There were others in attendance, of course, and thanks to the audience participation portion of the show, they were able to take part too. Confusa and Creepy Crawlie warmed up the room with high-energy hardcore sets; in fact, warmed up is an understatement, since the room was hotter than heck by the time Subs appeared.

 

After a good nights’ sleep, the man behind Vastavirta, Perttu, led Xiao Bai into Helsinki to Vuoritalo to prepare for Sunday night’s gig.

Meet The Dude. Not a Big Lebowski kind of Dude, but I just felt like The Dude was the best way to refer to him. I think you’ll see why.

 

I don’t know his name; I didn’t ask and I certainly didn’t want to know. In fact, I really don’t want to know anything about The Dude. But I did want to share with you all an homage, of sorts, to him. Because it’s guys like him that shake things up a bit. Yeah, you’ve got your leather-jacket-studded, mohawked punkheadz, but it’s random guys like The Dude here, blitzed beyond belief, that end up affecting the general vibe; mostly in a good way, though only in retrospect; while his Show is in full effect, I found myself dodging his bobs and weaves, and constantly seeing his limbs creep into pictures I thought I’d had perfectly set up.

 

Guys like The Dude... They come in all mild-mannered. No leather, no hairstyle, no concert/festival/band/political-slogan t-shirt. Before the show, they find a chair, sit back, out of sight, and get good and ripped. And then, it’s showtime.

 

First, the dancing (for which, you’ll note, the crowd has made room):

And then, the screaming:

Followed by the fist-pumping, arm waving and pointing:

And culminating with the removal of the jacket and repeated attempts to shake musicians’ hands during the show, in addition to the perpetually arm-outstretched grab for something that seems forever out of reach (he was grabbing for Wu Hao’s guitar in the first picture, above, here, he’s got Kang Mao in his sights.

A quick breather...

Thanks, Dude, for making this one special.

(And for leaving your mark.)

 

 

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