Turmion Kätilöt did it again — a perfect disco night at Tavastia

If you’ve seen Turmion Kätilöt live you know pretty well what to expect. And those expectations are not low. This band has taken its place as one of the biggest (disco) metal bands in Finland and they are also making their way outside the country quite impressively. After releasing their 10th album “Omen X” earlier this year, Turmion Kätilöt has been touring all over the Europe. Now that they threw a little tour in Finland too, I had a chance to check out their show for the first time in a while.

As we arrived to Tavastia very early due to other businesses, there were already some fans waiting outside. Turmion Kätilöt has such a committed fan base in Finland, and all the masks and costumes you can see fans wearing are pretty awesome. The night was sold-out so there was also a good reason to be a bit early.

Something I was wondering was the fact that there was no warm up band at all. You would think that getting straight to the main performer, people (especially Finnish people) would be a bit stiff and not yet in the mood of getting into some crazy party. I admit I was wrong thinking like this. Obviously fans of this band know very well what they are coming for and are completely ready for the disco. No warm up needed.

The opening song had been changed since last time I saw the band. For some time Naitu was the one getting band to the stage and people in the mood. Though I loved it as an opening, I also appreciate it being now one of the encore songs. The opening song was now “Sormenjälki“, one of the singles of the new album “Omen X”. The setlist was very nice combination of old and new including many of the greatest hits of Turmion Kätilöt. And still 6 out of 17 songs was from “Omen X”, which is pretty good take since the album is so new. Now here comes a personal opinion and this is a message to the band: “Verestä Sokea” should be on the setlist. That is the one thing I wasn’t happy about it. Thanks and sorry but this had to be said.

I can imagine that the audience of band like this is not the most quiet one. The band had a little competition between all the finnish cities they were touring in: they made them shout their lungs out and measured the decibels. So far Kuopio (their home city) had been number one, but as I got it right Tavastia took the leading place shouting like a slaughtered pig. The atmosphere was fantastic and this people were ready to give their everything.

The show was just as awesome as you would expect. Sweaty, groovy, heavy, you name it. Weird speeches between the songs. Phone flashlights and everyone getting rid of their voice. By the time the band was leaving the stage for the first time, you got a little moment to rest and yet you knew the best songs were still to come. Encore included three songs which were “Naitu“, “Pyhä maa” and “Sikiö“. I’m not even sure if people were so exhausted after the show that they just didn’t have energy to move or they wanted to say proper goodbye to the band, but they took a long time to leave as they waved to the band that was already leaving the stage. Anyway, while leaving Tavastia it was nice to hear all the comments praising the show. Seems like I wasn’t the only one getting a kick-ass start to my Easter holidays.