Eläkeläiset never lets us down
Sunday’s opening act Eläkeläiset got the honour of being announced by North Carelias small great man Jaakko Teppo himself. The feeling of a great humppa feast hung in the air, making it just a question of time before the crowd went bananas.
As the volume kept creeping up, surpassing all sane limits, the audience seemed to lose their minds as well. Humppa-rapture took over the people, creating a long-tailed line of humppa dancers.
The god of rain, that humppa-despising meanie, tried to give the finger to the band. Eläkeläiset were not so easily scared, and countered with a booming bass sound that drove the dark clouds away. All that was left was torrential rain, merely refresing instead of depressing.
Wonderfully simple humppa versions of evergreen hits surely helped lots of people start the final day of Ilosaarirock in an appropriate way.
Text: Samuli Longi
Pictures: Markus Korpi-Hallila