Last year we discovered a small underground event in the city of Hyvinkää, Finland. HVNK PNKRCK brings the best that Finland has to offer on the level of punk and hardcore with the occasional addition of a band from abroad. I fell in love with the festival with its camaraderie and chill yet dangerous atmosphere. So I was eagerly looking forward to the 2018 edition fittingly baptized “HVNK PNKRCK 3.0”. And I definitely had a blast…
| Overall | Friday 20th | Saturday 21st |
Yet again the organisation managed to gather a most interesting line-up with a lot of up-and-coming bands and established artists. This time they dialed up the internationality with 2 bands from abroad instead of the 1 of last year: returning, the Welsh punk rock from Bogans and the Swedish garage rock ‘n’ roll machine Satan Takes A Holiday:
That the line-up was very appealing for anyone who is into the punk and hardcore scene, became quickly clear seeing the amount of people gathering at MDNGT Club every day. While last year with the first band there were only maybe a dozen of people showing up, this year the area in front of the stage was already very decently filled up right from the start. Both Friday and Saturday were also virtually sold-out and there were points during the event that the venue was almost too full!
There were also a few small improvements compared to last year. Of course they had again the great deal with the Finnish distrubitor of Brewdog to sell “Punk IPA” at a lower cost than normally, but now they also had a few other options from the “punk brewers” available like for instance “Elvis Juice”. Always great to have some good craftbeer along some crafty underground music! Besides that, this time they also reserved a corner in the back for a small hotdog stand with a very enticing smell and an imposing big bearded Fin serving the hungry souls present.
That the scene is very alive and people appreciate a well organized event is very clear. HVNK PNKRCK is steadily growing and getting known by more people every day. We’re looking forward how things will progress further for this great event! Now onward to how we experienced the bands of the first day…
