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Olavi Uusivirta and an euphoric fan on the Main Stage riot fence. Photo: Tomi Palsa
“Breathe in deep, love is in the air!”, howls Olavi Uusivirta. People gather closer to the Main Stage. As soon as the second song, On niin helppoo olla onnellinen, hits the listeners ears, everyone is singing along with their arms in the air.
“Are you awake?”
Even if the audience is still a little sleepy Olavi has an overload of energy. He has trouble keeping it inside, running and jumping around the stage with his shirt wide open. First bars of Nuoruus sound in the air and Olavi is as wild as ever. Nothing remains of the sensitive poet as the sweat drops fall on the stage floor.
The band knows what to do and adds up to the static atmosphere. Already known for their talent, guitarist Timo Kämäräinen in his denim jumpsuit and the base player Jaakko Kämäräinen play along with Olavi on the stage, supported by Olli Krogerus, on the drums.
When things get wild enough and too hot for the singer during the fourth song Auttakaa!, he rips off his shirt and throws his socks to the audience. Young women are screaming and waving their arms in the air. Olavi takes out his guitar to play with the band in the song Ollaanko tämä kesä näin. According to the artist himself, it is a good summer song.
– Hey, remember to drink water, you’ll get a heat stroke pretty easy, Olavi reminds the audience and takes a sip from his own water bottle. It is a valuable tip since the sun is burning from the top of the sky, leaving no shade. Yet there is no time to slow down. The music leads the feet and the music doesn’t stop.
“Don’t pay for love. Just grab the hand of the person next to you and kiss them”, Olavi instructs people from the stage and shows a good example. Fearless tongue action on the stage does not encourage shy Finns and very few follow. Reeperbahn starts to play.
Olavi moves closer to the audience to sing Viimeinen kesä and gives sweaty hugs to the girls in the front row. Suddenly Anna Puu is invited on the stage and the pair perform a surprise duet Tiedän miten tulta tehdään for the first time. It all ends dramatically as they fall on each other on the stage and the audience screams “Kiss!”. Their wish is granted. There is love in the air on this sunday.
One more love song, Nuori ja kaunis, with Anna, since according to her it doesn’t matter which Anna sings the song. The crowd knows the lyrics by heart.
Kauneus sekoittaa mun pään closes the set and drives the audience senseless.
“Oh how wonderful”, sighs a young woman standing close by. Indeed, one cannot disagree.
Text: Johanna Mikkola
Photo: Tomi Palsa
Translation: Monica Gathuo
