Only a handful of artists have as much energy as Michael Monroe, he’s like a bouncy ball, running around the stage, jumping from speaker to speaker or off the stage, if you’re not careful you might get run over by him in the front row. And while Saturday was more cloudy than the previous day, he and his bandmates made sure the crowd was heating up.

Marko Hietala delivered the shortest performance of the weekend, and personally I would have liked to see more as I always enjoy his strong vocals. I particularly enjoyed hearing two of his songs, ‘Isäni ääni‘ and ‘Juoksen rautateitä‘, in their Finnish versions as they just have some deeper feeling to them this way.

If you’re ready for a hillbilly country-style party then Steve ‘n’ Seagulls is for you. But don’t let them fool you, they might look a bit foolish and unserious, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t know how to play really good music. Their renditions of popular songs are just way more fun than their originals.

Singer Samy Elbanna recently gained some fans when he stepped into the role of Alexi Laihos at the Children of Bodom reunion/tribute concerts and although it’s great to see him filling those big shoes, it’s even better to see him succeed with his own band. The slight bit of rain that started right at the same time then Lost Society had no chance at all of cooling things down, these guys know how to bring the fire and they won’t leave anyone feeling bored.

The mystery artist of the festival turned out to be Turmion Kätilöt, which wasn’t too surprising as they also were the mystery artist of the Oulu edition of the festival. Unfortunately Bobby Undertaker can’t currently play any shows due to sickness, but luckily Kasperi Heikkinen did a great job filling in for him.

Luckily we didn’t have to wait too long to hear more from Marko Hietala, as he was back on stage just a few hours later to celebrate 40 years of Tarot. I must say I didn’t really feel the vibe of their performance this time, unfortunately.

The Finnish-Swedish-supergroup Cemetery Skyline brought a little darker atmosphere to the festival which fitted very well with the also slightly gloomy weather. Eyes and raindrops sparkled from the atmospheric lights that cut through the setting darkness of the evening.

Apocalyptica, who are currently still touring with their ‘Apocalyptica Plays Metallica, Vol. 2‘ show are always a pleasure. Their music which combines metal and classic has such a unique flavor and seeing their playfulness on stage combined with their high level of skill always brings a smile to my face.