On the 5th-6th of June 09 Suvilahti hosted its first festival of the summer season. Basso festival is held by the infamous Basso Radio, which is the leading radio station in urban music and new city culture, here in Helsinki.
The event is a two day festival hosted in various parts of Helsinki, and this year it included such things as a skateboarding competition (which was actually cancelled due to the “great†weather), a clubbing event, a free all day concert in the most beautiful park of the city (Sinebrychoffin puisto), as well as the main event at the nostalgic district of Suvilahti. We however decided to turn our main focus to the main event, to bring you some of the best electro DJ's out there.
The main event is a nine hour long music fest, with some of the best names in the business. The awesome people at the Basso Radio were kind enough to put crackforyoureyes + 2 on the guest list to give us a great opportunity to go in and experience some electrifying music, so cheers guys.
"Inside of the Voimala building, the mix of the evocative old building, big screens, flashing lights and the dancing raving people was just a great site to see and it really got our blood pumping."
01. [accessibility]
The festival is very accessible. It's located on the outskirts of the city center, so the easiest and quickest way to get there is with a metro (Sörnäinen station). The metro station is only six hundred meters from the festival grounds.
02. [first impression]
We arrived at the main event fashionably late, well early since it was only 9pm on a Saturday night but the event had started already at 6pm. However, we wanted to be there early enough to get most out of the action. To our surprise there weren’t too many people covering the festival ground, however it was quite obvious why not: The weather. In the previous weekend, Finland had experienced sun and +28°C and now it was cloudy, rainy, and below +10°C, not an ideal festival weather, as you can imagine. Either way, we gave the event the benefit of the doubt and grabbed a few drinks (of course) at the bar and made our way deeper into he venue.
03. [ambience]
The ambience of the festival was a very chilled out one. It was easy to feel very comfortable and somehow at home. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, drinking, dancing and enjoying themselves. No one was there with a too serious of an attitude, so it was easy to kick back, relax and enjoy the music.
04. [audience]
The crowd was a real mix of different people. Most girls there were wearing black leathery leggings, with black boots, silver necklaces and leather jackets, the guys hip hop caps, bright t-shirts, brand sneakers and of course everyone was wearing Ray Bans. Also in the mix there were some people that looked like they listened to heavy metal and oddly enough there were even a few gothic chicks in the mix. The scene was creative and everyone was there to have some fun and listen to some pumping music.
05. [performance]
The performances were located in two places, outside on the main stage as well as inside of the Voimala building.
One of the more waited acts of the night was the UK based The Whip, who performed outside on the main stage. As soon as they started the crowds gathered closer to the stage and The Whip's mix of great stage presence, electro/rock/pop sounds, got the crowds going and pumping, including us. The festival came alive and was especially awaken by the next performer, Norwegian artists Annie. With her Goldfrapp -like sound and cute girly appearance mixed with the electro beats, it was truly inspiring to watch and obviously the crowd thoughts so too.
After Annie's electrifying performance the main stage acts were finished and the festival moved inside of the Voimala building, where A1 Bassline (UK) was already warming up the crowds.
The last DJ's of the night were Top Billin (FIN) feat. Rico Tubbs (FIN), and I must say their beats were off the hook!! Being a native finn it was even more awesome to witness and bounce to the beats of such great DJ's. The two DJ's collaborative gig worked perfectly together and it was real easy to just go with the music and forget all else.
06. [interestingness]
As soon as you stepped into the crowd of the Voimala building you were taken by the awesome beats of A1 Bassline. His inspiring mix of electro, garage and off the hook beats, was just mind blowing and the whole crowd dancing and moving to the beats just proved that he was on top of his game.
After the A1 Basslines gig I took the liberty of chatting to the man himself for a moment as he walked by. We talked about his gig (amongst other things) and compared it to then playing Kavinsky (FRA), who didn’t seem to match up to A1 Bassline. This was rather strange since Kavinski is an awesome DJ, well respected and known in the world of electro. Even Bassline was stunned how the crowd seemed to have slowed down after he had his gig. Either way Bassline was a cool ass guy, with a wicked accent and a great attitude. And no doubt great beats.
07. [food & beverage]
The festival was a great provider of different drinks to the taste buds of different people. Of course the main thing provided was beer, which was about 5€ (including a token for the cup of 1€ which one could get back when returning it to the drink stall. A very good way to keep the festival grounds clean). Most of the drink at the festival were between 4-6€ including shots, ciders and long drinks etc. There was also a special stall for some cocktails, with price tags of about 6-7€, as well as an energy drink beverage stall.
Also some simple food was available at the festival grounds, with very reasonable prices.
08. [facilities]
The nice thing about the festival not being so crowded was the fact that one could use the toilets, without queuing. There were some outside toilets available, the ones with no running water, a nice stink and usually no paper, but to our surprise these toilets were surprisingly clean and stink free.
There was also a more sanitary choice for the toilets, which were located inside of the Voimala building but of course we only realized this after using the outside ones. However, the toilets were quite clean with paper and there was no need to queue up for hours on end which was great, since we were then able enjoy more drinks whilst knowing we could go when nature called.
09. [coolness factor]
Inside of the Voimala building, the mix of the evocative old building, big screens, flashing lights and the dancing raving people was just a great site to see and it really got our blood pumping.
Definitely one of the cool factors was “The Cubeâ€, a construction of 8 big screens and the DJ in the middle, was a real beauty. It really brought the dance floor and the Voimala building to life. The screens changing images, lights, colors etc was real eye candy throughout the festival.
The second cool factor was definitely the CO2 cannons, which were used for the first time in Finland. They were attached to the pillars of the building that surrounded the dance floor and every now and then unexpectedly they blasted CO2 into the crowd lowering the temperature for a moment to -20°C. This was definitely a major cool factor.
10. [conclusion]
Before we knew it, it was 3.15 am and some of the crowd had already disappeared, but it was hard to realize it since our asses were right at the front where the best action was. However, we also decided it was time to head home into the already brightening sky, since in Finland a summers night is almost as light as day and the day starts in the early hours of the morning, so it was mahtavaa! (awesome in Finnish).
All danced out we headed home, with still Lonkero's in our hand (a.k.a A long drink, the best Finnish made drink ever to exist) and beats in our heads. What an awesome night of music, artists, people and most of all BASS.
This main evening festival definitely wasn’t the biggest I’ve been to (in terms of crowd and location) but it was probably in my top 5 of the best in terms of the atmosphere, location and artists. The event felt like a gathering of people who love moving to awesome beats while at times getting a chance to chat to friends and enjoying cigarettes, drinks in good company. So if you’re not a huge head banger like myself, the festival is definitely up your ally and worth visiting.
Basso is definitely for people who love garage, house and electro beats. It may be a young festival but it's definitely gathering more listeners and interest all the time. It will most definitely be growing in size and become even better place for some bass.
