With public transport being on strike in Finland and this being a week day, this is not the easiest day for a band to get people to the venue. When Neonfly starts playing, it is still quite empty, but they give it their all anyway. Although the stage is small, they make it work and seem to enjoy being there. The set list consists mostly of songs from their most recent album The Future, Tonight from 2021. I am hoping to hear a certain song from them, but unfortunately at the end of the set, it is clear that is not going to happen. Better luck next time! Singer Willy Norton is doing a great job at interacting with the audience. During one of the last songs of their set he steps off the stage and walks into the audience, sitting down every now and then with different people, all the while singing and seemingly not missing a note. I am impressed. I think he might have made quite a few people feel very awkward when he came over to sing to them directly though, but for me, it was surely very entertaining to watch!

CyHra starts a couple of minutes late, but I am glad to see a lot more people have arrived to the venue by now. They open their set with Ashlights and clearly there are some fans that have attended multiple previous shows, as singer Jake E seems to recognize them and greets them. This band seems to enjoy being on stage even more than their support band. There is great interaction between the band members, for instance during one of the first songs drummer Alex Landenburg leaves his spot for a short while to do a little dance with bass player Euge Valovirta. At the end of Bye Bye Forever, the whole band minus the drummer leaves the stage, and we get a very energetic drum solo from him. He seems to be one of the happiest drummers I’ve ever seen, he is smiling throughout the whole gig.

After the song Karma, there is a little break. Earlier, singer Jake E got a gift from fans, and he is opening it during the show for all of us to see. The gift is a bag full of small packages with numbers on them. He calls the fans on stage to explain a bit more, and they tell us that these gifts are for the whole band. Every member and also some people of the crew have to pick a number and that is the present they get to open. There are some printed shirts with an inside joke about a fictitious person named Seppo that nobody has ever seen, and they keep asking where this Seppo is. There are also specially printed chocolate bars and towels. It is a nice intermezzo and the whole band seems to appreciate the gifts.

The show continues with Ready to Rumble, followed by Life Is A Hurricane. There is another short break in which Jake E talks about the sensitive topic of suicide. It is an introduction to the song Battle From Within, written for his brother who committed suicide, he tells us. Looking around, I can see a few tears being shed during the song.

We definitely need something to lighten the mood after this, and we get it! Drummer Alex Landenburg once again leaves his drum kit, this time to sing the song Closure together with Jake E. One of the crew members steps in to replace him behind the drums (and does a great job!) A couple more songs and the gig is already over. Time certainly went fast, and it seems most people have not realized it’s over yet, as they keep clapping and asking for more songs, until we’re told it is really over. But not to worry: Jake E tells us to come over to the merch stand, the whole band will be there, so people can take pics and get some merchandise signed. How sweet is that?