John Smith Rock Festival: To/Die/For returned to the stage

Finland has done well when the rock and metal expertise has been voted on internationally. Within the country, the John Smith Rock Festival in Laukaa has been very successful, as it has been chosen as the best domestic festival of the year several times in the industry press.

The three-day festival opens on July 21. The title beer of the event sells out on the same day. Among the headliners is Stam1na, known for his live energy and moshpits.

On Friday, there is a treat for many who lived their youth in the 21st century. Among others, domestic Mokoma and Kotiteollisuus will take to the stages.

– Hamina’s walrus lives on, singer-guitarist Jouni Hynynen exclaims, pointing to his friend and bandmate Janne Hongisto.

A sunny day by the Peurunka lake is hot. In the evening, there will be several more atmospheric performers, such as the French fairy metal giant Alcest.

A nostalgic comeback

Before that, however, the gothic cult band To/Die/For, which many have been waiting for, will take the stage. The band played their farewell concert at John Smith’s in the first year of the festival in 2016. It was the last time the Kouvola-Helsinki band performed.

– We have been away. We’re not even together in a way. It was a positive surprise in itself that the organizer wanted us here. At first I thought that there must be no one here to watch us, the singer Jarno “Jape” Perettalo says after the gig to Iltalehte.

Perätalo has not been on stage for six years. He says it was “damn great” to see so many people in the audience, including men singing along.

– There used to be a few younger girls. In general, true metal dudes didn’t found To/Die/Forista at the time, didn’t really dig. Now I was a bit speechless, what the hell. It felt good.

The band was originally supposed to play at John Smith’s a couple of years earlier, when the debut album released in 1999 All Eternity turned 20 years old. The intention was to play it from start to finish. However, Corona canceled everything and the organizer hoped that the band would not cancel. The gig moved and moved.

– The point here was that with the original lineup, this got a spark. It had to be done with these.

One of the crowd gone

However, one is missing. Among other things, a musician who influenced Lord Tonmi Lillman died in 2012. The drummer is a founding member of To/Die/For. Jarno Perätalo becomes serious when he addresses his former bandmate.

– Be it training or this gig. I often sing with my eyes closed. That’s when the images come. Most of the songs that were played even now, they were made with Lillman’s Tonmi. They are from the first and second album. Of course it comes to mind. It has been true in every song.

The band’s great appreciation and respect for the late drummer shines through the comments and voice of Perätalo.

The band does not know how the career will continue. According to the singer, others have said that they would be interested in continuing. He has not taken any position on the matter, and the matter has not been “discussed seriously”.

– We can tell you that Jope has done a couple of demos at home, but we haven’t done anything more than that. We’ll see. After all, this left such a good feeling that something might come of it!

Finally, Perätalo urges rock and metal people to keep the flag high so that culture does not disappear from Finland.

– Because this is so damn great in Finland compared to many other countries. Although there are metalheads and rockers elsewhere too. This is a matter of the heart for many.

“People clearly expected”

Despite the torrential rain and thunderstorm between Friday and Saturday night, many visitors haven’t had enough of the water. A large number of people head to the pools of Kylpylähotelli Peurunga. As a festival special, you can get there for free with a camping wristband.

Among the first performers of the day is Martti Servo & Napander, a slightly more special outfit. The idea has been a relaxed picnic in the park, but unfortunately the bad weather has a bad effect on it. The area is getting wet, but of course it sometimes belongs to the festival summer. Especially in Finland.

The evening and the festival will be closed by Insomnium from Joensuu, who play melodic death metal. It will also be the band’s second and last concert of the summer in Finland. The rest are abroad. Before John Smith, Insomnium performed in Finland at Tuska in Helsinki.

– People have clearly been waiting and I’ve had a good feeling myself playing these gigs. It seems that the audience hasn’t forgotten about us, the singer-bassist of the band Niilo Sevänen says modestly before the gig.

In the previous two years, Insomnium had only three gigs in the summer. Now there are closer to ten of them. One was canceled due to the corona virus, a few due to the cancellation of the entire event. Sevänen estimates that a normalizing situation looms after the coronavirus pandemic.

– When the corona work started, we have tried to be active. If we can’t tour, we can make new music. First we will make an EP and we will continue to make new songs with the same steam. A new album is coming. The matter will be announced later, says Sevänen.

No more restrictions

Niilo Sevänen hopes that there will be no need to go down the path of restrictions again, even if the coronavirus will keep the world going.

– I hope that the decision-making bodies understand the importance of the events in terms of general enjoyment, without even counting the euros that are involved. I hope it won’t happen again that the whistles go to the bag for many years. People need culture and live music.

The organizers have estimated that if the weather on Saturday had been better, the event would have been sold out. The daily capacity has been 5,000 tickets and it has been especially close on Friday and Saturday. It can also be seen at the start of the last gig, when you look at the hands raised in front of the main stage.