Last weekend saw the fourth several day music festival to be held in Tampere this fall. Even as the supply of music seems to be at an all time high, at least in my own experience, it doesn’t seem to have trifled the demand as the venues were packed with spectators. Venues such as YO-Talo and Artturi were jammed with music enthusiasts as some spectacular domestic and Swedish artists took the stages. The whole city of Tampere was taken over by music and you could find worthwhile places to spend your evening in most corner pubs, bars and nightclubs.

The festival was kick started at the venue Artturi, where the cover band Tuulia played Tool, in Finnish. Having heard one song in advance, I was actually expecting quite a bit from the group, and I was not let down. Tool transformed into acoustic guitar rock sounded as fresh as ever, despite that I’ve worn my Tool records, literally, to the ground. Judging from material to be found on MySpace, I knew to expect some lyrical genius, witty and perverse innuendo. Most songs worked this magic quite eloquently and for example the song roughly translated as “Whore with a Penis” made me burst out in honest laughter. The only slightly poorer cover was “Schism” and that largely due to the odd percussion beats.

Jaw Lesson

Next to take the stage was friendly neighboring Swede Jaw Lesson, priorly known as the artist Hajen. Tuulia’s set had been slightly more background, as the bar chatter crept around the performance, but once the soulful and horse Jaw Lesson took the stage, the bar found itself a new focal point. Lesson instantly became the most remarkable new acquaintance of this festival for me. At the end of the show, Lesson was accompanied on stage by Kristian Matsson, also known as The Tallest Man on Earth. Performed together, the cover of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s “I’ll Be Glad” made for the greatest goose bump moment over the evening, and was probably the strongest personal interpretation of the entire festival. To my delight, I actually got to hear it again as Matsson performed at another venue, the YO-Talo, later that weekend.

Across the street from Artturi, YO-Talo featured a much more Swede dominated entourage. Apart from the last performer, The Tallest Man on Earth, all the performances were good – not excellent, but not disappointing either. And yes, The Tallest Man on Earth was excellent. The three girl trio that calls themselves Liechtenstein from Göteborg, is a valid example of how a average Swedish band amounts to so much more than its Finnish counterpart, naturally heavily generalized. What do they put in the Swedish water?

Liechtenstein

It seems as if the most anticipated act was still Liekki, not seen on stage for a while. Even as the performance at times wrapped itself around all the passion of the universe, the performance as a whole didn’t quite blow me away. Nevertheless, I’m glad to see that their still alive and kicking.

Liekki

Come Saturday, I found myself anticipating seeing Joensuu 1685 on stage, since it would be my first time. From what I had heard – from others as well as the band themselves – they weren’t quite in tip-top shape, but for a first timer the shoegaze-krautrock live experience lived up to my expectations. The men in their sleek appearance worked their instruments and produced a surprising amount of new material, not to overshadow older material though. The highlight must have been the amazing interpretation of Bruce Springsteens “I’m on Fire”, renowned even in NME.

Joensuu 1685

The rest of the days music amounted to a bunch of grey matter. Wildbirds & Peacedrums intrigued with their numerous interesting instruments, but the songs never reached the level of new experiences. I Was a Teenage Satan Worshipper featured an all new drummer to whip the group in to shape, that now and again had slightly sagged on stage. Excluding the backing visuals, the Tampere based bands performance was still only on the ok – level, but the drummer managed to bring some umph into the show, making it probably the best teenage satanist show I’ve seen.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums

Kuusumun profeetta

All in all, the Valoa festival was a triumph. Not one band belly flopped, nor disappointed. There were some distinct diamonds in the grey matter and the shows had gathered enough of an audience that the atmosphere was as it should be. I hope this new comer festival continues its’ trail in the Tampere fall, alongside the festivals Monsters of Pop, Lost in Music and manSEDANse.