Puntala-rock 2009 Review
Another great weekend in the beautiful camping site of Puntala, surrounded by hundreds of punks of all ages. A lot of familiar faces, a lot of strangers, a lot of fun.
I have to admit I was drunk almost the entire time I spent on the festival area, so I might have missed a lot of acts which would've been worth checking out and my memories of the acts I did witness could be dim.
Friday
We arrived at the scene around six, so I missed the first two acts, The Uul of Palmes and Escape to Death. SA-Int made sure that we knew we had arrived on a punk festival, but I didn't like their stuff that much.
Baxter Stockman was the exact opposite: their music was probably the least "punk" of any act during the weekend, but I liked them a lot. In the 90's there were a lot of bands which tried to sound like Nirvana, Fugazi or Primus, but I don't there were any Finnish bands which combined those influences as well as this trio does. (It is quite likely that their actual influences are not that mainstream, but those were the bands I thought of during their set.) The only complaint I have is that when the audience asks for something faster, you should be able to provide them with something faster.
Agatha was the second act of Friday which made me smile like a maniac. They didn't have the most memorable songs, but the intensity and tightness they played with was impressive. I wish they had made more contact with the audience though, it kind of felt like they were playing for each other. And, to sound like a complete idiot, I have to add that it is really nice to see some beautiful girls on stage.
Speaking of beautiful girls, the only act on the main stage which impressed me on Friday was Masshysteri. There was something very Swedish about their style and sound, but in a good way, not in a Dis-something way. Even though it was raining like hell at this point, I had a great time.
But that was the end of fun for that night as the amount of water actually became unbearable. We hitched a ride back to Tampere and had some well deserved sleep.
Saturday
After getting back to the festival site and swimming in the lake, Taantuma took me completely by surprise. The whole concept of a nine-year old kid singing songs about comsuming too much alcohol might be a bit questionable, but I don't think I saw anyone who wasn't smiling during the set. Hei Johanna (by Karkkiautomaatti, of course) actually gave me goosebumps and literally made me cry. It's been a while since any band has done that to me.
Lebakko seemed to have a good time on stage and I liked their stuff quite a lot, but playing a Wasted song as a cover is not the best idea when it just shows that your own songs aren't half as good as theirs. I didn't witness much of Abnormi because I was too busy talking about hockey and the climate in Winnipeg (don't ask, it's a long story), but they seemed to have a lot of guests on stage and a lot of energy as well.
Spoiled Betty played a rather uninspired set. It's nice to watch your friends on stage and I had a good time, but something just didn't seem right. Johanna's vocals weren't loud enough, and by looking at the mixers expression, she had no influence on it, so it must've been Johanna himself who was causing the problem. And I waited for her to raise her foot on a stage monitor, but she didn't, which was a shame. (Inside joke, sorry.)
I think it had been like ten years since I last saw Punk Lurex OK. Their lineup had gone through some changes, but they were just as good as before. They played a lot of newer stuff I didn't recognize, but also some older hits and a couple of great covers. I love their version of Ever Fallen in Love (originally by Buzzcocks, naturally).
I'm not a big fan of heavy metal, but even I was impressed by Born to Hate. It's definately not the kind of music I would listen to at home, but the amount of energy and intensity they put into their live set was indescribable. After them, Leatherface seemed kind of lame. Ok, they have a lot of great songs and they played them well, but in order for a gig to be great, there needs to be some sort of connection between the audience and the act and in this case it was simply missing.
After hearing and reading about the organizational disaster which took place at the same time in Pori, I feel obligated to thank the organizers of Puntala-rock. The laid back, yet effective approach can never be matched by any so called professionals because they lack the love which only amateurs can have.
I also have to thank the good people of Veganissimo for providing us with the best food I've ever had on any festival. Too bad their restaurant went bankrupt earlier this month, I never had the chance to pay them a visit there. I sure hope they can still provide hungry punks with the kind of catering they did in Puntala.