Wasted (Klubi, Tampere)

02/01/2019

Last Spring I saw Finnish hardcore punk outfit Wasted for the first time at HVNK PNKRCK 3.0 and they brought one hell of a show. The passion, musicianship and connection with their fans made the gig complete and the short talk I had with vocalist Ville just confirmed how nice these guys are. I exchanged contacts and got to hear that Ville was working on a new project with a couple of friends from Berlin. So when I noticed that Wasted was playing a couple of gigs in Finland with one of the support bands being the very same project named Beginnings, I just wanted to be there to check it out! So I took my car, made a long drive to Tampere and found Klubi to have a night of (hardcore) punk to enjoy…

Sadly, I only caught the last few songs of openings band Remissions (***). However, despite the only short bit I saw of them, they actually convinced me with their straightforward and honest hardcore. I really like my bands like this, and I hope to be able to catch a full show of them some time in the near future!

With Beginnings (***1/2) we got something very different. The new side project of Wasted vocalist Ville with a couple of German friends, was more of the punk rock caliber. Punk songs with loads of melody and catchy hooks, reminding me of some classic punk rock bands like Millencolin, Lagwagon, Hüsker Dü and the lot. It was interesting to see Ville not front and center as the frontman, but rather as the right hand with guitar and supporting vocals. Vocalist Raoul looked for interaction with the small crowd that was there, guitarist Robert seemed in his own little world, bassist Thomas was very active for a bass player and drummer Tilmann was a pleasure to look at with his crazy faces and engaged play. A very fun first meeting with an interesting punk rock band!

Having seen Wasted (****) once before, I sort of knew what to expect. As before, the show was top notch, with loads of energy coming from every single band member on stage. Ville now in his old familiar role of frontman was again pacing back and forth on stage like a restless lion in a cage. With bassist Jamppa and guitarist Antti at his sides and backed by the ever faithful Miikka on drums, they absolutely rocked the place again. It was a bit of a pity that the crowd was rather on the small side, but they didn’t let that hit home and absolutely went for it.

At a certain point Ville picked his guitar back up to add another layer to their already great music for a couple of songs. At the end he put the guitar back to return to his nervous demeanor and actually ended the show going off stage to get close to the crowd that was there. Yet another great show by a great punk rock band. I admit I liked them and the energy more when I saw them at a tiny venue that was crammed full to the brim, but hey, you don’t hear me complain really!