Even though we didn’t want it to be over, Rockfest 2019 has closed its rock ‘n’ roll and metal doors until next year.
Last weekend, festival attendants at an airfield in the southern city of Hyvinkää had the chance to see popular music acts from all over the world like Slipknot, Disturbed, Dream Theater, In Flames, Kiss, Def Leppard and others, and, of course, bigger and smaller names from Finland.
The festival kicked off with performances from Finnish acts Don Huonot and the recently reformed Santa Cruz, and an Estonian metal band Goresoerd.
Then the main stage was taken over by Amaranthe, and the festival continued with bands like Powerwolf, Defecto, Enslaved, Turmion Kätilöt and Slipknot: the masked metal mayhem from America.
Vocalist Corey Taylor of Slipknot. Great band, gigantic performance. Attracted one of the largest crowds, and it was just the first day. Pure heavy metal! Picture: Tony Öhberg / Click to view gallery
On day two the REAL music marathon started, having worth-seeing bands on all of the stages all of the time. The first ones on the main stage were the band Within Temptation from the Netherlands, and I’d say they gave an excellent symphonic metal performance—the stunning singer Sharon den Ade charmed everyone with her voice as well as the music itself.
Another surprise (well, not actually a surprise . . . ) was the performance of Dream Theater. It is said that this band is more appreciated between musicians, but even a “regular” festival attendant can see that this band is professional on all levels: songwriting, playing the instruments and performing live, and they have probably the most insane and outstanding drum set ever. The performance was magnificent, and after a Dream Theater’s concert you feel like you’ve gotten more educated in the music field, and it feels SO GOOD.
From the Finnish acts of Saturday’s line-up, my absolute favorite was Blind Channel. They call their music violent pop, and their live performance isn’t just a performance, it’s an exciting experience. If you are an artist, you have to know how to pump up the audience, and these guys are experts in this field already. It was absolutely entertaining and enjoyable to see (and be a part of) the rocking and jumping crowd, and that’s what you want to get when you go to a concert—you want to have the best time of your life and feel like every now-sweaty part of you is satisfied.
Vocalist Anders Fridén of In Flames. The superior performance of the Swedish metal gods was one of the definite highlights of Saturday. There’s hardly a band more caring for their audience in the scene today. Picture: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today / Click to view gallery
Other acts that gave performances on Saturday were Rave The Reqviem, One Morning Left, Chang, Diablo, Huora, In Flames, Mokoma, Rise Of The Northstar, Turbonegro and Disturbed.
David Draiman of Disturbed. With loud, high and strong vocals Draiman charmed the crowd. But somewhere in-between songs, there was a confused moment: “How good is your English?” he asked the silent crowd. “If I talk to you will you understand me?” Mr. Draiman should have read our article on Finland being one of the best English-speaking countries in the world. Picture: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today / Click to view gallery
The day that I was looking forward to the most was Sunday, since that was more of a rock ‘n’ roll day, and I have to say that it topped my expectations.
The last day started with the performance of the young rockers Temple Balls from Finland, and there probably isn’t a better band that could warm up the final day. Just like Blind Channel, Temple Balls also is one of the best new acts in Finland’s rock scene, and if you consider yourself a music fan, their live performance is a “must.” Pure, high-quality hard rock that makes you just want to rock out together with the musicians throughout the whole set.
I got to admit that after seeing Temple Balls, the well known Finnish band Lordi seemed, well . . . a little bit boring.
Other bands that continued to entertain people on Sunday were Sara, Oceanhoarse, Ugly Kid Joe, Kotiteollisuus, The Ocean, The 69 Eyes, Rytmihäiriö, Stam1na and two amazing headliners and my personal favorites—Def Leppard and Kiss.
Joe Elliott of Def Leppard. Elliott, 59, walked slowly on the stage. Careful moments. A gesture here and there. Carrying the mic stand around was the highlight of his stage performance just like in the good ol’ days. He didn’t talk much. But he sang very well. Picture: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today / Click to view gallery
First ones up were Def Leppard, giving the fans the pleasure to hear their old favorite songs—surprisingly the set didn’t have any of the newest songs, it considered of all the best songs from the ‘80s and ‘90s. Not every band, that comes from the ‘80s, sounds good live nowadays, but when it comes to Def Leppard . . . wow!
Def Leppard isn’t one of the bands who talk too much; they let the music speak. Leppard’s backing vocals is probably one of the most traditional sounds of the ‘80s, and still, after all these years, the band is in amazing vocal shape. Yes, the band’s sound is different than in the ‘80s, but different doesn’t always mean bad—they still can pull off all their most popular songs.
“Hysteria,” “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” “Photograph,” “Love Bites” and others—the fans had the chance to hear it all, and even though it seemed like this time the crowd was cheering more on the inside, the smiles on people’s faces were priceless.
Kiss fans? Absolutely. Picture: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today / Click to view pictures of more fans
The last, but most definitely not the least was Kiss, and Rockfest indeed chose the perfect last headliner. Kiss was pure entertainment from the beginning till the end.
From the moment the curtain fell, a wave of excitement and Detroit Rock City took over the crowd. You could feel that Kiss isn’t a stranger in Finland. The band has a strong fanbase here. (So strong that the last time Kiss played in Helsinki, Finns painted the statues of their Railway station like the members of the band.) It was so enjoyable to witness how the Finnish crowd opened up—it felt like everybody here were close friends, you could go up to anybody and sing along together with them.
Classic songs, A LOT of crazy fireworks, Gene Simmons spitting fire on the stage, Paul Stanley literally flying over our heads to the middle of the crowd, people jumping, singing, shouting, cheering and celebrating music. It had it all, and even after the gig ended, you could still feel the hype.
Walking out of the festival area, the most common phrase between people was “THAT WAS AMAZING!” and a big, true, honest, satisfied smile.
That’s what every organizer and musician wants—to make people happy. And Rockfest did it. We are HAPPY and say thank you to the organizers, the bands and, of course, the beautiful people who made the weekend this brilliant!
