Raskasta Joulua – Hartwall Areena, Helsinki; December 9th, 2017
The last time I attended Raskasta Joulua (Heavier Christmas) in 2010 is was one concert in Helsinki that took place at Tavastia. Six years of not being able to fit it into my schedule went by and now it is a tour all over Finland with the Helsinki concert taking place at the much larger Hartwall Areena. They even sold Golden Circle tickets and yes, I splurged on getting one. The concert was totally worth it. Quite a few Finnish (and also non-Finnish) Metal singers and players delivered three hours of entertainment. It was an evening of pure fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 🙂
Arrived at the venue an hour or so before the door opened and joined about 20 people who already stood there. It was windy and therefore freezing cold, but we toughed it out until they finally let us in. I had not dared to bing my big camera, because the venue’s website said photography was not allowed, but inside I saw a guy with a dslr and big lens near me and nobody told him not to take pictures. Either way, we got in, we got warm and I scored a great spot in front row right at the center of the catwalk. Most people opted for being closer to the main stage, but I had a great overview from where I stood and all the singers came to us during the show. 🙂
Now I am not a metal fan, nor am I particularly fond of Christmas songs, but the combination on the two works for me. Never mind that my Finnish is lousy and I didn’t understand much of what was being said or sung. Many of the songs are familiar anyway, because they exist in many languages and some were even in English. Swedish too, but I don’t speak that either. It was all about being there and enjoying the atmosphere and the great voices without thinking too much for as long as it lasted. I would love to do this every year.
The stage was big with a long catwalk in front and they had two video screens at the sides so people in the back had a chance to see details. From the very start, everything was perfect: Sound, lights, fitting video projections and even fireworks, lots of them. I knew some of the singers because I know their bands and I remembered quite a few of the people on stage from the last time around, but some where new to me. During the break, I compared notes with the people next to me and learned a few more names. 🙂
The show rocked (what else?) and everyone on stage and in front was visibly having fun. Some songs turned heavy, but others stayed closer to their traditional form and with each one the vocalists could show off their skills. Of course the other band members got their moments in the spotlights too and played solos for which the guitar players even made their way to the front. 🙂 From time to time tehre were sing alongs going on, especially well done was the “rapapapam” part for ‘Pieni rumpali’ and towards the end we even got the lyrics for one song on the screen so not even I had an excuse for keeping my mouth shut. 😉
I had been looking forward to seeing Tony Kakko, Ville Tuomi and Anthony Parvianen, the former two because I like(d) their work with Sonata Arctica and Suburban Tribe respectively and the latter because I remembered him fondly from the last concert. They delivered just as I had hoped with Anthony just singing beautifully and Ville jumping around like a madman with his hair flying all over the place. I loved all of the voices, but especially ennjoyed Floor and Elize’s parts, the latter singing in Swedish. Overall I think the duets and the songs with shared vocals worked best, but there really wasn’t anything to complain about. Everyone did an amazing job.
They were having fun doing it too, wether jumping off the drum raiser, pretending to kick each other and falling over in the process, dancing across the catwalk, swinging their legs like Cancan dancers (OK, not quite as high :P) or urging on the audience to scream. All this painted a smile on my face from the first to the very last minute.
When they took a break about an hour into the show I though we’d get another hour and I’d be home long before midnight. Wrong! The gave us almost two hours more in total, walked off the stage a few times and kept coming back (during the encore that is). For the grand finale everyone was on stage and shared vocal until finally, after two songs, they all bowed, walked off and only Marco And Floor were left behind, singing one last song, ‘Ave Maria’ together. It was a beautiful final note and I happily walked back to the train station afterwards. What a great night!
Setlist
Intro from Tape (some sort of remix of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”)
Joulun sanoma (Marco)
Me käymme Joulun viettohon (Tuple)
Arkihuolesi kaikki heitä (Tony)
The First Noel (Joe Lynn Turner)
Oi Joulunajan ihmiset (Tony & Floor. Included snippet of ‘Tiernapojat’)
Kolmen kuninkaan marssi (Tuple)
Jouluyö, juhlayö (JP)
Stjärnan i min hand (Elize)
Mielenrauhaa (Pasi & Antti)
Nisse-polkka (Ville)
Sylvian Joululaulu (Antony)
Guitar solo (Tuomas)
Enkelikello (Antti)
White Christmas (Bing Crosby cover) (Floor & Joe Lynn Turner)
Joulumuisto (Kimmo)
Sydämeeni joulun teen (Ville)
Tonttu (Marco & JP)
Heinillä härkien kaukalon (Kimmo. Included snippet from ” Walking in the Air” by Howard Blake)
Julen är här (Elize & Tony)
Tähti tähdistä kirkkain (Antony)
Oi Jouluyö (Floor)
Pieni rumpali (Marco, JP, Tony & Tuple)
Tulkoon Joulu (Marco, JP, Tony, Tuple, Antony, Ville, Antti, Kimmo & Elize)
Varpunen Jouluaamuna (Marco)
Petteri Punakuono (JP)
Encore:
Joulun rauhaa (Everybody on stage)
Ilouutinen (Everybody on stage)
Ave Maria (Floor & Marco)
Vocalists: Antony Parviainen, Antti Railio, Elize Ryd (Amaranthe), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Joe Lynn Turner, JP Leppäluoto (Harmaja), Kimmo Blom, Marco Hietala (Nightwish), Pasi Rantanen (Thunderstone), Tommi “Tuple” Salmela, Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica) & Ville Tuomi.
Band: Erkka Korhonen – guitar, Vili Ollila – keyboards, Mirka Rantanen – drums, Erkki Silvennoinen – bass, Tuomas Wäinölä – guitar (Note: there was no information who actually played at this particular concert, so I hope this is correct)