Bouncing Souls
2009/04/June - Nosturi, Helsinki, FIN
It's incredible to think that this band has been making music as long as I've been alive.
In celebration of their 20th Anniversary the New Jersey quintet The Bouncing Souls are touring the world and also arrived to Helsinki for the very first time.
They've been quite popular at their homeland ever since the beginning, and I've hear quite an amount of stories about the greatness of their gigs. Sadly though the fanbase that they have here in Finland is tiny and the turnout at the gig could definitely have been better. The crowd was definitely too small for a band like this.
Nevertheless, the people who actually did come were clearly really devoted fans, singing along to especially the older classics such as Hopeless Romantic and Night On Earth.
During this anniversary year Bouncing Souls have been treating fans by releasing one new song in the beginning of every month, and they played some of those new songs live as well. It's always nice to hear bands' new material, but I personally would have preferred to hear a little less of the new stuff and a little more of the old songs. The old material got the crowd going a lot more too, that was what they were there for.
The highlight of my night was definitely when they played one of my favorite songs, the touching Lean On Sheena. During songs like that the gig felt so amazing, like a good rock gig should feel like, but sadly during the never material I wasn't able to catch the same feeling and ended up feeling a bit... bored. Some of the slower songs just seemed to last for too long.
Over all I would give this gig 3 stars out of 5. It pains me to give one of my favorite bands only 3 stars, but I have to be honest and honestly I think that it could have been better. I didn't leave Nosturi feeling high and happy, I left it feeling numb. Even though the gig in Helsinki definitely wasn't earth-shattering, the Bouncing Souls are still a band worth checking out, if you haven't already. Their music is pure, honest punk rock (which seems to be a rarity these days) that will lift up your mood, no matter how low you are feeling.
www / myspaceText: Aino-Kaarina Salonen.
Photography: Nelly Tatti.