Apulanta and Sinfonia Lahti have already proven to be a fantastic combination and so it’s no surprise that I only have one negative thing to say about their recent concert at Ratina Stadium: why do you have the doors open three and a half hours before the gig and then have almost no entertainment for this time? I understand that at gig of this size you need to plan some time for everyone to be able to get in and find their spot. I also appreciate gigs where people don’t all have to rush in at the same time. That said, three and a half hours seems a bit excessive. It would be a different story if there was an support act, but the only entertainment that was offered during this time was a short (15min) slide show of pictures of Apulanta‘s past with commentary from Heli Sutela. That just an awful long amount of time to just stand around.

Other than this, I thought the evening was amazing. Both food and drinks had really short waiting lines, most likely due to the fact that there was a truck selling those things almost around every corner. Even the line for the proper bathroom wasn’t all that bad and the Dixis had practically no waiting time at all.

Also Heli‘s slide show was very fun to watch, especially the little story about Apulanta, in the begging of their career, searching for fans through a newspaper announcement (“Fans wanted, preferably girls, but guys are welcome too”). This seemed like a great way to get in the mood for the gig, just a bit strange that there was still so much time between this and Apulanta‘s starting time.

Shortly before the show is supposed to start some clouds appear above us and it starts drizzling a bit, but luckily it stops again just as fast. I was a bit worried ahead of the show that it was planed to be outside, as the end of August isn’t always as pleasant in Finland as it was on that day. When it’s finally 20:30 Lahtis Symphony Orchestra are first to enter the stage and the show, just like last time, start with a purely orchestral medley of some of Apulanta‘s greatest hits (Pahempi toistaan / Ruhtinaat / Jumala / Maanantai / Lokin päällä lokki / Routa / Valot pimeyksien reunoilla). After which Apulanta and their live guitarist Pauli Hauta-aho enter the stage.

I must admit that already after this point I have only very few notes about the show as I was far to busy taking everting in to actually write anything down. There is just so much to see. In addition to the many people on stage there is also five huge video screens that not only show basic video footage of the performance, but also change in their visual style with every song.
And then there is fire, lots of fire. And fireworks. I kept thinking that I will move a bit further to the back after a few songs, but then I kept getting intrigued by yet another thing and so the first set was over in a heartbeat, with me still in the same spot in which I started the gig.

After half an hour the show continues perfectly on time. Apulanta used the break for an outfit change and by now darkness has set in, which gives everything yet again a different atmosphere. The band throughout the whole show keeps mentioning how grateful they are for their fans and that they couldn’t have gotten to where they are without their fans. They seem to enjoy what they do just as much as we, in the crowd, enjoyed their performance. Even though the show is on such a large professional scale it has an easy going feel to it. In part probably do to all the jokes the band kept making, like for example “Apulanta sounds good, from Apulanta’s point of view at least”.

The gig lasted a whopping two and a half hours, not including the break. All in all I can easily say that this was one of my highlights this year and I think there isn’t much that could be done to create an even better experience.