Kicking off the party at YleX Stage, climbing out from under rocks was Finntroll. The band is as Finnish as they get, but the lyrics have always been in the second official language, Swedish. I myself have not mastered that … Lue lisää »

Riikka from Tampere has dressed in a colorful attire. For her, colors symbolize joy and happiness. The cloth rainbow has been picked up from second-hand shops and around the world. Marja from Turku and Ihva from Joensuu. The ladys were in … Lue lisää »

The Saturday evening is cool, even cold, and a great big mass of people have parked themselves before the Main Stage at 22:45. If you don’t know what was the most anticipated band in Ilosaarirock this year, you should be … Lue lisää »

“I just want to scream”, sang the beautiful Kate Nash to the people at the packed YleX Stage. The mood was quickly elevated when the extraordinarily dressed artist played the piano, hardly remaining on her seat.

There are good things coming out of Japan, too. This was the conclusion after Melt-Banana’s gig on Sue Stage on Saturday night. The audience wanted more but the band had given it their all and was drained after an hour’s … Lue lisää »

L.A.O.S feat. MC Reefer provided the hippest jams of Ilosaari as they made the crowd dance with soft and soulful drum’n’bass with a hint of dubstep – true to their name: Large Amount of Soul. MC Reefer made the public … Lue lisää »

Apulanta drove the audience before the Main Stage into frenzy, all without any extra gimmicks. In the Ilosaaris of the past, we’ve seen some crazy contraptions with Apulanta onstage, starting with being delivered to the stage in coffins. But now … Lue lisää »

The Ilosaari web press headed towards Rekka Stage under the afternoon sun. Judging by the debut album of the local Joensuu band Holik, there was some serious rocking out to do. And sure enough, at the front of the stage … Lue lisää »

21 000 Ilosaarirock tickets were sold this year, but in reality the number of festival-goers is much higher. Lots of people who haven’t bought a ticket for one reason or another are spending time outside the main festival area. For … Lue lisää »

Yours truly had some serious preconceived ideas about Iced Earth. As far as I’m usually concerned, heavy metal is just noise that requires earplugs, even if it’s just on the radio.