Helsinki Cruising Club takes over Nosturi on the first Friday of each summer month, featuring goodies for fans of the fifties, rockabilly fiends, vintage car enthusiasts and the entire scope of hair gel aficionados alike. Organized in cooperation with Fullsteam Agency and Hellbilly Crew, this a niche club night the likes of which have recently been paralleled only by Club Wanted at Lepakkomies. And the demand is there, tapping its Creeper-covered foot impatiently.
The first thing we notice is the row of pastel-colored vintage vehicles parked in front of Nosturi. It's not even nine yet, but the terrace of Alakerta is filling up quick, with girls in swooping dresses, hair tied back with ribbons, and guys clad in Hawaii prints and turned-up trouser cuffs.
It's not quite Hawaii, nor is it the fifties. But the sun is still in the sky and the air is warm. Rob Coffinshaker from Swedish rockabilly band, the Coffinshakers, can be heard crooning from inside. He sounds like he's channeling a forlorn Johnny Cash. The dude at the next table with the pompadour nods his head in tune. I sip on my icy cider, and Esa and i comment on how sometimes, the city is perfect.
The good mood persists when we check out Mike Bell and the Belltones upstairs. I'm a huge fan of the stand up bass, and the slapping this old bass is getting makes me wanna join the throng of dancers from decades back in the front row. I'm almost as impressed by the guitarist's choice of clothing. That Hawaii print shirt and baby-blue trousers make for some serious eye candy.
This is straight up, honest and simple rockabilly - the kind you need to see live for it to really stand out in a genre which suffers from a continuous surplus of legend-imitators and uninventive lyricists. The band's stage presence and Mike's disarmingly geriatric-sounding singing are part of and experience that just doesn't communicate in the same way via CD.
Be that as it may, based on the gig, i think i'll have to get the album anyway. To listen to on days when the sun isn't shining, the cider isn't cold and the city isn't perfect. Rockabilly will make it better.
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