Having lived my teenage years in the closeness of the beautiful natural area Pähkinäniemi, located in the idyllic part of Lohja known as Virkkala, Tuntuma provides a welcome excuse to visit the old hoods at least once a year.  Although the organizers of the event were having a year off in 2009, this summer luckily saw the return of this endearing indie festival, offering a wide variety of artists ranging from local demo bands to well-recognized domestic names, and covering a multitude of genres from rap and reggae to punk and metal.

This year the festival grounds held two stages, with the smaller one being an old wooden open-air dance floor, and the bigger one having been assembled especially for the festival on the nearby meadow.  In the case of the wide field in front of the main stage in particular, the setting looked a bit poor and absurd at times, as there was only a handful of people sitting on the grass during the earlier and (at least locally) less known bands.   The secondary stage was very suitably sized, and would've probably made the more crowded performances from the main stage feel more intense, and the applicable moshpits more potent.

The area is surrounded by woods, and, as appropriate for a summer festival, is situated next to a lake.  Therefore the surroundings provide an ideal environment for hanging out with buddies and beers, as upon exiting the festival area, you come right to the lakeside, where you can freshen up by taking a swim, or just watch the sun set over the waters of Lohjanjärvi.

The surroundings and atmosphere are indeed even more essential in the case of Tuntuma than with bigger festivals, as it's not only a bunch of good bands put together, but also a gathering of many long-time friends from the area who you might not see often enough otherwise.  Therefore, at least for locals, it's easy to get stuck socializing while you should be watching bands, and sadly most people's interest in drinking and mingling over what's happening on the stages was visible in the smaller bands' crowds.  The lack of a drinking area or the possibility of enjoying your own refreshments on the festival grounds surely had its effect on this, though.  On the other hand, a lot more unfortunate is how some locals choose not to pay for the ticket at all, but come only to hang out outside the area, which really doesn't contribute to the perpetuity of the festival that is one of the very few glimmers of hope left when it comes to underground music events in Lohja.

A bit of criticism could be directed towards some of the artist picks, as for example both days’ headliners had already played Tuntuma before, and despite both Rytmihäiriö and No Shame being excellent live bands, something more innovative and exciting would've been nice, too.  When it comes to local acts, the pool is understandably small, but with the variety of genres Tuntuma covers, the possibilities for the rest of the bill are vast.  Then again, considering the lazy, half-assed attitude of the majority of the local audience and their disinterest in anything new or unknown to them, I understand it's easier to book at least a couple bands that have previously proved to attract a decent crowd, and are guaranteed to give a good show.  Indeed, as respectable as it was getting exciting names like Ronskibiitti and The Dwyers to make their first Lohja appearances, sadly the pearls cast from the stage didn't seem to interest the swine...

Our festival weekend kicked off with some rap straight outta Sodankylä, as Stepa and his live sidekick Are took over the main stage.  While lately I haven't been at all following what's going on in the field of Finnish rap, hearing about Stepa's appearance at Tuntuma inspired me to check out his latest album Made in Sodankylä, which surprised me positively with its relaxed mood and down-to-earth attitude.  However, in a live setting the mainman didn't sound quite as relaxed as on record, but rather more intense, and while intensity is usually a positive live trait, in this case it killed a part of the atmosphere for me.  Also, the lack of the guest artists, who certainly play a part in making some of the album tracks so good, was understandable, yet still watered down the songs a bit, and my unfamiliarity with the several non-album tracks in the set didn't help either.  Whereas the excessively negative "Ei" was the most positive moment of the set, it still couldn't compete with the recorded version where Stepa shares the mic with Laineen Kasperi, and after they had played the song, wetting my whistle by the lake sounded more appealing than watching to the end.  Although I'd dub the performance somewhat disappointing, without it I probably wouldn't have found out what an enjoyable album Made in Sodankylä is, so just take it easy in the talouskriisi!

The first act we witnessed on the rustic wooden stage were the groovy local rockers Midget Fetish, whose energy-loaded live appearances had already convinced me before.  This late afternoon show was no exception, with the whole band seeming to be really into what they were doing, while exploring a range of different moods from murky psychedelic atmospheres to aggressive outbursts, and managing to do it with a catchy, jam-like vibe.  While Pyry's characteristic voice isn't surely to everyone's liking, I find myself enjoying it, and combined with his wild stage persona, he makes for an entertaining frontman.  These fetishists have been at it for quite some time now, and they clearly know their shit, so hopefully they'll get further than this, as the lack of potential or passion is clearly not an issue.

Friday's second hip-hop offering came in the form of three lucky bastards living a bit less up north, as Turku's Ronskibiitti presented their take on the art of beats and rhymes.  Not having heard a lot of their material, the familiarity factor wasn't much of a booster, but the skilled verbal attack coming from the stage impressed me with its speed and intensity, and their material sounded much more suitable for a live situation than Stepa's.  As an appropriate closing song, considering the evening's headliner, Ronskibiitti performed their awesome punk-rap piece "Perjantaina juostiin" (not a cover!), which was the crowning moment of the set with its catchy chorus and clever wordings.

Up next were the festival's only purely metal group Tracedawn, who were a bit of an amusing sight on the wooden stage with only a handful of people watching, when compared to the setting I had seen them in at Tuska only two years earlier.  However, these young lads didn't let themselves be bothered by the unfavorable situation, but instead turned it to their benefit, energetically jamming around the entire dance floor with their instruments.  Although their modern and polished mixture of melody and aggression doesn't appeal to my tastebuds, they were fun and entertaining to watch, and seemingly enjoyed performing even to such a small audience.  Now that's professionalism for you!

After the main stage's rap offerings, before surmacore was to start bursting from the speakers, the audience was entertained with some reggae music, courtesy of local sound system Family Sound and a collaborative effort between Pouta Sound (sadly, Rotten Sound couldn't make it) and well-known reggae artist Raappana.  However, I was more interested in the last two bands on the smaller stage, who were less about the chill and more about the kill, with Pori's Breamgod playing metallic hardcore, while Alley Gods from Turku were going for a faster and more old school interpretation of the term.  The latter were in fact a last-minute replacement for the Chuck Norris crossover heroes Delta Force 2, who had to cancel their gig due to an apparent blood poisoning that one of their members had suffered.  This was indeed a shitty turn of events, as they were one of my most looked-forward-to acts of the weekend, and while Alley Gods were a decent replacement, neither of these two hardcore bands managed to get me excited, and time was mostly spent consuming unholy ruby-red potion on the beach and preparing for the homicidal billhook mania to follow.  (Disclaimer: If you do not know what these allusions refer to, go run in front of a truck.  Thank you.  Sincerely, The Editorial Team)

Tuntuma 2007 culminated in my first live experience with one of my long-time favorites, Rytmihäiriö, and even after seeing them a dozen times more between then and now, I still consider it the best I've seen from them.  The intensity, the atmosphere and the fulfilment of that performance were just so unmatchable that it still fills me with such nostalgia to think back to that night I lost my live surmacore virginity.  It was somewhat unfortunate that this time the intimate wooden stage was the secondary one, and as a headliner Rytmihäiriö naturally played the big-kid stage, therefore being unable to create such an in-your-face feeling as the last time.  Still, the set was a guaranteed butchery filled with the band's later career hits, executed with the expected tightness and professionalism, and spiced with Une’s always so pertinent speeches.  A good ending for the first festival day without a doubt, there's just nothing quite like screaming along to the timely wisdoms of "Ei mitenkään" on your own home turf.

After missing the first four bands due to general summer laziness, local Ojamo party boys You Can't Keep Me Down started our festival Saturday with their brisk beatdown hardcore.  Having followed these dudes going through so many potential bands that never made it out of the rehearsal room, let alone the hometown circles, it's delightful to see that with YCKMD they've finally got it going, and managed to get some recognition not only within their local circle of friends, but also in the wider Finnish hardcore scene during the last couple of years.  The catchy compositions are ideal for live interpretation, and hours spent rehearsing and gigging around Southern Finland have sharpened the band to a confident and entertaining live act that knows how to deliver the goods.

Part Time Killer, who are a continuation of most of the members' previous outfit Flippin' Beans, were up next on the main stage, but drinking beer with friends down by the laituri sounded much more inviting.  Flippin' Beans' punk rock was simply too polished and average sounding to my ear, and the newer incarnation of the band isn't to my taste any more either – not that they’re walking far from their previous footsteps, or that playing FB-era material along with new songs would sound out of place in the set.  So, instead of force-feeding myself with their tunes, time was spent enjoying maltshakes and the good company of some too-poor-to-festival friends outside the area, while excitement about the next band was starting to build up.

Nomen est omen indeed, how can a band named after true American hero and live TV suicider Budd Dwyer fail?  If that isn't enough of a reason for a hard-on already, the members of Turku's The Dwyers have also previously appeared in the ranks of the great The Heartburns, yet I was still surprised by what an impressive effort I came across when I checked out their debut album Gas Station Masturbation, incited by their addition to the bill.  Now this is my kind of punk rock, with roughness and melody, and especially in the vocal department the balance between these two qualities is outstanding, leading to a catchy and addictive result – and a great live show!  While the band was throwing hits after hits to the shamefully small audience, the lack of the debut's closing track and my personal favorite "Rat Race" was a minor flaw in the otherwise exhilarating performance.  Additional amusement for us few but enthusiastic pogoers was provided by the wooden dance floor in front of the stage being wet and slippery, thanks to the mildly cruddy weather, making it possible to just slide from one side to another.  Now that's inventive audience behavior for you!

The acoustic folk punk duo of Jaakko & Jay had a cool sound and the right attitude, but didn't manage to make a further impression with their song material.  The last band on the small stage were Presley Bastards, whose modern sounding melodic punk rock I've never got into either, so the more interesting offerings of the rest of the evening were the main stage's hardcore acts.  While Ratface have already boozed their way to the frontline of the Finnish scene with their earlier EP’s and recent debut album Ratassed, on stage these guys are at their wildest, and at Tuntuma they proved that they don't require an intimate club environment to get the party pumpin’.  The band's humorous yet extremely tight hardcore clearly appealed to the audience, especially the sweaty pitters who were very keen to contribute with their vocal cords as well whenever Turo passed the mic over.  Whereas most of the guests that appear on the full-length were naturally not seen on stage, the two Pussy Rat Dollz stepped in for "More Booze More Sex".

If Ratface's hardcore is quite the mishmosh with its flirtings with various styles from metal to rap, St.Hood present a more serious and concentrated take on the matter with their strongly metallic sound.  While the band’s first Tuntuma appearance in 2008 left me cold, this time I found their live show to be quite an enjoyable one.  Ratface frontman Turo was on double duty, appearing also on bass with St.Hood, but his instrument didn't keep him from interacting with the audience, as playing while doing a bit of crowdsurfing didn’t seem to be a problem... Although they're still not something I'd be listening to at home, in a live situation the band were able to squeeze that extra drop of intensity and aggression that certainly made a difference.

Headlining Tuntuma already for the third time were Salo's melodic punk rockers No Shame, who have reached a relatively high level of popularity during their nearly 15-year journey, and this performance was yet another reminder why.  While I don't find any of their albums to be a bull's-eye, the band have written a fair amount of great songs over the years, and when they compile a big part of those into a live set, performing it with all of their spirit and emotion, the result is nothing short of excellent.  No Shame are also of special personal value to me, as their second album Schpunk was one of my very first touches with real punk, and they were among the first non-local bands I ever witnessed live.  Several shows and almost ten years later, I have even more appreciation for their uplifting music, outspoken lyrics and honest attitude, not to forget their furious stage act.  While I rebuke myself for missing the beginning of the gig due to socializing, gladly the band still had several brilliant tracks left to play when I arrived, like the newest hit "Better Drunk Than Part of the Machine (Parempi kännissä ku osa niiden koneen)", and one of the most elevating pieces of their catalog, "Coward".  As a perfect closing track for the night and another fine festival weekend in Virkkala, we were served another top moment off Rebound for Glory, and probably my all-time No Shame favorite, the fast and fierce, yet soulful hardcore burst "Goodbye".