuomas Eriksson and guitarist/bassist Ninni Luhtasaari as well as drummer Ville Leinonen, all of whom also sing backing vocals. As a result, the band has a really nice, big live sound. One would only hope to hear some new material, as the last new album from RISTO is from the year 2013.
Last up was the main stage’s much-expected reunion of Finnish punk legends LAMA. Their last show had been a decade ago in Brazil and the last time they had played in Finland was at Ruisrock 2011. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, they opened up the way for a fast, aggressive HC-style punk in Finland. LAMA took the stage at Jytäkesä with all the authority of scene legends. Although there were some memories shared in the speeches between the songs, they clearly had come to play and they did well. They are no longer angry young men shouting their rage at the world, but the aggression is still there in the music. It was nice to see that the band really seemed to enjoy themselves on the stage; a nice finish for a festival evening dominated by nostalgia and veteran acts.
Jukka Nousiainen & Kumpp.
Lala Salama
The Barefoot Brothers
Melrose
Wasted
22-Pistepirkko
Risto
Lama
