Helsinki, Finland
June 28th – 30th, 2024
Organized since 1998, the Tuska festival has grown over the years into Finland’s largest heavy music festival. This year, Tuska was held from June 28th to 30th. Over three days, 60,000 metalheads gathered at the festival. On Saturday, Tuska’s all-time one-day visitor record was set with 23,000 visitors. The most visible and audible part of the festival was the music offering. The main performers this year included Dimmu Borgir, Kerry King, Vola, Bring Me the Horizon, Beyond the Black, and Parkway Drive. More than 60 bands and artists performed on four stages over the three days. The festival area was located on an asphalt field surrounded by large industrial plants. Two of the stages were outdoor stages on different sides of the area. Additionally, the stage selection included a huge tent stage and a smaller indoor stage where mostly Finnish bands, still operating on the margins, performed.
Text: Jani Vuorela. Photos: Jani Vuorela
In addition to music, the festival had everything from panel discussions to the art of body modification. As the author of the report, I completely skipped the additional programs and focused solely on the music offering. However, I heard from my colleagues that the panel discussions were interestingly themed and well executed. The discussions were also recorded and probably already published as podcasts. The implementation language was English.
The festival area was located a little outside the center of Helsinki in Suvilahti. The area has good public transport connections by metro and trams. The festival wristband exchange was organized in the nearby shopping center Redi. Even though I was warned in advance about the possible queues and I arrived at perhaps the worst rush hour, the formalities still went through very quickly. After picking up the wristband and photo pass, it was only a short walk from the shopping center to the festival area.
Friday 28.6.
Friday was the hottest day of the entire festival weekend. The numerous water points arranged in the area were popular hiking destinations between gigs.
I found myself wandering from one stage to another, avoiding bands I had already seen before, waiting for the personal headliner of the day, Dimmu Borgir.
Dimmu Borgir started on the main stage as the second to last performer of the day, already at 20:15. The festival set was a versatile overview of the band’s career. There was also a gratifying amount of material from the first albums. Unfortunately, according to my calculations, the length of the gig was only 10 songs long, and “Det Nye Riket,” heard as the intro, took a big chunk of the playing time. Despite the shortness of the set, Dimmu Borgir met my expectations.
After Dimmu, I had to go to the accommodation to rest. The sleep debts accumulated the previous night had to be slept off.
Galleries for Friday: I Am the Night, Alestorm, Infected Rain, Kerry King, Suburban Tribe, Dimmu Borgir
Saturday 29.6.
The day’s event seemed to me to be the most boring of all beforehand, although the big audience clearly had a different opinion. The positive surprises of the day were Ankor and Make Them Suffer, little known or completely unknown to me. Both bands played an extremely energetic set on the Open Air II stage. Even if the musical styles reeking of modern metal didn’t ignite the undersigned, the hour-long neck exercises won me over.
The biggest disappointment of the day was Amorphis. The band was its lazy self on stage, and not even vocalist Tomi Joutsen’s energy level was where it normally is. Would it be time for the band to take a breather for a year or two? The day ended with the well-anticipated Bring Me the Horizon. The great audience liked it. I still don’t.
Galleries for Saturday: Ankor, Vola, Devourment, Tarot, Sonata Arctica, Stam1na, Make Them Suffer, Turmion Kätilöt
Sunday 30.6.
Sunday had the best weather of the weekend. The temperature was tolerable at around 20 degrees, and there were clouds in the sky blocking the strongest sunshine.
Several bands with female vocalists also performed on Sunday. A few such bands were placed on the smallest KVLT Stage. I was especially looking forward to Luna Kills. I had seen the band earlier in the spring in a club environment, and at that time, the band got almost the whole club going. Throughout the weekend, the audience capacity of the KVLT Stage had run out for almost every performer. This also happened at the Luna Kills gig. When the gig was already at the very end, people were still queuing to get in.
The second featured band of the day was Warmen. The material from the current lineup’s latest album, “Here For None,” works great live and is not at all overshadowed by the Children of Bodom songs in the band’s set. Though Janne Wirman’s speeches and Children of Bodom stories could slowly be left out.
The disappointment of the day came again from the main stage. Opeth played with a slightly heavier hand for a change, but I just can’t understand the band no matter how much I want to. After just one song, everything to be seen and heard was achieved.
The festivities ended with the biggest bombs and pyros performed by Parkway Drive. Right away, the opening song of the gig received a full bomb load. You could probably hear the band playing music from the stage as well, but I was more entertained by the explosives and the biggest fireworks of the festival. A handsome show, after which it was good to leave the festival area.
When passing the main gate, it was a bit surprising to notice that the dismantling of the tent stage had already been done very quickly in just an hour. Fast and professional operation, like the whole experience at the Tuska festival. No wonder the festival breaks attendance records. I couldn’t find any flaws during the entire weekend. Perhaps the crampedness of the KVLT Stage is the only clear minus.
Galleries for Sunday: Shereign, Beyond the Black, Warmen, Lost Society, Eivør, Luna Kills, Opeth, Swansong, Parkway Drive
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