¶The great backbeat blow - Jazzgangsters
Rentolava must have been one of the best inventions for this year's Ilosaarirock. >
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¶Kemmuru started the Sunday Chilling down at the Relax stage
Only a handful of people had arrived down to the beach when the Finnish hip hop band Kemmuru started their set. >
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¶Sentenced
The Finnish heavymetal band Sentenced is known for their depressing lyrics. >
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¶Don't make the audience scream crap
The American compere style just doesn't go in Finland. At least not at a rockfestival. >
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¶Soundtrack Of Our Lives has the magic touch
The Swedish retro rock band Soundtrack Of Our Lives played an almost perfect gig on the main stage on Sunday evening. >
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¶Gluecifer's actionrock
Men in black, aka. Gluecifer from Norway with their raging energetic guitarrock.
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¶Don Johnson Big Band
To be the first band on on the second day of the festival is always a bit tricky. >
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¶Tarot
Well, goddamn. This is heavy and for the whole show.
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¶Leave yours drinks in the Booze Park
You can leave your booze for safe keeping in the official Booze Park.
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¶The beertent rocks
The beertent in front of the main stage is always busy. >
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¶Kotiteollisuus - the Lappeenranta rednecks and their new-found popularity
Around five o'clock the hirsuteness and body odor levels of the YleX stage went through the roof as the boogie men known as Kotiteollisuus entered.
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¶YleX Stage and the tent rules OK
The YleX Stage (the second stage) has a brand new setting:a massive silver tent. It might not be the biggest but it is definetily the most visible change in this years Ilosaari Rock. >
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¶Kemopetrol fills the spot
After Promoe ran into trouble with air traffic, Kemopetrol bravely filled in for them on the YleX stage.
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¶Greetings from Karelia
"You don't have to hate us, we're from Petroskoi." What should one think about a band who starts their gig with words like that? >
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¶The slavic melancholy of Viikate
Viikate, Kymenlaakso's (a southeastern area of Finland) gift to Finnish dark rock scene, threw a great gig. >
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¶Ask the Info point
Over the years the people working at the Information Point at Ilosaari Rock have been asked about all sorts of things. Sometimes people have asked for some weird stuff as well. >
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¶Egotrippi
So it went. The new YleX tent was packed full as a tick when Egotrippi got on stage. >
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¶Keeping the festival site clean
During the festival the area gets tidied up by 109 very hard-working cleaners. For working eight hours they get a free ticket to the festival. >
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¶The Crash
The Crash played on the main stage on sunday afternoon but their mellow style would've been good even on the Relax stage. >
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¶Puppa J. & Tasottavat and a ball on the beach
The Finnish wunderkids of reggae from Jyväskylä fit the sunny beach like a bee on a flower.
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¶Ladies, don't drink too much
Anne Myller and Mervi have come to Ilosaarirock to hand out postcards that say:"A woman can't drink like a man". It's causing a lot of discussion around them. >
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¶Catering takes care of organic avocados
Taking care of the bands catering needs at the festival is an art form in itself.
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¶Recycleable cameras are selling well
Local photographic shop Kuvamaailma's recyclebale cameras are selling like hotcakes. During Saturday they sold 1500.
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¶The audience enjoyed the fireworks
The firework show at the IlosaariRock site on Saturday night drove the audience wild. The show started after the last band YUP on the main stage.
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¶Giant Robot
The Robots started out with an older song that had gotten a brand new arrangement and created a celebatory mood in the audience right away. >
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¶Markscheider Kunst
Ska band Markscheider Kunst got a warm welcome to the Relax stage on Sunday afternoon.
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¶Mannhai's retrorock
Mannhai was to start the Sunday afternoon with their sturdy, shamelessly retro-spirited, fascinating rocking. >
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¶Ema is matter-of-fact
The compere of the main stage Ema Hurskainen says he is going to very matter-of -fact during the festival.
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¶A dancable amount of electrojazz
Those familiar with the music of Rinneradio, who have already been active for fifteen years, already know what the band is about.
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¶Life of a Very Important Person
On the Ilosaari Rock discussion board on Net there has been a lot of talk about the backstage VIP area and the quests there. The comments seem to be very negative...
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¶We slept well
During the festival it is possible to sleep in a dormitory style accommodation at one of the schools in Joensuu.
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¶Rentolava kicks off in style
Only two bands, Jamstream and Quintessence, have had time to grace Rokki's new stage Rentolava, but that's been enough to prove that they're the best thing the festival has to offer.
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¶Rockbreakfast
Rockbreakfast is the best way to start the day.
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¶A break in the summer break for YUP
The beard of Jarkko Martikainen arrives on the stage accompanied by a roaring applause. >
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¶Auf der Maur
Despite of the threat of completely losing my punk rock-credibility and my hard-earned punk-points, I'll have to say this:Auf der Maur kicks ass. >
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¶Jukka Poika and Jenkkarekka
We had the pleasure of hearing genuine Jamaican reggae and dub sang in Finnish on the Relax stage on Saturday.
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¶Mariska
Finnish rap artist Mariska was the last on stage at the new Relax stage by the beach.
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¶I walk the line
From the name you might think that this is a band who does Johnny Cash covers. But they're not, they're a very good rock band with their own songs.
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¶Nasum
Thanks to excellent scheduling, members of the festival audience in a near-sleep state could detox themselves from the sleeping pill-like effect of Timo Rautiainen, and move to the tent number three in order to hear a bit more faster grind.
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¶Cradle of Filth
Main stage, Saturday night, nine o'clock. It's not the news, it's Cradle of Filth! Their last visit was in '97 and this time was just as good - they really didn't disappoint. >
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¶Kaucas:Easy-going flow
Kaucas hails from Lappeenranta, Finland. They visited Rokki to drop a few lines and lay down some beats and that they did. >
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¶Blood for blood
Before the show, people were urged to behave themselves in the pit on behalf of the festival organizing, which quite likely tells something about the band in question, in addition to the fact they were labeled as an "environmental hazard" in Web Office's meeting earlier today. >
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¶Danko Jones
Well blow me! For the first time in my life I have run out of words. DANKO JONES R O C K S! I don't think I've been this impressed by any band for years. It is just pure unalturated energy at it's best.
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¶51koodia
For my part 51koodia has lost all mysticism required for rock stardom - listening to the band requires a good understanding of camp humour nowadays.
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¶Maija Vilkkumaa
In the Ilosaari Rock brochure under the Maija Vilkkumaa introduction it says:"Hands up who dares to confess they've never heard of MV?"
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¶Redrama dropped the bomb
Lasse Mellberg alias Redrama is the best thing the city of Kauniainen has given to the Finnish hiphop scene.
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¶The deep and dark 69 Eyes
With a big new record deal under their belt 69 eyes served the Ilosaari Rock festival audience with a remarkable selection of their hits.
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¶Festival hats are easily spotted
Antti, Simo, Sanna and Helena can definitely spot each other amongst the festival audience.
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¶The war against rain
Leini , Netta, Satu and Saija arrived the festival campsite on Friday. The hellish rain during the day turned the site into a swamp. The clever girls had no problems during the first night though.
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¶On dry land in a rubber dinghy
Mika is enjoying the festival sitting in a rubber dinghy. It's his mates boat and he is looking after it. Although they've brought the boat they're not thinking of going in the water with it.
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¶Baby Eliska is the youngest at the festival
Three week old Baby Eliska is the youngest rock fan at the festival this year.
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¶Mokoma, the best boy band in all of Lappeenranta
Right after Scandinavian Music Group's stint on the main stage, a tent full of metalheads were already demanding Mokoma to get on stage. >
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¶Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus
First we better explain what the name means. Timo Rautiainen is the Main Man and the band is called Trio Shot In The Neck. Like when you kill somebody or something you shoot it once in the neck.
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¶Scandinavian Music Group first on the Mainstage
Scandinavian Music group was the first band on at this years Ilosaari Rock. All the hits were there and the audience enjoying the sunshine had a nice start to the weekend.
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¶Joensuu's Jamstream first on at new Relax Stage
The fourth and smallest Rentolava- The Relax Stage is in use for the first time this year. Mainly funk and reggae based music has finally been given their own arena so anybody into that kind of thing can head straight there and not move for the rest of the day.
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¶Sit on the sunloungers - your arse won't get numb
Niina and Klaus from Joensuu are enjoying the sunshine in front of the main stage. They've picked a good spot and they've brought brand new sunloungers to sit on.
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¶The girls with a clear message
Anna and Heidi have decided to have a no tolerance policy towards drugs and loose sex at the festival.
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¶Good Afternoon Happy Campers!
Good Afternoon and welcome to the Official Ilosaari Rock Festival website. >
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