To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Lutakko rock club, a concert venue in the city of Jyväskylä, the Lutakko Liekeissä (“Lutakko on fire”) festival was organized on Saturday 28th of August 2010. The special year has also made this the annual metal/punk/alternative festival somewhat bigger than before. The festival area with two open-air stages and the Lutakko club was like a miniature version of a “real” festival venue, providing the crowd of approximately 2000 heads with an intimate experience. The weather didn’t quite embrace the visitors or bands, as temperature stayed under 10 degrees and drizzle disturbed the first couple of performances outside.
The LL line-up had quite a heavy emphasis, accompanied with some mellower sets, though. In addition to the Finnish acts, including a strong local representation of Jyväskylä bands and artists, the fest had added some foreign small and middle-size names on the bill. The Haunted was kind of a headliner of the day, although not playing last, and succeeded to convince the shivering crowd with a powerful set. Strike Anywhere, the American melodic hardcore punk group was also appreciated by the fans in the audience.
From the performances that I witnessed, Before the Dawn generated the strongest impression. The band that also visited the latest Finland Fest in Tokyo is in top shape right now, particularly live. The gig was such a pleasure to watch and listen, as the sounds were assertive and clear at the same time. The performance of these talented musicians was also flawless. Tuomas Saukkonen as the mastermind of the band is always a convincing figure. The more serious yet, in some funny way, ataractic appearance of Saukkonen is interestingly accompanied by the relaxed manifestation of singer and bass player Lars Eikind who also takes care of the speaking parts of their shows. Juho Räihä in the second guitar supplements the front row which is brilliantly backed up by drummer Atte Palokangas. He merrily keeps up his own precise, powerful and amusing show behind his pot kit.
The BtD set also highlighted the fact that the club stage inside functioned in general much better for these smaller bands than the two cold stages outside. From the other BogFires bands of interest, Ghost Brigade and Swallow the Sun slightly suffered from the chilly weather and open-air conditions that are not ideal for their moody metal. Mokoma closed the main stage with their trademark combination of energy and precise thrashing. The guys commented afterwards that they experienced some difficulties with the chilly conditions, but such details were not really visible to the audience.
To conclude, LL, if continued, is an intimate and well-organised event, a distinctive closure to the long and otherwise warm festival summer.
TMK
