Photo by Jussi Hellsten
Helsinki is always worth a visit. Especially in August when one of the finest European music festival opens its gates. Yes, we’re talking about the almighty FLOW FESTIVAL. It’s the third time in a row this year that NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION is attending the event. And there’s a reason for this hat-trick. It’s an enjoyable event, a fantastic venue and a fine selection of headliners, old favourites, hot newcomers and great local acts. And just in case you need even more arguments – here comes a dozen of them.
1. Helsinki Summer. First of it – Helsinki is a lovely city. Not too big but really not too small either. That well balanced concept also goes for the climate during the midsummer as well. Twenty-five degrees are already way beyond average. So, no need for sweating like a maniac. Well, aside from the SKRILLEX performance.
2. Hip Hop Hooray. The whole FLOW line-up this year brings some of the finest ambassadors of rap and urban music. Of course, you got the reformed OUTKAST on top of it but MOS DEF and PUSHA T are also in the house. The ever-cool ACTION BRONSON will drop rhymes as well as JOEY BADA$$. And Finnish newcomer NOAH KIN will definitely rock his home crowd. We should definitely not forget our base caps.
3. The Food. This might also be interesting for ACTION BRONSON… the FLOW FESTIVAL also gives the finest and most healthy of Finland’s cuisine a certain focus. Helsinki-based restaurants will serve great food on and off the festival area. From delicious sea food to live-saving coffee. Count us in.
4. The urban setting. Yes, of course. Camping is nice, the woods are a great place and who doesn’t enjoy a smooth swim in a lake. But to be fair enough – we don’t mind the urban environment of the FLOW FESTIVAL at all. Located in the heart of Helsinki it allows us regular shows, comfortable beds and working transportation systems. Sometimes not the worst thing.
5. SLOWDIVE. Well, they are playing. For real. And it’s one of these ‘You have to see them live before you die’-acts. And since the final day might be also the best to turn into ‘shoegaze’ mode we’re having high hopes for this reunion.
6. So much talking. Besides the music festival there’s also a small conference program with various panels and discussions. And why we might skip a few of the those in Finnish due to language barriers we’re looking forward to all the other ones and get connected as well.
7. Environmental awareness. Okay, this should always be a solid argument but FLOW FESTIVAL is taking care of this aspect a bit more than others. Did you know that all the furniture and decorations are gathered from recycled, long lasting materials that you can also reuse after the event? Plus renewable diesel is used for the generators, not to mention all the recycling. We should better use the bike this time.
8. Finnish Bands. Support your local artists, even if you’re not actually from that area. One thing NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION always enjoys at the event is the great selection of bands from Finland, some of them yet unknown to us. Well, except for SIN COS TAN who just scored our album of the week. But we’re looking forward to discover plenty of these talented acts on the smaller stages.
9. Superstar DJs. Here we go… well, ‘though THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS won’t be in the house we’re looking forward to a few of electronic music’s crafted entertainers. From the weirdness of SKRILLEX to the tender break beats of JAMIE XX. Hard deepness by MACHINEDRUM next to techno godfather JAMES HOLDEN? We’re bringing our dancing shoes.
10. Doing It Again. ROBYN and RÖYKSOPP‘s enigmatic live joint venture is one of the highlights from the festival season of 2014. So it’s definitely one reason to attend this event.
11. Matt Berninger all over again. We had plenty of live encounters with THE NATIONAL and their charismatic front man Matt Berninger in the past months, that much is for sure. But they are like the wine he’s constantly drinking on stage – they get better and better. So we’re up for another shouting of ‘I won’t fuck us over, I’m Mr. November’ this time.
12. Party until the sun comes up. Well, it’s kind of irrelevant since the sun is never fully setting in Finland during this time of the year. That might make it even better for us to join the party after all. NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION is ready to go with the flow once more in 2014.
Find more information and a full line-up of this year’s event on the official homepage.
Photo by Jussi Hellsten
—