ilosaarirock 
It is around seven o’clock and the afternoon sun has cooled down. Some of the festival visitors are dipping themselves into the refreshing water next to the Rento Stage. People move slowly closer to the stage and the moment is seized by Tuomo‘s electronic soul-music. Yet the dance floor is empty.
“Are we having a nice day today?”, Tuomo asks the audience. Yes we are.
Even though the themes of the songs are serious and dark, you cannot see the audience getting the blues from it. Everyone is at least twitching if not moving fearlessly to the music. Even slight technical problems are saluted with a cheer.
The band is full of gifted musicians such as Felix Zenger, who is known in Finland for his talent in beatboxing.
There are soap bubbles in the air and the atmosphere of the songs turns from sad to happy. Now we are singing about women and love. The song Firsts from the album “Reaches Out For You” (2009) starts to play and the audience goes wild. These are the more traditional soul sounds that Tuomo offers.
– We still have twenty minutes left of the gig, lets boogie!
The listeners agree and as soon as Don’t take it too hard hits the vocalists lips everyone is singing along The evening sun is shining, the air is nice and the warm sand tickles between toes. There’s nothing better to do than dance!
Text: Johanna Mikkola
Photo: Tuomas Vitikainen
Translation: Monica Gathuo
